Unpopular Opinion
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Tobacco use has dropped significantly over the years, while their prices have dramatically risen. Yes there are people who still smoke, but that probably is more attributable to it being a severe addiction than really a choice. Electricity and gasoline are both necessities. The price does continue to go up, and people have no choice but to pay.
Something that would be interesting to look at would be true luxuries; like cable tv, video games, smart phones, etc.
Smart phones are basically a requirement now. With most people not wanting laptops/desktops anymore and with jobs wanting you to apply online instead of on paper. Their usefulness is far beyond a luxury.
A smart phone may be a near requirement, but the latest folding gen 74 fruit flavored excellent rectangle for $2,000 is not. So there is defiantly some room for luxury vs need in that space.
It's all in how you spend your money. Like, in his list of "luxuries" you could get basic cable so you have access to news and weather, buy a used video games console/PC, buy your video game second hand and/or wait for sales, or buy a second hand/refurbished phone.
That's frugality and something more people need to practice. However, some people are just terrible with money because they've never seen it used correctly. Or who knows maybe that nice smart phone is the only luxury they allow themselves.
I’ll use AT&T as an example, because that’s who I use as a cell phone provider. You can buy inexpensive pre-paid plans for as low as $40/month, with a one-time fee for a sub-$100 dumb phone.
Smart phones - which have a higher barrier of entry - are most certainly luxuries, and most certainly are not a requirement. And people who need access to computers have low cost or no-cost alternatives, such as using free public libraries.
I see at least 8 sub $100 smart phones on craigslist right now. Couple that with pre-paid/barebones plans and it's just as cheap as your "dumb" phone.
You're being pedantic as hell about this and having to make a trip to the library to do online shit after working two jobs, cooking every single meal you eat, most people just don't have the time/energy.
(And btw, that phone you're using as an example is a smart phone running android 11.)
To add to this, I used to buy the AT&T pre-paid phones all the time that were smart phones. Paid $40 for the phone (ZTE Blade Spark Z971) and used it on a regular plan. So, in all reality, it goes right back to how and where you spend your money. Smart phones don't have this huge barrier of entry anymore. They are super easy to get for super affordable prices. The problem you'll run into will be the plans you can get.
We cook almost every meal we eat, last time we had a meal out was a week ago because friends were in town. For the cost of that meal, we could've made at least 24 individual servings at home (we know our average serving costs).
It took some time, and started with cooking dinners (especially on weekends), which produced leftovers that can be used for lunches. Which frees up time to plan and prep the next thing.
I've largely eaten the same breakfast for 10 years now, because it's easy, fast, and addresses some health issues (diabetes in family).
Breakfast takes 15 minutes to make, and you'd think it came from a diner.
Our recipe book has an index for dishes that work well as leftovers, one for fast weeknight meals, one for things that can be frozen, etc, so we can plan better. On any given day we have a dozen meals worth of frozen, but home-made dishes that just go in microwave or convection oven with minimal other work.
We also have a meal calendar (like you had in grade school for lunches), so we can work ahead a little (mostly for days where there are appointments that can interfere).
It can be done, it just requires prioritizing. I stopped playing games on my pc, we don't turn on the TV until the day's tasks are done (and I mean everything, including prepping for tomorrow), and I usually do some planning while watching TV at the end of the day.
If nothing else, even doing a big cook one day a week and freezing portions will give you breathing room. So you feel like you can do a little more later. The alternative is to stay where you are, spend 5-10x as much for food that is nutritionally mostly empty.
When I was working two (or 3) jobs, my roommate and I would work together to make big meals, package them up for the next day, then do it again as soon as we had time. That way we always had something in the fridge ready to go.
My kids both wanted phones instead of tablets because they fit in their hands better.
One cost $20 and one $30
A friend of mine switched from a dumb phone to a smart phone some time in around 2015. He said that the dumb phone was keeping him isolated from the rest of the world. He was unable to communicate with the with certain people because they were sending messages using whatsapp, facebook and all that modern spyware trash. It was too late to stick to a dumb phone back then, and now it’s even worse. If you want to isolate yourself from the people around you, a dumb phone has become an excellent tool to achieve that.
Even though the reasons for buying these products are different, the mechanics are surprisingly similar.
Here’s an example. A nicotine addict has to choose between keeping on smoking or going through the struggles of quitting. Someone driving a car has the choice of keeping the current job, or going through the trouble of finding a job that happens to be within cycling distance. People tend to pick the easier option, even though there are good reasons for going through all the trouble.