Hunter Gatherers
Posted by Gail | Filed under Smart Shopper
Have you ever noticed how much pride people take in the stuff they own when they first get it, and how little joy it brings just a couple of months down the road? There are people for whom the hunt – the acquiring – is The Thing. And that’s how you end up with 200 pairs of shoes, three dozen pairs of jeans, or umpteen white shirts, some of which still have their tags on.
As Alex and I were heading into the mall one day shopping for back-to-school- and TV-shoes, I was talking about how we’ve replaced wooly mammoths with other stuff. Once upon a time human beings spent their days hunting and gathering to stay alive. We’ve taken that natural instinct to its destructive end when we head out to hunt up the latest bargain and acquire yet one more sweater for our already over-stuffed cupboard. Credit has made it easy to keep hunting even when we’ve bagged enough prey to last a good long while. And whether because of our natural drive or our total lack of self-control, we’ve lost the ability to stop shopping.
The hunter-gatherer imperative shows up in all sorts of places. While having comfortable footwear is a must, having more shoes than you can wear in a month of Sundays is taking it to the extreme. Ditto changing your car every couple of years. Since new cars depreciate between 20 – 30% in their first two years, every time you trade-in quickly you lose big-time. And as for people who need to drive ridiculously expensive cars they can’t afford, their need to prove to the tribe that they’re head-honcho material has huge costs.
The Wow Factor has become part of the hunt. The bigger the prey you could bag the more people in your tribe you could feed and the bigger a hero you became. And it continues. It’s not enough to have a TV, we have to have TVs so big we almost have to knock down walls to get ‘em in our houses. This so that our friends and family will say, “Wow!” And it isn’t enough to have a cell phone so our kids’ school can reach us in an emergency or so that we can call ahead if we’re running late on a appointment, we have to have the latest and greatest new cell phone so our co-workers and contemporaries will say, “Wow!”
While we used to complain about built-in obsolescence because it meant stuff didn’t last long enough, now we’ve embraced obsolescence because it means we’ll get to buy newer, hipper, flasher stuff faster. Sure, we whine a little. “Damn, that broke so fast.” But secretly we’re happy because we have a good excuse to head out on the hunt again, hopefully to bag a new and much admired new whatever our fellow tribe members can gush over.
There’s a certain cache attached to having the newest toy first. So much so that there’s even a name in marketing parlance for these folks: early adopters. They set the trends. And they must be first into the pool. Witness all the people who lined up for days to acquire the iphone when it first came out. Hunters have to be incredibly patient, lying in the bushes completely still four hours or even days on end waiting for the prey to fall into the trap.
Wait a minute, isn’t shopping in a store more like “gathering” than “hunting?” Hey, in today’s no-risk world, beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to creating the hunting experience. And so the bargain shopper is born, hunting down the best deal, the best price, the best value. When magazines and websites exist simply to sort the wheat from the chaff when it comes to shopping, you know we have too many choices and there’s too much stuff.
Stereotypes exist about how men and women shop differently and research has even been done into the hunter-gatherer nature of male and female shopping. But I’ve seen enough men and women to know that we’re more alike than different. Sure, we may shop for different things. But the fact that we are determined to spend every penny we make acquiring stuff we don’t need and may not even want speaks more to the imperative to hunt and gather than to gender.
Now, if we can learn how to manage those “instincts”, maybe we can make some progress on figuring out exactly how much “enough” is.
April 8, 2010 at 7:42 am
Your observation is very true for most people. I don’t buy a whole lot of stuff but when I want something (say a new laptop), it’s kind of fun to look around for the best price, best item that fits my needs, and all the options out there. I see it in my kids as well. The rage in among their friends is these things called silly bands – all the kids want it. My kids bought some with their allowance money (that was two weeks ago); they still wear now and then but not much. It’s mostly just sitting in a tin box in their room…
April 8, 2010 at 8:33 am
I think those observations are bang on. I people that are repaying debt are doing the same thing abiet slightly differently. Instead of the hunt being all about the latest and greatest it’s about how much and how quickly you can make the debt disappear. The Hunter gatherer mindset can work both ways.
regards,
Jason
April 8, 2010 at 8:59 am
I can’t think of the last time I bought something for the ‘wow factor’.
April 8, 2010 at 9:09 am
So true Gail! The sell by marketers and pressure even by peers to continuously upgrade is immense. I have an ipod mini which is now 5 years old and when people see it they say, why don’t you get a new one? And my response is why? It works just fine, it plays music, holds more tunes then I even have, and I don’t plan on watching movies on the tiny screen, so why should I get another? When the battery is at the end of its life, I replace it (there is an irepair store near me). It honestly completely baffles people. I will admit to having the occasional yearning to get the shiny, tiny new ones, but I resist and it eventually subsides.
My dad was also an early adopter. We had the first cd player and dvd player in our neighbourhood and I remember my dad would later complain (about 1 year later after buying it) that the price had come down so much! But he couldn’t wait.
April 8, 2010 at 9:52 am
This is not me, If I would have known that I would continually justify never replacing anything that I have purchased until its completely wrecked I would have thought differently about some of my original purchases.
Oh well, my 98 Ford Windstar Van will continue to serve me, even though I have to pop the hood everytime I turn it off in order to disconnect the battery. as I hate payments more than disconnecting the battery!
April 8, 2010 at 9:58 am
Great post. It describes quite a few people I know to the T. I used to be an impusle shopper up untill a few years ago when I realized that the thrill of the buy did not last any longer than it took for the bill to arrive. Now when I feel the urge to buy something on impulse I pull out a note from my walet ( right by the debit card) with my list of questions like Do you really need this? Can this wait a bit while you save up for it? Is it really worth re working the budget to buy this now? ect. By the time I go through the first 3 of the 5 things on the list I talked myself out of buying it right at the time.
April 8, 2010 at 10:15 am
If you’ve seen some of those Hoarding shows on TV, you may see some severe hunting and gathering behavior. These are extreme examples for sure. Now that I write everything down, I do very little shopping for the hunt of nothing-in-particular.
It’s actually liberating to know you have the discipline to leave the store with everything you need – which in many cases is nothing!
April 8, 2010 at 10:17 am
This post almost made me cry this morning…I am dealing with my mom who has shopping/hoarding compulsions.
She has been dealing with cancer for a year now and it’s become terminal. My dh and I helped her move to a smaller apt around Mid-February and it was painful. If her own mortality hadn’t been staring her in the face I think it would have been actually impossible. Even now she is asking to borrow cash so she can buy more stuff in the hospital gift shop!! My step dad faces huge debt when she dies…
“Hoarders: Buried Alive” is one of the better shows on TV right now because it spends much more time on dealing with the past, the pain, and changing the behavior than the short term fix of cleaning the house over a weekend. This can become a painful mental disorder…both to the “patient” and their entire family.
April 8, 2010 at 11:14 am
@Cindi… really makes you wish they had something similar to Al-Anon for those of us trying to deal with someone abusing their finances! Stay strong
I personally try to think of creative ways to satisfy the “hunter gatherer” in me. We also jokingly call this our caveman/woman instinct around the house. For me its gardening and playing in the dirt. Every fall when I have twice as many of everything and take the time to divide my bulbs etc. I get a real sense of earthiness and accomplishment.
Great post!
April 8, 2010 at 11:32 am
Hello All,
I run a west-end Toronto money group and we need new members! If you are interested in joining a money group and live in the Toronto area, please feel free to send me an email: jamiemcgovern@rogers.com
The group is on Gail’s Group page, Toronto West-end Club. If you’d like further info before contacting me. We are meeting this Sunday, April 11 at 1pm at the Lansdowne and Dupont area of Toronto. Please email if interested.
Thanks,
Jamie.
April 8, 2010 at 12:14 pm
I don’t think we can turn off the hunter-gather instinct, it’s genetic. But you can redirect it. I prefer to pursue higher education with my instinct. And a nice yard.
April 8, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I had never thought of shopping as being an instinctual thing. I had always assumed that people who were shopaholics were reacting in much the same way as people with eating disorders do – that it’s a subconcious attempt to fill a void… Maybe it’s a combination of both factors, feeding off each other? Definately something to think about!
April 8, 2010 at 2:02 pm
I know people like that…. but it’s NOT me. Thankfully my husband is on the same page that way. We have directed that hunter gatherer instinct for new items into a game of “lets see how long we can force it to last” with things like appliances, entertainment equipment, autos and even clothes.
The unservicable on/off switch on our vacuum got dismantled and rewired by the hubby so we could get a few more years out of it. It sucks just fine.
And our front loading washing machine (I did cloth diapers, so it was a necessity in the early years) has had it’s bearings changed TWICE after the warrantee ran out even though my husband had to replace and re-pack them himself because the service manual said the WHOLE drum had to be replaced when the bearings go (very wasteful). It still does a fine job at washing the clothes.
We have actually REPAIRED a TV, dishwasher and a microwave. Reconditioned the BBQ and had shoes re-soled too. It’s getting harder and harder to find things that can get parts… everything seems to be disposable now, it drives my family nuts!
Speaking of driving…. Our 1992 VW Golf had over 330,000K and was too rusty to be safe by the time we bregrudgingly parted with it. And when in the market for a “new” truck, we ended up with a 1996 F250 because it was good enough for what we use the truck for.
I LOATH when my computer “needs” to be upgraded, it makes me angry to no end when I am forced to get the bigger, faster stuff because all those stealthy “patches” that download themselves end up bogging the thing down to the point of ridiculous.
Not to say I don’t enjoy something new occassionally! We spruced-up our bathroom and replaced a perfectly functional sink and faucet with a much nicer quality set. And ripped out all the carpet to put in solid hardwood just because we thought it would make our life easier and be a worthwhile expenditure on the house. I have a very nice digital camera that I LOVE and use all the time… I’ve had it over a year and I still think it’s the best thing ever invented for shutterbugs like me.
April 8, 2010 at 2:06 pm
My bf/partner is a hoarder. I was horrified when I first went to visit his mom’s house where he keeps majority of his stuff (we have a 1 bedroom apt, and his mom is elderly, takes care of here 4 out of 7 days in a different city).
I then proceeded to watch TLC’s Clean Sweep for months and commenting on it to him, using examples of the different rooms – after a while, he began to get organized and it was a bit better.
But he still is a hoarder. He spends too much $, that he can’t afford, on stuff that he is not using. And the past few years, the purchases keep coming.
So every week we watch hoarders now… and I try to challenge his thinking on his stuff. It’s difficult. And time consuming, you certainly can’t see progress when it takes two weeks to talk about throwing out 1 thing.
This month I’m going to go to their house and get him to get rid of 6 things that he doesn’t need, want or use anymore. I’m sure at some point, he will have a eureka moment, like when I wore him down with Clean Sweep analogies…
On the blog note:
I am not a person that notes in the wallet would work for (I wrote em, I can change em mentality) — but I think having a double-check system with my partner has been working for us. The trick is not to make the other person feel like they are policing what the other person is buying, but merely asking the same questions — and sometimes that just involves imagining what your partner would say about that purchase in relation to the budget.
I personally try to curb my hunting and gathering instinct by sending the budget report to my partner, even though we keep money seperate. I tell him what I have overspent on, where I did good and what areas I need to watch out for.
My partner being a hoarder, has not quiet elevated himself yet — I was cleaning under the bed and found two large model boxes — which he had hidden there. Umm yeah. I guess I have alot more hoarder shows to watch (two are on the PVR right now). And he was quick to defend by saying it was purchased before I got all “budget crazy” — sheesh — just because I had 20 versions of the budget before I settled on one….
April 8, 2010 at 2:49 pm
I have to admit that I am one of those people…I am working on it, but some days are better than others. Even just this afternoon I bought some cardigans for an amazing deal, so that satisfied the bargain hunter in me and I am known at work as the cardigan queen…but I really did not need them. However, I will be able to pay the bill when it comes in so at least I am not going into serious debt for some sweaters, lol.
I watch those hoarding shows too and it is so sad and a little scary, as I can easily see myself in some of them. I sometimes have an unhealthy connection to clothes mostly and jewellry, and although I have tons socked away, I keep buying more…I hope it doesn’t get to a point where I am having to rent a storage unit for it all…I think if that happened I would have to seriously seek some help.
Great post Gail as always
)
April 8, 2010 at 3:39 pm
I have an old apple computer, a G4 ibook. I am reluctant to part with it because it is a great size for me–it fits into just about any bag I have! But, it has been getting slower and slower and I took it into a computer shop about a year ago to add more Ram. Anyone have any advice about how to keep old computers from getting bogged down? I honestly have no idea how most of my 40 gigs of space has been eaten up…seems like it might be from those downloads you always have to do that fill it up like crazy. I want this to last me a few more years, even though a new Mac notebook would be awesome to have. I like using what I’ve got as long as I can.
It seems like at this rate you’d have to buy a new apple laptop every 3-4 years. It’s more like RENTING a computer than really owning it. Sigh.
thanks!
April 8, 2010 at 4:00 pm
S, have a look at “My computer is running slow what steps can I do to fix it?” at:
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000179.htm
April 8, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I can attest to the “Hunt” notion first hand, I hunted for a sports car for a few years and once I acquired it was in “Love”…for a few months. I washed it, fed it (High Octane Fuel, $1.17per Litre) and babied it to no end, that soon wore off and all I was left with was the payments and a car that had never seen the snow let alone rain. That was 2006 and I now have a car that I could sell for 25% of the original value and only has 8k on it because I treated it like a person and not just a car. Fast forward to today, I still have the car, paid off and this year I decided to use it for what it was made for “A to B” and dam the stone chips…it’s just a bloody car. Oh yea, still has to use High Octane fuel so I still feel the pinch of my “Hunting”.
April 8, 2010 at 7:13 pm
I’ve seen lots of hunters and gatherers over the years. Used to be one. No more.
Boggles the mind to see people lined up for the new ‘i pad’ on the news. But, even worse was watching Global News last night saying that in future we will be able to use a cell phone to pay for things – no more cards and especially no more cash. They had shots of St. Lawrence Market and were saying that cash will become a thing of the past. I turned to my hubby and said ‘not if Gail can help it!’. Besides, I only have a cell phone for an emergency and don’t use it otherwise so know I won’t be an ‘adopter’.
April 8, 2010 at 7:23 pm
I am recognizing my “hoarding” tendencies in terms of shopping for things i don’t need. I always find purging helpful. But I’m noticing that those tendencies are being transfered to electronic format items: music, photos, etc.
Is anyone else having this as well?
April 8, 2010 at 10:27 pm
I channel my “gathering” instinct by regularly checking out our local thrift store. I look for books or non-essential household items.
They often have a lot of bargains — things that are donated that are sold for a low low cost to raise money for their charity. It allows me to “browse”, but I often leave with two 25 cent books (often best-sellers) or a “new” vase.
I remember one of Gail’s articles talk about her need to “nest” when she was pregnant (I think it was Gail?). She mentioned that rather than going out and buying a lot of baby “stuff”, she would watch for diapers on sale while she was pregnant. As a result, she got to “nest” and “gather”, but she she didn’t spend a lot (or any) extra money, and ended up with the diapers she needed whe the baby was born. What a great idea!
April 8, 2010 at 11:51 pm
I do the diaper gathering too when I am pregnant. I also buy food on sale (not too many weeks worth) to help cope with hoarding tendencies. I am 3 weeks from my due date and just left the grocery store with around 8-10 boxes of cereal. But we eat cereal alot so I know it will be used. It also calms me knowing that I will have lots to eat when the baby is born and that it won’t have been bought at regular price like my husband would do!
April 9, 2010 at 12:31 am
“But I’m noticing that those tendencies are being transfered to electronic format items: music, photos, etc. Is anyone else having this as well?”
Yes, I am. I’m getting much better at getting rid of/not acquiring stuff that takes up space in rooms, but I find myself spending too much time browsing youtube and saving favorite videos, or shopping for and downloading music. I love music and have a lot now on my computer, but do I really need to hunt down all the music I liked from the past and get the MP3 versions (even though I haven’t played the vinyl or cassettes in ages?) Yet that’s what I find myself doing. As far as photos, it is now far to easy to take too many digital photos and my collection is getting way out of hand. Scanning old family photos is just compounding the problem.
Quite a long time ago I broke myself of the habit of getting something as soon as it is released. So my cell phone is only for emergencies and it is just a cell phone. I finally got an mp3 player by using some airmiles, but it is not an ipod and for the few times I use it I’m glad I chose something minimalistic. I know eventually I will have to replace certain appliances but I am dreading that because I am getting tired of all the new inventions and multiple choices in the marketplace. I totally agree with Gail that there is too much stuff and too many choices.
April 9, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Never realized that this might be an instinctive drive…very interesting…
April 9, 2010 at 11:47 pm
Oh. Now I know why I have to get 4 books instead of the 1 I need. I know why I bought 10 pairs of shoes at that incredible sale that said 10 pairs max.
Crap.
April 10, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Big sigh here. Widow down the street is selling her 1998 Lincoln Continental with 140,000 km on it – always in a garage – pristine condition for $4,500. I need a good smooth ride (health issue) and wow, what an opportunity. However, biting my tongue here as I continue to pay down the LOC instead of adding $4,500. to it. Wants vs needs – I have a 2006 Toyota. Hope she buys another!
April 14, 2010 at 8:52 pm
I can relate to the WOW factor. I’m doing very well now (with Gail’s help) in curbing my hunting & gathering instincts, however this was not always the case.
Back in 1983 I came across this 50″ front-projection tv in a store window. You know, the kind you use to see in sports bars? I was in my early twenties and just had to buy it no matter what. (It even came with a free VCR) I remember I had the choice between VHS or BETA. Thank goodness I chose VHS. HeeHee
I have totally enjoyed that tv and anyone who entered our house was in awe of it. We had plenty of movie nights. The VCR is long gone – but the Hitachi tv is still being used today and has only needed one repair. In this case, I think I’ve got my money’s worth!
September 27, 2010 at 5:42 am
[...] I scratch my head at the “revelations” that come from research. “That excitement might be rooted in our primal instincts to hunt for survival” Really? Where have y’all heard this before? [...]