David Frank
  • Home
  • Talks
    • Dangerous Products ↗
    • Sensory Marketing
    • Marketer's Guide to Lying
    • Sex, Love & Marketing
    • How to Market Tobacco
    • Marketing Doesn't Work On Me
    • Marketing SciComm Events
  • Writing
    • Seattle Bewilderment Blog (personal)
    • Good/Bad Marketing ↗
  • Podcasts
  • Marketing
    • Likert Language
    • Checklist
  • About Me
    • FAQ
    • My Dog
    • Books I Like
    • Weird Food
    • Food Garden ↗
  • Contact

#8: Buying things. (And their expense.)

17/11/2017

0 Comments

 
Moving to a place that doesn't do furnished/equipped rentals is expensive. You have to buy everything, and as a new resident, I had no (and therefore poor) credit history, so was not eligible for a credit card, so no extra warranties, insurance, cashback rewards or points to offset the cost. I suppose traditionally people live at home until marriage, wed early and fill their home thought their wedding registry.

While people acquire items over time, I did the calculations and it's cheaper to sell and give items away and buy new again than to ship items from Europe or Australia to America. Try it yourself. Look at your books, appliances, furniture, clothing, whatever, and see if it’s worth bringing or replacing at £3 / AUD$5 / USD$4 per kg (about half that per LB).

​
By contrast, I lived for a couple years out of my suitcase in Japan. Just look at the size of my central Tokyo apartment in the video below. I happily lived out of a small sized backpack when I backpacked around Asia and lived in Hanoi, but I knew that was all temporary, so I paid a premium for furnished homes. I had no sympathy for my friends who complained they had too much junk. I was busy envying them for having useful everyday items I simply didn't have.

One friend living in her third country who loved living light occasionally played a game called "10 Things," where she would go around the house and get rid of 10 things she hadn't used in a while and didn't really need. Try it yourself, it's great!


Edinburgh was frustrating though. I was reluctant to buy anything to ease my life, knowing I was there for just a few years. Purchases would be a waste, and disposal a hassle. But an American/European couple in Edinburgh whom I was friends with when we all lived in Tokyo put it to me this way: if I do end up buying something, best get it early on, as later purchases will get less use. So I did buy a few things, and was all the happier for it. And that's how a friend was gifted a lovely air-fryer when I departed.

Being able to buy things in the US, while painfully expensive doing it all at once, also felt great. I am finally able to have practical home items, from a blender to a giant shoe horn, and all sorts of things. Owning more than two pairs of shoes still feels weird, but I'm still constantly appreciative of all these little things I wanted for years, and I'm still good at not acquiring junk. And no, I still don'd have any sympathy for people who complain they have too much stuff!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About this blog

    Musings, frustrations and wonderment from an Australian who moved to the US having never visited the country before. 

    ​This is the fifth country I have lived in in five years, and if I've learned one thing, it's that every place has its pros and cons.
    ​Published Fridays.

      Subscribe

    Subscribe to Blog

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017

    Categories

    All
    Cars
    Food
    Guns
    Humor
    Language
    Law
    Money
    People
    Shopping

    RSS Feed

Home
Talks
Dangerous Products ↗
​​Sensory Marketing
Sex, Love & Marketing
How to Market Tobacco
Marketing Does Not Work on Me
Marketing SciComm Events
Writing
Copywriting portfolio 
Seattle Bewilderment Blog
Good/Bad Marketing ↗
Podcasts
Marketing
​About Me ​
​FAQ
Books
Weird Food
Food Garden ↗
Contact​
© David Frank 2020 | Don't confuse with Mirror David Frank