catalogs and commercialism
We recieved a toy catalog in the mail today. There have been lots of them lately as the retailers are trying to capture my christmas spending money. Fortunately since I’m the one who brings in the mail I can pitch the catalogs before the kids get a chance to see them and covet things. We used to be able to afford that stuff. Today in a moment of nostalgia/boredom rather than pitching the catalog right away I looked through it first. I saw toys that were designed to appeal to parents, but which the kids probably would not play with. I saw toys that look exciting in a catalog, but probably wouldn’t get played with once they were opened. I saw toys that kids would love, but that were dressed up with unecessary bells & whistles. I saw some good basic toys, but not very many. I did not see a single thing that I actually wanted to spend money on. This is good because everything in the catalog cost way too much.
Good quality toys last for a long time. This means that you are extremely likely to be able to find them used. Buying used toys saves money and saves you from dealing with the kitchy toy du jour. Instead you get to deal with last year’s kitchy toy du jour, but at least you spent a lot less money on it. Buying used toys also means that you don’t get to mentally pick a specific item and go get it the same day.
How do you acquire good toys for next to nothing? The best way is to be around when someone else is moving or just cleaning out closets. Then the toys are usually free. Next on the list is garage sales or thrift stores. On the more expensive end of “used” are resale shops for “gently used” items. I have an advantage. I’m not starting from scratch with this tiny budget. I already have a good stock of toys for my kids to play with. In fact I’m quite willing to be patient because my kids already have more toys than they want to have to pick up at the end of the day.
I feel so detached from the over hyped commercialism that is american society. Shopping is central to how americans arrange their time, homes, roads, and entertainment. They live to shop. I’ve somehow escaped that trap and I’m very glad of it. The catalog went into the trash.