Biggest scam you didn’t know was a scam

[Sillysausage2]

Lighthearted 😂
I saw an Instagram post earlier about the biggest thing you don’t realise is a scam and we all accept as normal.
We all have stories about how our parents raised 7 kids etc in a 3 bed if they were lucky, my grandparents had 9 in a 2 bed 😂
the aim for everyone now is buying or building massive houses, 3 en suites at least, we spend the weekends in Ikea, home bargain etc buying shit we don’t need and cleaning the houses with the 4 bathrooms!
I swear I’ve spent more Time cleaning the legs of chairs than is reasonable and I seem to wash the walls of my bathroom far more than people ever mentioned.
I don’t remember my mother ever cleaning the panelling on the walls.
is it all a scam? Are we busy fools?
sometimes I got to centre Parcs like places and think how simple my life would be if we al only had one suitcase each

Also go back and read the first line of the OP's post.

Having a PhD does sometimes give you an edge, but these days those roles that require one are so competitive. And so many more people have the qualification. I was in a job that now requires a PhD. I was lucky to have the job before you needed a PhD because I had so much experience in the field, but then had to get PhD in order to stay there.

I love my gym membership! To me it’s a brilliant investment. As a previously non-exercising person it’s absolutely saved me from awful peri-menopause symptoms. I go there to relax (pool and sauna) as well as work out. It’s a lovely third space to have. I realise I could run outside for free- but the gym has a lot of variety and it’s warm and dry.
Monthly Netflix payments etc can feel like a scam if I don’t keep an eye on what we are actually enjoying.

Key to happiness in modern life is serious de cluttering and regularly. Don’t buy unless you need need need. Don’t buy for want! Organise your house before all else.

Eh. Think you had a very different 90's/00's wedding wise - it was peak "exclusive celeb wedding" every week in every magazine (THAT was pre social media!) everybody wanting their wedding to be a full blown I-don't-care rock star event with a modern band/£££'s spent on developing those disposable films, drinks galore or trying to rival the Beckham's (gold thrones/designer wedding dresses/professional filmography?)

I think you have to travel alot further back to get simple, cheap weddings

Going on holiday when you live in a really nice house, great area, tons of amenities

No, I'm not just arguing. I think it's totally valid to ask which model you think should replace monogamy, whether polygamy or what.

Maybe to best thing is to see the system for exactly what it is and make good decisions without bowing to the pressures of instagram/what other people feel you ought to have - or not have. There’s an absolute flood of options. This is not necessarily a bad thing.

Car payment plans are definitely a scam - you pay obscene amounts of money for the new car for three years and then you have to give it back. What the hell is this? What am I paying for?!
God I spotted this one a mile back. I will tell you why folk do this
A) because we all want new cars to show off in, and we can't fix them ourselves B) because its easier than trawling through the autotrader looking for a car
C) we are conditioned to have a new car every 3 years
My friend can't afford to heat her flat, yet she has a brand new Merc that she pays £250 a month for!!!

Maybe it depends on where you live, I don't know but those were definitely the weddings I was attending in the 90s and early 2000s and I have many photos of questionable fashion trends to prove it.

Equally perhaps my family are a bit more common basic than I realised but none of them have ever been influenced by the Beckham's or any other glossy celebrity weddings.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding

I’ve been listening to a lot of personal development podcasts and audio books and they all say the same thing - identifying what is making you unhappy is the first step to changing it. Nobody else knows how to live your best life. Small changes every day until you have what you want.

Yea and yes ( well the children are grown up now).

Still baffled by the concept of cleaning chair legs. You’ve been had @Sillysausage2 !

Meals. We’ve been sold on the idea that we have to have ‘meals’ three times a day and certain foods at certain times in a certain way. It’s bollox. Eat what you like when u like. If that’s a plate of pork chops at 3pm so be it. Or a slab of cheese at 10pm.

constantly thinking of meals drove me nuts. Now I don’t it’s ace.

I can't think of anything worse than not having a monogamous relationship. It would feel utterly empty & soulless without that one to one exclusivity.

I clearly stayed in my post that childcare is expensive. Other stuff to do with children is optional. I'm not really sure what is the point of you repeating what I already said and presenting it as a counterargument.

To all the people saying lockdown / covid.

but more to the point - owning a large house with lots of bathrooms is a scam?? Only a wealthy person would think that.

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream. it's not magic, it's just greasy and not worth £48

I see your point as someone who doesn't eat breakfast and who doesn't live by rules like, one meal a day must be hot/bigger and the other must be cold/lighter, but I do think having set meals at certain times is more sociable and easier to organise around work. Also, eat what you want when you want would make many of us the size of a house.

Haven't seen a betterware catalogue for years!
My mum gets similar ones ( god knows where from)
They're a lower market end betterware and are a fabulous item to peruse!

Lots of cleaning products! I’m a hypocrite because I like buying lots of unnecessary cleaning… but really all you need is hot soapy water and a bit of bleach. Not all this Mrs Hinch the pink stuff Lenor scent boosters, scrub daddy zofloras, fabulosa room spray crap.

Also TikTok shop! It’s basically the new JML shopping channel persuading you to buy crap you don’t need.

I only ever use washing up liquid , water, green scourers, cloths and brillo pads : That covers everything I ever need to clean.

discsareshit

I hear you and if it works for you great but people do blindly follow this idea - yanno cereals for brekkie, sandwich for lunch, meat and two veg for tea. And it doesn’t have to be that way. I work, I’m thin, and I gave all that up! I find it liberating cos I just eat when I’m hungry and I don’t think ‘meal’. I get the sociable bit but me and my friends never like going out for dinner we just like drinks so it works for us. So if meals work for some great but I’m sure there are a lot of people like me who simply can’t be arsed.

Usually it's a major life change people need to do and it's scary so they don't. Little changes only help if you're already on the right path and building on what you have.