This is a channel by Spencer Campbell about frugality, anti-consumerism, and appropriate use of technology. I love road tripping, van life, and simple living. If I review a product it is because I think it will be a truly Buy-It-For-Life (BIFL) item and it will be the last time you'll buy that item. I want long-lastingness and quality from the items I consume, and I will speak to that. I am also interested in alternative lifestyle options and my intention is to provide information around these topics in an authentic way.
Tubi is great. I've watching it since Oct. 2019. Today the movie, The Batman with Robert Pattinson is on until May 30. And The Suicide Squad is on Tubi, too. I watch a lot of movies & tv shows on there. Since I'm 70 & on food stamps, I pay $6.48/month for Walmart+ Assist & get Paramount+ & delivery of food & stuff for free. That's a great deal for elderly on social security & food stamps like me. I also have Pluto & Plex for free. Hulu & Amazon Prime offer 1 month free trials. I get those using my different email addresses & passwords to watch some of my favorite shows then cancel when I'm done. In case you didn't know it, Disney+ bundle includes Hulu & I think starting next year, Max will be included in the bundle, too. My son will get 1 paid streaming service at a time then cancel after seeing everything he wants to ( usually binging on series). Then get a different service & do the same thing. One more thing, people on food stamps can also get Amazon Prime at a cut rate, like 25%-50% each month. They'd have to look into it.
Coming at it as a musician, there is plenty to be said for single-use devices. A physical metronome is always going to be better for serious practice than an app on a smartphone; same goes for clip-on tuners/tuner pedals, because there’s nothing I love more than getting an ad for Royal Match when I just wanna tune my guitar or practice some scales! I’ve started using a portable CD player again for this reason of “choose your own adventure”. Sometimes I want to listen to an album on my commute to work, and don’t want to have to deal with the distractions of my phone, nor the distractions of searching through Apple Music for something to listen to. Similarly I have a Paperwhite Kindle for when I don’t have the space for a physical book (or I don’t want the book to get damaged).
well it misses algorhythm for suggestions, like youtube, soundcloud or similar services have.. And lately I found so many great authors that made my life so much nicer, cause I love music, and I am thrilled when I find mew bands, producers, musicians... soo nostalgia amd dumb tech are not for me...
Definitely some monetary gains / saves to be had buying second hand vs new. The value drops on new items the second the transaction is done. Love the points you make about negotiating and on occasion being able to make a bit of money if you decide to sell something on. A few years ago I used to buy an iPhone each time there was a new release and I dread to think some many hundreds of pounds. I’d unnecessarily squandered 😬. Lessons learned I guess. Keep up the great vids!
I sold my iPod Classic and purchased a Roland R-05 sound recorder that accepts batteries and various size SD Cards, the sound quality is amazing and there’s the option to capture ambient sound if I’m feeling creative…I don’t enjoy paying subscriptions to music streaming services that can’t guarantee the content in my playlists will be available for playing when I feel like listening to my favourite tunes, I also don’t enjoy paying for internet data that advertisers can drain at my expense…I can remember commercial organisations complaining about piracy when Walkmans were a thing…they don’t seem to care too much about interfering with the performance of my devices and using my data to force feed me with their latest and greatest products…the internet is one huge con, it could have been something great but greed killed it..! R.I.P. the internet and good riddance to interfering and distracting commercials…sorry people but I really did need to offload those grievances lol..!😇
Problem with secondhand in a way though is, affording stuff as expensive as that off the bat. We wouldn't be able to afford that kind of money without really saving hard
I never stopped using my ipod classics. They get used every day in work for hours at a time. One for Classical music and another for everything else. No point paying to stream a life times music I already own, no need to buy the max GB storage phone (it still would not be enough) and no need for a huge data package either. One of the best things ever invented.
I purchase 99% of my good second-hand. Tools, photography gear, clothing (and at that for the past 15 years it’s all been Patagonia or Carhartt because it lasts incredibly long even tho I beat the shit out of it and Patagonia’s environmental and ethical stance align with my own, basically everything I need is bought second-hand except for running shoes because, as an untrarunner, I need the support and grip of new ones. The few things I purchase new fit into the buy-once-cry-once category and the quality will have the item outlive me…
I usually buy technologie new (i like the new smell :)), but im also planning to use it for 6+ years. I just bought a speaker yesterday, but went for the previous model, because i got it for half of the price of the new one. Also my phone is from 2018 and my camera from 2012. Bought still worke perfectly for me. Really like your videos. Have a great day.
I don't have problem with Spotify, other than the fact RU-vids algorithm gives me 1000x better music and music recommendations and i don't even pay for it. So i no longer pay for Spotify either.
Yeah this is true! If something is too beat up I’ll usually keep looking, but you can usually still find the item in good shape and less expensive if you keep your eyes peels and be patient. For me the first nick or scratch already being on the item is a relief, so I don’t have to worry about protecting it quite so much!
I got the EZ DUZ IT can opener at restaurant supply store in NYC. Had same packaging made in USA, stamped on can opener. Worked great at first on my tuna cans. But, now it doesn’t want to work. I don’t get the click onto the can. What do you think is the problem? Is it the Whole Foods Skipjack Tuna can, or I’m not able to press or get it to click with my hands. I’m left handed too. Help, as I want to get it to work, and hope I didn’t get a knockoff.
I speak for France but when I buy used thing’s ( sometimes 1 month old ) I always negotiate a minimum 20 %. Because when you buy new you have TVA to pay . ( taxes) taxe sur la valeur ajoutée.
Another option can be to buy the previous phone instead of the newest model. But i’m sure you’re already aware of that. I recently bought an iPad Pro M1 new for my drawing. Extremly good machine but from 2 generations ago. The great benefit from Apple products is that it will cost you a lot less but you can rest a sure that it wil get it updates for years to come.
If I had to pick one, it would be my casette Walkman. Found the same model shortly after for sale on Retrospekt for about 275 dollars, but I only paid 30 for it from Marketplace. I did have to replace the headphone wires and adjust the belts and speed a bit, but it's been working great ever since.
Yeah I try to convince everyone I can to stop buying their phones brand new. I mean literally, if you wait 9 months after a phone comes out, it's almost always available $0.50 on the dollar, at least for a flagship Android. If you wait 18 to 24 months, it's probably $0.30 on the dollar. A good example would be like the pixel 6 pro today you could find for like $240. Save you yourself. Maybe $700 from the pixel 8 pro. And it still has another 30 months of security patches and another OS update. And even something like a pixel 5A I think it's running Android 14 and you can find if like 120 bucks. Lg, G8X, G8 or something. Those have basically the internals of a $200 portable dac inside of them. And you would find a 80 bucks. They even have headphone jacks and SD cards. The former of which allows you to actually use headphones that won't be in a landfill in a few years.
Yeah Apple Store is best for buying used when you still want that warranty from Apple. My computer was probably $300-400 cheaper than used at Apple, but no warranty if anything goes wrong. I don’t usually spring for Apple Care ever and instead just have a pool of money I’ve put aside from every skipped extended warranty, to be used if anything does in fact break and need to be replaced 👍
I was looking for a CD player and was blown away at how much they were new. I found one on Craigslist for $50. When I went to pick it up it was a 1989 JVC brand new in the box. It even had that new smell. The lady had a JVC receiver, tape deck, equalizer and record player NIB! I kick myself for not buying all of them.
Yeah I'm sure part of that is just such a nisha item these days that you lose economies of scale. The other thing is, there's really no major reputable brands making them anymore. Even the ones that say Sony on them are actually just white labeled. So it's much better to find one if you can. That's in decent condition from 20 years ago
100% agree with what you said about kids. Single dad with 2 kids - I still save plenty of money. It is as you said - provide them the basics - food, clothing, school supplies, love. None of those things HAVE to be expensive, but a lot of people make them expensive. I have tons of generous coworkers and they are constantly giving me clothes that their kids outgrew, so I don't have to spend much there.
I love cash and take out for miscellaneous and food at the beginning of the month, i love counting it at thecend of the day, week and at the end of the month!
I have the same exact model as you Unfortunately for the last 3-4 years I haven't been able to load audiobooks onto My Ipod Classsic even though it's 80% empty. Itunes and Audible used to be partners but now I get a message that I need to "authorize my computer" in order to download books from my library. I've been searching for a fix for years without success.
I used to use an iPod touch. Just full of music purchased and downloaded from the internet or RU-vid through my computer. Full of language courses and audiobooks and listening to those many hours per day. My phone wouldn’t stand.
I’m guessing no more garage sales because of our favorite buddies who like to force crime on everyone. You know the ones,,, they like country music and drive pick up trucks
People are tired of having to subscribe for music for ad free enjoyment only to lose that option of freedom from when the subscriptions dues aren't payed. All bills are high; rent is high, food bills are high, utilities bills are high!
All the classmates I had growing up that were in after school activities were in them because parents were usually still at work and couldn't leave 1-2 hours early to go pick up their kids. In elementary my grandma's house was close by so we would walk there (it was like less than 3 blocks away) in junior high I would go to my friends house after school, in high school no choice but to wait there for 90 minutes to 2 hours for my ride, maybe a friend could drop me off or I would walk home. Luckily a lot of my friends were in the same situation so we were like a reverse breakfast club all waiting for our rides.
At age 68, I have now been retired for 10 years. I think nothing is too extreme. However, I do think some of your views on the cost of children, are obviously from someone who doesn't have any. I divorced when my 2 boys were little. Single Mom for many years. Usually worked 2 jobs just to survive. At the start, daycare was a major expense. I always provided reasonable housing for us. It is only true that children eat less when they are little. Trust me, my teenage boys could never be filled up! I always cook from scratch, bought thrift store clothes and luckily had 2 boys, so my youngest got all the hand me downs. Organized hockey was way too expensive as they were growing up, so that was out of the picture. I volunteered with Scouts Canada as a leader, so they went to cubs and scouts with very little cost. They played team sports at school and just pick-up games of hockey at the local rink. Both have completed university and have good jobs, and have paid off their student loans. It can be done. Just not at easily as you make it sound. I retired and am relatively low income, but am doing fine and enjoying life.
