Appliances: The New Midlife Crisis
It used to be that you could tell that a person was going through a midlife crisis from their purchase of a Corvette. Or their grey hair suddenly turning dark brown. Now it seems that appliances are the new midlife crisis giveaway.
Our local newspaper had an article yesterday on "Way-cool refrigerators". Several times, the author talks about refrigerators being "cool" (and not in the temperature sense). The "way-cool" refrigerators are not only stainless-steel, but they "dispense proper water measurements, defrost food automatically in crisper bins and chill wine on demand. They also include extra features like 15-inch TV monitors, alarm sounds for doors left ajar, and dual compressors for greater temperature control."
I don't know about you, but I have a refrigerator to keep things cool. In the temperature sense. Period.
Then there is the washing machine commercial my husband always talks about. "It can wash 27 towels at one time!" Okay seriously, who needs to wash 27 towels at one time? In fact, since the average family size is shrinking (just over 2 kids per family), who even needs 27 towels?
People are paying ridiculous amounts for these appliances too. The refrigerator article talks about people spending "between $4,500 and $12,000". Over $1,000 is too much to me. (Yes, I have bought a refrigerator in the past year. As well as a washer and dryer.) I can't help but wonder how much debt people are going in to paying for these things.
Folks, if you can't pay for it in cash, you can't afford it. No financing, no home equity loans, no slowly paying off the credit card. And frankly, if you haven't already fully-funded your children's education (and maybe even grandchildren's), your priorities are in the wrong place if you're spending many thousands of dollars on a silly appliance.
We've all got those buyers figured out already though. The only thing a refrigerator makes "way cool" is the food... not you. If you are washing 27 towels at a time, perhaps you want to do some research in to conservation. It's just like the Corvette and the grey hair turned black. They don't make you cool, they don't make you any younger, and they don't fool anyone.
Our local newspaper had an article yesterday on "Way-cool refrigerators". Several times, the author talks about refrigerators being "cool" (and not in the temperature sense). The "way-cool" refrigerators are not only stainless-steel, but they "dispense proper water measurements, defrost food automatically in crisper bins and chill wine on demand. They also include extra features like 15-inch TV monitors, alarm sounds for doors left ajar, and dual compressors for greater temperature control."
I don't know about you, but I have a refrigerator to keep things cool. In the temperature sense. Period.
Then there is the washing machine commercial my husband always talks about. "It can wash 27 towels at one time!" Okay seriously, who needs to wash 27 towels at one time? In fact, since the average family size is shrinking (just over 2 kids per family), who even needs 27 towels?
People are paying ridiculous amounts for these appliances too. The refrigerator article talks about people spending "between $4,500 and $12,000". Over $1,000 is too much to me. (Yes, I have bought a refrigerator in the past year. As well as a washer and dryer.) I can't help but wonder how much debt people are going in to paying for these things.
Folks, if you can't pay for it in cash, you can't afford it. No financing, no home equity loans, no slowly paying off the credit card. And frankly, if you haven't already fully-funded your children's education (and maybe even grandchildren's), your priorities are in the wrong place if you're spending many thousands of dollars on a silly appliance.
We've all got those buyers figured out already though. The only thing a refrigerator makes "way cool" is the food... not you. If you are washing 27 towels at a time, perhaps you want to do some research in to conservation. It's just like the Corvette and the grey hair turned black. They don't make you cool, they don't make you any younger, and they don't fool anyone.
posted by Susan | 12:47 PM
1 Comments:
Amen. Amen.
Lisa
Post a Comment
<< Home