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Post by impulse on Apr 7, 2021 11:59:06 GMT -5
To be fair, time poverty is a thing, and there is a very real use case there for people who have more money than free time. Even paying a little more for pre-cut fruit or what have you can be a lot less expensive than takeout and is generally healthier, too.
It'd be one thing if the majority was still a single working partner and the other managing the household, but these days with so many families where both partners work at least one job, if not not more, the convenience of pre-prepped food is hard to argue.
I also read a write-up it called paying your "ADHD" tax in advance because it costs less over time. The argument for people who buy stuff fresh or in its most basic form then get busy/distracted/forget about it. They either never use it or it goes bad and you throw it out. If you are more likely actually take your vitamin if you pay more for the gummy than pills you will forget, it's worth it. If you buy ready to eat fruit salad, you are more likely to put it on a bowl and eat it versus the fresh produce you never wash and cut up that rots in you fridge. $4.99 per pound fruit salad you eat half of is a better value than a pound of $3.99 fruit that rots and gets tossed. So, you pay your tax up front, so it ends up being a smaller tax.
Obviously, everyone's experience and preferences will differ. I prefer buying spinach, celery, etc, washed and ready to eat, for example, as it's just easier to get to. That said, I don't know why someone would pay $1 more for a peeled onion that isn't even chopped. Peeling an onion is pretty trivial, and I would think if you don't have time to peel it, you don't have time to chop it, either.
But hey, peeled onion buyer. You do you.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 7, 2021 12:10:06 GMT -5
I can’t make consistent boiled eggs to save my life. I end up obliterating the egg while peeling the shell half the time. ok. . .easy peasy: 1) put eggs in saucepan, and cover with just enough cold water to cover the eggs (you dont' really want them floating, but you want them under the water) 2) put saucepan on stove and turn burner to high, and wait until rolling boil. 3) turn heat off.
4) place lid on saucepan, set time for 8 minutes, and walk away. 5) after 8 minutes, bring pan to sink, and dump hot water, refilling with cold water. . let sit in sink for 5 minutes.
then peel under slow dripping cold water. perfect hard boiled eggs, and by peeling under cold water, the shells should basically just slide off. That's WAY easier than what I've been doing for all these years. Thanks! |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 7, 2021 12:16:01 GMT -5
To be fair, time poverty is a thing, and there is a very real use case there for people who have more money than free time. Even paying a little more for pre-cut fruit or what have you can be a lot less expensive than takeout and is generally healthier, too. It'd be one thing if the majority was still a single working partner and the other managing the household, but these days with so many families where both partners work at least one job, if not not more, the convenience of pre-prepped food is hard to argue. I also read a write-up it called paying your "ADHD" tax in advance because it costs less over time. The argument for people who buy stuff fresh or in its most basic form then get busy/distracted/forget about it. They either never use it or it goes bad and you throw it out. If you are more likely actually take your vitamin if you pay more for the gummy than pills you will forget, it's worth it. If you buy ready to eat fruit salad, you are more likely to put it on a bowl and eat it versus the fresh produce you never wash and cut up that rots in you fridge. $4.99 per pound fruit salad you eat half of is a better value than a pound of $3.99 fruit that rots and gets tossed. So, you pay your tax up front, so it ends up being a smaller tax. I'm glad you said this. My dad owned and operated a small Grocery Store in The Bronx until he died. He made more money there than I ever will, but he learned late in life that the true measure of wealth was more complicated than how much money he made. The single resource he valued more than anything else was time, and he'd always wished he could have more of it. When a customer would be a nuisance, if he could get rid of them by giving them $5, he always always would, even if they were dead wrong. For me, I will never have enough time with my kids, with my fiance, or to myself, no matter how much I'm given. What I wouldn't do for ten extra minutes doing any of those things! I just today begged my housekeeper to come back after a year off for Covid. I live paycheck to paycheck like anyone else, but the amount of TIME I save by having someone else clean my home every two weeks is priceless, and I miss that extra time dearly. And while I'd never personally pay for pre-boiled eggs, I have paid extra for peeled garlic on occasion because MAN that takes time when you're using nine cloves per meal. Finally, consider folks who forgot to pack a lunch and need a quick/cheap meal. I do have a budget-conscious colleague who, upon forgetting to bring a lunch, has run out to buy a pre-boiled egg on occasion. Sure beats McDonald's dollar menu. |
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Post by tartanphantom on Apr 7, 2021 12:27:53 GMT -5
I just today begged my housekeeper to come back after a year off for Covid. I live paycheck to paycheck like anyone else, but the amount of TIME I save by having someone else clean my home every two weeks is priceless, and I miss it dearly. Perhaps your housekeeper will take his/her wages payment in the form of "hot trending comic book titles"? Seems that you've have quite a few of those just lying around for years.  |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 7, 2021 12:29:37 GMT -5
I just today begged my housekeeper to come back after a year off for Covid. I live paycheck to paycheck like anyone else, but the amount of TIME I save by having someone else clean my home every two weeks is priceless, and I miss it dearly. Perhaps your housekeeper will take his/her payment in "hot trending comic book titles"? Seems that you've have quite a few of those just lying around for years. No, but she absolutely DOES play with my toys. You wouldn't expect it from a Columbian woman in her late fifties, but she finds all sorts of amusing poses for my toys when she dusts. I love it. |
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Post by brutalis on Apr 7, 2021 13:00:18 GMT -5
I totally get the forgot lunch or easiness like pre-cut fruit or instant potatoes or precooked/seasoned meats. What I don't get is paying extra for hardboiled eggs, paying the cost of a pound of bacon for 2 slices on your burger, paying higher prices for Kool-aid in cans or bottles, paying $2-4 more for reserving seats at a movie because you can't manage to get there in time to spend a few minutes in line, paying to have your lawn done professionally when it is a tiny patch of grass barely large enough for your dog to rub his butt on and all the other craziness.
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 7, 2021 13:28:44 GMT -5
Everything comes down to cost vs. reward. I’m willing to pay my daughter in law gas money and tolls if she meets me halfway from PA to drop off my grandson in Jersey. Shax is right, time is money.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2021 13:48:47 GMT -5
Everything costs some ratio of time and money to do. Some people value money over their time. Others their time over their money. Back when clipping coupons was still a big deal (before most went digital) my wife used to say I have more time than money so I spend the time clipping coupons to save money when I asked her why she did it. But just about everything in life comes down to time and/or money and how you choose to allocate your resources of either. If it were simply saving money over time, no one would ever eat out or get take out when it is cheaper to prepare every meal yourself, but not everyone has the time (or desire to spend the time they do have) prepping meals. To some the extra time and lesser expenditure of effort is worth the higher price. Convenience stores have thrived for decades charging higher prices for the same goods than super-markets because it was quicker and easier to get in , get it, and get out. Lots of people are willing to pay more for convivence because they value the time or lack of effort more than they value the money. Others will choose differently. But it always comes down to that balance of time/money.
-M
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 7, 2021 14:41:48 GMT -5
If it were simply saving money over time, no one would ever eat out or get take out when it is cheaper to prepare every meal yourself, but not everyone has the time (or desire to spend the time they do have) prepping meals. I can't tell you how often Amber and I are having a blast with the kids and just decide to order dinner instead of one of us disappearing for 40 minutes to an hour in order to prepare a meal (not to mention the dishes I'll spend an hour doing after). Our biggest regret isn't even the expense -- it's how unhealthy take-out generally is. I'm telling you, a take-out place serving comfort food genuinely made from scratch would make a killing on us. We don't want restaurant food; we just want someone else to do the cooking and dishes. |
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Apr 7, 2021 14:43:01 GMT -5
I totally get the forgot lunch or easiness like pre-cut fruit or instant potatoes or precooked/seasoned meats. What I don't get is paying extra for hardboiled eggs, paying the cost of a pound of bacon for 2 slices on your burger, paying higher prices for Kool-aid in cans or bottles, paying $2-4 more for reserving seats at a movie because you can't manage to get there in time to spend a few minutes in line, paying to have your lawn done professionally when it is a tiny patch of grass barely large enough for your dog to rub his butt on and all the other craziness. I figure folks are entitled to spend their own money however they see fit. Maybe they are being dumb with their own money (which is their right), or maybe we just don't understand their situation. |
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Post by impulse on Apr 7, 2021 14:45:44 GMT -5
I totally get the forgot lunch or easiness like pre-cut fruit or instant potatoes or precooked/seasoned meats. What I don't get is paying extra for hardboiled eggs, paying the cost of a pound of bacon for 2 slices on your burger, paying higher prices for Kool-aid in cans or bottles, paying $2-4 more for reserving seats at a movie because you can't manage to get there in time to spend a few minutes in line, paying to have your lawn done professionally when it is a tiny patch of grass barely large enough for your dog to rub his butt on and all the other craziness. Even that is all relative. If you work long hours and make a lot of money, why not buy yourself more time by outsourcing time and energy spent on labor? Everything is more expensive at a restaurant, and you're not just paying for two slices of bacon. You are paying for someone else to shop it, prep it, cook it, put it on your burger, take it away and clean up for you. Also, dang, let me know where you can get a pound of bacon for a couple bucks anymore.  Pre-mixed drinks in a can or bottle are ready to grab and go, don't make a mess, and the container can be recycled easily. No prep or clean up. Might be excessive for every day use, but great when you are going out or on the road. I am sure the movie thing varies by location, but sometimes you have to get there an hour early to wait in line and have a chance of getting seats that aren't in the front row. (I actually hate going to the movies for other reasons these days, but that is another topic). Hiring someone to cut a small lawn could seem excessive, yeah, but say you live in an area with a super anal-retentive HOA who will fine or hassle you if it's not done just right. Or again our theoretical person who makes good money but works long hours. Got more money than time, why waste his precious time doing chores he hates? Also you don't have to store, maintain, and service lawn equipment, etc. I can relate personally to the lawn one. I am by no means a super rich person, but I'm not pinching two pennies together to feed my family. A few years ago, my work was super crazy busy, and I worked pretty long hours during the week, and was still tired on weekends. My daughter was still in diapers, and my son hadn't been born yet. I had all the equipment to mow, edge my lawn, trim the bushes, etc, but man, I gotta tell you, I resented the hell out of spending ~2 hours of my precious time off with my family doing yard work. In another time or life stage, I would even enjoy the simplicity of it and being outside, but not when I'm working 50 hours a week and my daughter is growing up while I'm cutting grass. I couldn't really afford to hire someone for it, but even more I couldn't afford not to. When the kids are in school and busy off with their friends? Maybe a different story. But now? The time is too precious. Not to suggest in any way you are wrong in your opinion. I am sure the equation works out differently for everyone. |
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Post by majestic on Apr 7, 2021 15:15:33 GMT -5
For me I valued money over time when I was younger mainly because I lived paycheck to paycheck back then. Now that I am older and have the house paid off and money in my savings... I value time more. So my younger self would be horrified at what my older self pays someone else to do!
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Post by impulse on Apr 7, 2021 15:32:37 GMT -5
This is true. The idea of spending money to buy convenience is dependent upon having money to spend on such things, of course. My spending priorities as a family man are quite different than my priorities as a single dude in my 20s.
Younger me would also be floored that I voluntarily wake up before noon on a weekend, for example, but that immature jerk didn't have anything else to do. He needs to grow up and get a job. Wait...
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Post by Deleted on Apr 7, 2021 15:43:12 GMT -5
to make it easier to stick to a diet, I've often bought the pre-cut fruit bowls (but only those pain in the ass fruits - such as Pineapple, or mango), and then only when they are on sale for 3 for $12
but I'll freely cop to buying pre-cut/diced peppers (that are $2.50 - and yes, I sometimes think, well, peppers are ~.99 each, but the convenience, and getting red/yellow/orange/green peppers together? it's worth it to me.
and if I'm making a casserole such as "blend of the Bayou" that requires the trinity? I've certainly bought the pre-cut/mixed onion/pepper/celery. . it just makes life easier.
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Post by Icctrombone on Apr 7, 2021 16:44:22 GMT -5
The eggs came out well. Thanks @bert.
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