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Think Outside The Subscription Box

By Frugaling 22 Comments

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Think Outside The Subscription Box

“Show someone you care with a random box of stuff this holiday season.”
— CNNMoney

There’s Graze, Birchbox, Barkbox, Brobox, Dollar Shave Club, Trunk Club, Blue Apron, and now, there’s Minimalism & Co.’s new minimalist themed subscription box. Each box has their own flavors, qualities, and featured products. Some use corporate partnerships to market products through these boxes, while others are hand-selected items by the box creator. These subscriptions can include makeup, food, and much more.

The subscription model is usually set at one box per month, but this varies between companies. The prices range from $25 to $100s each month. If you’re using Blue Apron — a meal preparation service — you’ll likely sign up for more regular deliveries. Although, Minimalism & Co. sends their box once every quarter (3 months). Regardless, once you sign up, you’ll be getting regular deliveries of unexpected “gifts.” It’s like getting a surprise present each month!

However, there’s another way of looking at this subscription craze. To mindlessly subscribe and receive trinkets, makeup, and/or men’s grooming products seems to be the epitome of conspicuous consumption. It’s unclear who might need these products; I mean, truly need a product received through a subscription box.

Initial subscriptions are often discounted to make the first box free or inexpensive. Subscription services know that once they have someone on the trial, they’re more likely to continue using their product and/or try it again at a later date. And even if you were done with the service, you might not want to go through the terrible phone trees and/or automatic email exchanges to get your cancellation confirmed. All the while, you’re spending money, adding clutter, and struggling to cancel the onslaught.

Subscription boxes have made minimalism, orderliness, and frugality harder. Fortunately, there’s an alternative to this madness. Today, I want to introduce a solution to effortless consumption. In fact, I’ve come up with a clever name for the subscription, too: “ByeBox.”

Our worries will be solved. It starts with a nearly empty box. When you subscribe to ByeBox, you receive nothing but a cardboard box and a piece of paper. Isn’t that revolutionary and minimal!? And there’s no need to be careful when carrying the box into your house, as there’s nothing to break. Once you’ve opened up the box to see no goodies, makeup, razors, grooming products, or exotic foods from Chile, you can prepare for a far more intentional decision.

Written on the 8.5 by 11-inch paper is a simple request: “Pick something from your house that you once wanted/desired, but no longer find enjoyment or need. Place it in box and ship it back to ByeBox for another empty box!” It’s just that simple!

We are faced with countless opportunities to spend and collect every day. Surprisingly, many have embraced subscription boxes and taken to spending outsized proportions on tchotchkes that provide little value to our lives. My idea — ByeBox — might be a joke, but wouldn’t this make more sense to those working to live a minimal and frugal lifestyle? The harder decision always seems to be fighting against the mode of consumption — to find ways to minimize by going without and throwing out.

Filed Under: Minimalism, Save Money Tagged With: ByeBox, Conspicuous, Consume, Consumer, Consumption, frugality, minimal, Minimalism, subscribe, subscription box

Don’t Buy This Ad

By Frugaling 8 Comments

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Photo Christopher Michel/Flickr

Flip an axis, make millions

Vietnam, hippies, and the civil rights movement all fomented into a powerful decade: the 60s. Flowery colors exalted a message of happiness and love over war. The Baby Boomer generation entered the workforce in droves.

Profits were to be made, and companies were eager to snatch even small portions of this new market. The continued growth of suburbs spawned a movement towards independence via cars. At this time of great economic and scientific potential, one auto company, VW (Volkswagen), created one of the most iconic advertisements ever made.

Printed in black, bold lettering was the word, “Lemon.” And above the text was a classic VW Beetle. Lemons were unreliable cars, and the VW ad suggested that the company carefully screened out those cars. Only perfection would be accepted; or, as they stated, “We pluck the lemons; you get the plums.”

Turning a word on its axis and daring readers to read on was risky. The advertisement had the potential to make consumers think, “VW Beetle is a lemon.” If they stayed for the explanation, the ad became clear; subtly, they were suggesting that other companies don’t care about reliability as much. By using “lemon,” they capitalized and succeeded in selling significantly more cars. It worked.

How “don’t buy” becomes “buy more”

In 2012, another company took a big risk: Patagonia. The corporate and marketing teams noted that there was a growing movement towards sustainability. Encompassed in this trend were simple living aficionados, minimalists, and value-oriented consumers. These careful consumers wanted great quality in responsible packages.

This Patagonia’s niche for quite some time. They advertised fair-trade, organic, and environmentally friendly products. Sales were growing, but then they decided to bet the farm on one massive ad in The New York Times. With bombastic, bold text, they wrote, “Don’t buy this jacket.” Behind the text was a Patagonia jacket.

Underneath the ad, the company focused on five key words: reduce, repair, reuse, recycle, and reimagine. Every word was paired with a communal pronoun of “We.” It took everyone to reduce the carbon footprint, make the garments last, and find good homes for them after use. Patagonia seemed to be advertising that consumers take good care of the goods, and consider repairing them before throwing them away. All solid virtues.

These value-laden terms were inspirational to those who had suffered through The Great Recession. Because the company struck a chord with the current market demands, the company profited royally. After that advertising campaign, the company saw double-digit growth.

Ironically, that’s unsustainable. Double-digit growth, compounded repeatedly, would make the company larger than Apple in a few years. And never mind the horrible environmental costs that would be necessary to produce these garments.

Your values can become a manipulation tool

Nefarious. That’s the word that comes to mind when companies manipulate us through our values. The trick is subtle, and if you blink you’ll miss it.

For the aspirational types, there’s Gucci, Coach, and Louis Vuitton. For the trend setters, there’s H&M and Express. For the recreational, there’s The North Face, Columbia, and even Patagonia. Each brand is shaped by its consumers, but also shapes their consumers – the effect is bidirectional. In other words, we affect brands and they affect us.

If our values center on sustainability, kindness to the Earth, and repairing over ridding, a chicanery of sorts can be used against us. Without the brand awareness and heavy advertising, we could go to Goodwill or any other secondhand store for options. The clothing would be in fine shape or could even be repaired to return to like-new status. But we don’t, and there’s a reason why.

Corporations are powerful. Even the kindest ones can sway us from choosing another, more affordable option because they espouse “our” values. We like when we see our values portrayed in mission statements. We like that connection and feeling of being a part of something larger than ourselves. The brands fill that void. They provide a home for values.

So, should I buy that shirt?

Patagonia plainly states “Don’t buy this shirt.” Unfortunately, to those that connect with anti-consumption, anti-materialism, and minimalism, it’s hard not to foam at the mouth with lust for this company’s ad.

I love it! That’s the ad for me. It speaks to my heart. Despite the clear declaration to avoid purchasing their clothing, I can’t help but be intrigued and want to support them.

Subtly, the company is able to supplant a more frugal choice when the time comes to buy something. Goodwill doesn’t have the marketing budget of Patagonia, so the first reaction isn’t to shop there. But it’s more sustainable, frugal, and creates jobs for some of the most disenfranchised in the community. That’s a win-win-win, and it doesn’t cost us $80, $90, or $100.

To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with supporting companies that share your values. But know that this is a marketing trick, and when you choose VW or Patagonia after seeing that advertisement, it’s worked. They got you.

Filed Under: Social Justice Tagged With: ads, advertising, Anticonsumption, Clothing, Consumption, Marketing, Materialism, Patagonia

Congregation Without Consumption

By Frugaling 31 Comments

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Mall of America

I often felt lonely growing up. Sometimes it was by choice, sometimes by consequence. Whatever the case, that aching feeling would hit me – I’d want to move, do, fix, and solve the discomfort. Isolation and loneliness prompted me to go out – to frequent places with people.

Unfortunately, people tend to congregate at locations of consumption. You can see it in families taking weekend trips to the mall to walk, eat, and shop. The window shopping and actual shopping make people feel purposeful.

When I’d be down and out, I’d find comfort in the smiling faces of store clerks and fellow shoppers. People were happy to be buying and selling products. The light shined brighter. Smells of candied nuts and pretzels wafted around. And hip music reverberated through the stores. I felt happy for a moment.

From the outside, it seemed like everyone won. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Conspicuous shopping and browsing can lead to debt, overdue bills, and lessening credit scores (not to mention great environmental harm). There’s a psychological cost to this repetitive reinforcement, as well. The visit makes us happy, and we want to return to duplicate and relive these positive feelings. The purpose is in the purchase. Without the purchase, who are we? Without the mall, where does positivity stem from?

When I first started saving money and becoming more frugal, I didn’t notice my removal from society’s consumptive catches. There was this new purpose to live within my means. That seemed to be enough. I was able to share my journey on Frugaling, too. But over time, I started to feel this lump in my throat. The social outings to spend money at restaurants, go to movies, and frequent trips were severely reduced.

That feeling of loneliness crept back in. With each effort to save, came losses in social situations. As much as I tried to build in free time with friends that was actually free, I realized that it was challenging.

We all want to consume and spend and travel and adventure. There’s excitement and energy in all these activities, but too frequently, there are direct costs associated.

We each need to establish a balance in our lives where we are spending within our means, while achieving our needed social connection with others. To sacrifice the latter may mean suffering greatly and failing to maintain long-term frugality. Suddenly, the endeavor is unintentionally punishing.

To combat and bolster our social support, connection, and integration, we must embrace congregation without consumption. These are the moments circled around a board game, watching a movie at home, cooking at home, biking, running, swimming, etc.

If frugality is a philosophy and way of life, we must define our methods for staying sane and healthy. It should never stand in the way of healthy psychological functioning and connection with others. To say “no” to social gatherings that need money is a tremendous way to save, but costs something more than dollars and cents. There’s a social factor that cuts deep – for both parties involved.

Staying connected and frugal requires proactive planning. The initiative is on you – for better and for worse – to suggest events without a price tag. We are all in this together, but someone needs to start the trend. Longer term, our society must find new homes for purpose and energy with others – something beyond the brightly lit walls of malls.

Now, the important question becomes, Where will you spend your weekend?

Filed Under: Minimalism, Save Money Tagged With: America, Consumption, Frugal, frugality, Mall, Psychology, saving, Social, spending, Support

Frugal Articles of the Week

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Reading Nook Photo

Every week I like to feature a few frugal articles that caught my eyes. Curl up in your favorite reading nook and enjoy. Hopefully these encourage you to live frugal lives!

The Keurig K-Cup’s inventor says he feels bad that he made it — here’s why by Drake Baer
Mmm… The smell and sound of a fresh pot of coffee brewing is the perfect way to start a day. For many, saving time during their morning routine is important. Years ago, an inventor thought of an ingenious way to make coffee faster, with greater variation, and in seconds. Unfortunately, that invention, the Keurig K-Cup, creates scary amounts of waste — all for about one cup of coffee per pod. What’s worse, the company charges atmospheric prices for the coffee and tries to prevent people from using their own cups with the product.

The slow death of the home-cooked meal by Roberto Ferdman
A frightening decline in home-cooked meals is occurring. Americans are eating out more, buying pre-packaged foods, and eschewing the frugal homemade items for something more. But that something more has a price. This is a trend we need to think about working on immediately. Eating out costs a fortune and many people can’t afford to do it — even if their bank accounts have enough cash.

How To Make Six Figures A Year And Still Not Feel Rich – $200,000 Income Edition by Sam from Financial Samurai
Today, I wanted to include an article that I don’t necessarily agree with. This article from the awesome writer of Financial Samurai analyzes what it means to be “rich.” Fundamentally, he asks, what does $200,000 a year get you and would you feel rich? While I disagree with his conclusions, I think this article illustrates the wide divide between wealth in this country. When someone can afford $8,000 a year in vacations and doesn’t feel rich, there’s likely an internal, psychological mechanism that’s askew.

France wants companies to make appliances that last longer by Associated Press/WashPo
What a novel approach! France is lobbying companies to make products that last longer. Simple, right? Well, companies rely on products expiring in regular intervals to allow for new products, consumption, and spending. This phenomenon is called “planned obsolescence.” We are consuming too much, as a country, people, and world. We need to cut back. One way is to build and buy products that will stand the test of time.

Filed Under: Save Money Tagged With: articles, Consumption, Food, Frugal, home, meal, money, rich, Save Money, Wealth, week

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