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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that people go luxury shopping every weekend?

102 replies

FuryFowler · 26/08/2015 21:43

I'm just watching Anne robin sons spending programme and there's a family who go shopping every weekend as their hobby, buying £150 hand bags.

I don't enjoy shopping so do it as little as possible, I can't afford to and it gives me a headache. But we are on the same income as the family on this programme.

Aibu to wonder if shopping is a big hobby for a lot of people on here? Do you like to shop for
Luxuries? How much a week do you spend?

I'm thinking bags, clothes, electronics, jewellery etc....

OP posts:
NotMeNotYouNotAnyone · 26/08/2015 22:57

I hate shopping. I avoid it as much as possible. As a teen, I used to go to town with my mates "shopping" but it was more social than anything else

woodhill · 26/08/2015 23:25

I sometimes go with my mum but it is more of a social activity and not that often.

JaceLancs · 26/08/2015 23:27

I enjoy shopping even for food and essentials
Often don't spend much - happy searching charity shops for a new jigsaw or some craft materials
DP and I potter, shop, have coffee n chat - we also enjoy visiting museums, do sport, go for a walk etc
Why is shopping such an issue?

Nettletheelf · 26/08/2015 23:43

I liked shopping more when I was younger and couldn't afford much. I used to stroke the clothes in the posher high street shops and dream of the day I could afford to shop there.

Now I can afford those shops, I'm a bit bored of it all! I can stand 2 hours of clothes & shoe shopping if the shops are quiet.

I think that I've lost the aspiration that used to make clothes shopping fun. I've got a wardrobe full of quality basics and tops for every occasion etc. so don't really need anything. Also, I don't go to as many nightclubs so I don't spend Saturday trawling the shops for disco outfits!

I tend to find myself tut tutting at poor fabric quality these days, too. So I feel like a big spoilsport when other people are buying the garments I disparaged.

I am very much looking forward to watching tonight's Anne Robinson programme. I am hoping that there will be more arses to sneer at, like the cocklodger from last week.

Pinkcatgirl · 26/08/2015 23:43

I thought it was an interesting programme... Especially with those two families.

Our household income was way more than both of them, but we still prioritise paying off the mortgage... The argument about being hit by a bus was stupid - with kids then you're still providing for them if you have a house rather than a debt?!

It just comes down to what you want to spend money on - I only have 3 hand bags that I use, all Mulberry, but I buy a lot of clothes from charity shops / eBay / supermarkets.

Can't imagine shopping as a pastime but that's probably because the toddler and baby wouldn't tolerate it.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 26/08/2015 23:59

I hate shopping. Twice a year I throw several thousand pounds at a so called stylist to update my wardrobe and throw away the out of season stuff. I never step in a clothing store at any other time. I cannot fathom shopping as a hobby.

EmeraldKitten · 27/08/2015 00:06

The family with two girls were ridiculous. And on a household income of £60k, my arse are they out every weekends chucking hundreds of quid at their dc.

Ideas way beyond their means and I bet they're either in debt up to their eyeballs or mum has a sneaky Primark habit she prefers not to divulge Grin

EmeraldKitten · 27/08/2015 00:13

I did give a mini shudder at the £90m house too.

Out of interest...would anyone truly want to live there? It was impressive and grand and all the rest but it didn't really seem like a home, more like a well kept museum. I can't quite comprehend why, when you have unlimited choice, that's what you'd choose?

PennyPants · 27/08/2015 00:16

I'd rather spend my money on doing something like a holiday, meal out or pay off the mortgage early. I'm not into clutter either. Having said that I'm not going to walk around like a tramp and do like clothes shopping every few months (with a list obviously Grin and I like to renew house things quite regularly too. But every weekend would bore me.

Whatthefoxgoingon · 27/08/2015 00:23

I assumed the 60k income was net income, so £5000 per month and probably enough to throw a bit on useless consumerism.

bogspavin · 27/08/2015 00:34

I thought the shopping designer bag family (well the mother I'm afraid) came across as horribly shallow.

And her teenage daughters were being taught to laugh and sneer at someone who wasn't as shallow and materialistic as them. What a dreadful example to set.

Yes to a degree people are judged on appearances but do you really think better of someone because they have a designer handbag?
What terrible values to pass on to your offspring.

And surely a family can do something more creative and interesting than shop every weekend?

dodobookends · 27/08/2015 01:08

I wouldn't know a designer handbag if I fell over one.

AngelaRipp0n · 27/08/2015 01:23

I think the Trafford centre family were very shallow and lacking in imagination, their house had no personality and nor did they. Fwiw our income is a good deal higher and I also have teens, but most of what they wear is mostly from Primarni, New Look, H&M. Although they do have the odd branded item ie. Converse,Vans etc they appreciate them much more and wouldn't dream of judging anyone based on the cost of their clothes.

That whole thing about what you'd think about her if she put her Radley handbag on the table was just utter crap. I'd just think what an imbecile making a show of her bag. I think they think they're being middle class, but they're getting it so wrong.

Lookingforwardtoholiday · 27/08/2015 03:11

I didn't see the programme but I currently feel like I spend my life shopping. I have 2 days off a week and seem to spend at least one morning in the shops. I do a fair bit online but I've a 13 year old going through a serious growth spurt who needs new clothes every 5 minutes, granted it's a dash into H&M to replace everything in the next size , then there are birthday parties every week, broken trainers, lost shin pads, costumes for dress up days and occasionally I manage to grab something for myself. Or is that not the kind of shopping you mean?

I'm certainly not buying myself designer goods weekly, I have a few nice bags but can't remember the last time I spent over £20 on a single item and it's usually less and our income is far far higher than £60k

Bottlecap · 27/08/2015 06:36

Don't these kids have homework to do? Friends to visit? Maybe the odd museum to explore?

They're not exactly investing in their children's cultural capital, are they.

ihatethecold · 27/08/2015 08:31

I thought it was quite sad when she asked her teen how she felt wearing a pair of £180 sunglasses.
I would imagine she will get a bit of a shock when she leaves home.

Blueberry234 · 27/08/2015 08:34

The idea of shopping with my children feels me with dread but on my own occasionally is fun.

ajandjjmum · 27/08/2015 08:46

I have the odd day with DD and DS - maybe a couple of times a year - where we shop, and they get spoiled.

Shopping seems to have become an addiction to some of the people on the programme last night.

Desmoulinsonatable · 27/08/2015 08:53

I thought it was interesting that the mother was adamant that they could die tomorrow. That was my attitude after I lost my brother, not with shopping, it was food for me, but it certainly sprang from a fear of my own mortality

Desmoulinsonatable · 27/08/2015 08:54

As said further up the thread, I think the shopping may have been masking something else.

Shockers · 27/08/2015 09:00

My Grandmother used to shop to feel important. The women in John Lewis knew her name and made a fuss of her... she could be whoever she wanted to be because they didn't know her history or the fact that she was a deeply unpleasant person toward her family. She didn't use, or even open most of the stuff she bought, but it was all top quality. Very sad really.

I do most of my shopping on our High Street. It only takes minutes out of my life and leaves time for all the good stuff that I really enjoy.

allwornout0 · 27/08/2015 09:05

The family with the 2 children were terrible. They were all "Look at me, Look at me".
I can see why some children are bullied at school for not having the latest phone etc when you have families like that that teach their children to sneer at others for having cheaper things.

I would like to have known if they had any debts (other than mortgage), I know a few families that are similar, although not quite as bad. They work and pay their bills (gas & electric) but they are up to their eyeballs in cc debt which they have little hope of ever paying off. Their children don't know any different now and will probably end up living the same way as their parents.

Interesting programme I thought.

SanityClause · 27/08/2015 09:15

I really hate those sneering at other people's lifestyle choices shows, so I haven't watched it.

I do know people who see shopping as a hobby. Once when PIL were staying with us at Christmas time, MIL suggested we might go to Bluewater for a day out. I thought she was joking! (Turned out she wasn't, and I was a bit rude about it by mistake Blush)

DH days he likes shopping, but he rarely has to do those things like school shoe fittings, or stationery buying. To him, shopping is wafting about a few nice shops, and buying some aftershave, and some custard tarts from M&S.Grin

HicDraconis · 27/08/2015 09:32

I didn't see the programme (NZ TV isn't worth having a terrestrial TV connection for!) - but we don't shop for fun. DH hates it, the boys get bored and whinge at the drop of a hat and seriously how many clothes / bags / shoes does one family need? I buy clothes exceptionally rarely for me, for DH maybe once every year or two to replace worn out stuff, probably twice a year for boys as they're harder on their clothes and are growing fast.

We all have more than enough bags and shoes, I can't think of anything worse than spending a day in town buying tat for the sake of it. We get stuff as and when we need it, taking as little time to do it as possible.

Christmas / birthday shopping is the same - list of names, list of gifts, in town early, back home by midmorning, all wrapped by lunch.

Tinklewinkle · 27/08/2015 09:32

I watched this too, and also thought the Trafford family came across badly. Not because of the shopping, they've earned their money, they can spend it how they like, but because of the sneery/look down on others attitude they had.

Personally, I hate shopping so have never really taken the kids much, but I live in a small coastal town and unless you're into 'yachtie-chic', H&M is the height of fashion. We occasionally go for a mooch round the shops, but it's a pretty fruitless exercise and the kids find it boring

I hated all the "wait till you have a teen" bollocks. I have a teen, she's pretty typical of her peers in that she wouldn't know a designer handbag or a £190 pair of sunglasses if it smacked her in the face. Yes, she's more expensive now at 14 than she was at 2, but not to that extent. Plus, she'd rather be out with her friends

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