Author Topic: "How the other half saves...."  (Read 6645 times)

Ipodius

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"How the other half saves...."
« on: October 18, 2013, 07:50:35 AM »
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/fashion/2013/10/roger_vivier_shoes_on_sale_if_you_know_the_right_person_discount_luxury.html


I saw the headline "How the other half saves" and clicked on it thinking it would tell me about cool, secret investment services for high-net-worth clients....

.... but no, it's about how luxury-good retailers run sales. It amazes me how for so many people the first thing that comes to mind when you say "Saving" is buying things at a discount rather than putting away money.

elaine amj

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2013, 10:03:04 AM »
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/fashion/2013/10/roger_vivier_shoes_on_sale_if_you_know_the_right_person_discount_luxury.html


I saw the headline "How the other half saves" and clicked on it thinking it would tell me about cool, secret investment services for high-net-worth clients....

.... but no, it's about how luxury-good retailers run sales. It amazes me how for so many people the first thing that comes to mind when you say "Saving" is buying things at a discount rather than putting away money.

I saved $500 on a $1000 pair of shoes! Wooohooooo!!!

I prefer to think: I spent the $20 I budgeted and got a much nicer pair of shoes for the money.

Note: I have a anti-Mustachian shoe fetish and $1000 shoes do make me drool. However, not enough to cough up the dough.

stevesteve

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2013, 10:38:31 AM »
On the one hand, it's pretty anti-Mustachian to consider buying $1,000 shoes at $500, but I think the real anti-Mustachianism in this story is the market that wants to buy $1,000 bags but then refuses to buy the model once Paris Hilton 'devalues' the brand (per their example) and instead demands a new product at $1,000.  While those people spending $500 on shoes surely aren't saving anything, they're still doing relatively well compared to those who need their accessories to be expensive and unique solely for the purpose of being expensive and unique.

Brad_H

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2013, 12:07:28 PM »
I save a fortune buy (not) buying drastically slashed items on Amazon. Such as 14k White Gold Princess-cut Solitaire Diamond Stud Earrings that have a list price of $945 but are only $264 right now!

(But if you use the Camelizer browser app you would see from it's price history that it is up from $239; you should get this app if you shop online)

SnackDog

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2013, 06:07:55 PM »
The difference with clothes is that if you know what you are buying, you can actually get clothes which are well made and are worth what you pay, even at a higher than average price.  If you can get them at half price or 70% off (like Nieman Marcus Last Call), they are comparable in price to cheaper, far worse made clothing.

MrsPete

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2013, 07:48:30 PM »
Spending to save.  It's one of my pet peeves. 

I hate-hate-hate it when a clerk at Kohl's or Harris Teeter says, "You saved X amount today!"  I used to try to make the point by saying, "Great. When will it be deposited into my checking account?", which would then confuse the clerk and give me a chance to point out that you save when you deposit money in the bank, not when you buy a new pair of shoes or a bag of Oreos, but they never seemed to understand the point.  Plus it embarrassed my daughters, so I gave up trying to educate the world on that point.


Albert

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2013, 04:04:11 AM »
I think it's fair to say save about purchases which are necessary and which you would have done even if the price was not reduced. For example, if my electrical bill was reduced by 20% I'd call it savings even though I still have to pay the bill.

MrsPete

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2013, 02:50:19 PM »
I think it's fair to say save about purchases which are necessary and which you would have done even if the price was not reduced. For example, if my electrical bill was reduced by 20% I'd call it savings even though I still have to pay the bill.
Yeah, but the places where you'd actually HAVE TO SPEND never point out your "savings" -- and the electric company is one of those places. 

The only places that point out your "savings" are places where you're probably spending more than you actually need to spend.  This is true even at the grocery store.  Rock-bottom items -- dried beans, bread, shred-it-yourself-cheese -- don't tend to be put on sale.  Instead, the things upon which you "save" are potato chips, granola bars, artisan bread from the deli.  We all know we could save more by making the extra stop at the day-old bread store and making homemade snacks.  So it's pretty rare that the "savings" that the cashiers tout are actual savings. 

In reality, it's an ego-stroking thing for people who like to think that they're shopping wisely. 

Forcus

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #8 on: October 23, 2013, 08:43:05 AM »
I hate-hate-hate it when a clerk at Kohl's or Harris Teeter says, "You saved X amount today!"  I used to try to make the point by saying, "Great. When will it be deposited into my checking account

That made me laugh since I just shopped there last weekend. They also have all kinds of super secret coupons, discounts, etc., so who knows what the actual average transaction price is anyways.

weston

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Re: "How the other half saves...."
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2013, 08:48:15 AM »
....  Plus it embarrassed my daughters, so I gave up trying to educate the world on that point.

I don't know. For me embarrassing my daughters is one of my all time favorite frugal activities. Hell, it's so much fun I might even be willing to spend some money on it.