Kiwi Self Improvement: Consoomerism edition -

[The_Dank_Astero]

Hello fellow Kiwis!

As from the Consoomerism thread here, the one that started it all.

Consoomers / Consoomer Culture

You have summoned me. Forgot there was a consoomer thread. I posted this in the Reddit thread but didn’t realize we had a thread for this. Anyways, I saw this post on r/consoom (one of last good subreddits left) and it got me thinking. This is a big reason why rock will never be truly popular...

kiwifarms.net

What is Consoomerism?

Consumer culture and you: What qualifies as consoomerism and what doesnt?

To prevent the thread from being derailed: I have created a thread on what is and isn't consoomerism. So yea. Original thread: https://kiwifarms.net/threads/consoomers-consoomer-culture.85636/

kiwifarms.net

I have decided to start a thread on how to avoid consoomerism. Post some tips, advice and other stuff to share to your fellow Kiwis. I have been aiming for a space like r/ConsumeProduct and r/Consoom here.

A good place to start:

 

[Wingnut]

The easiest way I've found to judge if I should/shouldn't buy something is to look at what else that money could buy you and what you'll get out of it. Is that $30 purchase worth the 2 week's worth of groceries it costed?

 

[nekrataal]

I stopped buying things like games for entertainment when I realized that any and all joy or enjoyment you’d get from them is fleeting.

 

[need shoeonhead nudes]

Stop jerking off.
Make soup and stews in a slow cooker. Do bulk meal prep instead of attempting to cook everyday which can lead to lazy food habits.
Don't buy brand clothes, shop at secondhand stores there's always good, plain stuff.
Ride a horse, a bicycle or walk more.
Raise animals and grow plants, chickens are easy. Turn your lawn into something useful not just a contest with neighbors about how pristine it looks.

 

[Ugandan discussions]

The easiest way I've found to judge if I should/shouldn't buy something is to look at what else that money could buy you and what you'll get out of it. Is that $30 purchase worth the 2 week's worth of groceries it costed?

Martin Lewis (MoneySavingExpert in the UK) refers to a simple mantra:

• Skint? Do I need it? Can I afford it?
• Not skint? Will I use it? Is it worth it?

If any answer is no, don't buy it.

 

[Anon88]

I stopped buying things like games for entertainment when I realized that any and all joy or enjoyment you’d get from them is fleeting.

When it comes to entertainment if your going to consume it at least pirate so you don’t spend anything on it

 

[HymanHive]

Read Robert Cialdini's "Influence: The science of persuasion"

It's all about how marketing and sales influences you on a base level to consooooom. Most of the stuff will be obvious for non-mongs but there are some dirty little tricks in there that are worth knowing.

As others have said, don't buy it, unless you need it. Write a list of what you need when you go shopping, don't buy anything else.

 

[Wingnut]

As others have said, don't buy it, unless you need it. Write a list of what you need when you go shopping, don't buy anything else.

This is how I always go to the store. I never go shopping, I go buying.
I know exactly what I need, I go to where it is, get it, and leave, I don't spend 30 minutes wandering the store looking at what else I might want to buy.

 

[Ugandan discussions]

I stopped buying things like games for entertainment when I realized that any and all joy or enjoyment you’d get from them is fleeting.

See this seems like the wrong approach to me. Money is a tool, and once you've addressed your subsistence expenditure and made preparations for the future then surely the best thing is to use it for the things that bring you joy - whether that is holidays, nice clothes, collectables or whatever. Fleeting joy is still joy, and better than no joy at all.

The issue with consoomerism is not with the consooming per se, but rather the way in which it consumes and becomes the individual's identity.

 

[knobslobbin]

If this isn't a guide on how to score a PS5 immabe pissed.

 

[LinkinParkxNaruto[AMV]]

-You don't need to signal boost every purchase you make on social media, ask and answer yourself truthfully if you are truly only buying something so you can milk likes by telling other people you bought it and then going to forget about it. This is how a lot of people end up in the coonsoom threads, they don't even want the product, they want the validation for having that product then they need more dopamine and validation by buying more and more.

-You can like something without buying merch, you can like a band without the shirt, you can like an anime without the 300$ posable figurine of the prota, you can like a movie without getting 10 funkos from it, and so on. Is the obsession with covering themselves in merch that fuck fanboys and otakus up the most. "i like X, so i need to make X a big part of my identity, and the more of X i buy the stronger i signal that i am a true X fan"

-The very top tier price brackets on most things tend to be a scam. Ex: with computers, the most expensive builds are always an overkill and a waste of money, past a certain point you are simply burning money for little to no advantage from the mid tier price bracket. You might be paying 100% more more for only 5% improvement, thats not a good deal and is there to be rich people bait.

 

[melty]

I lol'ed at keeping an inventory of everything you own so you don't buy the same thing more than once. If you're buying the same thing more than once you probably have too much shit and should get rid of it since you can't even keep track of your shit. Ironically getting rid of a lot of your stuff can help with consooming as you feel really silly about all the shit you bought that you don't actually need and realize how fleeting a feeling consooming is. But some people get rid of stuff just to get more.

I agree getting off social media and not window shopping really help, amazing how many "needs" I suddenly have when I look at those things that go away when I don't.

I like to look at subs like r/consoom and hoarders types subs, as well as our thread here and cows like Hamberlynn and Kai, inspires me to not be like them. They just do the same mindless stuff over and over, always acting like these new purchases are amazing before shoving them in a closet never to appear again.

You don't have to look at it from a money perspective necessarily, it's a lifestyle benefit to not be on the consoomer treadmill and have a lot of things you have to maintain, move, clean, just generally think about. I don't have trouble finding anything because I know where everything is, if I can't find it immediately I just don't have it. That's really nice.
Unfortunately I don't do as good a job as I wish, I just bought some computer stuff and while I think I'm trying to make a unique project it's mainly vanity stuff.

 

[Erika Furudo]

I stopped buying things like games for entertainment when I realized that any and all joy or enjoyment you’d get from them is fleeting.

Isn't all entertainment? The issue with videogames isn't that you get bored it's that you don't get any skills out of them. I mean I get nothing by posting on KF, but here we are. I just recognize that, and I don't intend to go through life with only things that give skills, I mean I could learn the piano instead of games or KF, but it wouldn't really do anything, I'm never going to go pro with it or somehow meet the love of my life just because she likes the piano or something. Games help me burn off stress, the only reason I don't play them much anymore is games are a consumerist hobby where I depend on other people making them, and the people in question decided to try and bleed me dry via microtransactions, while also preaching woke BS.
When I have more free time I will 100% go back to playing old classics, some aged really well.

 

[garakfan69]

- never pre-order
- never be an early adopter
- never pay over 600$ for a gaming pc

 

[NoReturn]

Think about the entire life cycle of anything you buy and understand that when you "vote with your dollar" your data point does matter.
Also, your frontal lobe isn't fully developed until you're about at least 25, so don't feel too bad about the dumb shit you did before the age of ~27. Regardless of age, just focus on getting better and not making the same mistakes twice.

 

[Cup Noodle]

Ride a horse.

I've owned a horse before. Unless you have plenty of land and intend to use it often you are better off with a car. Horses are a great way to burn money. I agree with everything else though. My front yard is a vegetable garden.

When it comes to entertainment if your going to consume it at least pirate so you don’t spend anything on it

See this seems like the wrong approach to me. Money is a tool, and once you've addressed your subsistence expenditure and made preparations for the future then surely the best thing is to use it for the things that bring you joy - whether that is holidays, nice clothes, collectables or whatever. Fleeting joy is still joy, and better than no joy at all.

The issue with consoomerism is not with the consooming per se, but rather the way in which it consumes and becomes the individual's identity.

I saw a statistic once and I don't remember the exact numbers, but It's something like if you have zero debt and a ten dollar bill in your pocket you are richer than like 90% of Americans. I agree that if you have excess money it's not necessarily bad to have fun with it, but most people don't. If you owe someone or some entity money you go to work for them every day and every dollar you spend on something needless just puts you further away from freedom from your debt slavery.

Unfortunately I don't do as good a job as I wish, I just bought some computer stuff and while I think I'm trying to make a unique project it's mainly vanity stuff.

I want to build my kids the ultimate gaming computer. I can justify it in my mind because when they aren't gaming I'll have it mining. What I can't justify is the scalper prices for top level cpu and gpu's. I'm just going to hold off for now and wait for the supply/demand ratio to normalize.

- never pay over 600$ for a gaming pc

That's going to be a hard one. The pc I'm on right now had a msrp over $600 and it doesn't even have a graphics card. I bought it on clearance something like 40% off. I remember that the whole thing cost me what the cpu would have cost at the time by itself. With today's market you can't even get a decent gpu for under $500.

Here's a mantra I heard somewhere and adopted.
Use it up. Wear it out. Make do or do without.

 

[Sped Xing]

Stop jerking off.

Masturbation is only consumerism if you like fanta.

 

[garakfan69]

today's market you can't even get a decent gpu for under $500.

I don't even have a discrete GPU anymore.
The integrated graphics in my 2400G are enough.

You don't need to play everything with max settings - it won't make the game more fun.

 

[atleast3letterslong]

Use the library for movies and tv they have almost everything worth watching

 

[Onion Guide]

Removing ads from every part of your life really helps. If you're good at googling things and following instructions then I can't recommend a Pi-hole enough. It's a DNS sinkhole that fucks all ads off everything on your network for good. Also, don't let AI's decide what media you should consume (think youtube, doom scrolling, reddit etc). Take back control over what media you are exposed to and watch yourself quickly lose interest in any of it. That shit is designed to be as addictive as possible.