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If only we'd boycotted overpriced merchandise of our own volition, all this time.
So true. So many people act like they're under some sort of magic spell to buy buy buy like little robots clutching their plastic. I call them stuff nuts.
They can keep their gold-plated toliet paper holders and their artisan ratatouille. I buy time, travel, and freedom.
We have too much stuff in the USA. Period. These days, wife and I buy very little besides food or replacement items. Haven't been to a mall for years. I have enough neckties to last 3 men a lifetime.
I take my excess stuff down to the Goodwill donation center. One closest to me has a drive-thru donation line. Always 5-15 cars and mini-vans in the line disgorging contents, like gluttons vomiting from overeating. Amazing to see all the stuff that just keeps coming out of car trunks and vans. I don't know how Goodwill moves all the stuff through their process and onto the sales floor in their retail shops, of which there are several around COLO SPGS.
Inside the Goodwill store, it is jammed with usable clean clothing for all people, kitchen items, books, lamps, shoes, sporting goods, toys, household items, you name it, all at prices below ebay or yard sale prices. The outdoor storage area has enough bicycles to make Lance Armstrong grin.
I wish more people would go to Goodwill or Salvation Army as their FIRST stop and not to big box stores selling Chinese schlock, or increasingly ridiculous shopping malls, which to me are all the same from coast to coast.
Americans could keep billions of dollars of their money in this country each year if they'd buy used items at consignment shops and places like Goodwill and Salvation Army. I've used consignment shops to sell furniture and it works fine, they even pick up the items. I sold a desk via a consignment shop; it sold within a week for $400, which is $200 more than I offered it on CraigsList, where I had one inquiry.
I've said for years that we have too many stores in this country, don't know how they all stay in business. That's changing. More vacant storefronts are popping up here in COLO SPGS every week, and a shake out is occurring.
Folks all over the country should try The Freecycle Network to find a free yahoo list in their town, where excess stuff of all sorts, and I mean ALL sorts, is offered up for free to anyone who wants it. Though their goal is to keep stuff out of landfills, it's a great way to get usable items for free and avoid another trip to a retail store.
I'd like to see 2009 become the year we "just say no" to shopping our way out of every crisis.
I love to buy used stuff, furniture, books etc. Stuff fills a void for many people that are overworked and want to "reward" themselves. If only they would realize their lives would be a lot happier if they would consume less and have more TIME to LIVE and have fun with friends and family.
Being debt free is the greatest gift you can give to yourself
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
I love to buy used stuff, furniture, books etc. Stuff fills a void for many people that are overworked and want to "reward" themselves. If only they would realize their lives would be a lot happier if they would consume less and have more TIME to LIVE and have fun with friends and family. Being debt free is the greatest gift you can give to yourself
My favorite rewards are a bottle of decent Chardonnay, tender filet or bison burger at Ted's Montana Grill.
I think we'll have moved out of the "sick overconsumption" era over the next few years. This has been a triumph of innovative business administration and marketing and graphics design but there's just too much now. Back to the pre-designer days...
My favorite rewards are a bottle of decent Chardonnay, tender filet or bison burger at Ted's Montana Grill.
My favorite meal would look a bit different, because we are vegetarians, but I LOVE good food and it doesn't have to be expensive. Simple, quality foods are often the best!
__________________
The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it. ~Henry David Thoreau
I think we'll have moved out of the "sick overconsumption" era over the next few years. This has been a triumph of innovative business administration and marketing and graphics design but there's just too much now. Back to the pre-designer days...
Yes. I never liked paying extra for pullover shirts with a logo from some "designer dude" who has the stuff made in China like all the other stores do. No Polo shirt is worth $65 to me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike from back east
I'd like to see 2009 become the year we "just say no" to shopping our way out of every crisis.
I recall the late 1980's, where we'd been through years of Reagan's funny-money economy and everyone was shopped out, the closets and garages were full, so shopping came to a halt and retail took it on the chin. That time is upon us again.
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