I tossed my microwave today. It died earlier this week. While it was a cheap microwave, I expected it to last for a bit longer than the year it did.
I don’t know if I’ll buy another microwave. Maybe if I find one at the right price at a thrift store, but aside from that, I’m doubtful.
I resent buying something just to have it fall apart as soon as the warranty ends. I’d rather do without.
While I was at it, I tossed a coffeemaker that failed earlier this year as well. I’d planned to replace the switch on it, but realized that I would never get around to it. I’d already located a replacement, so why keep it if I know I won’t fix it?
My Kindle failed as well over the past year. While it lasted me several years, I discovered to my dismay that once the battery fails the device refuses to operate.
I chose not to replace it. Why waste the money on something you know that will fail?
To be honest, this round of failures has really made me think about the things we use today. They aren’t designed to be serviceable. When they break, you’re supposed to toss them and buy new.
And when they don’t break, corporations find other ways to make you replace them. I’ve a mop around here that I had to hunt for a new mophead for because they discontinued it and I refused to pay $$ for the latest model. I lucked out and found the replacement heads on ebay.
Why do we do this? Why do we spend our hard-earned cash on crap that’s designed to fall apart so quickly? And we not only buy it, we depend upon it. We feel that we need it, so we are forced to rush out and replace the item as soon as it dies.
And if we don’t need it, it’s a fashion or trendy thing. Those things last forever! They change the color or the cut, tell you that you’re wrong if you wear last year’s model, and you fall for it.
I’ve fallen for it a few times myself. I’ll never forget Crocs, or those scratchy old polyester outfits my parents could not wear out, despite the abuse they suffered.
It makes me wonder if Ev had the right idea when he suggested that we need to toss it all in a dumpster and light it on fire.
What do you think about this age, where the old stuff is still going and the new stuff fails as soon as the warranty ends? Do you accept it, or do you wish you knew of a way to stand up to it? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
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I’ve written a lot of books sharing my odd view of life in hopes of helping others. My most notorious book is titled The Shoestring Girl: How I Live on Practically Nothing and You Can Too, but The Minimalist Cleaning Method is pretty popular as well. You can find them at the following places:
Barnes and Noble
Apple iBooks
Smashwords (non-DRM)
Planned “garbage” is infuriating to me as well. And to repair? Outrageous $. I had a terrific coffeemaker many years old. I probably paid $20 for it. A friend visiting promptly broke the carafe. Replacements? HA! So out it went. My friend insisted on buying me a new maker. $80 and slow as can be, with a much larger footprint which I also don’t love. Ah well….it is done.
As far as major appliances, ours are quite aged and they shall remain until their dying breath. I use things until the last breath including clothing-mine are OLD and my sister chides me that I “need” to buy new things. Um, why?
Cheers to another lovely Saturday (despite our outrageous heat here in the desert NW).
I hate to hear about the death of your coffee maker, Elle! That stinks! Perhaps if we stop buying their disposable garbage we will hit their bottom line enough for things to change? One can hope!
Oddly enough, it has cooled down here in Kentucky. It’s unseasonably cloudy, rainy, and cool here these days. The weather is becoming quite strange. I wonder what the winter will bring. Hang in there! How is the water situation in your area? I gather there are droughts around you.
Our water situation ended up OK this year. We went into June down by 22% of normal. A very unusual downpour situation for several days in June resulted in a 100% water season. Our farmers won’t lose their crops this year.
Last year water got cut off 4weeks early resulting in the loss of fall growth plus no fall crops could go in as they need that 4 weeks of water. Organic food grower families were hit really hard along with the big farms here producing potatoes and sugar beets for the global market not to mention cattle feed and various other fall harvest crops. IE: this year the farm we have a share in was able to sell 125 fall shares at $240 each. Last year, they didn’t have that income so their employees also didn’t get that work 🙁 and that’s just one of our many family farms.
Kentucky flooding reports have been big in our local news. Sending my biggest hugs to all those affected.
I still wear Crocs; good for any type of weather and they don’t wear out. Mine have closed tops so they don’t look as odd. 🙂
I’ve had a couple of pairs of the knockoff Crocs; they made excellent house shoes. The original ones are a bit out of my normal shoe range but who knows? Maybe I’ll find a pair at a thrift store. I mentioned them since so many seem to make fun of them these days lol