You don't need that: Average American spends almost $18,000 a year on nonessentials

They'd blame Generation X, but why start acknowledging their existence now?

 

Tried that shit on my first visit. Harder than a diamond.

 

*Barney voice* GO BACK TO RUSSIA

 

See post above yours.

 

They're not lousy. But they're a lot like Boomers. A lot more than they'd probably care to admit.

It's the generation between Boomers and Millennials - the children of Boomers who were ignored, the parents of Millennials who were spoiled - who carry a lot of the existential angst.

 

Everyone's priorities are different, but it seems to me that economizing on a few big purchases would be more productive and less painful than cutting out lots of regular smaller expenses. Buying a $20-30,000 car instead of a $40-50,000 one (or buying a late-model used car if you want the expensive brand, or not buying one at all until your current one dies), sending kids to a state university instead of a private college, etc., would let people afford lots more restaurant meals, vacations, etc. My wife spends a lot more on grooming than the article says is the average, and I doubt it's all essential, but our two cars are 6 and 18 years old, and that combination of spending & not spending makes us happier. Others' MMV, of course.

 

The widespread availability of credit cards is a relatively recent thing, exploding in the 1980s when many states got into a game that had been more or less kept to places like Delaware. Sure, it's easy to blow cash on non-essentials. But how the hell is buying lunch a nonessential? Yes, you can save money by buying sandwich meats and making your own meals. But if I wanted to save every damn dime I could and clip coupons, I'd be a different person. Tomorrow is promised to no one, so fuck off with living like a spartan. I work hard so that I can blow money on nonessentials. If you don't have the means, then don't do it.

 

These discussions get nowhere because of extreme adjectives like this: spartan

I don't feel like I'm living like a spartan because I buy $0.69 bread instead of the $2.75 loaf. They taste the same to me. Not making an impulse purchase --- choosing instead to wait a few days and see if you still really want it --- is not spartan. Passing on that 14th Bruce Springsteen concert is not spartan. And passing on buying something you don't have the cash for --- instead of charging it and paying interest (essentially grossly overpaying) --- is not spartan. It's smart.

When discussing "doing without" this or "doing without" that, one thing often goes overlooked: What is GAINED. Namely, peace of mind, lack of financial stress, a cushion against a real emergency, etc. To me, such things are priceless.

 

I certainly agree with thrift, but the premise of our economy is production and consumption.

If we all stop consuming - sometimes impulsively - we put our neighbors out of work.

Worst Ponzi scheme ever.

 

Hell, man, I'm not profligate. I've been driving the same truck since 2003. I try not to use my credit cards and am on a good plan to pay them all off within the next three years. But certain things -- like going to Ireland at the end of June with my daughter and girlfriend; or going to see the Steelers host the Rams on Veterans Day weekend in November -- cost more than I can manage without putting them on a credit card. I don't think of that as wasteful. Are they essential? Not really. But they're essential to my idea of living a fulfilling life.

I'm all for living smart. I just don't wanna have to comparison shop for everything. That's a grind that is a stress unto itself.

As for impulse purchases, I have to say that I'm not prone to that. Maybe a book or a magazine, but that's it.

EDIT: by the way, I don't see that the article mentioned perhaps the biggest nonessential purchase: lottery tickets and scratchoffs.

I rarely gamble, mostly because the feeling of losing is way worse to me than how good it feels to win.

 

For a lot of people, yes. Others find fulfillment in getting the most value for the things they buy. A grind to you, a game to them.

 

I can respect that. It's all in the attitude. Case in point: my ex's family is poor, and every time we'd go somewhere to do any shopping, it became a debate about prices of this or that. Her dad, in one unforgettable instance, mocked her for spending $10 to buy me a book about the history of "The Ginger Man," my favorite novel. "$10 for a book?" he sneered.

Holy fuck, I never wanna be like that.