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Home > yeah, gimme friction

yeah, gimme friction

December 17th, 2011 at 07:07 am

At the risk of sounding and getting a ton of hits and disappointing the pervs out there, I'm talking about the cashless,

Text is frictionless spending and Link is http://www.marketplace.org/topics/tech/effortless-spending
frictionless spending.

Frugality is all about the friction.

Seems like all of society is out there telling you "make it easy" and get with it, while are all here to say "stop for just a second" and "don't be a spending sheep" and "do you really, really need or want it, upon a few seconds of further consideration?"

Contrast cashless buying with layaway. Primitive, but that less than instant consumerism can give you a
Text is different way and Link is http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/16/143837315/lawaway-santas-are-spreading-cheer-this-year-at-kmarts
different way to demonstrate gratitude and compassion.

Posted in Holiday$, Philosophy | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “yeah, gimme friction”

  1. MonkeyMama Says:
    December 17th, 2011 at 02:45 pm 1324133115
    1324133115

    I hope people aren't paying off stranger's layaway in lieu of giving to people truly in need.

    I know a number of higher income people using layaway because they are terrible budgeters. But you know, they are expecting large Christmas bonuses and tax refunds. So, they don't really need the help on any level. I'd just personally want to ensure I was helping someone a little more in need, rather than paying off some random layaway. I suppose that is my regional bias. I could always seek out a lower income area and increase my odds of truly helping someone. But, it is interesting. I just have too many experiences helping people I perceived were in need, who were not in need at all.

    I understand from a pure "random act of kindness" standpoint, but I'd only recommend if you aren't basing the kindness on some idea of charity. It's definitely an interesting twist on RAK.

  2. baselle Says:
    December 18th, 2011 at 12:57 am 1324169859
    1324169859

    I think about that myself. Apparently some of the stores let you pick which bill(s) you want to pay. Then the question becomes whether you can figure out who is needy versus who isn't based on the items. One would hope that if you weren't needy and it got paid would be that you'd pay it forward for someone else. My fear is that it turns layaway into a lottery - in addition to it being heartwarming, it provides incidental good will to the store (WalMart will let you do that?), and subtly tells the layawayer to spend a little bit more.

    Still, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

  3. frugaltexan75 Says:
    December 18th, 2011 at 04:49 am 1324183742
    1324183742

    I didn't check to see if the article you linked to is the same one I read, but from the one I read, it did sound as though the people paying layaways for others were being somewhat discriminating. A few of them were right there at the counter I think, and others asked for the staff to apply it to accounts of those with small children who were in danger of losing their items.

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