Labubus
I’ve become an either gel or spray deodorant type of man anymore. If I have a stick of the more solid stuff from the local food bank, I’m not gonna be super picky or complain about that because it’s free deodorant, but if I’m buying, gel or spray has become my new favorite.
I presume it’s less prevalent because I usually see way more of the more solid stuff than the gel and have a harder time finding the spray, in store because I know I can easily find it online, but I’d rather get it at the store while I’m already getting other things as well.
Spray fucking sucks. Half of it stays in the air. Horrible for the environment, air quality. You will also inhale a good portion of it. Please, do not use those in shared spaces, such as gym lockers… I have asthma and it immediately exacerbates it.
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Only Fans cause that shit is free dude
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Anything advertised on Instagram or Facebook by “influencers” like some cable tv tele-marathon my grandma would fall for.
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Stocks and shares in any sort of oil and gas company, Google, Meta, Amazon, etc.
I get the stocks one totally, I try and boycott companies/countries/policies I don’t like by investing my money in certain ways, but stocks generally are necessary to stop you from losing money to inflation
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Would you be okay with providing more details? I’m just invested in VGRO and XBAL, so not very ethical. Your thing sounds worth looking into.
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Index and Mutual funds. Fidelity is largely free when it comes to investing in managed accounts. Vanguard if you’re fancy and can afford the fees.
Shareholders are the worst, but I can’t blame individuals for buying shares (including myself) where it’s basically shooting yourself in the foot to not buy shares.
So who do you mean by shareholders? The ETF that I buy so I don’t have to manually buy the whole market? A pension fund? Funds are the only other thing I can think of that I’d describe that way.
Sorry I don’t get what you mean. Of course you don’t have to invest into the hole market when you buy a share.
I mean, it’s recommended to. Diversification, right?
But that’s besides the point. I’m just not sure what you mean by shareholders here. They really come in those two types: individuals, and funds that issue their own shares which you can then buy. If you’re fine with individuals holding shares, I don’t really see why you’d have a problem with the funds.
I didn’t explain it very clearly, I dislike the idea of shares because it results in a board of directers that all have different and contradictory goals to do with the company so the only thing they can agree on in the end is making money regardless of the ethical consequences.
Although since it’s one of the best ways to invest the money you have I don’t blame individuals for buying them.
Ah, I see. Never mind.
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Sports paraphernalia or memorabilia.
Pre-built computers. I’ve just been building PCs for so long I can’t imagine buying something that meet my specifications within a reasonable budget. And it’s fun.
I have never tried building a PC myself but I have gotten into reviving old ones. I haven’t bought a computer in over a decade. I just inherit people’s old ones and bring them back to life with linux, maybe replace a dead PSU or something. I’m new to hardware stuff. I really wish I knew a way to get these computers into the hands of people who can’t afford to buy one and don’t know how to do this themselves.
Wouldn’t a pre-built secondhand pc be cheaper, if your just starting out?
I went this route. I don’t need something powerful to scroll Lemmy and watch downloaded TV/movies.
Made sure it had two display port outputs for dual monitors. Added another 16GB of RAM because why not. It is way more than I need. Probably could have gotten away with used micro PC.
I also have a NAS and micro PC “server.”
Yeah me neither. I found a charity that refurbished oldish desktops for students and pensioners, for around $35 USD. It was a 2017 lenovo with 8gb ddr4, decent inbuilt graphics, and it came with a monitor, screen, keyboard and mouse. I just put linuxmint on it, and it is working well for some low end games
CSB: Years ago when my kid was in after school care I fixed a couple of their busted PCs. Nothing major, just made sure the hardware was OK, reinstalled Windoz, and then installed some FOSS games on them. I had enough stuff from the work scrapheap and mine to make a third. Kids loved it. I was a very-local semi-celebrity.
Just because the hardware doesn’t make the cut for heavy work doesn’t mean it cannot handle the needs of others.
Pretty unlikely to find a second hand system with the highish specs I’d want.
But if you mean if someone just needed a computer, then yes used would be much cheaper given how quickly things advance.
I built my own because I wanted a gaming computer with a blu-ray drive. That was the only way. I also added a floppy drive for shits and giggles.
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Nestle and Goya products
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Lottery tickets
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New phones
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Anything from Temu or Shein
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I try to avoid the keyboard mash sellers on Amazon but for some products it’s pretty much impossible to find anything else.
Do you buy used phones? How do you deal with the battery? Used phones generally have old batteries, no?
I just buy a cheap/budget (mid?) phone, 200 EUR max, every 5 years or so…
You can get phone batteries from Aliexpress for very cheap. They are typically not too difficult to replace (as long as the back panel is not glass). Give it a go!
I like to get some scratchies every now and then - it’s one of the major funding sources for museums and sports in the UK, so I see it as a little donation with a dopamine hit rather than an attempt at winning big!
I try to avoid the keyboard mash sellers on Amazon but for some products it’s pretty much impossible to find anything else.
Oddly enough the keyboard mash sellers can be great value depending on the item you’re ordering. Basically any kind of components or anything that would realistically be purchased by another factory in China has a pretty decent chance of being good enough quality. Hand tools or individual components for making stuff for example are pretty safe bets
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Apple anything
You must buy $1600 iphone to support failing US economy.
Please don’t look at all the alternatives that are 3 years ahead in tech and 1/3rd of the cost.
Yes, buy a secondhand google pixel, it’s better for privacy/security etc with grapheneOS installed. But if you like apple hardware, nothing wrong with a secondhand iphone
Ahhhh but those devices don’t have ‘the ecosystem’. You know, that bloated software that locks you into apple everything by making a handful of tasks marginally more convenient for the tech layperson.
TBH nowadays android is becoming just as guilty of the walled garden bullshit. We need mobile linux and we need it now.
Hard agree!
The only Apple stuff I use are phone, watch, headphones. I don’t use Google products or services and haven’t for a decade, so it’s my other good option. I don’t wanna fuck around with custom ROMs, and my last phone lasted almost six years.
Windows and Linux for computers. Unfortunately I have a game that’s extremely important to me that is impossible to run on Linux.
Even if you’re not in Apple’s ecosystem, I think iPhones are pretty great phones. Expensive yes, but they last a long time.
Expensive phones
Tickets to sports events. Yawn.
And concerts. I haven’t seen a concert since the 90s. I’m lucky to have grown up in the era of cheap tickets.
In the 70s, I worked in a record store that sold tickets for the local outdoor summer venue. Lawn seats were $3, and it took 45 minutes to get there. If we worked the day shift in the summer, and got off at 5, and that nights show wasn’t sold out yet, we could grab a $3 ticket, and be at the show before it started.
I was also a fan of the local orchestra, who played there every week, and never fully sold out. I went to a LOT of those shows.
Hadestown is coming to town, and I’d love to see it, but the cheapest seat in the last row, off to the side, is about $70, so they can go fuck themselves. Entertainment is for the rich. I’ll just pirate the show, if there’s a proshot of it. Besides, I love the original concept album much better than the Broadway version anyway. Hades is far better in the original.
Honestly even at the current going rates of $50-100 a ticket going to some good concerts is still a blast and still worth it. Also usually there’s going to be at least one opener and depending on the show they might have 2-3 bands performing. Personally I’m happy if I get to do 1-3 big concerts a year, and that’s really not that much to budget for even at $100/ticket, and some bands are freaking incredible to see live.
Also worth poking around to see if there’s any free/cheap music events near you or comparing with the cost of tickets to a music festival if you really want to be cheap/picky. There’s a couple of free music events I try to go to every year at nearish cities to me and it’s literally free entry and they’ll have a full lineup of bands for the full weekend. I’ve seen Bobaflex, Powerman5000, The Haunt, Black Stone Cherry, Taproot, Red Jumpsuit Apperatus, Fastball, Fozzy etc. all at these free music festivals
I used to work for a major record company, and part of my job had me handling backstage events at many concerts by many artists of every genre, so before my “retirement” from concerts, I had seen far more shows than the average person. Easily hundreds.
It wasn’t unusual for m to see three concerts a night - a classical concert in the early evening at the concert hall (over by 9), race over to the arena for a big rock show (probably miss the opener, but catch the headliner), then off to a small club for the the second jazz show after midnight (which is always the hot set). I would do that three or four times a month, with plenty of other one-show nights between.
It was a cool job, but I got pretty burned out on shows for a while. In the 21st century, I’ve been more into Broadway shows, which are also quickly pricing out of range.
I’ve been following this cool little band called High Fade, and I saw their post announcing their tour, but I was too late. Tickets were only $15, but they had been to my city 2 weeks earlier, and I missed them. It would have been my first non-Broadway show in decades. I hope they come back soon, they’re awesome.
I’m feeling like live music more lately, so I’m going to follow your suggestions, and start digging. If youre at a show, and see an old chubby guy rocking out next to you, say Hi.
In context that makes a ton of sense for why you don’t want to go to concerts anymore! Burnout is a bitch! But there’s something beautiful about once you’re past the burnout and try the thing again, where it’s been long enough it’s like trying it again for the first time except with the knowledge of what to expect and how to best enjoy it already there.
Rock on and enjoy yourself! 🤘
100%. I think I can finally go to a show again, and not feel like I’m at work.
Not that I’m complaining, it was literally the best job in the world, and I loved every second of it, but it does get tiring.
It took me a long time to view music as enjoyment again, and not as a way to make money. I got back to playing guitar during the quarantine, for personal satisfaction only, no plans to gig, and that’s allowed me find my musical passion again.
Thanks for letting me talk about it. I have nobody else in my life, who shares my love of music, that I can talk to about it.
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Fully automated coffee machines. I love coffee but these things suck, coffee tastes weak and they often break. They even mold inside.
The best pourover kits in existence cost like $25 USD max too. There’s no reason to not learn how to do it right.
I have one that just sits on top of my coffee cup.
You will still need a good grinder for your beans and those things are expensive. Assuming you don’t want plastic bits in your grind.
True. I have a decent hand-one for $50, but they can get pretty expensive.
I use an Aergrind by Knock ($150ish). It’s been fantastic for my Flair as well as pour overs. It is a manual grinder, but I don’t have the money to not do manual.
Yeah. I have a somewhat cheap one at around $300, but if you don’t wanna buy, try looking for local roasteries. They usually offer ground options. Even some coffee shops will grind it for you if you ask nicely.
I have that option, but… supposedly… preground coffee is just not the same.
Use it within a week or so, and it’s very close. Hell, I’d say even two weeks is fine, but it may depend on your method of brewing, and sensitivity of palate. You can even freeze part of the grounds to keep them fresh for longer. James Hoffmann did a nice video about it.
Nice. Might try the freezing part. I’ve just been using a moka pot, nothing fancy.
Making coffee like a barista is infinitely more satisfying. A combined coffee machine: grinder and pressured hot water is bound to be cheaper than a fully automated one. You can push the grains down yourself, and make the coffee as strong or weak as you like.
Love my aeropress.
The pour over press is the best coffee flavor I’ve ever had. And so inconvenient.
Anything that runs anything by Google
Thanks to Technology Connections - Dishwasher/Laundry pods. Soap with pretty colors, and probably more soap than you need per load. I’ve swapped to powder and literally cannot tell a difference at all, and instead of 8 dollars for 10 loads I now am getting an entire box with like, 40 loads for $8.
And if you want something convenient for laundry they have the laundry sheets that don’t release plastic into your water so that’s nice.
But personally if I want a known amount each time for each load I just use a scoop.
Is liquid detergent still a bad deal? I have no qualms against using powder instead, but my family always stuck to using bulk laundry detergent liquid (I forget the unit size of the 100 load bottle exactly), and I thought that was a good deal.
I’d say it’s better, but not great. Environmentally it still comes with a giant plastic jug that needs to be disposed of, and we all know how plastic recycling is. On your wallet, if you think bout it, you’re not just paying for the soap, but the water and the weight/shipping of that water to get to your home from the factories.
Powder is really the same thing, but you have water at home to mix it with, that happens in your washing machine. So, naturally it is going to be cheaper.
Ah that makes sense. I do reuse the jugs tho, so at least those aren’t wasted.
That’s good, reuse > recycle. We had nothing to do with them so were just recycling these giant jugs all the time. Now we have a big container we pour the detergent into and just scoop it out as we go. Containers are cardboard for the powder
When I swapped to powder it was because I could buy a jug of All free and clear (cheapest brand for hypoallergenic that I could find) for $12. I don’t recall how many loads it did, but I could get the powder online, which was at least the same number of loads but probably way more, same brand same fragrance free formula, for $4.75. They don’t carry the powder in most stores around me, I assume because it’s so much cheaper nobody would buy the overpriced liquid. Same with cheap dish powder; just not available.
I looked into it after watching the video and here dishwasher powder is just a bad deal. More expensive than the tabs. Maybe you break even if you end up using less per wash but no bargain. Tabs are also only 6 cents each so maybe not the best place to look for savings.
I don’t know where you get yours, but I get 24 loads in a box of powder for $6. https://www.kroger.com/p/kroger-dishwasher-detergent-powder-lemon-scent/0001111080564
I bought a massive box of dishwashing powder a bit over a year ago and I’m maybe halfway through it, it’s like magic. Thank you technology connections!
Expensive clothes or new clothes
I just wear no clothes like god intended.
A brand new car.
Buy used, let someone else take the depreciation hit.
With how complex (and unrepairable) modern cars are, in a few years the used car prices will probably shoot up because of flailing supply.
Yeah, my car is 18 years old, has almost 300k miles on it, and because it’s desirable and not made anymore, it’s still worth about half what I paid for it 14 years ago.
I doubt anyone will pay half the price of a 4 year old model if its 18 years old…!
A lot of things break on cars that old, so any buyer has to be a bit stupid to pay that price…
A lot of things break on cars that old, so any buyer has to be a bit stupid to pay that price…
laughs in a 30 year old van, that gained about 40% of value since I bought it 3 years ago
If it was built well, and is simple enough, it’s not too much of a hassle and you can maintain a lot of it yourself. Most new cars are complicated garbage that breaks constantly straight out of the factory, and you have to take it to a mechanic to do anything because of their complexity and proprietary software. Compare that to my van, where I can read the OBD2 error codes on my phone over bluetooth with a $10 dongle, and can do most basic maintenance (oil, ATF, spark plugs, belts) with basic hand tools and a car pit.
Want to see crazy used car prices? Look at small Toyota trucks in southern California. The prices are insane because many people want a small basic truck for work. The 22R and 22RE engines live long and if they do die it is easy to source a rebuilt engine.
Yep, and nobody makes a true equivalent to the small pickup anymore. Even the Ford Maverick is bigger than 90s Tacomas, and Rangers
Small trucks cannot be imported into the US due to the Chicken Tax. American companies will not build small trucks because they like the profits from large SUVs and trucks.
Yep. There also emissions vs weight or payload of the vehicle regulations that make it even less profitable to produce small pickups here.
Robot vacuum cleaner
Honestly one of the surprisingly good things I’ve gotten.
That said, I have one of the dumb ones. It doesn’t map my house and upload it to the cloud.
I’ve got two of them, idk if they’ve worked right in the last few days. More often than not they give up after about 30 minutes, and I have to hunt them down and put them back on the charger so they can commit suicide the next morning.
Do they work offline or are they just small data broker agents?
yeah. We recieved one as a gift. It was ok for a while, but you had to keep the floor clear, and it was always getting stuck. Now with small kids. Forget about it.
Easily one of my favorite appliances, up there with dishwasher and washing machine. My floors are always insanely clean because that thing drives around every day.
Aren’t you afraid it will mess up the piano?
Same. Mine vaccums, sweeps and mops. I refill the water tank once a week and replace the bag once a month. Everything is so clean.
It has eaten a few naughty things though. It are a USB cable, it dragged my laptop off a sofa, and it entangled itself in a plastic sheet that was draped over my coffee table and dragged some acrylic paints and a litre of wash water off onto itself. Made a big mess. I also changed its spoken language to Vietnamese for a laugh, then when I changed my wifi router, I had to learn how to follow instructions in Vietnamese to reconfigure it to the new SSID.
Is it sending a map of my house to the CCP? Probably. Is that useful information for them? Probably not.
What is this magic machine, and how much? Also, does it come with stupid firmware that can shut it down permanently?
Mine is the Roborock Q Revo. I paid about $1000 AUD for it. A regular decent bagless vac costs about $400.
The shit smearers.
LOL. I complained so much to support about removing dog shit from a vacuum they sent me another to shut up.
It is a very cheap model that randomly wanders around.
You got a lot of shit just laying around on your floor?
The smart ones know how to avoid the shit now. I’m not testing that out tho lol.
You can find these old / used / open box pretty cheap now.
I got a 2+ year old model that originally sold for like $1500 USD, for ~200.
