5 ms·

One thing I have found, is that buying stuff that is supposed to last for life, ends up making the possessions own me, instead of me own the possessions. Espec

One thing I have found, is that buying stuff that is supposed to last for life, ends up making the possessions own me, instead of me own the possessions. Especially with kids, when I have disposable objects, I don't have to worry if they trash it, or get it dirty. I don't have to worry about losing it(I can order a replacement on Amazon that will be here in 2 days). With long-lasting products that are for life, I find I worry about cleaning them, organizing them, and protecting them. Maybe to total cost of ownership is less for the more durable product, but you only have to lose it once or damage it once for the savings to go away.

alexpetralia 6y ago
Reminds me of: "The things you own end up owning you."
loldk 6y ago
One thing I have found, is that buying stuff that constantly breaks down and becomes useless, ends up making these posessions own me, instead of me own the posessions because I constantly have to reorder new ones. Especially with kids, when I have a long lasting products, I don't have to worry about coughing up a ton of money over the course of a few months or years just to keep replacing them, and I don't have to worry if they trash it, or get it dirty because I know it's covered. I also don't have to worry about losing it because me and my family are responsible and rarely lose things, mostly because the higher quality and warm fuzzy feelings we get from spending money with a moral company, we tend to all value the things we own much more. As such my kids tend to clean, organize, and protect them without needing as much discipline, and our friends and house guests also respect us more because we take good care of ourselves and our investments. So not only is the total cost of ownership less for our more durable, reliable products, but we also all feel very secure and happy about the small purchases we make because they provide so many benefits it feels more like an investment in our world and each other. However, when it comes to disposable and poorly made products we lose all of that before we even buy the product. p.s. we also don't have to spend nearly as much time shopping or searching for good products because we can place a reasonable amount of trust in the companies we are familiar with, and whose products are tested and kid/spouse approved. p.s.s. it feels amazing knowing we aren't enabling immoral businesses and their employees, who would turn around and lobby against important rights such as the right to repair our own belongings.
lupinglade 6y ago
On the other hand, crappy knock-off products aren't going to be the right tool for most jobs and will fail when you need them most. The trick to not being owned by your possessions is to only own what you really, truly need. Further, buying low-quality throw-away type products ends up supporting the greedy, lazy low-quality manufacturers. We all end up with only junk for choice. And as @desine already commented: all this junk ends up in the landfills, oceans, etc.
- RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
  Depends what you use them for. > The trick to not being owned by your things is to only own what you really, truly need. I don't think that is quite right. Let's say you need a button down shirt for work. So you only buy 5, custom tailored shirts out of high quality materials. You have bought a minimal amount, and you really do need those shirts. When you are eating, are you not worried about getting ketchup on your shirt. If kids come up to you, are you not worried about them getting your shirt dirty. Are you worried that your washer and dryer are being too harsh for your shirts. If on the other hand, you just get a bunch of ok shirts on Amazon or WalMart. You just throw them in the washer and dryer without thinking about it. You eat and play with your kids, knowing if your shirt gets dirty, stained, or ripped, it is not a big deal, you will just get another one. I think the true key to not having your possessions own you is easy replacability. If you can easily replace them, then you can use them without worrying about them.
  - lupinglade 6y ago
    Shirts are more of a disposable product, they normally don't last very long. So the difference between the cheap knock off and proper quality isn't that significant. Although you probably don't want to be wearing the cheapest alibaba shirt to an important business meeting.
christiansakai 6y ago
I think this is just a mindset issue. Which is non issue.
desine 6y ago
With no disrespect (especially with children, I know their destructive tendencies well enough), this sounds like a shunning of responsibility, and irks me. Our cheap, disposable consumer goods are ending up in landfills, our plastic waste has permeated every square inch of the earth, and we continue to justify these destructive habits. If you need something, you should care for it, you should maintain it, and you should commit to a certain level of care. Not caring about your possessions and seeing them as disposable validates the business models of shelling out crap quality products and the further destruction of our environment.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- imiric 6y ago
  I was about to post a similar comment, but you summed it up nicely. The landfill reality and the pollution they cause, especially from e-waste, is devastating: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-behind-e-waste-dump-africa-180957597/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-...
  - bigmattystyles 6y ago
    We should charge the disposal cost upfront at the point of purchase. I know it’s political suicide but it would solve quite a few issues.
    - fwipsy 6y ago
      Maybe not so far-fetched. CA charges an ewaste recycling fee already when you purchase certain items.
    - mavhc 6y ago
      Tax everything the amount it costs to clean up the pollution it causes, from electricity to food. 2 side effects: people will make things that produce less pollution, and people will make cleaning up pollution cheaper
m463 6y ago
yeah, there should be some products where "buy it for life" might be... just don't buy one. Do you really need a cast iron frying pan? They seem to be over-represented in this category because they don't break. But iron in your diet is not that good for you if you're male because it accumulates. Another thing to be wary of is "buy this best stuff" lists are easy money, people will curate your lists for you, then you just link to amazon and hoarding behavior does the rest.
fnord77 6y ago
perhaps we all have too many possessions.

alexpetralia 6y ago

Reminds me of: "The things you own end up owning you."

loldk 6y ago

One thing I have found, is that buying stuff that constantly breaks down and becomes useless, ends up making these posessions own me, instead of me own the posessions because I constantly have to reorder new ones. Especially with kids, when I have a long lasting products, I don't have to worry about coughing up a ton of money over the course of a few months or years just to keep replacing them, and I don't have to worry if they trash it, or get it dirty because I know it's covered. I also don't have to worry about losing it because me and my family are responsible and rarely lose things, mostly because the higher quality and warm fuzzy feelings we get from spending money with a moral company, we tend to all value the things we own much more. As such my kids tend to clean, organize, and protect them without needing as much discipline, and our friends and house guests also respect us more because we take good care of ourselves and our investments. So not only is the total cost of ownership less for our more durable, reliable products, but we also all feel very secure and happy about the small purchases we make because they provide so many benefits it feels more like an investment in our world and each other. However, when it comes to disposable and poorly made products we lose all of that before we even buy the product. p.s. we also don't have to spend nearly as much time shopping or searching for good products because we can place a reasonable amount of trust in the companies we are familiar with, and whose products are tested and kid/spouse approved. p.s.s. it feels amazing knowing we aren't enabling immoral businesses and their employees, who would turn around and lobby against important rights such as the right to repair our own belongings.

lupinglade 6y ago

On the other hand, crappy knock-off products aren't going to be the right tool for most jobs and will fail when you need them most. The trick to not being owned by your possessions is to only own what you really, truly need. Further, buying low-quality throw-away type products ends up supporting the greedy, lazy low-quality manufacturers. We all end up with only junk for choice. And as @desine already commented: all this junk ends up in the landfills, oceans, etc.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 6y ago
Depends what you use them for. > The trick to not being owned by your things is to only own what you really, truly need. I don't think that is quite right. Let's say you need a button down shirt for work. So you only buy 5, custom tailored shirts out of high quality materials. You have bought a minimal amount, and you really do need those shirts. When you are eating, are you not worried about getting ketchup on your shirt. If kids come up to you, are you not worried about them getting your shirt dirty. Are you worried that your washer and dryer are being too harsh for your shirts. If on the other hand, you just get a bunch of ok shirts on Amazon or WalMart. You just throw them in the washer and dryer without thinking about it. You eat and play with your kids, knowing if your shirt gets dirty, stained, or ripped, it is not a big deal, you will just get another one. I think the true key to not having your possessions own you is easy replacability. If you can easily replace them, then you can use them without worrying about them.
- lupinglade 6y ago
  Shirts are more of a disposable product, they normally don't last very long. So the difference between the cheap knock off and proper quality isn't that significant. Although you probably don't want to be wearing the cheapest alibaba shirt to an important business meeting.

christiansakai 6y ago

I think this is just a mindset issue. Which is non issue.

desine 6y ago

With no disrespect (especially with children, I know their destructive tendencies well enough), this sounds like a shunning of responsibility, and irks me. Our cheap, disposable consumer goods are ending up in landfills, our plastic waste has permeated every square inch of the earth, and we continue to justify these destructive habits. If you need something, you should care for it, you should maintain it, and you should commit to a certain level of care. Not caring about your possessions and seeing them as disposable validates the business models of shelling out crap quality products and the further destruction of our environment.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
imiric 6y ago
I was about to post a similar comment, but you summed it up nicely. The landfill reality and the pollution they cause, especially from e-waste, is devastating: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-behind-e-waste-dump-africa-180957597/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/burning-truth-...
- bigmattystyles 6y ago
  We should charge the disposal cost upfront at the point of purchase. I know it’s political suicide but it would solve quite a few issues.
  - fwipsy 6y ago
    Maybe not so far-fetched. CA charges an ewaste recycling fee already when you purchase certain items.
  - mavhc 6y ago
    Tax everything the amount it costs to clean up the pollution it causes, from electricity to food. 2 side effects: people will make things that produce less pollution, and people will make cleaning up pollution cheaper

m463 6y ago

yeah, there should be some products where "buy it for life" might be... just don't buy one. Do you really need a cast iron frying pan? They seem to be over-represented in this category because they don't break. But iron in your diet is not that good for you if you're male because it accumulates. Another thing to be wary of is "buy this best stuff" lists are easy money, people will curate your lists for you, then you just link to amazon and hoarding behavior does the rest.

fnord77 6y ago

perhaps we all have too many possessions.