Monday, I wrote about making a game of saving money and competing with the sales people trying to take your money. There were some great comments about how other folks do similar things. What is the most encouraging to me is folks’ stories about ditching the “keeping up with the Joneses” race and focusing on more important things.
It got me thinking about my purchase choices and how my natural tastes tend to be towards more affordable, sometimes even gritty things over sleeker, more popular things. Perhaps it is my teenage punk rock roots coming out, but I think that it can be fun to not only disengage from the Joneses but make an effort to be the polar opposite. Here are the examples I thought of.
Sports
The two sports I play the most are golf and running. For golf, I prefer cheaper clubs that are used and to play exclusively on public courses. I am not a great golfer, so I don’t need to look worse by playing on a tough course wearing Nike from head to toe with a brand new set of Callaway clubs. At least when I play poorly, I can blame the equipment and if I dress in baggy cargo shorts and a beat up polo, people will give me a break. The same applies to running. If I show up in plain mesh shorts and a cotton t-shirt, if I pass anyone, they are impressed. I must concede, however, that on long runs, cotton t-shirts cause chafing issues, so I did have to step it up to wick away shirts for that.
Food
Am I the only one that gets upset when you go to a fancy restaurant and the plate dwarfs the amount of food you receive? Does the presentation really make up for the lack of value? Not for me. In fact, last Valentine’s Day, my wife and I went to a pretty fancy restaurant, stayed in a local hotel and then had a Cracker Barrel breakfast in the morning. The breakfast was way more satisfying for me and I mean that for my taste buds as well as my wallet. Of course, the best for my wallet, taste buds, and waist line is not going out at all, which is the case more often than not.
Alcohol
When it comes to hard liquor, I can’t tell the difference between the plastic bottle stuff and top shelf spirits. Frankly, I don’t really enjoy any of it and when people tell me that it is a travesty to mix certain top shelf liquors with anything, I just have to take their word for it. I will admit that I like to try different beers, however, when it comes to plain old “American style” lager, I dare anyone to do a blind taste test between Miller, Coors, and Budweiser and be able to pick which is which. In fact, I bet most can’t tell the difference between these three brands’ bargain priced beers. Now, I mention proudly that I stock my fridge with low-end brews and the only time I drink liquor is if it is free at a wedding.
Cars
I’m pretty sure I would still have my first car if it were not in an accident. At that time, the stripping around the windshield was held on by duct tape and part of the grill was cracked, but it always passed inspection and ran like a champ. The only upgrade I made was replacing the tape deck for a $60 CD player. I admit, I will shell out some money for my music. I expect my current car to last for many years as well, accident free. I must concede that I have moments where I think about nicer cars, but they pass and then I become proud once more of my trusty car.
Guitars
Although less universal as the other purchases, I prefer cheap guitars. Lucky for me, I started to learn the instrument by emulating Kurt Cobain who played almost exclusively cheap guitars. Just like with sports, growing up, the kids that had nice guitars needed to be able to play very well because if they couldn’t they would be discredited in our music scene very quickly. In the same way that cars are supposed to get you from one place to another, a guitar is meant to make music. Having people drool over the price you spent on either is a very distant second, if even desirable at all.
Obviously there is a market for high items in these categories, but I am not part of it. I enjoy being able to identify with the lower end options in the same way that others identify with the higher end. Now the trick is getting this attitude I have for these categories to apply to others and I will be all set!
Do you have certain consumer categories that you prefer lower end products? Are you as proud of them as you would be a higher end product?