Is anyone buying anything for black Friday?

[Bluewavescrashing]

I've bought one thing only, a present for a big birthday for my mum, that is genuinely half price compared to the best price for the last few months. I think a lot of the deals aren't that great though. How about you?

[coconuttelegraph]

One of the reasons we have enough money to travel, go to shows, etc. is that we don't waste money on household crap like dishwashers & toasters

I've just checked with my children, they are happy to give up on the £50 holiday I would be able to afford if I don't replace the toaster.

[Slumberly]

@BarbaraofSeville Some of us travel extensively and can afford dishwashers and toasters, partly because we spend as little as possible on the things we need, like dishwashers and tablets, leaving as much as possible left for travel and other fun stuff.

You 'need' a dishwasher and a tablet, do you?

@HoldMyLobster It's true our travel has been severely limited by our recent purchase of a $10 toaster...

Oh, is that the only household appliance you have?

It's really disturbing to see how brainwashed people are to think that these things are necessities rather than unnecessary luxuries. It's not the ten pounds on the toaster, it's all of the other ten/twenty/five hundred pounds on all the other shite.

Here are some 'necessities' from higher up the thread:
I bought an echo dot and a bigger Alexa. I’ve had my eye on them for a while and I’m pleased with the discount.

I got a Nintendo switch and the new Pokémon sword game in a bundle from currys for £279, v pleased with that as the switch alone is usually £279 and the sword game is £44.99.

DS had asked for a Lego Hogwort’s Express, is prices it at £80 and got it for £50 on Amazon!

This is just blind, wasteful, profligate consumerism for the sake of it. A 'bigger' Alexa? Nearly 300 quid on a games console? Fifty quid on Lego?

That sort of mindset is exactly what i was talking about.

[orangeteal]

@Slumberly do you 'need' to be on Mumsnet?

[Slumberly]

@coconuttelegraph So you have only a toaster - no dishwasher, tumble dryer, microwave, car, hairdryer, food processor, tablet, TV/music subscription, etc. etc. etc.

Just a toaster and nothing else in your empty house?

[Slumberly]

@orangeteal Nope. I 'need' to be doing my work. But I've been at it for nearly twelve hours today & Mumsnet isn't costing me anything nor is it using up any finite resources.

[coconuttelegraph]

So you have only a toaster - no dishwasher, tumble dryer, microwave, car, hairdryer, food processor, tablet, TV/music subscription, etc. etc. etc

Just a toaster and nothing else in your empty house?

I don't get your logic or reasoning on this at all, you seem to be assuming that a) people can't afford both household electrical items and holidays and b) that all purchases made in black friday sales are wasteful. Surely it's more logical that people can afford luxuries because they save where they can on other things.

Do you not have any of the items you mention? Like most 21st century dwellers I class a car, toaster,TV and microwave are must haves for me

[orangeteal]

@Slumberly you'll be using up something, it's human nature, no one is perfect. If you truly want to influence, get off your high horse and be a bit more intelligent about it, what do you seriously think you're gaining in what you're posting here in the tone you're doing it? You're doing more damage than good, it turns people away. But all this is for your benefit, not the environment's.

[Slumberly]

@coconuttelegraph I don't get your logic or reasoning on this at all, you seem to be assuming that a) people can't afford both household electrical items and holidays and b) that all purchases made in black friday sales are wasteful.

My logic was that both you and another poster made sarky comments about how your £10/£50 toaster wasn't going to prevent you from going on holiday.

I was calling that out by pointing out that it's not just a toaster, it's all of the hundreds of unnecessary, wasteful items that people tell themselves they 'need'
.
Surely it's more logical that people can afford luxuries because they save where they can on other things.

You're not 'saving money' if you're buying something you don't need in the first place. Something that is £279 instead of £349 is still £279 you didn't have to spend. The idea that you're 'saving' £70 is a massive lie of marketing which deserves to be called out.

Do you not have any of the items you mention? Like most 21st century dwellers I class a car, toaster,TV and microwave are must haves for me

No, I don't have any of those things. That's why I mentioned them.
We live a perfectly happy, nice, comfortable family life without them.

I do have a TV set which was being given away by a family member and it's plugged into an aerial that was already here so we get free channels. And I have broadband because I work from home (and so does my husband half the week) so it's a work necessity.

[HoldMyLobster]

Oh, is that the only household appliance you have?

You're the one who said by not owning a toaster you can afford to travel.

[Slumberly]

@orangeteal you'll be using up something, it's human nature, no one is perfect.

Of course I use things. I never said I was perfect - not even close. I do love to travel when I can (though I walk/bus/tube everywhere normally so I hope that offsets my short haul trips a bit).

If you truly want to influence, get off your high horse and be a bit more intelligent about it, what do you seriously think you're gaining in what you're posting here in the tone you're doing it? You're doing more damage than good, it turns people away.

This is the 'oh you're putting people off feminism by being angry' argument. It's a rubbish argument. If I think that buying loads of unnecessary crap is wrong, and I choose to contribute that opinion to a thread that asks whether or not people are buying anything for 'Black Friday', that's legitimate.

If people are so perverse as to think that they will actively make things worse and waste MORE because they dislike someone's tone, then that's so twisted and ridiculous that I can't engage with it at all. All I can do is share my honest opinion.

But all this is for your benefit, not the environment's.

Nope. My life would probably be a bit easier if I indulged in some of these luxuries. But the cost, in a broader sense, is too high. There's not much point in recycling newspapers and tins if you're replacing hundreds of electrical items every time they bring out a new model.

[HoldMyLobster]

It is a slippery slope though, having a toaster.

[Slumberly]

@HoldMyLobster You're the one who said by not owning a toaster you can afford to travel.

Nope.

I said:
One of the reasons we have enough money to travel, go to shows, etc. is that we don't waste money on household crap like dishwashers & toasters

Sorry for not listing every single item individually. I assumed that most people would understand that 'like dishwashers and toasters' implied further items as well. I think most people did.

[HoldMyLobster]

I think of my toaster as a gateway drug. Today a toaster. Tomorrow an Xbox. The day after, a Hummer.

[Slumberly]

@HoldMyLobster Yes, it was very funny the first time, and the second, and the third. Nice one I think the conversation moved on a bit but cheers x

[HoldMyLobster]

I'm actually buying a Boeing 737 next week.

[Slumberly]

Whoops - cross-posted. The fourth time you made the same joke was also very funny indeed. Please keep going.

[HoldMyLobster]

That's what buying skis leads to.

[Slumberly]

And the fifth! It's amazing. I thought Nora Ephron was dead, but this is like conversing with her spirit.

[coconuttelegraph]

You're not 'saving money' if you're buying something you don't need in the first place. Something that is £279 instead of £349 is still £279 you didn't have to spend. The idea that you're 'saving' £70 is a massive lie of marketing which deserves to be called out

That is patronisingly obvious but if you want to buy something anyway it makes financial sense to buy it at the cheapest price you can.

I used the example of the toaster as it is something I'm going to be replacing, it isn't relevant whether you think a toaster is a necessity but your assumption that everyone on this thread is somehow wasting money and being conned by reduced prices is frankly a little odd. Why would you assume that others have inferior decision making skills to you?

[BarbaraofSeville]

Who's 'replacing hundreds of electrical items'. Things break, they get replaced if they are useful. All our appliances have lasted well over 10 years. Our fridge freezer is over 20 years old and won't be replaced until it breaks.

You can't be flying here, there and everywhere and criticise someone who replaces a broken toaster FFS.

[Slumberly]

@HoldMyLobster Given that you were boasting about spending £1700 on a sofa last week I think it's fairly clear where you're coming from. There isn't going to be any common ground between us here.

[orangeteal]

@Slumberly no I mean this tirade is more for your benefit than the environment's, it's giving you a kick, a superiority complex but actually achieving very little in way of your cause. My occupation is centred around the protection of the environment so I don't need preaching to, but if you genuinely are trying to make a difference in terms of influencing people you really should strategise, do you think these posts have achieved anything? No, as I say, more negative impact than positive, be as angry as you need to be, but I would channel your efforts more productively if you are trying to achieve more than an internal kick.

[Slumberly]

@coconuttelegraph I'm not assuming anything, I quoted a number of posts and could have quoted a load more. The broken toaster is in the minority on this thread. Most of it is about buying completely wasteful consumerist crap, and upgrading to the newest model.

[Slumberly]

@BarbaraofSeville
You can't be flying here, there and everywhere and criticise someone who replaces a broken toaster FFS.

I agree but I don't fly here, there and everywhere. I rarely go further than Portugal/Spain/France/Italy, travel by train as often as possible, go away within the UK a lot (also by train), & rarely fly long haul (last time was 2016 & the time before that was 2009).

I'm not saying I'm perfect at all. But trying is good, isn't it? Hence why we're all using bar soaps and trying to compost etc. And I'm talking about saving money as a family as well as environmental reasons. I think Black Friday is a bullshit marketing exercise and as I said above, most people are not talking about necessities, they're talking about 'a bigger Alexa' or games consoles or massive Lego sets etc.

[Slumberly]

@orangeteal Thanks, I am not so much trying to influence anyone as just giving my honest response to the question asked at the start of the thread. It wasn't a thread for 'share your best Black Friday deals', it was a thread that asked if people were buying into it as an idea, or not.

I was expressing my opinion as to why I'm personally not.

I don't have the time or energy to do any 'influencing'! I should be finishing a report now and have three more overdue projects looming in my inbox.

Thanks for doing the job you do, it sounds very worthwhile