Material wants - do you still get the rush?

whiskeyman

Guess this is appropriate during the Christmas time to ponder this one.
In the past year (I'm mid 20s) I think I've totally most any 'buzz' from receiving what I would have considered a material want. I used to buy a lot of CDs, DVDs, and the odd game, and I'd always look forward to getting home to watch / play them etc.. However, I just don't get the sense I used to get off them. It's the same for other bigger purchases.
Certain things that has happened to me this year has really made me value more emotional needs and wants a heck of a lot more than material wants could ever achieve. I guess I'm also lucky in that I have most things I could think I need. I'm not exactly flush with cash (although I'm doing fine) and could probably afford a few luxury items, but I just couldn't be bothered with them.
The only thing I can really think of that I'd enjoy spending money on is a holiday.
Just wondering if anyone else has felt this way? Perhaps this is just acheived in a certain point in a persons life?
I was gonna put this in PI, but I feel it's a general thing.
Do you still have certain items you wish for and feel you'll get a good 'buzz' from them?

Fajitas!

Retail therapy can still work, but only at higher prices...cd's etc just don't do it these days.

I get a good buzz from getting camera gear...but at this stage, I'm gonna be spending at least a grand on each thing I buy. Expensive business, espec for a student.

jrey1981

I know where you're coming from. I'd get excited about buying stuff when I was younger.

Now I think about it a lot more before I buy something. I put it down to maturing and using my brain more, rather than just the 'I want, I want, I want' that goes with being a kid.

I even got a new mobile phone recently, but I'm still using the old one and realising I wanted rather than actually needed a new one.

I can afford a new mountain bike, but the old one still works. The thought of my bank balance missing a chunk of money outweighs the fact that I would have a nice shiny new bike.

It's the same with a lot of stuff. I did shell out for a new laptop a few weeks back, but that's because it's essential for work, etc., but there again, now I have it, I'd be happy to get the old one fixed and carry on using that.

This Core Duo super-duper Intel processor is a load of bull as far as I can tell and the Microsoft software it runs on is still pretty ****e.

Karl Hungus

Yeah, I still get excited like a little kid. Especially if it's anything guitar related. Even something small like a new pedal, or pickup can really excite me. I'll be waiting for the postman eagerly.

The Gnome

I'm not the consumer whore I once was. I sicken me.

Having said that I got a lot of joy out of finding these babies this morning...

Pythia

I live for shopping.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Woo hoo - we're efinally growing up!

I think we find pleasure in buying more practical things rather than materialistic. Take Fajitas' camera equipment for example: it's something he;s going to use as opposed to just sit on the mantlepiece gathering dust or watch once and banish to the CD/DVD rack...

Schlemm

I love not liking shopping

Ruu_Old

Still the same as when I was a young lad, eBay is one of my best friends. :rolleyes:

Gone West

I'd really like to say no.
I'd like to say I'm zen and content to sit in a forest by a lake, eating jungle fungi for the rest of my life, never spending another euro.

But I'm still buzzing from a few days ago, when I bought this baby
clickie

Steven

Money cannot buy happiness, but it can buy stuff, and stuff makes you happy.

Well, at least until you get tired of it. However, you can always buy more stuff.

challengemaster

jrey1981 wrote:

This Core Duo super-duper Intel processor is a load of bull as far as I can tell and the Microsoft software it runs on is still pretty ****e.

any microsoft software is ****e... the C2D's are grand.

also, i bought a 100+quid pair of sunglasses a while back, so what section do i go under? ^_^

joejoem

I am also mid 20's. I get a buzz when I buy cd's in multiples now, I love buying on cdwow. A few days after you order you come home from work to 10 new cd's.

I bought a mercedes a few months ago, that was a thrill.

kelle

When I was in my 20's, I'd have to buy the latest gadget. I felt I worked hard for my money and deserved to have whatever I took a desire to! A lot of these things would probably get used once then stored in a cupboard.
Suddenly, I started seeing things in shops and, even though I had the money couldn't justify buying them, and would think how all these goods would occupy lots of space in a landfill site in the next year, or sooner.
People seem to me to be obsessed with buying things they don't need, and at Christmas it's a million times worse when they're buying that "rubbish" for others - it all becomes clutter nobody wants.
My husband accuses me of being a Christmas scrooge because he buys 10 presents for each of the kids (I feel they'll appreciate just one present each), then his mum and siblings do the exact same - they're OBSESSED with Christmas shiopping! We live in a big house, but it's bursting at the seams with their toys, 99% of which they don't play with.
Does anybody else feel the same?

Hagar

The rush is gone for me.
I long ago realized the difference between "need" and "want".
I have everything I need. I'm lucky in that respect.

CathyMoran

I think that the material rush is a short term high, if I am having a really bad day I may buy something and I do love holidays but then there are other people involved but for long term highs I enjoy things like being with my family, looking at the stars at night etc.

Beau x1

Well, it depends what you're buying I guess. I'd say you'd be better off buying clothes or something practical; you can't really go wrong or get bored with that.

I'm just buying practical stuff this year with my Xmas cash, there's no gadget or anything I really want...anyone else feel the same?

Pigman II

I think 1998 was the last time I bought something in an excited state.

Capt'n Midnight

The Gnome wrote:

I'm not the consumer whore I once was. I sicken me.

Having said that I got a lot of joy out of finding these babies this morning...

how about the real thing ?
http://img1.travelblog.org/Photos/874/4903/f/17479-Vietnamese-Potbellied-Pigs-0.jpg

It's more fun when you have to get presents on a fixed budget, last year it was a tenner max, took lots of shopping to find the perfect kitsch ..

Piste

I'm stil very materialistic, I love gettin things- especially presents! And whenever I buy something nw it makes me happy or the rest of the day. If it's a CD/DVD I can't wait to listen to/watch it, or if it's clothes I can't wait for an opportunity to wear them.


I am a consumer

Rb

I don't get such a "buzz" off receiving presents as I used to, but I do like buying new things or getting something I really wanted. Not as much as I used to but its still there in some form.

haunted-room

I used to get excited about material things when I was younger too, like games and movies and things but I dont get excited about those things at all anymore. They mean a lot less to me now. Im just in my early 20's.

Irjudge1

Still like to buy stuff clothes and CD's expecially but I am kinda sickened by the sheer amount of stuff that's bought at Christmas. It's OTT.

jrey1981

kelle wrote:

....Suddenly, I started seeing things in shops and, even though I had the money couldn't justify buying them, and would think how all these goods would occupy lots of space in a landfill site in the next year, or sooner.
People seem to me to be obsessed with buying things they don't need, and at Christmas it's a million times worse when they're buying that "rubbish" for others - it all becomes clutter nobody wants....
Does anybody else feel the same?

A friend of mine said more or less the same thing just before Xmas.

Christmas is just OTT now really.

I get more excited by a challenge in my work....or by giving a gift rather than receiving one tbh

Capt'n Midnight

Of course you can try the Argos 16 day money back guarantee to fulfill your need without going broke
Christmas lights are excluded :mad:

Thrill

I still get a buzz out of buying something new. The smell, the shine, the newness.

It's still all good to me

The longer it takes to get the thing i want the more i seem to enjoy it.
The problem these days is that a lot people can afford to get what they want in no time at all. Hence the lack of any buzz, imo.

.

jrey1981

interesting piece touching on the subject by David McWilliams...

http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=36&si=1746530&issue_id=15042

Sparky

I used to love the buzz of getting new stuff every now and again, but as times go on and as I grow older, you add up the odds of needing and wanting.
Most of my material decisions are made up against what money I have and what is a priority before I get to the stage of deciding to get some stuff I would like.

Small things wouldn't come into the equation like DVDs CDs etc. They don't give such a buzz like a new amp/camera/phone/laptop would.
Although I must say over the last week a few PSP games gave me a rather good buzz.

I love giving gifts however. There is a better buzz in that IMO.