My new pen

BigT · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:33

Skyfall said:
I can't think of anything I spend on that is "nice" for nice's sake.

That's a very admirable standpoint but can you really hand on heart say that at every decision point you would buy the most cost effective thing for everything in your life? Perhaps not to the point of spending 1000 times the price on a pen when a bic will do as in my case, but I think it is human nature that there will always be something that you'd rather spend a little bit extra on because it is "nicer".

Clothes are a good example. From a functional view point, clothes are there to keep you warm and protect your modesty because walking around naked is not acceptable in society. Not much else. There are a number of cost effective ways to obtain clothes that will fulfil their purpose in life. In ascending order they might be:

Rumage around the council dump and find something for free
Go to a charity shop and pay peanuts for something
Get something nicer from Primark for a few quid
Go to somewhere like M&S and blow a few more quid on something nicer
Go to Selfridges and get something with a designer label that's really nice for a few hundred quid
Get something bespoke made up form Savile Row or Jermyn Street for a couple of grand
Spend something like £10K on something couture from a designer

So where might one fit on that scale? Is getting something at M&S instead of from the rubbish tip acceptable? Most would probably think so, but in this case the only reason to get something in M&S is because it is "nicer".

This isn't meant to be a dig at you, honestly, but I just wanted to highlight that we all make choices in what we spend our money on and I don't believe any single one of us on these forums has never bought something more expensive because it is "nicer".

Cr0fty · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:43

If I had excessive amounts of money, I would probably do this myself. I'd probably even buy some silver-lined toilet roll just for the **** and giggles

CliffyBiro · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:51

Cr0fty said:
I'd probably even buy some silver-lined toilet roll just for the ****

Quite literally.

BigT · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:52

Cr0fty said:
If I had excessive amounts of money, I would probably do this myself. I'd probably even buy some silver-lined toilet roll just for the **** and giggles

It's about balance and proportion I think. If you earn £10,000 a year and buy a watch for £200 then you might consider it a nice thing and not many will have a dig at you for being over the top.

If you earn £100,000 a year you might spend £2,000 on a watch. At this price point you'll get more people, including many on this forum I would think, saying what a waste of money and what a flash so and so you are. But why? In both instances you've spent 2% of your gross annual income on a watch.

It works the other way too. Perhaps the person earning £10K gave £15 to charity and the person earning £100K gave £150. In isolation the higher earner looks extremely generous, but the reality is that it was the same level on contribution in proportional terms. And none of us I think has the right to decide when that use of balance and proportion is no longer right and people should stop buying the nice things they want.

edit: bit heavy for GD, but of course many don't believe in this. My politics and sociology is not so great, but I think the opposite of this forms the founding principles of Communism. Not something I subscribe to but a perfectly valid opinion of course.

Richard_16v · 21 Jul 2009 at 13:58

It makes me laugh how people justify things by saying that it will last 5 years, even if you changed Bics every week it would still probably work out cheaper* than £125.

* I don't actually know how much a Bic costs, work provide me all my pens : )

Freefaller · 21 Jul 2009 at 14:01

BigT wasn't trying to justify really, he was just sharing his purchase, then lots of fools jumped on the bandwagon, banding him an idiot for having spent that much money - he was just merely stating where he is coming from - personally I'm right behind him, though I wouldn't have spent it myself, but that's not the point. We don't know about his financial background and let's face it, it's a pretty nice pen.

Richard_16v · 21 Jul 2009 at 14:19

I wasn't saying that, people work hard and can spend money on what they want, if I had more money I wouldn't think anything of spending that on a pen (if thats what I wanted), it's just the way people justify stuff (I do it myself)

BiGT- · 21 Jul 2009 at 14:34

Thats pretty expensive for a pen, It must do something special, something crazy like writing in black or blue ink :eek:

BigT · 21 Jul 2009 at 14:43

BiGT- said:
Thats pretty expensive for a pen, It must do something special, something crazy like writing in black or blue ink

Either if you want. Nice username by the way.

V4NT0M · 21 Jul 2009 at 14:57

Nitefly said:
Not even clothes? Or are you Primark exclusive

Nail, head.

BigT said:
That's a very admirable standpoint but can you really hand on heart say that at every decision point you would buy the most cost effective thing for everything in your life? Perhaps not to the point of spending 1000 times the price on a pen when a bic will do as in my case, but I think it is human nature that there will always be something that you'd rather spend a little bit extra on because it is "nicer".

Clothes are a good example. From a functional view point, clothes are there to keep you warm and protect your modesty because walking around naked is not acceptable in society. Not much else. There are a number of cost effective ways to obtain clothes that will fulfil their purpose in life. In ascending order they might be:

Rumage around the council dump and find something for free

Go to a charity shop and pay peanuts for something

Get something nicer from Primark for a few quid

Go to somewhere like M&S and blow a few more quid on something nicer

Go to Selfridges and get something with a designer label that's really nice for a few hundred quid

Get something bespoke made up form Savile Row or Jermyn Street for a couple of grand

Spend something like £10K on something couture from a designer

This isn't meant to be a dig at you, honestly, but I just wanted to highlight that we all make choices in what we spend our money on and I don't believe any single one of us on these forums has never bought something more expensive because it is "nicer".

I understand what you're saying and there are probably things that I spend on that are more expensive than they should be I just can't think of any at the moment. I'm on the primark level of your scale, but it makes sense to get clothing new over second hand or dump stuff and it's not thousands of times more expensive.

I think the only think I have spent on recently is a PSP, which is obviously is a luxury but function wise one could say why didn't I get a GBA or something equally as cheap, which I did consider but the difference in a GBA and a PSP is pretty extreme, whereas the difference between a 5p pen and a £125 pen is marginal. And I bought my PSP second hand

Even though I'm used to earning an average UK wage I'll always buy Tesco value stuff, shop for bargains on ebay, frequently visit the pound shop and almost always buy clothes from primark.

I don't think this would change much even if I won the lottery =/

And no I'm not Jewish.

Dark_Angel · 21 Jul 2009 at 14:58

Freefaller said:
BigT wasn't trying to justify really, he was just sharing his purchase, then lots of fools jumped on the bandwagon, banding him an idiot for having spent that much money - he was just merely stating where he is coming from - personally I'm right behind him, though I wouldn't have spent it myself, but that's not the point. We don't know about his financial background and let's face it, it's a pretty nice pen.

To be fair, I don't think a lot called him a fool... at least I didn't. I just couldn't understand spending it on a pen, I think it is because in my mind it is "just" a pen, where as a watch / shoes / whatever have seeminly more value. I suppose technically that doesn't make sense

As I said though, end of the day it is his money - I know people that spend money on model planes, others that buy a massive amount of anime, others that go out, and god knows what else.

Dmack · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:05

Longbow said:
Here's my pen:

2 Tone body.
Ultra light weight polymer design.
Transparent ink level indicator.
Complex hexagonal shape for improved grip.
Gold plated nib for ultra pen to paper connectivity.

Beat that!

LMAO EXACTLY

BigT · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:20

Dark_Angel said:
To be fair, I don't think a lot called him a fool... at least I didn't.

No you didn't and I don't actually think anyone used the word 'fool' anywhere in this thread, however I do believe that I have been called:

a ******* idiot

and my actions described as

the most morally reprehensible actions a person can do

Not sure if that is better or worse than 'fool'.

Nitefly · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:25

Skyfall said:
Nail, head.

...

Even though I'm used to earning an average UK wage I'll always buy Tesco value stuff, shop for bargains on ebay, frequently visit the pound shop and almost always buy clothes from primark.

Erm, it might have been nail, epic miss from your perspective!

Voltar · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:28

Enjoy your pen

Didzi · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:41

It would have been much cheaper to just follow this guide

V4NT0M · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:45

Nitefly said:
Erm, it might have been nail, epic miss from your perspective!

eh?

Freefaller · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:50

I meant the action of jumping on the bandwagon was a fool's act.

Guest2 · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:52

for £125 id want it to write for me

Nitefly · 21 Jul 2009 at 15:54

Skyfall said:
eh?

I was basically suggesting that you probably do spend money on extravagent things - with the 'cheeky' suggestion that this would not be if you happened to be the type that buys all of your clothes from primark, which I thought was unlikely.

Turns out you fell into the proviso and that I now look like the sausage of silly