Post by huswyf on Sept 28, 2006 12:04:25 GMT
People are spending £2billion (ouch!) on gadgets they don’t use.
uk.news.yahoo.com/28092006/325/2-billion-pounds-wasted-white-elephant-gadgets.html
It is always best to be cautious when seeing gadgets on sale that claim to make life easier. Ask yourself:-
1. Will the initial cost be recovered and how long will this take?
2. How difficult is it to clean and maintain? Will I be happy to do this or will looking after it negate its supposed time-saving qualities?
3. If I have lived without it so far, what are the advantages of actually getting one?
4. How often will I use it? Every day? Twice a week? Once a month? When I remember?
5. Is it a good purchase? For example, a food gadget can be for something healthy and nutritious or it can be for junk food. I know if I bought a sandwich toaster I would use it a lot – and Greenpeace would be trying to tow me back out to sea!
6. If it is a new gadget, can I wait 6-12 months until all the other manufacturers bring them out and the price comes down or there is a glut of them on e-bay?
7. Is there another way to do the same job? If your drill can act as an electric screwdriver then you don’t need an electric screwdriver.
8. If it is something for a specialist job can you borrow or hire one? Is the cost of tool hire comparable to getting someone to do the job anyway?
9. How long will it last? Some gadgets are flimsy and designed to fall apart precisely twelve months and one day after purchase. If you are going to buy a tool or gadget, make sure it will last (actually, this applies to anything, not just gadgets).
The gadgets in my kitchen are a slow cooker (crockpot) and a bread maker. The bread maker was something I considered carefully before getting. I have found it good for our small, two adult, household. I don’t have anywhere to prove dough and baking several loaves and then freezing some rather defeats the object of wanting fresh bread. It makes good quality bread at around 30-40p per loaf as opposed to 80p and up for good fresh bread.
I bake, on average, five loaves and one cake per week using the bread maker. It stops those little trips “for a loaf of bread” that can cost anything up to £30 when you start thinking “since I’m in the shop anyway, I’ll just get so and so…” and come out with all kinds of expensive junk.
So, in my case the bread maker was a good purchase.
The juicer we bought some years ago wasn’t. Fruit is generally expensive and it was a nightmare to clean so we eventually sold it on. If you’ve got a cheap supply of fruit and can find a juicer that wasn’t designed by a sadistic idiot, such a purchase could be worthwhile.
Wassail
Karen
uk.news.yahoo.com/28092006/325/2-billion-pounds-wasted-white-elephant-gadgets.html
It is always best to be cautious when seeing gadgets on sale that claim to make life easier. Ask yourself:-
1. Will the initial cost be recovered and how long will this take?
2. How difficult is it to clean and maintain? Will I be happy to do this or will looking after it negate its supposed time-saving qualities?
3. If I have lived without it so far, what are the advantages of actually getting one?
4. How often will I use it? Every day? Twice a week? Once a month? When I remember?
5. Is it a good purchase? For example, a food gadget can be for something healthy and nutritious or it can be for junk food. I know if I bought a sandwich toaster I would use it a lot – and Greenpeace would be trying to tow me back out to sea!
6. If it is a new gadget, can I wait 6-12 months until all the other manufacturers bring them out and the price comes down or there is a glut of them on e-bay?
7. Is there another way to do the same job? If your drill can act as an electric screwdriver then you don’t need an electric screwdriver.
8. If it is something for a specialist job can you borrow or hire one? Is the cost of tool hire comparable to getting someone to do the job anyway?
9. How long will it last? Some gadgets are flimsy and designed to fall apart precisely twelve months and one day after purchase. If you are going to buy a tool or gadget, make sure it will last (actually, this applies to anything, not just gadgets).
The gadgets in my kitchen are a slow cooker (crockpot) and a bread maker. The bread maker was something I considered carefully before getting. I have found it good for our small, two adult, household. I don’t have anywhere to prove dough and baking several loaves and then freezing some rather defeats the object of wanting fresh bread. It makes good quality bread at around 30-40p per loaf as opposed to 80p and up for good fresh bread.
I bake, on average, five loaves and one cake per week using the bread maker. It stops those little trips “for a loaf of bread” that can cost anything up to £30 when you start thinking “since I’m in the shop anyway, I’ll just get so and so…” and come out with all kinds of expensive junk.
So, in my case the bread maker was a good purchase.
The juicer we bought some years ago wasn’t. Fruit is generally expensive and it was a nightmare to clean so we eventually sold it on. If you’ve got a cheap supply of fruit and can find a juicer that wasn’t designed by a sadistic idiot, such a purchase could be worthwhile.
Wassail
Karen