It has a bit of everything, but for insanely low prices and so many pop ups you want to puke. It resembles a slot machine with its bright lights and constantly moving tiles. It even resembles old Facebook with its farm games and constant nagging to invite your friends to the app. It has a lot to hate on, but it also gives you access to extremely affordable albeit questionable quality goods. When used correctly, Temu can be a tool in affordability to fight off rising prices, when used incorrectly it can be a vortex of consumerism.
Amazon is amazing! I am a huge fan. A few points and clicks and products will arrive at your door. The convenience is unparalleled, but Amazon is not your friend. It is a company that wants to maximize profit with a few sneaky tricks up its sleeve:
I recently saw a post about saving money by making a sandwich vs just buying a sandwich and I think there is some truth to the post. I used to work on the road quite a bit and buying a loaf of bread, condiments, cheese, lettuce, tomato, deli meat really adds up. Now obviously if you total all the sandwiches created and if the condiments and veggies were completely utilized then it makes financial sense to make at home. But when I was traveling on the road it was difficult to store condiments and vegetables. It was nearly impossible to utilize even half of the food before I would have to throw it out or I would just lose it in a move. This is the same problem with salads have multiple dressings that never get finished. Simply buying a bag salad that is fully utilized is more cost effective. I crunched the number while on the road and just decided it was best to simply eat out at the cheapest restaurants vs buying groceries.
I recently celebrated a birthday and took the day off work. Instead of going shopping and eating at a fancy restaurant I went around town collecting free food like Pokémon. Businesses love to help you celebrate the day of your birth with free giveaways in hope of having you grace their business on your special day. This can be a lot of free food when you actually sit down and compile a list of all the restaurants that have an offering. There are so many offers that it would take all day to actually redeem them all.
Making financial decisions is difficult. Treat yourself or save for the future? The financially perfect decision between spending or not spending is always not spending. Zero extra spending on even a simple chocolate bar or drink to help you get through the day. No spending on extra clothes or the latest tech gadget. If it is unnecessary in the slightest the financial responsible decision is No. This sort of decision making would get you to your financial goals real fast but deprive yourself of many of life's simple joys. Never eating out, never traveling, never buying luxury items, never having any fun. The FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement is a take on this with spending drastically reduced. When should you make the financially responsible decision and when to spurge is a constant battle, but we should always seek to be as educated as possible on our financial decisions.
Comparison is a thief of joy. Generally comparison is looked down upon and for good reason, but a part of me wonders if there is some good t...
