Guest Post: Four Things That Are Crap
Posted by Guest Blogger in Stop Buying Crap! |This is a guest post from Jim of Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, who has the honor of being the first (and most likely only) guest post on StopbuyingCrap.com. Blueprint for Financial Prosperity is a daily blog with solid info on personal finance. If you like Jim’s content, please subscribe to his blog so he won’t beat me up (personal finance bloggers are a violent bunch).
Every once and a while my wife and I will head over to the local mall to walk around and shop. I kid to her about how I like watching capitalism in action, all the people milling about the corridors, popping in and out of shops, spending money, etc. Well lately, the motion of capitalism has slowed down a bit. There are still people milling around the corridors but more and more of them are there for the free AC than the shopping, but you still see the occasional shopping bag full of crap.
So, in celebration of capitalisms stoicism in the face of the slowdown and its resilience, I’ve decided to add to Cap’s growing list of things that are crap by offering up my four things that are crap.
Fancy Wine Openers
I’ve received many a fancy wine opener as a gift and I’ve broken them all. I’m hardly an Incredible Hulk but for whatever reason, fancy corkscrews always get jacked up and break on me. Funny thing is that the little freebie manual corkscrew has never broken, was totally free, and reliable opened every single bottle of wine it’s tried to open. And, to top it all off, it has a bottle opened on the other side so I can crack open a beer after the hard work of opening a bottle of wine!
Ridiculously Awesome HD Televisions
I like good picture quality and excellent crisp 7.1 Dolby Digital sound as much as the next guy, but I like a comfortable retirement just as much. The kicker is that retirement is something I’ll enjoy for many many years whereas home electronics will likely burn out or grow painfully obsolete within a few years. What do I get instead? I get decent electronics that was top of the line a year ago. I let the early adopters buy the stuff early and then sell it to me when they want the latest and greatest.
Cutting Edge Cell Phones
This iPhone mania is insane. People lining up for hours to get a cell phone? I’ve seen them, they are very nice, but the minimum total cost of owning one for the two year required period is nearly two thousand dollars. Sure you can surf the web, watching videos, and do all sorts of touch screen coolness… but two grand? That’s a sizable down payment on a car, you know, one of those machines that gets you from point A to point B by burning old dinosaur bones? That’s also a brand new top of the line laptop. Heck, that’s a Ridiculously Awesome HD Television!
Anything at Brookstone…
… or was at Sharper Image. Do I really need a spinning clock that shows the time in the air? No. Do I really need a coin sorter or a foot massager? No and no. Those stores are bright beacons of consumerism in our economic turmoil and a few months ago one beacons was extinguished. Why? Because they’re full of crap you shouldn’t be buying and people ran out of credit to buy it with. I don’t need a singing egg light, I don’t need a pocket Texas Hold ‘Em game, and I certainly don’t need a two thousand dollar massaging chair.
What do you think? Worthy of being called crap or was I too harsh?
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 am
I have to disagree with you on the anything at brookstone piece…..if you had said almost anything, I’d agree. But Brookstone sells tempurpedic mattresses, and they are worth the money (I have one, and I love it). They sell for the same price there as anywhere else, so they’re actually not grossly overpriced like most of the other stuff there.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 am
I’ve never slept a night on one of those mattresses, though they feel really nice, thanks for sharing. How much does one cost?
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:42 am
Man, do I agree with you on every point. I used to go through the catalogs I’d get in the mail and say to myself: who the hell needs this crap? Who the hell needs this and this and this? We live in very strange times.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:54 am
Jim,
It depends on which one you get. We got the “celebrity” bed, as it was the most comfortable for my wife (she has arthritis, and the firmness, along the pillow top is perfect for her). It runs for ~$3700, or you can get a cheaper one for ~$1700 or a more expensive one (I know they’re all expensive). But they’re worth it, especially for my wife, as now she can actually sleep a full night w/out waking up due to pain from pressure points where she comes in contact w/the springs. I also appreciate it as I have a bad back, and it’s been good for me.
I’ve heard of it taking some people a few days to adjust to b/c it does feel different (my wife and I were comfy w/it the second night, my inlaws it took about a week).
One side note…where you’re at, if you get it during the winter, don’t expect it to be comfy the first night…it will be rock hard. My wife and I lived not too far from you and we bought it in the winter. It took it about a day to warm up, but after that, it was great.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
I disagree on the iPhone point. I didn’t (and wouldn’t) line up for one, haven’t bought one, and really don’t intend to, but you’re factoring in the monthly AT&T bill as a part of the TCO of the iPhone when it really shouldn’t be included because whether or not you have an iPhone, you’re going to have a cell phone, and you’re going to pay to use it. If i subtract two years of my current monthly bill from the iPhone’s TCO as you state it, it’s only a couple hundred off from the sticker price. That’s hardly the wallet-eater you make it out to be.
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
@David,
I think he only factored in the $30 price of the must purchase data plan in addition to the regular talk plan which most of us like to enjoy. $30 times 24 months = $720 plus the price of the phone $199 is still getting pretty close to $1k (not including tax and other fees). Sure it’s not $2k but it’s still a substantial sum of money many would prefer to go into an IRA than to Apple stockholders.
July 23rd, 2008 at 7:57 pm
I agree with everything but the corkscrew. I have a horrible time with corks and it’s the one opener that guarantees that I won’t break the bottle or cork.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Absolutely. You don’t even have to go the extremes of Brookstone or Sharper Image. How about the hordes of women who each week frequent stores like Christmas Tree Shops or Walmart or other other discounts type stores that sell useless trinkets like candles, in all their myriad forms, seasonal holiday decorations (how many easter bunnies do you really need?) or yet another set of color-coordinated placemats? this is where your $ disappears as through a sieve. For people like this, shopping is a form of entertainment and escape.
July 30th, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Jim gets to do a guest post?!? I want to do a guest post!
I’d almost say… anything that is cutting edge is too expensive for my life… I like to wait until a new version pops up, and buy the older version…
August 5th, 2008 at 11:57 am
This is sooooooooo true. Acting on impulse to buy something because it is “cute” and it really is only a gadget that does not work.
Something fun however that you might want to try is The Wall Street Survivor http://www.wallstreetsurvivor.com . This is a virtual stock exchange platform that is free and fun.
August 7th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
I always wonder how those specialty stores stay in business - there’s one in Dallas that seriously only sells snow globes from what I can see through the window. How are they even paying rent?? Who is buying that crap month after month??
I agree about the iphone, even though I’ve seriously been considering getting one. I did the research though, and to get a plan that compares to what I have now it would cost me $125 per month (incl taxes) which is just more than DOUBLE what I pay at T mobile for almost the exact plan minus internet access. They priced everything (messaging plan, talk plan, data plan - all of which have to be chosen separately) where you can’t get by with the cheapest option but the next cheapest option is way more expensive.
So it would cost me $720 more a year plus the $200 phone PLUS the phone cover (it will shatter if you drop it otherwise), charger and all the other crap you have to buy separately. So we’re talking over $1000 I could put in the bank vs have the iphone this year. I can’t justify it. Besides which everyone I know who has one is SO FREAKING ANNOYING because all they do all the time is look at their iphone. Do you really need to check your Facebook during a dinner out???
August 17th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Totally agree on the HDTV. I have a sweetspot price-wise that I’ve been waiting patiently for. I think I’ll finally jump when the model year closes out next March. I gave up all early adopter tendencies years ago.
The iPhone…well, I’m not the target demographic anyway — I just need my phone to be a phone. I do know the iPhone plan equals my wife and I’s combined plan.
The “rabbit” corkscrews are awesome. They just are. You must be really buying a crap one to keep breaking them.