Rejection of Consumer Culture

jnap31 · #61 11/21/06, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rabbitgal

Consumer culture is great! They throw it away...and we get it! (That's the only reason why I have a couple of "name brand" pieces of clothing.)

I'm turning into a sucker for freebies...

LOL thats the truth!

#62 11/21/06, 01:06 AM

There are no Jones' on my block. I don't have to out do anyone. I buy what I need/want to fit a need. I buy the quality that will fit my situation and if valuable I also look to resale. I don't care about peer pressure but care about length of service and upkeep. Monthly payments are not important. The bottom line is. The only consumeristic things that we do is buy quality clothes and we eat diner at the popular places from time to time. Now if I can just find an excuse for my boat?

jen74145 · #63 11/21/06, 01:11 AM

Hah hah, lonelytree, the boat is all part of your "sustainable aquaculture foodsourcing program", doncha know? lol

Gotta agree with you, makes me ill to see people go nuts spending every dime because the current society says that things are what makes work and life worthwhile.... same people who make these horrified faces at thought of getting their hands dirty and perhaps *gasp* raising some, if not all, of their own food and providing many of their needs themselves...

MorrisonCorner · #64 11/21/06, 05:00 AM

sustainable aquaculture foodsourcing program... oh my...

Honey... do you know what I just read on the homesteading forum...?

pcdreams · #65 11/21/06, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnap31

I loved reading all the intelligent well thought out replies to this thread, I am constantly amazed at some of your wisdom and ability to express your self thru words.
I was first drawn to the lifestyle by visiting my great grandpas farm in eastern KY he had a wonderful homestead and did it all black smithing, gardens, plowing with mules and more by the time i was visiting him he was to old to do much but he still cared for the old mules till they died of old age. My mother taught me to love gardening at a young age 4 or 5. My grandpa always had a big garden while i was growing up I guess the life is just in my blood. Now I also do it in part as a rejection of the consummer lifestyle though it is more that I dont want to live over my means so that I have to continue working for others doing things that dont interest me, I want to be free to work on my schedule doing things that I love doing , and I want to be able to play with the kids when i choose and go swim or fish in the river on a hot day and finally after this deployment is over I will be where I want to be as far as that goes.Though many dont think I will be able to make it I will proove them wrong.My neighbor asked DW yesterday what i was planning on doing for $ the 6 colder months of the year when the farmers market is closed, what would he think if i told him make snow men and sled with the kids when i am not homeschooling them LOL when your humble place is paid for and you reduce your bills and grow/hunt your own food I guess it does not take much income to live on we will see. I will be sure to put updates here when i can.

Gosh Jnap, Are you sure we're not related? Sounds exactly like something my family would say.. and what I plan to do

jimarh · #66 11/21/06, 08:21 AM

My husband and I are 65 and 67. We live on a hillside on 6 acres of ground. We garden and put away all the food that we can manage. Hate to go in a grocery store. My husband helped a local farmer in exchange for a hog that is now in our freezer. We have chickens for eggs and for additional meat as roasters when they are too old to lay and we raise roosters once a year for fryers.
We do well and are content with what we have. Can't remember the last time I was in Walmart. Go to the grocery store once a month and buy what I can't produce myself -toliet paper etc.
Found a persimmon tree in the woods this fall and I was thrilled! Made several jars of jam that are waiting on the shelf in the basement to be spread on toast this winter.
Life is good and there is not much out there consumer/wise that we could buy to make it any better.

Hammer4 · #67 11/21/06, 09:13 AM

I rarely watch tv, but when I do turn it on I am amazed by the constant ads for everything under the sun....I know if I watched tv regularly the ads would convince me I need that new car, new HD TV, new game console, etc, etc, etc.....I used to run out every Sunday and buy a paper just to get the ads to see what was on sale, then I would a lot of times have to run out and buy one of those neat things that were on sale.....I broke that habit by stopping the purchase of the paper, thereby cutting the advertisement getting in the house. I work with a lot of folks that are avid consumers...they are out there buying all this stuff constantly.

Most consumers don't even consider repairing things anymore, even simple things like appliances. There are constantly working appliances on freecycle being given away, most likely some have just been replaced with a newer version with more gizmos ( which as I told my wife, won't load or unload or put the clothes away for you ). Some of the appliances on freecycle just need a bit of repair, but folks would rather go out and buy new ones on their credit card instead of paying a service person to come fix their current appliance.

pcdreams · #68 11/21/06, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer4

folks would rather go out and buy new ones on their credit card instead of paying a service person to come fix their current appliance.

this comes back down to quality.. Now a day it really is cheaper to buy a new one than fix the old one.. Figure a new motherboard for a pc is about $50-100
then figure a service person charges $35-75/hr..

I'm not saying its right.. just how things are..

triana1326 · #69 11/21/06, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

There is an old saying that "Time is Money." Well, it took me along time to learn it -but somewhere along the way, I learned a very valuable lesson. TIME is not MONEY - TIME is LIFE.

If I could give the gift of hindsight to those of you young whippersnappers, it would be this - take a long hard look at what you are spending your money on.

Ask yourself if the time you spent earning that money was worth the trade.

Ask yourself if the time sacrificed working to earn a dollar (at the cost of doing what you REALLY would rather be doing) - ask yourself if its STILL a good trade.

These days, we tend to look at things and ask ourselves questions like "Is that pair of boots really worth a half day's wages?" or "Is that magazine or that candle really worth trading an hour of my life to buy"?

At the end of this life, what will matter will be the time spent with those you loved or doing the things you loved - things that fill your heart and feed your soul - not what MATERIAL THINGS we traded our lives for.

Make sure those things are worth the trade.

Have you read the book "Your money or Your Life"? It's a really great read and i recommend it to everyone...

Hammer4 · #70 11/21/06, 11:06 AM

pcdreams, I don't mean computers, they are a bit of a special case, I rarely see those given away anyhow. But I will point out that if you do need a new motherboard, you can get one put in for $100 - $200 using your numbers...that's still cheaper than buying a new pc for $500. I build our pc's from parts, when I upgrade ours I save the parts to use to repair my parents and inlaws pcs as needed. It has saved us a ton of money being able to do that.

I mostly mean major appliances, washers/dryers, freezers, refrigerators, most working or needing minor repairs....I got a set for the inlaws to use for free from freecycle...the dryer needed a $ 5 knob, the washer had a small leak we patched with superglue and epoxy. I know some folks aren't 'handy' but way to many folks cost themselves a lot of money by throwing repairable stuff out and just buying new over and over.

dagwood · #71 11/21/06, 11:11 AM

Every year we take our trucks up to the State University when they dismiss for the summer vacation. You would not believe the great stuff the college kids toss out of their dorm rooms! I guess Momma and Daddy can afford to buy em new furniture every year....LOL!!

pcdreams · #72 11/21/06, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer4

pcdreams, I don't mean computers, they are a bit of a special case, I rarely see those given away anyhow. But I will point out that if you do need a new motherboard, you can get one put in for $100 - $200 using your numbers...that's still cheaper than buying a new pc for $500. I build our pc's from parts, when I upgrade ours I save the parts to use to repair my parents and inlaws pcs as needed. It has saved us a ton of money being able to do that.

I mostly mean major appliances, washers/dryers, freezers, refrigerators, most working or needing minor repairs....I got a set for the inlaws to use for free from freecycle...the dryer needed a $ 5 knob, the washer had a small leak we patched with superglue and epoxy. I know some folks aren't 'handy' but way to many folks cost themselves a lot of money by throwing repairable stuff out and just buying new over and over.

sure do agree with all that.. I do the same as you

triana1326 · #73 11/21/06, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer4

Most consumers don't even consider repairing things anymore, even simple things like appliances. There are constantly working appliances on freecycle being given away, most likely some have just been replaced with a newer version with more gizmos ( which as I told my wife, won't load or unload or put the clothes away for you ). Some of the appliances on freecycle just need a bit of repair, but folks would rather go out and buy new ones on their credit card instead of paying a service person to come fix their current appliance.

Along this vein - The metal part that holds in the mixing paddle on our bread machine just broke. DH and I can't figure out how to repair it, so I called the company to buy a replacement basket. First the guy tells me that it would just be easier to go to Malwart and buy a new machine, even though mine works fine. I told him that it seems wrong to me to toss out a perfectly good machine that only needs a replacement part. He then tells me that the model is now "obsolete" and that they no longer make replacement parts. So what am I supposed to do? I'm going to look on Freecycle and Craig's list, but I refuse to set foot into Wallyworld just to buy a new machine. Frustrating

cindyc · #74 11/21/06, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by triana1326

Along this vein - The metal part that holds in the mixing paddle on our bread machine just broke. DH and I can't figure out how to repair it, so I called the company to buy a replacement basket. First the guy tells me that it would just be easier to go to Malwart and buy a new machine, even though mine works fine. I told him that it seems wrong to me to toss out a perfectly good machine that only needs a replacement part. He then tells me that the model is now "obsolete" and that they no longer make replacement parts. So what am I supposed to do? I'm going to look on Freecycle and Craig's list, but I refuse to set foot into Wallyworld just to buy a new machine. Frustrating

Might be able to get a cheap one on ebay if you just need replacement parts?
Cindyc.

jnap31 · #75 11/21/06, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pcdreams

Gosh Jnap, Are you sure we're not related? Sounds exactly like something my family would say.. and what I plan to do

LOL I am sure we are related if we went back a few generations everyone is. I look forward to meeting you sometime after I get back I have been meaning to pm you my phone number if you dont already have it.

jnap31 · #76 11/21/06, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammer4

I mostly mean major appliances, washers/dryers, freezers, refrigerators, most working or needing minor repairs....I got a set for the inlaws to use for free from freecycle...the dryer needed a $ 5 knob, the washer had a small leak we patched with superglue and epoxy. I know some folks aren't 'handy' but way to many folks cost themselves a lot of money by throwing repairable stuff out and just buying new over and over.

Our dryer was $6 at the livestock auction, wish I had not bought it now. I thought it would be good incase it rained a few days straight but last month DW started using it instead of the cloths line and doubled our electric bill. Oh I dont watch TV that must be one of the reasons I dont have the urge to spend my $ I never thought of what you said about commercials.

#77 11/22/06, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jen74145

Hah hah, lonelytree, the boat is all part of your "sustainable aquaculture foodsourcing program", doncha know? lol

Actually you are pretty close. We took King Salmon, Silver Salmon, lake trout, pike, arctic char, grayling and whitefish with it last summer. I still have some fish left in the freezer. We almost took a black bear and a moose. My true goal is to enjoy my family and friends. One friend assured me that after the last 2 summers of building his log home that we would be filling his freezer next summer. Sometimes I wonder just how much these fish are per pound though. I do place a high price on my sanity. Exploring and fishing are very theraputic for my soul. Anchorage is only 2 hours away from Alaska you know. We have few roads. Bush Alaska is accessable VIA plane, boat or wheeler.

How do you get approval for a boat? You tell your spouse that you want an airplane.

pcdreams · #78 11/22/06, 06:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jnap31

LOL I am sure we are related if we went back a few generations everyone is. I look forward to meeting you sometime after I get back I have been meaning to pm you my phone number if you dont already have it.

I look foward to that also..

daycab · #79 11/22/06, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

Okay, I just got back from camping out in front of Best Buy for three days….whew, what a trip! But, it was worth it, I got my X-Box! So, what’s this thread all about?

LOL!!!!