Biggest scam you didn’t know was a scam

I used to love those catalogues and did buy things, before the internet

That sounds a lot more reasonable! The last few I’ve been to have been all the same people that would be at the wedding. You’re just standing around talking to people about how they met the couple on repeat. Then there’s the hen do which has evolved from a night out to a drawn-out, expensive series of days spent doing forced fun with the same people (well, the same women). Only to go to the wedding to talk to people about the couple…same faces and convos at the baby shower a year later…

I increasingly feel like I’m being forced to spend time with my friends’ friends, than my own friends.

thats the thing, she would dispute this! Because there is a place for everything and everything is in its place.

You wouldnt go into her house and think "Wow, hoarder house!". You would think "what a nice neat home" But the loft is full, they have 5 (yes 5) wardrobes between them, a full linen cupboard with more towels sheets and and duvet covers than your average hotel and they keep buying more stuff. I think the buying comes from boredom and the keeping it comes from guilt at having spent a lot on something that they now dont or cant use.

I think it is more "sunk costs" than hoarding.

Filler
Botox
Mahoosive lip fillers. My daughter is naturally beautiful with lovely lips, yet even she has had them done! Crazy and expensive!

"My mother (married 1970) said it was because usually the wedding was organised by the parents so they controlled the guest list, venue etc and the couple didnt have much input."

That's interesting. I presumed they happened because people got married earlier and sometimes had long engagements so the wedding might have been a long time in the future.

In fairness, engagement parties did used to be a thing. My mother (married 1970) said it was because usually the wedding was organised by the parents so they controlled the guest list, venue etc and the couple didnt have much input. The only thing my mother chose was her dress and flowers. Her and my father were told how many friends they could invite and that was that!

The engagement party was more low key and relaxed and the couple had more of their friends/work mates there who probably wouldnt make the cut for the wedding.

I remember engagement parties until the early 90's, they seemed to die off after that.

Your DM is a hoarder probably, bust most of us are to some extent. With the rug it's the sunk cost fallacy and we all believe it to some extent.

The idea that women need a pink version of everything, and then charging a premium for it.
I buy Bodyglide from sports websites to prevent summer chub rub when wearing dresses. Brilliant stuff. Came in a blue twist up container. Now they have a PINK one, with "For Her" printed on it. It's exactly the same stuff but it's always more expensive. Also razors. I don't care if my razor is pink and I don't want to pay more just because it is.

Yes, I know, but why do they need to use all the toilets is my question? If they only used one, they would have a half each to clean (every other time).

Engagement parties happened even in the 80s and 90s. Not really a new thing.
However, I've only even been to one engagement party in my life and that was ten years ago to a couple who are still not married.

My mother wont throw anything away even if she cant use it if it cost a lot of money.

They had a rug that my father kept tripping on. Not his fault, he has various heallth issues and is almost blind. I kept trying to get her to get rid of it and she said "But it was expensive". It eventually went when he fell and really hurt himself and I got mad and said "Nice that you value your expensive rug over your husbands safety".

I agree that storage solutions are a scam. "Buy more shit to store the other shit you dont need". My mother is always going on about needing more storage, no she needs less stuff! There are four old PC monitors in the loft for example but "they might come in handy one day".

What I meant was - why is the woman cleaning 3 toilets and the man no toilets?

I read recently that all the inventions to save time on domestic drudgery such as washing machines, Hoovers etc that were intended to free up people's time have had the effect of just making us have cleaner clothes and houses, same or similar amount of drudge Also technology was supposed to give workers more leisure time but on the whole workers work full time but technological efficiencies increase profit margins for the business owners.

I always used to laugh how everyone in EastEnders getz married two months after the proposal, with the reception in the queen Vic. But now, I think that's so lovely. So simple, just friends and family around plus a bit of effort. No build up, no drama (well apart from the groom going missing on the stag do and some kind of audacious affair being exposed at the reception...😂)

Well, no, if you're just two people, just decide to only use one of the toilets? The other one would only need to be dusted very occasionally, maybe flushed to check the water is working there...

Well said.

I love Netflix and find it well worth it.
I'm not a member of the gym at the moment. I jog outside, which also has its costs (warmer leggings than you need for the gym, for example), but I'd go back to the gym if I wanted to try something else. We are not active enough in general so gyms are good.

Omg yessss. And since when are we supposed to have engagement parties ON TOP of weddings? Do people really think we care that much about their relationships to get dressed up, buy cards/gifts, travel across town and celebrate their love TWICE?!

Sorry but no, you are wrong
It’s the only bread to eat , I love it

Small-time scam: fabric softener. Not needed, doesn’t do anything.

Don't use it due to eczema in hosuehold.

However have recently read the using it on skirting boards means less dusting - and I have recently found mine to be dusty. Could be something the OP dusting chair legs could look into.

Me too. See also the Kleeneze catalogue. I still have a kitchen step stool that I bought about a hundred years ago from Kleeneze that I use every day. I also have a number of completely unnecessary Kleeneze items that verge on utterly pointless. Betterware and Kleeneze were full of stuff that you could get elsewhere, and if you couldn't it was because it was a useless item, but they were so enthusiastic about every single thing they sold it was quite uplifting 😂

Yes!

A few years ago I told a friend of mine that I couldn't get fit because I couldn't afford a gym membership. He said what about going for a walk/run, doing some bodyweight exercises? Duh! For some reason it hadn't occurred to me that I didn't need the gym.

I do miss the luxury boutique gym trend, though. Does anyone remember that? I loved going to those lovely gyms with the spas and everything. Fantastic. They don't seem to exist anymore. It's all cheapgym, which is OK, but I loved that bit of luxury. And they weren't all that expensive either.

Don't knock it, it worked for the Middletons.

The world around me was and still is worse than the magazines. You'd be called 'milkbottle legs' if you didn't have a tan. Now I live on the continent and have people exclaiming at how pale I am, even when I do have a bit of a tan!

There was a BBC programme with one of the van Tullekens showing that tanned women got more likes on online dating apps. Nothing has changed except awareness of skin cancer...

The kind of exercise provided by physical jobs is often very repetitive and therefore not necessarily beneficial though. Postmen get bad hips, for example. Housemaid's knee...