Ask The Readers: Do You Ever Feel Purchasing Peer Pressure?
In this weekend’s roundup, I mentioned the temptation to try and keep up with the purchases of those around you. It seems as though peer pressure isn’t limited to just elementary school. For a long time, I thought myself immune to the desire to stay up trendy, with all the latest clothes and so on. I’ve been discovering lately though that sometimes the desire to fit in and have what everyone else has can be a little more insidious than I thought.
My brother recently bought a new bike and it’s absolutely beautiful. It has a sleek frame and super light construction, and after playing around with it for a bit I put it out of my head. Only he keeps telling me how much he likes it, and I still haven’t forgotten its elegance or how nicely the bike handled. And recently I found myself looking up comparable bikes on eBay and coming up with flimsy reasons to justify it. ‘Now is a good time to invest in a long-term purchase like a bike, especially since if I pay cash I’ll have it for years to come.’ and ‘It’ll be a one time purchase that I’ll have for years and get a lot of use out of.’ Except, I already have not one bike, but two. Alright, so I’ve only ever paid for maintenance and repairs on the two bikes. Both had been abandoned dumpster bikes, which made me think that it’d be time to invest in a new bike. The numerous other bikes had me convinced that a new bike was just what I needed to ride faster and enjoy my ride more. Except both (a road bike and a mountain bike) are still highly functional and because I just commute and don’t race, they also serve my needs.
Thanks to some timely warnings, I was able to discover a dangerous spending habit, one that I’ll remember for future large purchases. Do you ever feel the desire to keep up with other peoples’ purchases? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
I specifically feel a need to answer your question with regards to bicycles, because I am a bike geek who is very much smitten with the elegance and handling of a good bike. I could very easily go into debt just collecting and maintaining my perfect fleet of bicycles.
However, I also volunteer at my local community bike shop.
Financially-speaking, there are two good reasons to do this: I’ve gained skills that I can now apply to my bike projects, and I am paid in shop credit ($5/hour!) that I can exchange for secondhand parts or the time/expertise of a mechanic.
However, there is also a third reason that is social as well as financial: Volunteering at the shop has provided me with a community of bicycle lovers who value old/retro/antique bikes above new products, and skills above consumables. The Do-It-Yourself ethic is thriving, and it can’t be bought. This makes it a million times easier to avoid getting sucked into wanting new things that aren’t actual needs.
I realize that not everyone has the time and energy to get involved with a community group, but it makes sense: When you’re spending a lot of money on one particular area in your life, volunteering somewhere related to that area can provide you with skills and access to tools that will make it cheaper for you to pursue your interests.
Obviously, volunteering is also good for the group with which you get involved! But don’t limit yourself to established non-profits or local social service centres: Because she wanted to cut down on her clothing costs, one of the mechanics from the community bike shop is currently volunteering at a small clothing company as a sort of self-defined intern. She has learned how to design and use patterns, and is always tailoring old clothes or sewing new creations on her (secondhand) sewing machine.
Instead of “Now is a good time to invest in a long-term purchase like a bike”, I’d say that now is a good time to invest in a skill… Because that’s something you’ll *really* have for years to come!
Thanks for making me think.
You make a good point. Skills and tools for self sufficiency are invaluable. I’ve actually asked several bike places if I can volunteer but wound up getting a volunteer job at a rock gym. However I do have friends teaching me useful sewing skills as well as furniture making. Last week my girlfriend started teaching me blacksmithing. Bartering skills can be especially useful.