We don't have to buy stuff.

starbright · November 25, 2008, 11:23am

This xmas we hope to repeat last xmas and give ‘experiences’ rather than ‘things’. Okay, that and food. The idea being we already have too much stuff, much of it we don’t use. Examples under our tree included a gift certificate for a massage, purchased sailing lessons, a glass-blowing lesson offered in the workshop of a neighbor craftsman, and tickets to a family show.

Other examples might include purchasing a few hours of a cleaning person/personal organizer/dog groomer/nail designer, an introductory flight lesson, gift bundle from the local movie theatre, an online subscription to something, home-made coupons redeemable for chores/babysitting/cooking etc., tickets to a sporting event or concert, a stay at a B&B or an art workshop offered in your community.

Lots of ways to ‘stimulate’ the economy, if that’s your issue, without accumulating more stuff.

Novelisto · November 25, 2008, 1:15pm

Starbright: My dh had one of those ‘introductory flight lessons’ – wound up getting a license and a plane! Some serious ‘stuff’ indeed!

Just be careful…

emeraldkity4 · November 25, 2008, 1:18pm

* getting a license and a plane! Some serious ‘stuff’ indeed!*
That reminds me somehow of the girl who awoke to find a room full of horse manure
“I know there is a pony in here, someplace!”

lje62 · November 25, 2008, 3:19pm

I like your ideas starbright. I have given Broadway tickets from time to time but it is harder to do now with kids in Boston most of the time…

My grandmother had a lot of gaudy stuff that none of us liked. We donated most of it to charities…when we cleaned out her place after she passed away , I found a copy of " The Joy of Sex " I was so amused that my grandmother owned it, so I had to take it home.
My husband’s step-father is always sending awful junk over to us…drives me nuts. He means well and all , but what am I going to do with Swedish cookbooks circa 1970 ?

SlitheyTove · November 25, 2008, 3:36pm

There’s a fellow in the San Francisco area who is an urban farmer. People with backyard to spare let him grow crops on their land; he, in turn, pays them with a basket of some of the produce. I wish we had something similar in our area!

In the meantime, I covet this:

violadad · November 25, 2008, 3:50pm

That scenario reminded me of “Good Neighbors” shown on PBS years back (originally aired in Britain as “The Good Life”) about a suburban couple in an upscale neighborhood that bag consumerism and turn their home into a small subsistence farm. Hilarious, with a great cast: Tom Briers as the husband, Felicity Kendall as the wife, and Paul Edington and Penelope Keith as the long suffering neighbors.

Barter for the DVD if you can, or trade some stuff for it.

sueinphilly · November 25, 2008, 4:17pm

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My philosophy exactly. I have an mp3 player, but it only cost $40 more than a year ago (could get it for $20 now). Have had the same cell phone for 2 years (still works).

My winter boots are hand me ups from my son. Mr bigfoot outgrew these when he was 11 (he’s 19 now). I love em. I got a new hat and gloves (brand new) at a yard sale - $3.

My most expensive consumer item of the year… $100 microwave to replace the 1984 model that bit the dust. I’ve spent more on maintaining my car than on ‘stuff’.

Bottled water - big consumer scam. VERY few people in the US live where tap or well water is not potable.

BunsenBurner · November 25, 2008, 4:28pm

Yes on bottled water being the biggest scam ever invented (besides the subprime mess). A Brita filter will take care of any chlorine and/or metal ions present in tap water. Love my little Brita pitcher! Boiling also removes chlorination.

anothermom2 · November 25, 2008, 4:36pm

I keep my things for a long time. That korvets stereo was around for over 20 years, and was donated in working condition to a charity. I don’t know where they’ll find 8 track tapes, but the radio and turntable worked (oh–no more records too…)

I have a 20 plus year microwave that is still going in my office. I had to recently replace an old hair dryer, and they are actually better now.

I got a few boxes of my mom’s stuff when she passed on. The good stuff is all out, but it was china and a few nick nacks. I still have some more in the boxes, and when I really miss her, I give myself a gift from her boxes. I suppose one day I will throw out her pincushion, but for now it isn’t hurting anyone.

QuantMech · November 25, 2008, 4:38pm

I may be the only person on CC to put in a good word for bottled water, but . . . . At our old house, the well became contaminated. We were never able to identify the cause unambiguously–could have been an agricultural source, could have been connected with the replacement of the pump, could have happened when the house was vacant in the summer, during a research trip. We didn’t know that it had happened for quite a while. We were occasionally, but rarely ill–we didn’t drink the water at home very much. However, the dog developed digestive problems; he remained good-natured and had a normal life span, but he had obvious “bouts” of something. The vet couldn’t figure it out.
Our current dog drinks Dasani. No joke.

barrons · November 25, 2008, 5:47pm

I like bottled water. It’s tasty, handy and portable so I drink more water than the soda I used to drink so it’s healthier too. At around $2 week I’ll keep buying it. And never a broken glass.

The_Mom · November 25, 2008, 8:29pm

Not into “stuff” much. Are one of few families in neighborhood who can actually put 2 cars in 2 car garage daily!!

But, all 4 of us have an ipod, cellphone, own pc. However, all are OLD. My H finally replaced his 15 year old cellphone when he could no longer get a replacement battery, I am on original cellphone (5 years so far) and my oldest S still has the ipod w/4 buttons, no scroll wheel. He has replaced the battery once, but won’t consider a newer one. We like being “different.” ;-)

BunsenBurner · November 25, 2008, 8:58pm

^We fit our 3 cars into our 3-car garage, and the neighbor joked that it was un-American (he only stores his precious vintage car in his since his garage is full of cr@p).

sueinphilly · November 25, 2008, 9:07pm

cell phone from 15 years ago??? how big is that thing???

bottled water is fine if your well is contaminated. I guess maybe buying the 5 gallon jugs is more economical and less wasteful.

cptofthehouse · November 25, 2008, 9:09pm

I have stopped buying bottled water, but it makes it more of an effort to drink what I should be drinking. With the little half pint bottles, it was easy to keep track of the amounts and it also tasted better. Kept them in the frig so they were always cold. Could just grab one as I left the house. I could get the grandmoms to drink what they are supposed to be intaking as well with the little bottles. Otherwise, they drink very little water. My MIL was in much better shape here and had far fewer issues when she was drinking 40 ounces a day. No idea what she drinks anymore.

anxiousmom · November 25, 2008, 9:32pm

I bought a stainless steel water bottle (made in china but the company who makes them claims that they check the quality frequently…) and use that for water now. works well, and is reusable. I keep it in the fridge at work.

Allmusic · November 25, 2008, 9:34pm

I use a Brita, and fill BRA free bottles. Takes about five minutes in the a.m.

starbright · November 25, 2008, 9:35pm

We believe in bottled water. Water is the best drink around and having it in a bottle is convenient and you drink more that way (and probably drink less crap).

But I use my own dish-washerable bottles. At all the local schools, kids use their own bottles. Most of my students at the uni I’m at use their own. You turn the tap and refill. Seems a lot easier than buying bottles, throwing out bottles, carrying full bottles if you can refill elsewhere.

I guess I just don’t get why someone would want to keep buying a new bottle over and over again.

Columbia_Student · November 25, 2008, 10:02pm

I use stainless steel water bottle. My kids fill them in the morning with filtered water from the fridge. Bottled water is not always safe.

[Some</a> bottled water toxicity shown to exceed law](<a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/14/MNGV13H0L4.DTL]Some”>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/14/MNGV13H0L4.DTL)

ucsd_ucla_dad · November 25, 2008, 10:23pm

A real tell-tale for ‘stuff buying’ is what people are buying in cars nowadays.

My daily driver, a 1966 Mustang, has no power seats, no power windows, no GPS unit, no satellite radio or even CD or tape player (it’s only an AM radio). It has no power release trunk (or the equivalent power hatch on SUVs), no HID headlights, no cruise control, no air conditioning (for that I open a window or put the top down), no automatic temperature control, no heated seats (not needed in San Diego anyway), no power side mirrors, no lighted vanity mirror, no leather seats (remember vinyl?), no DVD player, no OnStar, no burglar alarm, no power doorlocks, etc. It also is missing some safety equipment - no airbags, no anti-lock brakes (and didn’t even have disc brakes until I converted the drums to disc for dafety), no stability control, etc.

Yet somehow, I’ve managed to drive it for 25 years or so and it was old when I bought it. My point isn’t to advocate buying old cars (although I like them) but rather, nowadays many people don’t think twice about buying the ‘Nav package’ for an additional $1500-$2500, the ‘leather seat package’ for $2500, the built-in DVD player so their kids can have continuous TV available to them at all times for $1500, etc. yet they end up complaining about the price of new cars.

Houses are similar - not too many years ago a 3000 sq ft house would have been considered huge. Granite countertops would have only appeared in the houses of the very wealthy. Professional ranges only appeared in restaurants and fridges were relatively small. Kitchen cabinets were cheaply made of inexpensive materials and the kitchen was tiny - but adequate for preparing a meal and feeding the family. The master bedroom was adequate to sleep in but weren’t almost an apartment unto themselves like in many of the newer homes today.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind if people purchase these bells and whistles, it’s fine with me, but when you stop to think about what some people are spending on relatively frivolous items it’s pretty interesting. Unfortunately, some of these same people then go on to complain about the price of cars or houses, or the fact that they took out an equity mortgage to buy the car and now they owe too much on their house - especially true when using that method could result in financing the car for 15 or more years yet they go repeat it all again in 5 years and suck all the equity out of their house or they’ve leveraged themselves to the max to get that 3500 sq ft house with a restaurant style range.

But it seems that one person’s luxuries are another’s necessities or at least strong desires. Most of us have some so we should be tolerant if someone else has a different definition of it than us.

We don't have to buy stuff.

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