Comments on: 4 Things We Are Duped Into Thinking We Need

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 05:17:07 +0000

Gillete spends literally hundreds of millions on marketing and R+D of their razors. I have to assume that is what drives the $1+ per blade price point.

By: Lynnard

Lynnard — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:01:33 +0000

That may be because of faulty technique.
Try this:
a) Use as steep of an angle as you possibly can while shaving
b) Use very little pressure when you shave (almost negative pressure), as if you are gliding above your skin and not even touching it.
c) Always use plenty of hot water before and during a shave to wet your face.
d) Use a shave brush (badger hair) and proraso shave cream.
Trust me, I was exactly like you, now a simple twin blade works wonders.

By: AJ Kumar

AJ Kumar — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 22:46:28 +0000

As much as I love the swiss army of phones, I might just give it up. Yes the internet is amazing, but paying an extra $30-40 a month just isn’t worth it. Plus there is GOOG411, a little more work and hassle, but it beats throwing away $360/year which can be used for many things.

By: jim

jim — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:37:52 +0000

I agree that multi-bladed razors last longer and are an improvement, but the vibration? C’mon…

I shaved with a single razor while traveling in England a few weeks ago because I forgot to bring one, it wasn’t fun!

By: Michael Campbell

Michael Campbell — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:30:23 +0000

Why is the Fusion such a hot topic on financial frugality sites? It’s almost an obsession.

One thing people fail to account for is the actual blade life. Vibration aside, those blades last a long, long time. It’s different for different people I’m sure, but for me the 5 bladed “blades” last more than 2.5x the cheapie disposable dual bladed things. WAY longer. Yes, I’ve actually recorded/timed this. Have you?

And Mark (above me) …. well, my experience is much different. The razor works very well. Better than a Mach 3? Perhaps not, but certainly no worse (it does take some skill to operate =), and as I said I’m spending less over time on the blades.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:51:29 +0000

You watch 8 channels. We’re about the same. Trouble is, it’s not the same 8, and only one of our 8 is available over the air for free. To get the 8 you actually want, you have to take (and pay for) the hundreds you don’t.

Oh, and the one free channel we watch regularly? About half the time, the programs we care about don’t record correctly because the start time was delayed by sports, so we end up having to buy them off iTunes anyway.

I can’t say I see the appeal of vibrating razors either. The multi-blade models are in fact genuine improvements, although folks will disagree about just how valuable the improvement is. Ironically I’ve thought about teaching myself to shave with a straight razor, since the multi-blade cartridges are so bloody expensive. But single- (or dual-) blade safety razors are a huge pain to use, and even the seemingly insane prices of top-end Gilette multi-blade cartridges are a better value for me (since I can use one for a week before replacing it, whereas using single-blade disposables mean I’ve gone through at least two before I’ve finished shaving my whole face even once…they just clog too easily). $15 for a pack that lasts about a month is way cheaper than $3 for enough shaving to last a day, even if the $3 buys you two razors and the $15 buys you four blades.

But $150 for a world-class straight razor that’ll shave me for a lifetime if I can ever learn to use it properly? Now THAT is an attractive proposition.

By: katy

katy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:40:36 +0000

..When razors went from one blade to two, the incidence of cuts went down dramatically because the pressure per blade was halved…

thank you – I have to try it now!

By: Glenn Lasher

Glenn Lasher — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:30:43 +0000

@Jim: Heh. I would probably have never caught it — I use Firefox almost exclusively. However, if I had a problem with Firefox on one site or another, I do have IE at work and Konqueror at home to fall back on.

@Greg: I have a compromise on cable à la carte: Cable co offers the most basic of basic packages, including all of the channels they are getting paid to run; then they add your picks to that for a nominal fee.

My understanding, though, is that Dish stopped doing this because customers were tying up their CSRs while they hemmed and hawed about their decisions.

By: Markemmanuel

Markemmanuel — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:06:58 +0000

I definitely didn’t need the cable. I was glad when I got rid of it. If I wanted to get ideas for improving my home, I can go to the library. The TV shows I want to see are replayed on the internet. The cable just consumed and wasted my time and money.

Spending extra money on the stainless look is pretty useless. However, a lot of the appliances that has great problem solving solutions come in stainless steel as their default color now. Not everyone needs those features and buying features you don’t need is indeed a waste of money.

Not only is the vibrating razor not a good value to me, razors with refillable heads is a waste of time. I found that the same razor in disposable form is cheaper than the refillable heads of my razor. Three blades definitely feels better when shaving but five is overkill.

Smartphones aren’t needed but they sure are helpful. I’m tired of carrying an iPod, cell phone, camera, notbook based planner, and pieces of paper with notes in it. I’d like to consolidate that all so I can keep things simple and in one spot. Is it a need? No. Is it useful? Definitely.

Most things in our life aren’t needs anyway, even the fridge.

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:20:46 +0000

Patrick: The barrier to a la carte cable is that the providers get paid to run channels like Home Shopping Network (which many of us would drop immediately).

By: TStrump

TStrump — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 20:01:30 +0000

I have to admit, I love my vibrating shaver – it really does make shaving easier.
Of course, I probably didn’t need it …
I have a PDA phone, and I can’t believe how much more my cell bills are now. They easily doubled over the past ten years.
I love having my PDA combined with the phone, though.
But … I’m going to think twice about buying the iPhone.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:28:03 +0000

I think new cell phones and too many cable channels are both wastes of money. Most people buy phones that have tons of features and don’t even use them. They also buy phones that you would normally require a data plan and don’t get one. Also, the cable channels are usually the ones that cause us to buy so many channels. I wish they had an a la carte type deals where you could select channels you want and buy them individually.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 19:08:24 +0000

@Glenn: Agreed, I have a Treo for that very reason and it's definitely saved me a lot of money. A few months ago I was at an Orioles game when my friend Fred (One Project Closer) told me about a bug with Sitemeter (simple traffic monitor for those who may not be familiar with it) that caused all IE browsers to crash. That meant that all IE visitors to BFP were crashing... with the Treo I was able to login and take out the code, something that otherwise would've been impossible. I probably could've called a few friends to make the changes for me but the Treo made it easier.

By: Glenn Lasher

Glenn Lasher — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:03:26 +0000

@Jim: I wouldn’t, either, but everyone has their own style of doing things. If their use of the Internet is really casual, then it could be a good fit. Mine isn’t, hence the 22″ monitor in my case — one of the best investments I’ve ever made

A very good friend of mine pointed out to me, though, that if I was considering a smartphone of any type (I’ll admit, after my last missive, that my work-issued Blackberry is sometimes handy) that I might instead consider a PDA with wireless Ethernet, and use it at any of the many hotspots that exist between my home and my office. He gets by doing exactly that.

By: Ken Montville

Ken Montville — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 17:27:36 +0000

As Rob pointed out, it’s not necessarily the razor – it’s the blades that get you. Ditto ink jet printers. Cheap printers, expensive ink.

The iPhone and other smartphones may not be necessary for the Average Jim but I work in a profession (I’m a Realtor) where I’m not always “in the office” or near a computer so getting phone calls and e-mail wherever I am is a big plus. For whatever reason, people now expect service professionals to be able to respond within a ridiculously short period of time or they go to guy/gal # 2. Twitter and all the other “social” media and incumbent software to integrate all the social media status updates/tweets, etc. only exacerbate the situation.

Do we “need” to be so connected? Do we really need a response within 5 minutes? No (as evidenced by your trip to London). But it has become a way of life. So as soon as my contract expires on my current [worthless] Motorola Q, I’ll be an iPhone-iac.