[HN Gopher] Buy Nothing Day
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Buy Nothing Day
Author : thinkingemote
Score : 135 points
Date : 2024-11-29 18:10 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (buynothingday.co.uk)
(TXT) w3m dump (buynothingday.co.uk)
| WarOnPrivacy wrote:
| All four of us are working today.
|
| So we're not shopping but we can't really do nothing right now.
| After work tho - we fully commit to nothing.
| ninetyninenine wrote:
| You mean move all the things I'm buying today to tomorrow day?
| afgrant wrote:
| It's the same as trying to tell everyone to stop buying
| gasoline for a day.
| cess11 wrote:
| Once a week would be a good start. Like practicing jews do.
| slothtrop wrote:
| Yeah, I don't like these gestures that are tied to a specific
| day. It's blue tribe signaling with no real sacrifice
| necessary.
|
| I believe the "minimalism" movement has been far more
| impactful in the long-run despite fewer adoptees, just by
| being a trend that capitalized on the benefits in its
| messaging. Those who optimize for minimalism consume less,
| but constantly.
| nine_k wrote:
| There are worse things, like switching off light and not
| using appliances for an "Earth hour", while making the power
| grid shedding the excess capacity frantically.
|
| If you want to make a difference, do something small, but do
| it every day.
| portaouflop wrote:
| Some people find it such a challenge to not excessively consume
| they have to dedicate a special day for when they manage to not
| buy something for 24 hours - we're so cooked
| ziddoap wrote:
| I have a sneaking suspicion that the people who excessively
| consume are not the same people trying to encourage others to
| not excessively consume.
| Scene_Cast2 wrote:
| I actually found Black Friday to help me be less focused on
| consumerism during the rest of the year. When I want to buy
| something, I typically jot it down on my "thoughts for BF" list.
| Then, when everyone is having sales, I can dedicate time and
| through the yearly purchases. Also helps prevent impulse
| purchases as well.
| yazzku wrote:
| Exactly. Plus you get all the discounts scavenging on excess
| inventory.
| knowitnone wrote:
| excessive inventory of items you don't really need but buy
| anyway
| skinkestek wrote:
| Well some of us buy exactly what we planned to buy, only at
| cheaper prices, and after verifying with price comparison
| sites.
|
| Beeing unrich[1] for years have given me this skill. I
| don't frivolously spend money.
|
| [1]: wouldn't say poor as I have had a car most of my adult
| life, but _definitely not rich_ , maybe "not always knowing
| in advance how to pay for food towards the end of the
| month" and "being very happy hand me downs" is a good
| explanation?
| Kwpolska wrote:
| That assumes that Black Friday deals are actual deals and there
| was no sneaky price increase two days earlier.
| CharlesW wrote:
| If you're using Amazon, always use camelcamelcamel.com to
| check first.
| Fnoord wrote:
| Or Keepa extension. I also use Tweakers.net pricewatch.
| marcosdumay wrote:
| Add the current price to that list too, and compare it before
| buying.
|
| If the discount is fake, delay buying into March or something
| like that. Prices tend to fall in January/February.
|
| I personally don't do that. But I see people doing it with a
| good amount of success.
| xor42 wrote:
| True, although if you're in the EU, there should be a 30 days
| reference period.
|
| "In all EU countries traders are obliged, when offering a
| discount, to indicate the lowest price applied to the item at
| least 30 days before the announcement of the price
| reduction."
|
| Of course, enforcement of such rules is the problem here. But
| if you notice such discrepancies, you are more than
| encouraged to file a complaint to the shop and then to your
| national agency responsible for the protection of consumers
| if the seller doesn't act in good faith. I was fairly
| surprised to see how well the latter has worked against a
| large company in my Balkan country.
|
| Source:
| https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/unfair-
| treat...
| Kkoala wrote:
| Yeah, some just increase the price 30 days before black
| Friday though, and then offer a huge "discount"
| ozim wrote:
| I heard some even go as far as increasing price slowly in
| period of 6 months before BF. To drop it on that day as
| discount.
| fy20 wrote:
| How does Amazon get around this?
| Foobar8568 wrote:
| camel for Amazon, and in Switzerland, we have toppreise.
| One major online store is also providing full price history
| (digitec/galaxus).
| sharpshadow wrote:
| There are ways to circumvent that.
| layer8 wrote:
| A better trick is to do the same but not actually jot it down
| on the list. Then you're more likely to completely do without
| it.
| jrajav wrote:
| It is possible to have discipline, and _also_ still spend
| your hard earned money on hobby purchases that bring you joy
| and fulfillment.
|
| Complete abstinence has a philosophical purity but humans
| weren't meant to live like monks.
| lukan wrote:
| "Complete abstinence has a philosophical purity but humans
| weren't meant to live like monks."
|
| They were rather meant to hunt for black friday deals and
| dive into consumerism?
|
| I'd say, I don't know and suspect no one knows how we are
| meant to live. We can just find out and decide ourself.
|
| (I've met monks who were way more content, than your
| average consumer, but it is not my way of living either)
| layer8 wrote:
| My point is that if you really need it, you'll remember on
| Black Friday without the list. But you won't buy stuff just
| because you put it on the list. I certainly don't advocate
| for complete abstinence.
|
| As for joy and fulfillment, I'd rather advocate to _not_
| delay it until Black Friday. What you have to spend for
| that is very unlikely to just by chance happen to hinge on
| Black Friday savings.
| kaonwarb wrote:
| I aim for the same approach. Yes, you have to make sure they
| are real sales. An easy if imperfect way is to jot down the
| current price when you first want to buy the thing, then
| compare what you see on "sale." (As someone else suggested,
| camelcamelcamel.com is great for Amazon price history.)
|
| Used prices also tend to go down during sale periods
| proportionally.
| linsomniac wrote:
| Or: See if those things I buy regularly anyway are on sale day?
| knowitnone wrote:
| Everyday is buy nothing day. Then buy only thing you _need_ is
| food. Clothing, shoes are my only purchase and those are used.
| Most expensive purchase are glasses which I keep for over 5
| years. Stop with the consumerism - > ego -> hubris.
| mckn1ght wrote:
| Pfft, look at this one that _buys_ their food instead of
| growing/hunting/foraging it. Just another mindless sheep
| suckling at the teet of profit seeking corporations! And I'm
| sure you built whatever computer you typed your comment on from
| pure raw materials, and then programmed the OS yourself?
|
| These kinds of purity tests have absurd logical conclusions.
| Why not view people with a little compassion and grace?
|
| Look, I'm all on board with reducing consumerism but AFAICT you
| have plenty of ego and hubris of your own. (Hint: if you're
| trying to control others, you have ego.)
| Loughla wrote:
| It's not about buying nothing, to me.
|
| It's about being aware of what you're buying to avoid extreme
| consumerism. If you literally don't buy anything at all, what
| do you do for fun and entertainment?
| MarcelOlsz wrote:
| What a perfect website to launch on my birthday haha.
| henry2023 wrote:
| HBD!
| IAmGraydon wrote:
| So edgy!
| dang wrote:
| Related. Others?
|
| _Buy Nothing Day_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38398548 - Nov 2023 (2
| comments)
|
| _Buy Nothing Day_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29347827 - Nov 2021 (3
| comments)
|
| _Adbusters: 25 Nov. Buy Nothing Day_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13037015 - Nov 2016 (2
| comments)
|
| _Buy Nothing Day_ -
| https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13036942 - Nov 2016 (2
| comments)
|
| _Buy Nothing Day_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4822951
| - Nov 2012 (77 comments)
| jasonsb wrote:
| Lately, I've found it more satisfying to discover a reason not to
| buy something than to actually go through with a purchase. Now if
| I get an amazing deal on something that I really need, that's
| also nice, but most of the time it's just more rewarding to avoid
| buying unnecessary crap.
| Loughla wrote:
| I regularly attend auctions because I buy, restore, and sell
| vintage woodworking tools as a side gig.
|
| The number of people who buy things _only because the deal was
| really good_ is astounding. You didn 't save any money if you
| don't need the thing you spent money on. I do not, have not,
| nor will I ever understand that mindset.
|
| My family, unless the thing we need is an actual emergency,
| writes it down on a whiteboard on the fridge. If we still need
| it 30 days later, we start setting price alerts and cruising
| eBay and other auction sites. If it survives the month long
| cooling off period, if we can't find it for half price we
| definitely don't need it.
|
| And as a bonus, we've gotten really good at finding things we
| actually do need for cheap when we actually need them (like
| school supplies or food and the like).
| itronitron wrote:
| In Austria, they call that Sunday.
| mcdeltat wrote:
| Related to consumerism; I would recommend reading the book "The
| Perfection Trap", which has an interesting take on the
| intersection between our economy and mental health. It really
| explained a lot for me, kind of an "aha" moment. Regardless of
| whether you strictly agree with every point made in the book, it
| does make you cast a critical eye to where we are headed on our
| current path of consumerism.
| keybored wrote:
| Hundreds of years of developing a global market economy where
| every participant is ever-more interconnected and unable to
| sustain themselves just based on their own group, families and
| wider community, culminating in the ultimate ideological reverse:
| blaming the leaf node participants for the economy that _they_
| are subject to. Not a contradiction but a demonstration of the
| fact that the leaf nodes are not the powerful entities in the
| system; the true powers that be are capable of the bizarre feat
| of blaming Joe Average for ruining the world.
|
| Any Call To Action that can be circumvented by buying all you
| need for the week on Tuesday so that you can By Nothing On Friday
| is just part of that ideological problem.
| Animats wrote:
| As we enter the holiday season, always remember that Christmas
| has two Ss in it, and both of them are dollar signs.[1]
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5IXlfJSEi4
| Freak_NL wrote:
| Black Friday is one of those imported things we could do without.
| Did you know shops in the Netherlands are now massively
| participating in Black Friday? We didn't even have this 'event'
| ten years ago.
|
| Because of our Sinterklaas gift giving event on 5 December people
| would have been out shopping for presents in any case (like Xmas
| presents, just earlier and with the OG Santa instead of the Coca
| Cola dude), so in terms of footfall it doesn't change much, but
| it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up I guess.
|
| Refreshingly, one national household items chain (Dille &
| Kamille) closed its store in my town today, with a notice stating
| the staff was out picking up litter around the city centre
| instead of submitting to the consumerist Black Friday phenomenon.
| Interesting, but on-profile for their brand. Good deeds are a
| marketing opportunity too of course.
| nntwozz wrote:
| The problem with consumerism is a function of money and
| capitalism, in a perfect world where everything is made 100% free
| and fair and with no environmental impact the consumption
| behavior would be the same (or even worse).
|
| Would we still consider it a problem then?
|
| In Star Trek there is no money and you can replicate whatever you
| need/want.
|
| Is that utopia or are we still doing something wrong?
| sharpshadow wrote:
| The more people participate in Buy Nothing Day the bigger the
| urge for even higher sales on Black Friday. It's a win win.
| nkrisc wrote:
| My new favorite holiday. Let's import it to the US.
|
| 'Tis the time of year when people love to give me and my family
| loads of shit we don't want or need. And then it becomes my job
| to figure out how to best dispose of it all. They've given me the
| best gift of all, another chore I hate.
|
| And then I'm obligated to _guess_ what shit other people want
| when they're perfectly capable of getting it for themselves if
| they want.
|
| I like the family gatherings. I like seeing everyone and talking
| and laughing with them. I really do enjoy it. But I dread the
| part when it's time to open all the wrapped up shit no one really
| needs.
|
| Even as a kid it made me uncomfortable but I didn't know why.
| Looking back I see it was because even then I was realizing I
| didn't need more toys and I was learning that even if I enjoyed
| it or wanted it, that feeling was fleeting and I would soon
| forget about it. It began to see how wasteful it all was and
| realize I was happier just not getting more crap I didn't
| actually need.
|
| No more shit-giving this holiday, just enjoy each other's
| company.
| incrudible wrote:
| Consumption is good, actually.
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