You aren't "investing" your money, you're spending it.

[Torak]

I hate it when people say they are "investing" in the purchase of some sort of pricey consumable item.

I'd be interested to see your ROI on that £500 baby sling. 🙄

Gifting is another one I hate. But today I'm irritable about investing.

DH has a lot of books which he calls an investment. Unfortunately they are just cluttering up the bookcase and are only worth what someone will pay which I suspect is very little.

A lot of investment pieces languish on eBay for ages with no bids and ridiculous prices

I have investments, plenty of things increase in value over time, products can be investments.

I have Game boy advance games I bought for £30 each in early 00's that are worth upto £600 quite alot of them are worth over £80 as I like my obscure RPGs that never get made in massive numbers.

A couple of years ago I bought magical hiking boots. They look like Docs and they're totally waterproof so I just rinse them off when they get mucky and wear them as my regular boots too. I haven't bought any other winter footwear since I got them. I'm super careful with money (and language) usually but I think those boots were a great investment.

@catfunk

Re Rolexes - I think some people don't quite understand how it works. my company get them for staff for bonuses instead of cash as they hold their value better than cash ever will (and we're in a city with a very healthy property market too) They're usually on a wait list in the first place and people will pay a fortune for them second hand. One member of staff has 4 now. They don't flash them out and about - kept in a safe. One is worth almost double what it was purchased for 6 years ago now. They're definitely a wise investment.

We bought two expensive watches for this reason. They have gone up in value, they can be sold if times get hard and they can be left to the kids.

An investment returns a profit, all other expenditure is just a purchase. It might be better value if the item is good quality and lasts longer.
I was told by a salesman the the UPVC double glazing was an investment as he was trying you justify the 21k price tag. My response was would the be worth more in the future? They were only guaranteed for 10years so we declined the " investment opportunity" we fitted "A rated" windows for 9k instead and kept 11k to actually invest!

Lots of very wealthy people buy watches like Roles and Patel Philippe as an investment, the same with some art. They certainly don’t just buy them because they like them, that’s just a bonus.

Why does it bother you what people say anyway? For them, they see their purchase as an investment. So what?

“Investment” isn’t just about getting more money back from something it’s about
“Benefit”. I invest a lot of time supporting my very disabled son to achieve very minor independence. The “benefit” is to his a my life experience. In no way will I be seeing the decades of lost earnings or hours of work back. But he and I will have lived a fulfilling life and we will be able to live together for longer when my strength starts to fail.

Using the term as you describe OP is just fuckery word salad though surely? Like the abuse of the word curator or calling a shop an outlet or a shopping centre an outlet village. It's all bollocks at the end of the day but embarrassing when you hear people using this sort of talk in every day speech. Pushing the envelope. Blue sky thinking. Word salad bollocks.

Would you say the same to someone investing in a company? You'll only know the ROI when they sell so up until then it's just spending isn't it?

I like the price/wear formula.

That way a £50 pair of shoes you wear once a year is more expensive than £300 for pair you wear every day.

Works for me anyway. 🥳

Many people seem to invest in inanimate objects. DH and I decided to invest in our childrens further education. DD an International Science teacher 👩‍🏫. DS an engineer in food production.

@saleorbouy - to be fair, if the very good windows reduced your heating /air con costs over a 10 year period to a level meaning you saved more on those bills than the additional amount you paid out for the more expensive windows, or if the more expensive windows lasted more than twice the time of the cheaper windows, then you could say he was right, its an investment as you end up with more money in the long run.

Is a sheepskin coat an investment then? Am totally looking for an excuse to buy one.

Investment doesn’t necessarily mean financial profit so YABU but I get what you’re saying. It’s an overused term and it is misused to get people comfortable with spending lots of money on something by suggesting that there’s a high resale value. It’s easier than facing the reality that the money’s gone.

I think its a bit pernickety over the word investment.
I've seen people say they're invested in a thread on here.
If you invest time into something you're not going to get x hours/days/weeks back...?

If you invest in a good quality item - let's say a coat that cost £300*, for example, and it lasted 15 winters. At the end of 15 years you'd be better off than had you bought a cheaper coat each winter for £30, so that could be seen as an investment.

People see private education as an investment but they don't directly get money back from the school!

*this is just an example. My £30 coat is on at least its 4th winter!

@ErniesGhostlyGoldtops

Using the term as you describe OP is just fuckery word salad though surely? Like the abuse of the word curator or calling a shop an outlet or a shopping centre an outlet village. It's all bollocks at the end of the day but embarrassing when you hear people using this sort of talk in every day speech. Pushing the envelope. Blue sky thinking. Word salad bollocks.

This is what I mean.

But I've been well and truly told off for being pedantic and materialistic and shallow, so! 🤷🏼‍♀️

It’s easier than facing the reality that the money’s gone.

Yep.

I disagree. I very much buy into (pun intended) to the ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ idea. I’d rather take the hit and buy an expensive winter coat for £300 that lasts 10 years rather than have to fork out on cheaper ones because they look scruffy/leak/aren’t as warm. Plus, you never know when you might need to find £20/30 and you simply might not have it that month.

@KTheGrey

Is a sheepskin coat an investment then? Am totally looking for an excuse to buy one.

Divide it by the number of times you’ll wear it and the number of years it will last.

Subtract £50 compensation for having 2 shit years of Covid and a £50 voucher for being a nice person.

You should be able to justify it eventually. 😄

@KTheGrey

Is a sheepskin coat an investment then? Am totally looking for an excuse to buy one.

It is if it's warm and practical, you'll use it regularly, and it's well made so will last where other coats won't.

Plus with all the talk of the rising cost of living if you can put it on inside to save you putting the heating on it's quite literally saving you money there.

It depends. I invested in a schoffel shooting jacket that lasted me 15 years (and would have lasted longer but was stolen from my car). I invested in high quality Peacock Blue cotton sheets which have lasted 20 years and still going strong. Some expensive things are worth it.

But I spend money on t-shirts, magazines, makeup, toiletries etc. Doesn't matter what the brand is, they are quick turnover consumables, they all do the same job.

The return on an investment does not have to be financial.

Someone mentioned private education - that's a good example.

I invest my time in exercise - the return on that is health and fitness benefits.

I invest my time in MN - the return on that is enjoyment (and an occasional feeling of great smugness).

It’s not “fuckery word salad” though, it’s using the word as per the definition. It’s almost as if there are multiple definitions for some words. A shocking discovery I know.

Probably the only thing I’ve got that has increased significantly in value is a first edition of Teddy Pratchett short stories that was a limited print run. I bought it for £17 and they sell now for up to £450 in mint condition. We have a lot of Lego that has double in price on the second hand market but we couldn’t get quite a much for ours because we’ve built it with our son who ‘customised’ a lot of the sets! We’re always saying when we buy big sets that we should buy 2 and stick one in the loft for resale in a few years but somehow never do…

I also collect antique silver but it’s probably not worth much more than I’ve paid for it as it’s not ‘fashionable’ stuff. The ‘investment’ for me is in the pleasure I get from it.

Meanwhile our stocks and shares is as have gone up loads (though not so much this week - luckily we’re not planning to access them any time soon).

The Harrods towels we got as a wedding present were an 'investment'. They are only just starting to fall apart 22 years later.