Thing normal people do that you dont

[Casual Shinji]

I respect your abilities to disconnect from the world at large. I don't necessarily need my smart phone, but I'm glad it's there when I need something otherwise inconvenient to appropriate at a pinch. Like directions when I'm lost, the phone number to an establishment I'm trying to find or music when the radio isn't entertaining enough (which is 99% of the time.)

If you don't NEED a cell phone, I get it; fine. But if you have a cell phone and it's not a smart one... on what principle? Smart phones are readily available and cheap enough (if you you don't need the latest and greatest) that denying them basically makes you Amish, someone with a deep-rooted aversion to today's basic commodities for reasons most people won't appreciate. Not saying that's a bad thing; I love the Amish and their furniture is amazing, but if they ever ask me for a quarter to use a payphone that doesn't exist anymore (let alone only cost a quarter) because their buggy breaks an axle, I'll demand they point to the exact verse of the Bible that prohibits them from what equates to a basic necessity in the modern era.

I'm far from a conformist, but even I'll admit that a smart phone is miles away from the most egregious concession an adult in 2021 can cede.

I'm sure if I got one I'd take a liking to it until I couldn't imagine my day without it, but it's something I guess I just never got to. I mean, I'm hooked to pretty much all other online devices. There's no principle involved for me, I just missed the boat for a very long time.

 

[EvilRoy]

I respect your abilities to disconnect from the world at large. I don't necessarily need my smart phone, but I'm glad it's there when I need something otherwise inconvenient to appropriate at a pinch. Like directions when I'm lost, the phone number to an establishment I'm trying to find or music when the radio isn't entertaining enough (which is 99% of the time.)

If you don't NEED a cell phone, I get it; fine. But if you have a cell phone and it's not a smart one... on what principle? Smart phones are readily available and cheap enough (if you you don't need the latest and greatest) that denying them basically makes you Amish, someone with a deep-rooted aversion to today's basic commodities for reasons most people won't appreciate. Not saying that's a bad thing; I love the Amish and their furniture is amazing, but if they ever ask me for a quarter to use a payphone that doesn't exist anymore (let alone only cost a quarter) because their buggy breaks an axle, I'll demand they point to the exact verse of the Bible that prohibits them from what equates to a basic necessity in the modern era.

I'm far from a conformist, but even I'll admit that a smart phone is miles away from the most egregious concession an adult in 2021 can cede.

It started to crop up a lot in my industry due to "connectivity fatigue" or whatever buzzword they're using most recently. Particularly with Covid there's been a sudden uptick in messaging/meeting software and the need to adopt it, plus just having your email come in through your phone and so forth. Smartphones turn into a horrible ball and chain if you use them all day for work and then you go home and it sits in your pocket or on a table near you all night. A lot of my coworkers and others I've met out in the wild have a smartphone for work purposes and they lock it in a drawer and switch to a cell phone in their off hours. Its just a way to stay sane when you're getting Teams messages and Zoom calls at 9 pm and you can see the number of unread emails tick upward steadily. Because so many accounts are becoming global, like the way that Google would like it very much if you used your google account as a login for other non-google sites, just having a smartphone associated with you opens a door for work shit to slip through if you work in that kind of a place.

I agree that you need to have an option for emergencies, whether those are breakdowns, getting lost, or needing to know which lamp to buy at a store, but most of the time you can get by without a smartphone. They still sell GPS units for cars if your car doesn't just have it built in, and owning a tablet that connects to the internet for fun purposes will solve any information flow issues you might face. A buddy of mine actually just "neutered" his smartphone by taking the sim out. Still hooks up to wifi, which can be found free easily, but it can't work as a phone and it isn't 100% connected which gives him a lot more control about who has access to him and when they're allowed to have access.

 

[Chessrook44]

1: Social Media. I don't have a twitter, I deleted my Facebook (that I never use), and don't use any of that stuff.

2: Use Yahoo. I don't Google, I Yahoo.

3: Get haircuts more than 3 times a year. Once in November, once in the end of June/start of July, once in March.

4: I don't know how detailed I can talk about it here, but you know that thing that happens in November that everyone on the internet jokes about doing and saying how hard and tough it is, and how they always fail or such? Yeah for me that's Tuesday. I have NEVER done "it" in my entire life, effectively always passing the November challenge because of that. Often leaves me wondering what makes it so hard, no pun intended...

5: Credit cards. I have money in my account, so I'll pay for things using the money I actually have and not borrow money when I can pay for it now, thank-you-very-much. Seriously, the Credit Score system is stupid... "I will show I know how to handle my money by purposefully going into debt to some random person repeatedly and paying it back instead of using my own money responsibly!" Bloody stupid...

 

[Drathnoxis]

4: I don't know how detailed I can talk about it here, but you know that thing that happens in November that everyone on the internet jokes about doing and saying how hard and tough it is, and how they always fail or such? Yeah for me that's Tuesday. I have NEVER done "it" in my entire life, effectively always passing the November challenge because of that. Often leaves me wondering what makes it so hard, no pun intended...

November challenge? No shave November? NaNoWriMo? I think I'm going to need a bit more to go on.

5: Credit cards. I have money in my account, so I'll pay for things using the money I actually have and not borrow money when I can pay for it now, thank-you-very-much. Seriously, the Credit Score system is stupid... "I will show I know how to handle my money by purposefully going into debt to some random person repeatedly and paying it back instead of using my own money responsibly!" Bloody stupid...

I have credit card for the purpose of building credit score and getting reward points I can use for groceries. I pay it off every month so it's pretty much free money.

 

[Xprimentyl]

November challenge? No shave November? NaNoWriMo? I think I'm going to need a bit more to go on.

"No-Nut November." No sex or masturbating for the whole month. Don't know who came up with it or why, but as with most of our cultural fads, I'm glad I never even wanted to jump on THAT bandwagon.

I pay it off every month so it's pretty much free money.

And you say that with zero irony?

5: Credit cards. I have money in my account, so I'll pay for things using the money I actually have and not borrow money when I can pay for it now, thank-you-very-much. Seriously, the Credit Score system is stupid... "I will show I know how to handle my money by purposefully going into debt to some random person repeatedly and paying it back instead of using my own money responsibly!" Bloody stupid...

If you've the kind of money on hand that the cost of absolutely nothing concerns you, you are very fortunate. I had my appendix taken out when I was 23, and as it was a common enough procedure, I figured it'd be relatively cheap. Imagine my amazement when I saw a bill for $30,000 EDIT: $16,000 (I was talking and typing about money and got my amounts crossed.) Thankfully, I had insurance, so the cost to me was minimal, but had I not had insurance, it'd have been impossible for me to cover that cost outside of a payment plan... which is effectively what credit is.

I understand the credit system is massively unfair at times and has woven itself into areas of life where it truly doesn't belong, but the idea of credit is a sound one. Many people (most, I'd wager) don't readily have the kind of cash laying around for every possible unexpected expenses that they could pay for without flinching, like replacing a blown engine in their car, buying a home, medical expenses, etc. Credit allows those who show they're responsible enough to be leant money and pay it back (versus dumbing it down and saying they "know how to handle my money by purposefully going into debt to some random person repeatedly and paying it back instead of using my own money responsibly,") to take expenses in bits and stay afloat versus taking it all at once and risk the kind of financial hardship that could cripple their lives.

That said, on the other side of the credit system, you have irresponsible credit users, those who see credit cards effectively as free money and credit themselves into debt that can't afford to pay off; usually (and ironically,) those are the loudest opponents of the credit system.

 

[Chessrook44]

"No-Nut November." No sex or masturbating for the whole month. Don't know who came up with it or why, but as with most of our cultural fads, I'm glad I never even wanted to jump on THAT bandwagon.

Precisely that. Mind you, I don't mean that I've never done NNN, I mean that for me it's just November. Every month is NNN for me, as I have never done THAT in my entire life. Yes, should I get married my wife and I will likely die in the ensuing explosion caused from released backup.

 

[Drathnoxis]

And you say that with zero irony?

I mean, they literally pay you to use the credit card (grocery points). If you pay it off at the end of the month so you don't pay interest, then you just get money for spending money you were already spending. It's not a huge amount, but it costs nothing. I'm not sure where the irony comes from?

 

[Xprimentyl]

I mean, they literally pay you to use the credit card (grocery points). If you pay it off at the end of the month so you don't pay interest, then you just get money for spending money you were already spending. It's not a huge amount, but it costs nothing. I'm not sure where the irony comes from?

And still the irony escapes you. You are their ideal consumer.

You're incentivized to borrow from creditors with pennies on the dollar, and you think paying them back every month before they charge interest gives you the upper hand? You're playing THEIR game. Not saying it's a bad thing, but selling it to someone else as if you've figured out how to beat the system is a bit naïve.

Before credit card "rewards" pay dividends, you must spend a LOT of their money which means you're spending a LOT of your money paying them back. By trying to maximize your "rewards," you've maximized your value to them. You're a slave who works harder than all the other slaves and brags that you get beat the least.

 

[Drathnoxis]

And still the irony escapes you. You are their ideal consumer.

You're incentivized to borrow from creditors with pennies on the dollar, and you think paying them back every month before they charge interest gives you the upper hand? You're playing THEIR game. Not saying it's a bad thing, but selling it to someone else as if you've figured out how to beat the system is a bit naïve.

Before credit card "rewards" pay dividends, you must spend a LOT of their money which means you're spending a LOT of your money paying them back. By trying to maximize your "rewards," you've maximized your value to them. You're a slave who works harder than all the other slaves and brags that you get beat the least.

Pretty sure their ideal consumer is someone who uses the credit card and only pays back the minimum payment every month. The only time I've ever payed interest is when my bank messed up once and lost my transaction, that cost me $5. Yes it's their game, but them winning isn't paying you (admittedly small amounts) money for nothing, they want people who spend more than they have and live their life in debt. I've never been in debt, ever in my life. And I don't spend a lot of money, I spend the least out of anybody I know.

The choice is basically I could use my debit card to buy groceries and gas, or I could use my credit card to buy groceries and gas and get like 2% of my money back. Really don't see where the irony is and I'm starting to think you don't actually know what the word means.