I do boggle in wonderment at some of the participants on Superscrimpers. Up to their eyeballs in debt but incapable of not spending money. It's like watching a bunch of junkies justify their habit. "This is normal, everyone lives this way", "we need, we must, we have to...".
Everyone seems to think they should be living a millionaire lifestyle - holidays, weekend breaks, designer clothes and accessories, eating out more than they eat in, beauty treatments, redecorating the house over and over...
The thing I note more than anything else is that none of them look particularly content and most of them are interchangable in their consumerism. They don't seem to be nasty people but come across as shallow, superficial and shit-scared of thinking outside the box (or even thinking in it) let alone being seen to be a bit different.
Most of them think quality is something indicated by the price tag on something. They've bought the lie that to be happy, you have to spend money: The more money you spend the happier you will be. If you are spending money and aren't happy, you must need to spend more money. It isn't the consumer lifestyle that is failing to bring happiness, it's just you need to commit to it even more and *ping* you will become happy...
This is a problem, because in order to change really change they would have to challenge the way things are and, after a long time of living a particular way, that's a big thing.
The scrimping army, on the other hand, are folks who really couldn't give a shit about "what the neighbours think". These are people who are comfortable with themselves and who know that spending money does not bring happiness.
One thing that the programme really fails on is its insistence that cheap substitutes are the answer - rather than looking at cutting something out completely until you can afford it. Making more money to cover things you don't need isn't the answer. Juggling finances to get something you don't need isn't the answer.
I can't believe that this week there was a suggestion of using Party Plan selling to make money. Party Plan! Make money out of your friends by trapping them in your living room and pressurising them to buy stuff they don't even want...
*head desk*
Great post - all so very true. Why do young people think they have to have it all straight away? (Oh dear, do I suddenly sound old?). Take a peek at my thrifted 'designer' cushion which I made for my son's new home... £4! I never have cheap substitutes and to my mind the price label rarely reflects the quality xx
ReplyDeleteI've not seen the programme you refer to (I've heard about it), but totally concur with your viewpoint.
ReplyDeleteWhat these stupid people don't understand is that it is THEY who are mostly responsible for the world's current financial crisis. They borrow and borrow without any expectation of paying back. But, of course, it's never their fault; just those nasty bankers (who lend them the money they ask for).
I have been saying to my neighbours for years, that the one thing that really shocks me when I return to the UK for a few days, is that EVERYONE seems so rich. Even out-of-work kids on the street corner wear £200 trainers. It has to go wrong eventually!