Yesterday I found myself in Bunnings because I wanted a nice trellis to grow my beans up. I didn't need it: I surely could have worked out a cheaper, simpler option, but I wanted obelisk shaped trellises to look pretty. Bunnings was on my way to where I was going, so it was a good place to shop. I haven't been to Bunnings for a long time, definitely not since I have taken on minimalism, and probably not in almost a year. I have been doing so well avoiding temptation buying stuff and yet in Bunnings I felt compelled to buy. I didn't buy anything I didn't need - I left with only the trellises, and a hose nozzle that I remembered my husband had asked me to get - but it was hard work to do so.
For those outside of Australia and New Zealand, Bunnings Warehouse is a hardware store. A massive hardware store, with a tagline of 'Lowest prices are just the beginning'. My local Bunnings is directly under the flight path, about 2km from the runway. When you see the planes go overhead, they look as though they could probably fit inside the massive shed. Inside are rows and rows of timber and nails and tools and fertilisers and taps and light fittings and barbeques and outdoor furniture and mosquito repelling candles, and outside are rows and rows of playground equipment and plants and pots and bricks. They advertise as having over 45000 products, and have an awful lot of those on display. There are plenty of staff running around in red shirts, and if you are lucky enough you might be able to get the attention of one of them, who may or may not belong in the department you need help in.
Most things in Bunnings are cheap, or at least appear so. Because they are so big they can buy in big quantities and get a better deal. Bunnings advertise that they will beat any price by 10%, which makes them appear a whole lot cheaper than what they are, but it is a little sneaky. There is a noticeboard in the doorway which shows pages from other store's catalogues, with items highlighted and the Bunnings price shown as comparison. Yesterday I noticed a packet of batteries for $3 in the Kmart catalogue with the Bunnings price: $2.97. But, the vast majority of products are Bunnings' own lines. They don't say 'Bunnings' on them anywhere, but neither will you find them in any other stores. These products are comparatively priced to something you might find in another hardware store, or another department store such as Kmart (who are, incidentally, owned by the some company). So even though they say they will beat any price by 10%, they know full well that the customer aren't going to find a lot of their products elsewhere, anyway. The quality of their own lines of products are ordinary at best.
The truth is that there is so much more in the store than we need. And by 'we' I mean 'most people who live in Townsville'. Yesterday I saw braziers and brussels sprouts seeds: it is not cold enough here for either! (Okay, I'll be honest tonight it is cold enough for a brazier, but it is one of about ten nights of the year.) Bunnings plays on our desire to have the beautiful gardens we see on Better Homes and Gardens, to renovate our kitchen like on Domestic Blitz, and be our own home handymen like real Aussie blokes. Bunnings run DIY workshops every weekend then direct you to where to buy all the equipment. Everything to make your 'castle' more beautiful is there, out on display, tempting you to take it home.
It's not just the things to make our lives more beautiful that are out on display, it's all the practical stuff as well. Down the main aisles are bins of goods like buckets, extension leads, WD40, lightbulbs, spray bottles. Oh, that is a good price, and I could always do with another - , I'll get one. But isn't that how most department stores make their money, lots of people buying lots of little things they don't really need? The reality is I just don't NEED all the things that they are throwing in my face. Those extra torches, extra fertiliser, the metal butterfly for my my garden, and the pack of five rolls of masking tape, all just end up in my cupboard doing nothing.
Yesterday was my final trip to Bunnings. It doesn't matter if they are actually cheaper. There are other hardware stores on the odd occasion that I actually need one. Like the True Value up the road from where my husband works. I've been in there once before, and the man in the store was incredibly helpful. Thinking about it, I'm not sure why I haven't been back. The lure of lower prices I guess. There is a local nursery a bit our of my way, but it's not like I need to go there every week.
You're right Bunnings. Lowest prices ARE just the beginning: the beginning of filling my home with needless clutter.
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advertising. Show all posts
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Maintaining Our Lifestyle
There is something that has been bothering me for a while, something I haven't been able to put my finger on. Minimalist Mum touched on it last weekend, which got my cogs turning, because it was just as I finished a fantastic book, Confessions of an Eco Sinner: Travels to Find Where My Stuff Comes From, by Fred Pearce. Then I just saw an online ad for income protection insurance and it crystallised the problem:
You can't always maintain your current lifestyle.
Life and income insurance are marvellous products - we have both - but something sat wrong with me while we were getting quotes and more information. I had always assumed that if something happened to my husband, I would pay out the mortgage with the existing insurance on my husband's superannuation, sell and move somewhere smaller, work a few days a week, and get by with support from my family and church. If I lost my husband my whole world would be turned upside down: I know, because it happened to our family when I was a child. But life insurance is sold as a way to safeguard your current way of life. It is recommended to have enough insurance to replace the other person's income for equivalent years as if they had remained alive. We have enough insurance to cover the remainder of the house, and a year or two of income until we found our new normal. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter how an insurance package is sold.
Fred Pearce's book was a very thought provoking book. My husband commented that it must have been good, because I took so long to read it. Pearce travelled the globe in search of information about the sources of his food, clothing, and general goods, as well as the working conditions of the people producing them. I was inspired to use less stuff, as my innocent purchases had big impacts on the lives of other people, often less fortunate than myself. But his conclusions were that we just need more sustainable solutions. Much of the 'green economy' is about that - you don't have to give up anything to live an ethical or environmentally considerate life, just choose 'natural', 'eco-friendly' products. A lot of these products are fantastic, and green is better than not green, but I'm not convinced that is on its own is the path to environmental sustainability. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter how much you are 'greenwashed' into thinking that you can.
I am not in paid employment. I spend my days at home with my kids. I haven't gone back to work because we see huge value in kids having a parent home full time, and we are able to make do on one income. There are many, many families who can't manage on a single income. But there are families like my brother-in-law and his wife: he earns more than my husband, but she has put her young children into childcare to work part-time because money is always so tight. Not because their needs are great, but because their wants are great. Going back to work isn't a bad thing in and of itself - sometimes it is a necessity, but it isn't always. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter what the Joneses and their kids have.
Before our last Federal election there was much talk about ideal population size for a 'sustainable Australia'. Both sides of politics sprouted policies that would mean growing our population without sacrificing the Australian lifestyle. How? Won't we run out of space if we keep expanding our cities outwards? Developers put in lots of green space and walkways, but all miles away from amenities so we are still car dependent. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter how shiny the bureaucrats can make it look.
Lifestyle, I've realised, is codeword for stuff. Lifestyle is having the spacious house, the second car, eating at nice places, holidays, upgraded TVs and Nintendo DSs. Lifestyle is not giving up what is comfortable. Lifestyle is keeping up appearances.
Change happens. Sometimes by choice, sometimes not. Sometimes it is good, sometimes not. Sometimes we have to be willing to change our lifestyle to go along with our voluntary, or involuntary, life changes.
A simple lifestyle seems to me to be far more conducive to change and flexibility. Whether it's a positive change, like a growing family or looking after our planet, or a negative change, like losing a family member or a job, a lifestyle of needing less stuff means a lifestyle more adaptable to having less stuff out of necessity.
I know what lifestyle I want to maintain.
You can't always maintain your current lifestyle.
Life and income insurance are marvellous products - we have both - but something sat wrong with me while we were getting quotes and more information. I had always assumed that if something happened to my husband, I would pay out the mortgage with the existing insurance on my husband's superannuation, sell and move somewhere smaller, work a few days a week, and get by with support from my family and church. If I lost my husband my whole world would be turned upside down: I know, because it happened to our family when I was a child. But life insurance is sold as a way to safeguard your current way of life. It is recommended to have enough insurance to replace the other person's income for equivalent years as if they had remained alive. We have enough insurance to cover the remainder of the house, and a year or two of income until we found our new normal. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter how an insurance package is sold.
Fred Pearce's book was a very thought provoking book. My husband commented that it must have been good, because I took so long to read it. Pearce travelled the globe in search of information about the sources of his food, clothing, and general goods, as well as the working conditions of the people producing them. I was inspired to use less stuff, as my innocent purchases had big impacts on the lives of other people, often less fortunate than myself. But his conclusions were that we just need more sustainable solutions. Much of the 'green economy' is about that - you don't have to give up anything to live an ethical or environmentally considerate life, just choose 'natural', 'eco-friendly' products. A lot of these products are fantastic, and green is better than not green, but I'm not convinced that is on its own is the path to environmental sustainability. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter how much you are 'greenwashed' into thinking that you can.
I am not in paid employment. I spend my days at home with my kids. I haven't gone back to work because we see huge value in kids having a parent home full time, and we are able to make do on one income. There are many, many families who can't manage on a single income. But there are families like my brother-in-law and his wife: he earns more than my husband, but she has put her young children into childcare to work part-time because money is always so tight. Not because their needs are great, but because their wants are great. Going back to work isn't a bad thing in and of itself - sometimes it is a necessity, but it isn't always. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter what the Joneses and their kids have.
Before our last Federal election there was much talk about ideal population size for a 'sustainable Australia'. Both sides of politics sprouted policies that would mean growing our population without sacrificing the Australian lifestyle. How? Won't we run out of space if we keep expanding our cities outwards? Developers put in lots of green space and walkways, but all miles away from amenities so we are still car dependent. You can't always maintain your current lifestyle, no matter how shiny the bureaucrats can make it look.
Lifestyle, I've realised, is codeword for stuff. Lifestyle is having the spacious house, the second car, eating at nice places, holidays, upgraded TVs and Nintendo DSs. Lifestyle is not giving up what is comfortable. Lifestyle is keeping up appearances.
Change happens. Sometimes by choice, sometimes not. Sometimes it is good, sometimes not. Sometimes we have to be willing to change our lifestyle to go along with our voluntary, or involuntary, life changes.
A simple lifestyle seems to me to be far more conducive to change and flexibility. Whether it's a positive change, like a growing family or looking after our planet, or a negative change, like losing a family member or a job, a lifestyle of needing less stuff means a lifestyle more adaptable to having less stuff out of necessity.
I know what lifestyle I want to maintain.
Monday, April 25, 2011
How not to have less!
This morning, I was flipping through a food magazine that my grandmother had passed on to me. She buys a lot of them, and they get passed to her daughters and then on to me. I used to read them all and tear out recipes to try, but after realising I was never going to get through that pile of recipes, I now just flip through a couple of magazines and pass the whole lot on to someone else.
A paragraph struck me in the 'everyday cooks notes' section:
I think the thing that most struck me was that this snippet struck me at all! How much has my thinking changed. I'm not going to buy a Cuisinart ice-cream maker ($119) or a Redecker vegetable scrubber ($8.95), both advertised on the same page, because I don't need them. Okay, I want the ice cream maker, but the three or four times a year I would use it doesn't really warrant the purchase, or the space in my kitchen.
A paragraph struck me in the 'everyday cooks notes' section:
Investment Strategy
Considering a new kitchen appliance? Before you hand over the credit card, ask three key questions; where will I put it, how often will I use it, and this time next year, will I be finding a new home for it? Then, to keep things interesting, allow yourself one irrational purchase per year.And that one purchase, does it matter where you'll put it, how often you'll use it or whether you'll still be using it next year? But, magazines make their money from advertising, and if people were always rational with their purchases, then the magazine industry would probably collapse. What a shame. Okay, end sarcasm.
I think the thing that most struck me was that this snippet struck me at all! How much has my thinking changed. I'm not going to buy a Cuisinart ice-cream maker ($119) or a Redecker vegetable scrubber ($8.95), both advertised on the same page, because I don't need them. Okay, I want the ice cream maker, but the three or four times a year I would use it doesn't really warrant the purchase, or the space in my kitchen.
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