Little things that irk you.. (no swearing please)

[Brats]

The 'bargain' culture of this country.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for people getting the most from their income, however I strongly believe that the old adage 'look after the pennies and the pounds willl look after themselves' is wrong. The saying should be 'look after the pounds and you won't have to look after the f*cking pennies!'.

So much these days is about shaving a few pence off every day items, but ignoring the big items. Okay if you are really living on the breadline and the bailiffs are in knocking at the door, then I totally accept that you need to look after everything. But when I've seen middle class people spend a whole day shopping between three supermarkets, because 'Lidl's sell apples for 50p less' (that's a direct quote) then things have gone too far.

All the time it seems that everything is price driven - the concept of quality of product or service is vanishing. People will spend money on websites that sell stuff for a quid less and then complain when the service goes up the ****ter, instead of sticking with somewhere that they can trust that might cost a little bit more. It's false economy to go for the cheapest every time.

Sites like Hot Deals and Money Saving Expert only perpetuate this way of thinking. Martin Lewis in particular is a joke - his site is great if you want to save some pennies on your shopping, but before the banking crash he was strongly advocating putting your savings with Icelandic banks (despite the issues being well known throughout the Financial Services industry).

I am by no means 'well off'. I earn an average wage and my wife doesn't work, which means our joint income is amongst the lowest of the families I know. Yet we have a much better quality of life, because we have made sound investments like securing a ridiculously low mortgage rate by bartering with the banks. Sod the advice of saving some money off a CD, where is the advice to people about doing this, or renegotiating your pension with your employer?

Some might think I'm a snob, but it's not about 'I'm better than you'. I seriously think a lot of people have got their priorities the wrong way around and it frustrates me, particuarly when I see people spending so much effort on saving the small stuff and having to forego other luxuries.

[Jebus]

I don't think I'd use the term "snob", but I think you are being rather judgmental about other people's way of living and the choices they make.

[merf]

i sort of get what Brats is on about but we were discussing only the other day how everybody, regardless of their personal wealth, has something low value that they resent buying.

my personal list is socks, washing up brushes and toilet brushes. I'll go out and spend silly money on headphones, tv's, my car but really resent that £5 for a pack of socks in M&S, half of mine have small holes in.

I'd like to add socks and bog/sink brushes to the irks list, bloody things.

Thing is Brats to paraphrase your post its people are idiots, which really is never that surprising to me.

[Jebus]

I'm not sure I agree that those things make people idiots.

We work all our adult life (most of us anyway) and I don't think it's idiotic for someone to spend more time trawling the web for a bargain on a DVD or game instead of a lower mortgage rate. Sure, the priority there is all wrong, but how someone chooses to spend their free time is up to them.

As I say, If person X chooses to try and find a game cheaper so they can spend their precious little free time enjoying it instead of trying to find a cheaper mortgage etc, then I'm not going to judge them for it. Of course it would make more sense to get the mortgage cheaper because it would free up more income on a regular basis, but not everyone approaches things from such a position of perfect logic.

It's can look grotesque to see people queued up outside a shop waiting for it to open because it's the day of the sales, but if people want to do that, so be it, life is far too short to worry about what other people are doing with their money.

[Brats]

I don't think I'd use the term "snob", but I think you are being rather judgmental about other people's way of living and the choices they make.

I am, but only because I want to shake some people as I think their lives would improve dramatically if they thought about it.

I wouldn't mind so much if it didn't affect me directly, whether it be in a small way like people just moaning about the cost of something small or in a big way like people cancelling going out for a meal together at the last minute because they are having to watch the pennies (yet I know they waste loads of money on big things).

There was an interesting economics study on buying habits and it showed that many people will go out of their way to save small amounts of money on things they use reguarly, yet when it comes to big items (like buying a house for instance) people will waste so much money by not shopping around for estate agents or solicitors.

[Jebus]

But those people aren't going to change and getting upset about it really only makes your own life worse. It isn't your job in life to enrich and improve the lives of others!

What they waste money on though, that's their business. If they value buying a dvd or three more than going out for a meal with you, well, sorry dude but that's life. I can certainly see why that would be annoying or even hurtful, but that's that's just the way things are. It's annoying, but it's their choice to make.

As for people moaning about the price of things, that sounds like someone making conversation, and most people would just indulge them.

Maybe the cancellation of meals is in direct correlation to the anger you show when they complain about the price of things!

[Brats]

We work all our adult life (most of us anyway) and I don't think it's idiotic for someone to spend more time trawling the web for a bargain on a DVD or game instead of a lower mortgage rate. Sure, the priority there is all wrong, but how someone chooses to spend their free time is up to them.

It is up to them and 'idiotic' is too strong a word, but why do so many people think this way? I'm not against the people per se, but against the culture and the things that perpetuate it.

As I say, If person X chooses to try and find a game cheaper so they can spend their precious little free time enjoying it instead of trying to find a cheaper mortgage etc, then I'm not going to judge them for it. Of course it would make more sense to get the mortgage cheaper because it would free up more income on a regular basis, but not everyone approaches things from such a position of perfect logic.

I don't think it's perfect logic, just general common sense. But more websites that are not just about the bargains would help.

It's can look grotesque to see people queued up outside a shop waiting for it to open because it's the day of the sales, but if people want to do that, so be it, life is far too short to worry about what other people are doing with their money.

The sales are a good point. I could understand it if the bargains in there were outstanding, but usually they aren't. Shops know now that people will queue for hours for a perceived sale and they will sell old crap at barely knocked down prices and people will flock to them because they think they are getting a bargain. The shops are treating these people like mugs and it annoys me.

Here's a case in point. Along our road was a little Threshers off licence. For the last four years, Threshers have been selling their wine at 3 for 2 (cheapest one free). They cost of the wine is a bit more than the supermarkets, but the 3 for 2 makes it worth while. I like the shop and enjoyed a natter with the staff and it was always quite pleasant and quiet, so I bought my wine from there.

Unfortunately Threshers decided to close it, probably because it was so quiet. They has a closing down sale where all wine was marked down for 30% instead of the 3 for 2. Now you don't have to be a maths expert to work out that 30% is actually a worse deal that 3 for 2, yet on the week it closed the shop was heaving with people buying up dozens of bottles of 'cheap' wine.

[Brats]

But those people aren't going to change and getting upset about it really only makes your own life worse. It isn't your job in life to enrich and improve the lives of others!

I'd like to think that's all of our jobs. And people can change. I have friends that have taken my advice and are all the better for it.

I find it strange that you are saying 'that's just the way things are' and 'life's too short'. You could say that about absolutely everything in this thread (and you're one of the main contributors to it!). I don't worry about half the stuff that other people do, but this is one area that does irk me and I think it's more worthy of an irk than 99% of the other things that irk most people tbh.

If I'm going to have an irk (and I've never met anyone without one), I'd rather it be a good one.

[Jebus]

Guess you caught me in a good mood, though I don't see what relevance my posting in the thread has really as a lot are related to customer services and a fair few others are in response to other peoples' annoyances, and all but a few times there's always been a hefty dose of humour involved in my own "irks".

I think you misunderstand my reasons for posting in this thread, surely it's just to have a laugh and let off steam when we've been annoyed? I don't expect the world to change because something "irks" me, sadly, whether you believe it or not, that is just the way it is!

[Charlie]

Personally, I'm proud to be thrifty and I'm proud to know money's worth. It doesn't grow on trees and I see nowt wrong in trying to make it go as far as possible, especially in these economic times.

I think maybe my childhood propogated my monetory philosophy as, growing up, my mother was a single parent with a part time-job looking after 2 children. We didn't have a TV, we didn't have a car, most our clothes and toys were bought from thrift stores, a special treat for us was a stick of liquorice or a sticky bun. Haha. I know that probably sounds like a scene out of Oliver or something but that's genuinely the way it was.

[abigsmurf]

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/823254-mcdonalds-happy-meal-came-with-cigarette

1: she gave a year old baby a McDonalds.
2: they apologised, offered a refund. She took it to the main office, they apologised again, gave her freebies, she rejected it and got all sue happy.
3: what was the baby going to do, get out a lighter and smoke it?
4: she gave a year old baby a McDonalds.

[Jebus]

My son can feed himself

...yet you don't appear to be able to cook food that a one year old baby should be eating.

Apology after apology, refunds, freebies....nope, just cash please!

She turned down an investigation from trading standards because she wanted "more to be done about it". What exactly will she be trying to sue them for though?

Scum of the Earth.

[charlesr]

heheh, he looks like a grumpy old git.

As for the pennies vs pounds thing, I don't get why people spend hours trawling comparison sites to save a few quid here and there, when they could be spending hours either making money or training to make money.

But people only see the short term pain rather than the long term win.

[Decider-VT]

She's obviously slipped it in there herself. She should have been glad that she's conned McDonalds out of a few free meals.

[Kieran76]

My mum buys strange things just because they were on offer. Her pantry and deep freeze are full of thngs like giant tins of peaches and strange cuts of meat. I find it very strange, but I know where I will be heading when the bombs start falling. Some of the stuff she has will be edible come the apocalypse.