Shops' seasonal tat!

Rather unkind to working class families! As well as the Germany stuff I also have a couple of sets of nursery rhyme lights, they are probably from the 1930s, twisted, cotton covered wires, I think my parents bought them when they were first married in 1937, my aunt also had them. They still work too now I've put a modern plug on, not at all generational wealth, two up, two down house then a council house but people who knew how to not waste money.

Ah! Now this is clear! You are defining “well off” as “has any spare money after bills, mortgage/rent paid and basic food bought.” This makes sense now!

No OP, the majority of people are not living in poverty. However the COL crisis has meant that many people who were “comfortable” with quite a lot of money left over after bills/rent/food now don’t. It means that people who previously were ok are now being pushed into poverty.

It also means that lots of people are having to host /stay at home for “celebration” events (Christmas, Easter, Halloween, summer holidays etc) and as such are prepared to spend a fraction of what they would have done being outside the home, making their home feel more special for that event/time period.

People all have their own set of priorities. Everyone believes their priority list is in the right order.

Often in difficult times, people have to cut back on bigger stuff (holidays, cars etc) so they treat themselves to smaller things they can still afford. Cost of living affects pretty much everyone, but you just slide a bit down the scale. There’s still plenty of people shopping in Sainsburys, but some of them used to shop in Waitrose. Maybe people used to buy their tat in Homesense but now they look in Home Bargains. And so on.

And let's not forget people who save every penny and then die without ever being able to enjoy their nest egg. Like my late father who was stashing money away for a rainy day his entire working life just to drop dead at the age of 45.
Unless you are using a food bank and have no money to switch your cooker on, spend the damn £8 on Easter pajama once a year!

And re my last post - if you were looking for a COL indicator- I’ve been on MN for so long I remember when the “mums wasting money” threads were all about £600-£1000 bags, now things are so shit we’re debating if it’s excessively reckless spending to buy an Easter door wreath.

Can someone please announce they’ve had a £2k bonus which they are going to spend on a bag and can’t decide between a couple of options, and we can get all nostalgic about the “family holiday!” “Buy art!” “I’d simply get a Tescos bag for life and put the rest in my pension.” posts.

But again OP- why are you so sure it’s people who can’t afford the essentials who are buying little treats?

IME- the little treats people are those who can cover the basics, but can’t afford the big treats. So little treats it is. (And this is long term historically known behaviour- in times of hardship spending on small, cheap “luxuries” increases, not because people are stupid, because they can’t afford the £200 thing but they can spare £10 for the little jolly thing that will brighten an otherwise dull week.)

No, people don’t need luxuries, the clues in the name. And yes you could just always just save save save every penny and never have anything beyond what you absolutely need . But that’s a shit way to live. We accept those who are forced to live like that as they have no disposable income are to be pitied. I do think we also need to learn to pity those whose mental health is so bad they can’t allow themselves to ever spend money they have spare on things they’d find fun. Maybe not home decorations, but spend that extra £40 for the cook steak once in a while. Buy the £50 eyeshadow palette. Say yes to the £40 cinema trip. And yes, treat yourself to the £600 cross body bag and sling it on to just take the dog for walk.

What is tat, actually?

None of my friends (all would fall into middle class) are on the breadline. Most have holidays booked, we’re still having meals out, days out, birthday nights out etc.

People will always buy decorations - yes some of it is abit naf (and imo) ‘tat’. But also lots of lovely seasonal things in various shops. I buy a small amount for every season - a few new Xmas decs each year, maybe some nice seasonal bits for outdoor dining in the Summer, cushions etc. We haven’t changed any plans for this year so far and millions and millions of families are not on the breadline (perhaps being abit more careful is more realistic). Buying an Easter themed mug or an outdoor cushion isnt going to stop.

But op, you're missing one huge fact about economics and money spending trends. Poorer people will absolutely spend more on perceived smaller treats- so the odd cushion here, piece of Easter household shit there- because it is just about manageable on their budget, and crucially it makes them feel better in the moment.

If you can't afford private dentists, nice holidays, or whatever zeitgeist trappings du jour are deemed desirable, then smaller more fun purchases can be very inviting.

Being genuinely destitute, and being skint but still seeking dopamine and fun via these seemingly inconsequential smaller and arguably pointless purchases are two very different states.

But it all adds up.

Buying lunch/posh coffee at work every day, and having a takeaway every weekend, amounts to about £30k over 10 years. A couple could have a deposit on a house within 5 years if they cut back on non essentials like that.

People buying tat in supermarkets is not a good measure for the economy.
People being unable to buy houses, cars, holidays, new kitchens, meals out, etc. are what the politicians worry about (as well as GDP and the stock market / bond markets)

Perhaps people who can no longer fly abroad twice a year are buying tat to console themselves? 😏

Not everyone is struggling. I live in a deprived area in the NE and every weekend the pubs and shops are heaving.

Yes, there are. There are also a great number of people using food banks.

Me too.

I walk into somewhere like Home Bargains, TK Maxx, The Range and just see acres of landfill waiting to happen. It is not designed to be carefully cherished and brought out year after year, it is designed to be cheap and disposable. The people buying this tat are not on the bones of their arse they are the people spending £100 a month on Shein shite too.

I know the point youre trying to make, but it just proves the point about generational wealth, if not financially, culturally. The working class families buying "seasonal tat" dont have 3yo decorations from Germany. It's just not somehting that would feature in their lives.

I’m always surprised when I read threads on MN saying things like “I’ve had some unexpected bills so I think I need to economise. I’ve realised that if I cut out my daily Costa, do my own nails, stop buying new clothes every week, not eat out every weekend, reduce the takeaways, take lunch to work rather than eating in Pret, and only get my highlights redone every 2 months rather than fortnightly, I can save £500 a week. I’m amazed!”

Shock News - buying lots of shit costs lots of money!! Who knew!!

But it doesn't have to be 30 every shopping trip. How did you get to a-30 and b-every shopping trip.

I think it is quite realistic to say that 40% of over 16s buy something you consider tat once in a while. It doesn't have to be bank breaking to do so. Once or twice a year buying something for less than half of adult population is giant number of items.

If everyone in a supermarket catchment area buys one item it would soon sell out. Obviously not everyone would, but some will buy none at all, some will buy one and some will buy multiple items. Also people need little treats. I was most cheered to see several Easter eggs in the food bank donation box the other day. People shouldn't just be expected to live on plain dried pulses and rice.

I have some Easter decs that were bought before I was born, over 30 years ago, from Germany and made of wood.

I too have wooden Easter decs from Germany, must be almost 50 years old, they get hung on a few catkin-like twigs and that's my Easter done. Similarly a lot of the Christmas decorations are from Germany days, pyramid, smoking men etc. very little has been bought recently.

Well there are certainly a great number of people rich enough to fill the retail parks.

The average family struggles to afford their bills. They can't afford to save let alone any form of luxury. This is what is shared through whatever social media platform.
So it makes me wonder? Who buys all the tat that covers whole shelves of supermarkets or shops selling cheap stuff?

Sounds like the social media platforms might be full of liars! Who knew?

Yes, and it's true. It really really does make a difference. It's still people's personal choice of course, but once it's spent it's spent.