Free From Money

I wanted to point out a slightly ridiculous article I read today courtesy of Smart Money. Apparently they think it’s a good idea to go ahead and buy a new high-definition television now instead of waiting.

I am by no means one to talk about not buying new toys and gadgets. On the contrary I own quite a few cool gadgets (which is probably part of the reason I’m in so much debt). If you are in the market to buy a new TV and if you have the money to do it, then do it.

Stop rationalizing about spending money! If you have some extra money, no debt, and are saving for the future I see absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t spend money to make your time now a little more enjoyable. I mean why make money if you can’t spend it, right?

Here is my thoughts on each of the reasons why it’s ‘best’ to buy a high-def TV now, and why it might be a good idea to wait:

1. Prices may go up.

Yeah, right. I can’t recall ever seeing the price of consumer electronics go up. Every year processing power gets cheaper and cheaper thanks to Moore’s law. And as company’s try to push out the next best thing to get your buck the price of the current generation is almost always guaranteed to go down.

2. Bigger Selection.

Sorry, can’t say I really care about this. There will always be a few top brands selling the top products. Nothing else matters. If you are going to drop $2,000 on a television you better get the best, not some cheap, crappy off-brand just to say you have a high-def. There is more to a good screen than resolution.

3. No new technology worth holding out for.

This is slightly true, although I would argue that 1080p sets are still rare versus their 720p counterparts. As time goes on they will become more common and cheaper.

If you have plans to upgrade your DVD player to Blu-ray it’s probably worth holding out for the extra resolution if you can’t afford a 1080p set now. Blu-ray players, the Playstation 3, and the XBOX 360 all support 1080p. And if you plan on getting a media center PC or an Apple TV you will want the highest resolution available.

4. Sales on last-year’s models.

Wow! Really! Guess what? The same thing will happen next year (see #1) And then year after that (see #1). So if you can’t afford the television you really want now, save up for the one you want and buy it later. It’s not going anywhere, and more than likely something better will come along at the same price.

I really can’t believe a magazine called ‘Smart Money’ would put out crap like this. I wonder if there’s any connection between this article and the stimulus checks being sent out.

If you want a TV, just buy it. Articles like this do a disservice to personal finance.

I am currently working on a post regarding so-called “green” living, and I came across the name of photographer Chris Jordan. He has an interesting series entitled “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption“

Quoted from his website regarding the series:

Exploring around our country’s shipping ports and industrial yards, where the accumulated detritus of our consumption is exposed to view like eroded layers in the Grand Canyon, I find evidence of a slow-motion apocalypse in progress. I am appalled by these scenes, and yet also drawn into them with awe and fascination. The immense scale of our consumption can appear desolate, macabre, oddly comical and ironic, and even darkly beautiful; for me its consistent feature is a staggering complexity.

The pervasiveness of our consumerism holds a seductive kind of mob mentality. Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.

As an American consumer myself, I am in no position to finger wag; but I do know that when we reflect on a difficult question in the absence of an answer, our attention can turn inward, and in that space may exist the possibility of some evolution of thought or action. So my hope is that these photographs can serve as portals to a kind of cultural self-inquiry. It may not be the most comfortable terrain, but I have heard it said that in risking self-awareness, at least we know that we are awake.

Some of the photos in the series, such as the one below, are simply amazing to look at. To think about the amount of waste that is produced every year is something most people, including myself, never think about.

Our society is built on consumption and throwaway goods. I am not going to point fingers, since I enjoying buying new gadgets as much as most people do. But I want everyone to consider cost versus value when making purchases. Instead of buying cheap clothing that will wear out quickly, spend the money on high quality items that will last years. Instead of buying cheap electronics with the intention to buy something better later on, save up for what you really want and buy that instead. That way you only pay once, which saves you money, you get the cool stuff that you really want, and you consume less materials in the end. Consider upgrade cycles and whether you really need to give in to buying the latest and greatest. Cell phones are a good example. Every time you take a free upgrade to another crappy cell phone (why do you think they’re free?) you are contributing to waste. And you lock yourself into another contract with your cellphone company.

I know I am slowly changing my views on what I buy and how I value those things. This is another example that buying less is good for both your wallet and the environment. I hope to follow up with more posts like this, but until then take a look at Chris Jordan’s website to see the rest of the photos. He has a few other really cool galleries to check out in addition to the one mentioned. Enjoy!