I just realized that i spend a large portion of my income on consumables
I have a minimum wage job and live in a cheap apartment, so my money goes to: rent utilities car insurance health insurance food gas smokes and leaves me with very little to save which i usually spend on going out or games / small collectibles.
Is this a kind of modern "trap" designed to keep people poor, or am I just wasting money for no reason, how can i escape this?
Obviously i need to save more money but its difficult to save when you make not a lot and most of it goes towards things that will be recurring costs. Food, rent, smokes, bills, gasoline, even toilet paper can't be re-used.
Hell even my computer chair's armrests are broken right now, it didn't even last me two years.
And then in TV, movies, games etc they seem to encourage buying more consumables, there's even a character in Dota 2 who has a line when you buy consumables, "One use is all i'll need!" but its never just one use...
Ryan Sanders
Come on friends someone must know how to escape consumable hell
Camden Carter
grow a garden and farm animals
Mason Reed
stop smoking, dummy
Zachary Gutierrez
Move back in with your parents and stop buying stupid shit til you get a better job. Pirate games and stop buying collectibles, smoke rollies or ecig or stop smoking. Ride a bike if you can get around with one where you live and apply for food stamps if you qualify. It is the trap a lot of my friends are in
William Collins
Where do u live? How much is your rent a month?
Isaac Brown
This is a great start, monitor your expenses to the penny, reduce your expenses in the areas you consider unnecessary or unfruitful. Everyone is going to have to buy certain consumables unless they want to live on a farm, and then they have other expenses including a massive time investment.
Christopher Wood
Don't buy shit. Stop smoking. Try and downsize to somewhere cheaper if you can. Try and get a better job.
Isaac White
Learn how to cook Get a roommate Stop smoking Shop at thrift stores Only buy groceries on sale or in bulk Get a second job as a hobby Collect stocks
Aaron Watson
Only frugal-tards will tell you that consumables are 'traps'. Consumables are luxuries. If abstaining from pleasures in life and counting pennies and wasting time gets you off then go for it. If you can't afford to live luxuriously then cut down on it.
We're living in the best age yet and it'd be a fucking shame to waste it.
The only thing you need to worry about is balance. Save enough for the future and don't go overboard on spending. Enjoy life.
Levi Barnes
if you are not a troll then kys
Brayden Harris
>thrift stores
Ever since hipsters discovered them 4-5 years ago they're hit and miss. I've seen things in thrift stores priced near or slightly higher than brand new believe it or not
>YOLO
The ability to delay pleasure is a sign of strength and maturity
Children do what feels good
Justin Adams
>The ability to delay pleasure is a sign of strength and maturity
Pinching pennies and living in squalor is not strength or maturity, it's just plain stupid. Besides, the studies you reference state that those who can delay gratification are more likely to succeed, not that they're strong or mature. I'm guessing you're associating those attributes to justify your penny-pinching habits that serve as your hobby. It's mental masturbation, just like the nofap garbage that isn't rooted in science.
>Children do what feels good
Hilariously, one of the studies was done on children who were able to delay gratification.
But again, let's remember that it's *delaying* gratification, not abstaining.
Aiden Roberts
On thrift stores-- If you are talking about reselling, I wouldn't say that's because of hipsters. What's driving price increases is the proliferation of the smartphone. If you want to find a good deal at thrift stores nowadays, It's not hard at all if you are knowledgeable about your niche. You need to be able to beat a 5-second web search.
If you are talking about clothes, then you'll have to shop around. There's a lot of variability between stores. Salvation Army where I live is pretty expensive, but Goodwill and the local thrift stores in the suburbs are a lot more affordable for textiles.
Henry Reyes
I fell for the consumerist meme and blew all my wages on shit I didn't need ,mostly video games even though I already had more than enough ,then I realised I've been working for years and I've got nothing to show for it.
Now I have a totally different mindset ,if I want to play a certain game I just download it and burn it on a CD-R,if I want to watch a movie I watch it online for free (I buy the occasional DVD because they are dirt cheap) my phone is second hand on pay as you go so monthly payments are tiny compared to a contract ,I bought my tv for like £80 off eBay and it's a 1080p 40" plasma ,my sound system is ancient but it was all free and I've had it for years ,my car is second hand and paid for in full,there's just nothing I need so I never buy anything other than living expenses.
You just need to live within your means and stop lusting after the latest gadget,stop paying subscriptions for shit like sky or Netflix ,all your entertainment can be free now which leaves you more money to save up and spend on real world experiences like holidays ,resturants etc
Aaron Hernandez
Smart phones and internet shopping are competition, that should drive prices down not up. The solution to 5 second searches is to offer better prices, not to raise them
Ian Morgan
No idea what made you people think it was a good idea to move out when you only have a min wage job or that fact that you'd stayed at a min wage job when you moved out.
Xavier Smith
I can't fault you for trying to apply economic principles to the situation, but frankly, you're wrong. I am sure you are going to ask me why but I don't care to think it out for you right now.
Nathan Barnes
>Pinching pennies and living in squalor is not strength or maturity, it's just plain stupid.
To reach short term goals more quickly it's worth it. I call tell you from experience that will power to do so absolutely takes strength and maturity. I'm the only person in my circle of friends with a home paid off as a result. Although that circle has become smaller as a result.
Also I wasn't referencing any study. I don't need a study to tell me people who don't have the ability to delay gratification are immature. You can learn this through sacrificing to meet an extremely difficult goal you set for yourself, dealing with children in real life outside of 'studies', dating more or all three.
>I'm guessing you're associating those attributes to justify your penny-pinching habits that serve as your hobby.
I wouldn't call it justification, for me anyway, since it's mathematically proven month after month. The justification is the decreasing workload and expanding free time for actual hobbies. It's odd, as you go along you'll find working half of what you used to with the same overall standard of living becomes gratifying in and of itself. The free time and new hobbies are a bonus.
>But again, let's remember that it's *delaying* gratification, not abstaining.
Right. I was basically agreeing with you by adding delaying before you sperged out.
That's a good point. I've never really thought of it like that. I agree, Goodwill is one of the few decent ones left. Unfortunately we don't have many local thift stores where I am.
Jacob Reyes
>remember, it's delaying, not abstaining You retard, delaying gratification is abstaining from little pleasures to grow capital and investments so that in the long term you have the resources for the big pleasures and successes later. You act like you know that and yet contradict it with the rest of your post.
Jonathan Gonzalez
I always find decent stuff for cheap at either a thrift shop or a garage sale. The goal isn't to buy everything there but try to make it your first stop.
When you're trying to start your life out the foundation really needs to be a used crock pot and some 10 cent books.
