Tip #24 - Beware of planned obsolescence

It’s that time of year again.

No, I’m not talking of the time of year when I start filling up my volunteering calendar, though that’s happening too.

I’m talking about the time of year when people around the world look at their one-year-old phones, tablets, computers, or gaming device, and think “why on earth did I spend so much money on this? It’s SO OLD!” and proceed to purchase, at great expense, the newest model on offer, tossing aside their current, perfectly functional, device.

Now I know I sound a bit cynical, and sometimes the advancements in technology really are impressive or really do make a positive impact in our busy lives.

But the marketing directors at top electronics and design houses have an extra ace up their sleeve: the concept of planned obsolescence, or in the words of Brooks Stevens, the man who made the idea famous the concept of “instilling in the buyer the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, a little sooner than is necessary”.

This evil little term is why our relatively new items of clothing or technology suddenly seem incredibly outdated after just a year or two. It I why things are not backwards-compatible (for example, why something saved in .docx may not work on a computer running an older version of Microsoft office, or why the new Nintendo games don’t work on previous GameBoys).

It is also why so many products these days are not ‘built to last’. If something breaks beyond repair, if that breakage was in-built but undetectably so, the consumer has to spend money to replace it. Or why the cost of repairing something is so ridiculously out of proportion to the cost of purchasing a new one, and that you may as well just buy new. Forever.

The origins of planned obsolescence were reasonable enough. It was thought out as a way to get consumers spending again during the great depression. Which is all well and good. But now this system is being applied to luxury items, which many people can ill afford to buy new every year. I know I can’t. But yet there is still pressure. The “ooo, that’s pretty!” or “ooo a new type of camera in the phone which does exactly one new thing and is totally worth an extra $500!” is heard every year.

Unfortunately, planned obsolescence is here to stay. I would hazard a guess that even now, only a couple days after their latest release, the big whigs at Samsung already know exactly what the Samsun Galaxy 5 will look like, and what it will contain, even if they haven’t quite worked out all the technical stuff yet.

So if you want to avoid paying out extra money because of planned obsolescence, here are some useful rules to follow:

1- Purchase something because you need it, not because it’s pretty. A major purchase should serve a useful purpose in your life, one that was not filled by your previous item, or to replace the loss of a previous item.

2- Read the customer reviews. If customers are reporting serious flaws in the product, then it might not be a good purchase! Search for the name of the device, including product number if necessary + customer reviews, and read a variety of reviews from a variety of sites. Read both the top and bottom reviews to get a better picture of the strengths and weaknesses of a device.

3- Get a good warranty. Invest in a warranty that at the very least covers the minimum amount of time you want your product to last. When I purchased my laptop, for instance, I bought a 3-year warranty because I wanted it to last at least three years. It has now lasted 3.5, and though I’m now out of warranty, I still believe I made the right decision.

4- Understand your warranty. Read through the warranty information carefully. If something happens to your item, you need to know who to call, what to do, and what might invalidate a warranty. For example, trying to fix a computer problem yourself, instead of bringing it to an accredited repair site, can make a warranty void. If you respect the warranty, and have a breakage to your item, you should have the repairs made at no extra cost, and you may receive a free replacement, especially if your device is no longer sold.

5- Accept that your items will no longer look shiny and new, and that that’s ok. For years, I had a dumb phone (you know, the opposite of a smart phone), even when smart phones were all the rage. My answer, when people ask how I could live with such a ridiculously low-tech piece of kit? “I use my phone to phone people, and it phones them rather well, thanks very much.” There isn’t really a good comeback to that!

Tip #22 - Buy a farm share

It's that time of year when you can juuuuuuust about smell spring in the air, but there's still snow on the ground. That time of year when the days are getting longer but still not long enough. That time of year when you start thinking about how nice it will be when fresh fruit and vegetables start growing again.

For those of us who aren't lucky enough to be able to "grow our own" for reasons of time, money, or simple lack of garden space, a great alternative is to buy a farm share or participate in a community farming association.  Community Supported Agriculture programmes are available in several countries and regions. Just google "CSA [your area]" to find one near you. By doing this, I've found CSA farms in many Canadian provinces and US states, as well as in England.

Here's the basic principle:
A farmer sells a certain number of "shares" to individuals in the community.
Individuals purchase these shares in late winter or early spring (aka NOW), providing farmers with starter income for the upcoming season.
The farmer then provides its shareholders with weekly or bi-weekly 'baskets' of produce from the farm throughout the production season. Shareholders usually have to pick up their shares at a pre-determined location.

However, if the farm has a good season, shareholders can make gains too, as the equivalent cost of the produce is higher than the initial cost of the share.

So you're supporting local farmers, and getting discounted produce at the same time. Oh, and did I mention that these farms often use organic methods, and many are actually certified organic? Sounds like win-win-win to me!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This is a gamble. If there is a poor harvesting season, or if the farmer is unable to maintain the farm for whatever reason, you may not receive your food. Read the terms and conditions of the shares closely before you buy to make sure you understand the potential risks.

Look around to find a farm which suits your needs. There are certified organic farms, there are some which allow you to substitute fresh produce with preserves, there are some which provide smaller baskets, or more flexibility, or who offer home delivery. Some also provide meat or eggs. Also consider the growing period - some farms grow produce with a smaller harvesting window, so will provide you with fewer baskets through the summer, whereas others will continue into the fall.

This year, I'm splitting a farm share with a friend. Each share should be enough to satisfy both of us and then some. We're getting 23 weeks' worth of baskets, starting in May. You can be sure there will be photos in good time! I can't wait!

Accepting the things we cannot change, and changing the things we cannot accept

If you haven't heard of the horsemeat scandal which is shaking the UK, here's a brief overview. Cheap minced meat from several low-priced product lines (for example 6/1pound burgers) has been found to contain horse DNA - sometimes up to 100% of the product is proven to be horse. Blame abounds, with fingers pointing at everyone from consumers to supermarkets to European mafia.

Side note: another big problem is the traces of porcine (yes, pig) DNA found in halal-branded food. That's a problem. A big problem. But outside my present argument.

In fact, food fraud seems to happen fairly frequently - we just don't realize it. I'm fairly certain the honey in my fridge (which I bought from a bulk bargain store) is actually coloured corn syrup, and I wouldn't be at all shocked that the cheapest store brand olive oil in my cupboard is just a cheap alternative. But you know what? I'm ok with that. The products serve their purpose in my food preparation. Also, I can't afford pure honey bought from a beekeeper, nor can I afford pure olive oil. I've accepted this. I'm ok with it, if not happy.

As for horsemeat, my personal view is that horsemeat must be pretty tasty if it's been passed it off as beef for so long. I personally have no problem with eating horse. However, I do have a problem when packaging says "100% beef" and the contents turns out to be Black Beauty rather than Buttercup. In England at least, the horsemeat industry is not as regulated as the beef one - the meat may contain many chemicals which may be harmful to us as consumers. This is a big problem.

If you do have an issue with eating horsemeat, then consider the wider picture. If a manufacturing company has managed to fool everyone with what animal is in their food, what else are you being tricked about? How have they managed this?

The only answer I can give is that the manufacturing chains are too damn long. We have no idea what's in our food anymore. Mostly, it's food - but what food, where, and how was it produced? We just don't know.

So we as consumers have two options:

1. We accept that we will never know what we're eating again.
2. We don't accept this, and we take steps to change.

In my case, I've accepted that some of my food is probably fake or below-standard (the honey, the oil), but I'm also taking steps to change. In my case, I'm purchasing a Community Supported Agriculture farm share (to be discussed in a future post), which will connect me directly to a local farmer. I will get fruit and vegetables every week during the spring and summer, and I can ask questions about the production methods, the fertilizers used, even what variety of vegetables they're growing.

It's also possible to get CSAs for meat, but I just don't have a big enough freezer to store half a cow or a whole pig. Sadly.

The capitalist world we live in emphasizes profit over quality. That's a shame, and it makes living on a tight budget an occasionally morally questionable practice. So my challenge to myself, to you, to the world is to choose what is acceptable and what isn't.

I've made my choices, what are yours?

Tip #17 - A stitch in time saves... money?

This is a rather targeted blog post. Targeted to one person (you know who you are ;P) but applicable to many, many people, myself included!

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how brand names in food and cleaning products didn't necessarily result in an improvement in quality, but definitely an increase in price.

The same can be said for clothing, where the glut of high street "brands" has led to lowering prices and an increased emphasis on style (what will be the new black in 2013?). But that has also come with a staggering decrease in overall quality.

I have a rant about linings and how terrible they are these days, but it's not worth putting here. Suffice it to say, too many of the clothes that I've bought from standard high-street stores have fallen apart in some irreparable way (and I can mend clothes!) before what I feel is their time.

Recently, I started looking at things a bit differently. If clothes now-a-days are cheap in price and quality, what happens when we go up the price ladder. Will we go up the quality ladder, too? The answer is usually yes, but to a point. Here's a rough paint-graph of how this works, with cost in blue and quality in red. Ok, ok, it's not scientific and is based on experience rather than fact, but I find that, while costs can increase exponentially, quality kind of plateau's at a certain point. Beyond that point, you're paying for the name or the style.

So here's the thing. When considering new items, if you buy too far down the cost line, the quality will be poor and you will have to replace the item soon. If you buy too far up, then you're adding cost with no beneficial return. The trick is to try and even out the two - to buy an item that will last a long enough time to balance out the increased cost and then some.

I have several examples from my own life:

First, my purse. My purse (handbag to avoid confusion) is a mid-range designer brand. It cost ₤148, which is REALLY EXPENSIVE. But it has now lasted me for a year and a half, which is longer than my previous four purses put together. In fact, if I had continued with the cheaper quality purses, I would have spent more in that year and a half on purses than on my designer one. And I plan on keeping it until it falls apart, hopefully another year and a half.

Second, my coat. In fact, my coats, since I have had good luck with coats. One coat cost me $220 and lasted me 10 years. A lot of money on a coat, but averaged out to $22/year, it's incredibly affordable. My current coat cost ₤127 on sale, and is a very formal wool cashmere blend. This is it's second winter in action, but the lining is still in one piece and it still looks fantastic despite some heavy use. It's vastly better than the ₤98 coat that I bought the year before, which looked old after just one year's use; and it had a hole in one pocket!

Finally, my computer. Going into my final year of university, I managed to kill my third laptop in a year and a half. I'm abusive to computers. I type fast, I eat and drink while I'm on them, I drop them off sofas. Essentially, I put them through a lot, and the cheapy-cheap ones just couldn't put up with me. So, despite protestations by my step-father, I shelled out on a $1500 laptop, which included a $300 warranty. THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY HOLY CRAP! But here's the thing: it has a shock-proof hard drive, so it's sofa-drop proof. It has a spill-proof keyboard so it won't fry. And it's got steel hinges, so I can open and close it as often as I like. Basically, it's me-proof. And it's lasted over 3 years. That's now less than $500/year. Which is incredibly affordable for a computer. The only problems are: the fan is going slightly, I had to replace the battery and the new one isn't always recognized but it works, and one of my sofa drops recently knocked out the microphone. But otherwise it's as fast as it has always been, and that's what matters.

I suppose my point here is that brand names or increased prices don't always mean increased quality. You have to search for the balance, and, when you find it, keep the products going so they are cheaper over time. Do the research, have a good feel of fabrics, check the seams, and know yourself - if I was more careful with electronics, I wouldn't have spent so much on my computer, but I knew I couldn't do that.

Happy New Year's everyone! I hope your resolution includes spending less money!

P.S. If you're yelling at your computer that I forgot about second hand or vintage clothing, don't worry. That's on my list for a future post ;)