8 ms·

I feel that there is a wealth/background effect here that could be studied somewhat too. I think people who don't have to worry about money are less likely to p

I feel that there is a wealth/background effect here that could be studied somewhat too. I think people who don't have to worry about money are less likely to pay any attention to discounts and deals. Having come from a council estate, there is a certain mindset behind getting a deal for everything, making your little money go as far as possible, buy one get one free, or discounts on anything, or coupons to get into restaurants or discounted vacations, or companies that "get you deals" on all your electric, gas, TV, internet bills, 8 packs of cheap beer, etc. are all seen as victories and you are crazy for not taking advantage of them. There's an emphasis on getting more quantity for less money. That's easily exploited.

tyfon 8y ago
When my wife comes back from shopping I often jokingly ask her 'how much did you "save" today' and she laughs back. We're in a quite good position so it doesn't matter as much but it's often easy to get lost in the rebates and forget how much is actually spent.
- chrisper 8y ago
  Also with these "deals" you often also have to ask yourself: Are you buying it because it is cheap or are you buying it because you need it? Often people buy stuff they don't need because it is on sale "right now."
  - tyfon 8y ago
    Exactly.. A good way to get around this is to keep a "wishlist" of things you actually need and then if there is a sale you can get it.
- everdrive 8y ago
  I usually don't like language that suggests that consumers are brainwashed by marketing. But, getting people to comprehend that spending money =/= saving money is surprisingly difficult. Even when they understand money has been spent, it's not spent rationally: money "saved" at the grocery store doesn't actually mean less total money spent, rather the same amount as usual is spent, and more food than usual was able to be purchased. This is a fine tact if you're going for volume, but it's absolutely not "saving money."
  - jjeaff 8y ago
    I'm not sure I get what you mean. If I go to the store with a list of the usual items I purchased and some of those items are on sale, I end up spending less money for the exact same items.
    - jacobyoder 8y ago
      > usual items I purchased and some of those items are on sale Often the "deals" are "buy 3, get one free", where the per unit price might be a bit less than a single unit, but if you only went in for 1, but ended up buy 4, you've paid more than you might have otherwise. Sometimes it's a good deal, and you get more value, sometimes the items expire before you end up using them, etc.
      - hopler 8y ago
        You haven't lived until you are comparing "buy 2 get 3 free" to the other brand with a simple price but a different package size.
    - everdrive 8y ago
      Suppose a grocery bill is usually $100 a week, and (for simplicity's sake) let's say it buys 30 food items. In the example I'm referring to, $100 would still be spent, but 35 food items purchased. This could only be considered "saving money" if the extra food allowed you to spend less than $100 on next week's groceries. Anyhow, sorry for being confusing. It's possible this example isn't all that common in general. I just bump into it all the time.
    - tyfon 8y ago
      I'll take an example for my local store. We have some Belgian waffles that cost 18 NOK a piece. They always have an offer that gives you 2 for 20 NOK. I never eat more than one of these and they end up spoiling as they don't last very long, and even if it seems that I'm "saving" 16 NOK on the purchase I'm actually spending 2 more than I otherwise would.
    - chippy 8y ago
kiba 8y ago
I learned a tip from someone: "Save 100% by not buying anything!"
hannob 8y ago
I don't have hard numbers to quote on this, but I'm very convinced that you end up paying more in the end. From my own experience and pretty much every one I talk about this, people have a tendency to buy things they'll never need. (I constantly try not to do that, but it takes active thinking about it all the time.) No discount deal is cheaper than the one where you don't buy something you don't need. Then there's underestimated costs that aren't immediately visible. If you buy more stuff of items that you use over a longer timeframe you'll have to store them. Which of course means you're paying rent for the space in your flat that's taken up by excess stuff.
- dazc 8y ago
  A long running promotion in Tesco is 3 bottles of any brand beer for £5.25. I can't imagine anyone ever goes into a store with the intention of buying 3 bottles but if you just buy 2 you're misguided into thinking you'll lose out. In reality, you're spending more and drinking more than you really want to.
  - jamiethompson 8y ago
    But if you did want to buy 3, or 6 or even 12 bottles then it is actually a saving. It's about shopping smart.
    - dazc 8y ago
      If you buy 12 there is often a case which is a lot cheaper. I don't drink that much that it makes sense to stockpile; I also have the problem that if I have a fridge full of beer I am going to drink a lot more than I would otherwise. I may be in a minority, but I prefer to buy a couple of beers just once in a while.
      - nfriedly 8y ago
        I buy a case at a time, but only put two or three at a time in my fridge ;)
      - 8y ago
lowken10 8y ago
Thank you captain obvious. People with money don't pay attention to deals. Wow!!! What insight.
C1sc0cat 8y ago
And its not like that most of the west could actually do with eating less food but higher quality food

tyfon 8y ago

When my wife comes back from shopping I often jokingly ask her 'how much did you "save" today' and she laughs back. We're in a quite good position so it doesn't matter as much but it's often easy to get lost in the rebates and forget how much is actually spent.

chrisper 8y ago
Also with these "deals" you often also have to ask yourself: Are you buying it because it is cheap or are you buying it because you need it? Often people buy stuff they don't need because it is on sale "right now."
- tyfon 8y ago
  Exactly.. A good way to get around this is to keep a "wishlist" of things you actually need and then if there is a sale you can get it.
everdrive 8y ago
I usually don't like language that suggests that consumers are brainwashed by marketing. But, getting people to comprehend that spending money =/= saving money is surprisingly difficult. Even when they understand money has been spent, it's not spent rationally: money "saved" at the grocery store doesn't actually mean less total money spent, rather the same amount as usual is spent, and more food than usual was able to be purchased. This is a fine tact if you're going for volume, but it's absolutely not "saving money."
- jjeaff 8y ago
  I'm not sure I get what you mean. If I go to the store with a list of the usual items I purchased and some of those items are on sale, I end up spending less money for the exact same items.
  - jacobyoder 8y ago
    > usual items I purchased and some of those items are on sale Often the "deals" are "buy 3, get one free", where the per unit price might be a bit less than a single unit, but if you only went in for 1, but ended up buy 4, you've paid more than you might have otherwise. Sometimes it's a good deal, and you get more value, sometimes the items expire before you end up using them, etc.
    - hopler 8y ago
      You haven't lived until you are comparing "buy 2 get 3 free" to the other brand with a simple price but a different package size.
  - everdrive 8y ago
    Suppose a grocery bill is usually $100 a week, and (for simplicity's sake) let's say it buys 30 food items. In the example I'm referring to, $100 would still be spent, but 35 food items purchased. This could only be considered "saving money" if the extra food allowed you to spend less than $100 on next week's groceries. Anyhow, sorry for being confusing. It's possible this example isn't all that common in general. I just bump into it all the time.
  - tyfon 8y ago
    I'll take an example for my local store. We have some Belgian waffles that cost 18 NOK a piece. They always have an offer that gives you 2 for 20 NOK. I never eat more than one of these and they end up spoiling as they don't last very long, and even if it seems that I'm "saving" 16 NOK on the purchase I'm actually spending 2 more than I otherwise would.
  - chippy 8y ago

kiba 8y ago

I learned a tip from someone: "Save 100% by not buying anything!"

hannob 8y ago

I don't have hard numbers to quote on this, but I'm very convinced that you end up paying more in the end. From my own experience and pretty much every one I talk about this, people have a tendency to buy things they'll never need. (I constantly try not to do that, but it takes active thinking about it all the time.) No discount deal is cheaper than the one where you don't buy something you don't need. Then there's underestimated costs that aren't immediately visible. If you buy more stuff of items that you use over a longer timeframe you'll have to store them. Which of course means you're paying rent for the space in your flat that's taken up by excess stuff.

dazc 8y ago
A long running promotion in Tesco is 3 bottles of any brand beer for £5.25. I can't imagine anyone ever goes into a store with the intention of buying 3 bottles but if you just buy 2 you're misguided into thinking you'll lose out. In reality, you're spending more and drinking more than you really want to.
- jamiethompson 8y ago
  But if you did want to buy 3, or 6 or even 12 bottles then it is actually a saving. It's about shopping smart.
  - dazc 8y ago
    If you buy 12 there is often a case which is a lot cheaper. I don't drink that much that it makes sense to stockpile; I also have the problem that if I have a fridge full of beer I am going to drink a lot more than I would otherwise. I may be in a minority, but I prefer to buy a couple of beers just once in a while.
    - nfriedly 8y ago
      I buy a case at a time, but only put two or three at a time in my fridge ;)
    - 8y ago

lowken10 8y ago

Thank you captain obvious. People with money don't pay attention to deals. Wow!!! What insight.

C1sc0cat 8y ago

And its not like that most of the west could actually do with eating less food but higher quality food