The Back Alley Archives

Something I've been giving a lot of thought to lately is how willing people are to pay for monthly services for all the things in their life. In the past, things were simpler, obviously, but they were simpler without having to go without services. I find it interesting how much our current generation 35 - 45, is willing to pay for services like cable, internet, cell phones, etc. Our parents, for the most part, probably had their mortgage, utilities, car insurance and telephone service as their main bills, with cable TV coming along in the early 80's for many people. If you replace the telephone service, which was probably $30-40 a month, more if you used LD services frequently, with cell phone services $60-$120 a month, cable TV going around $35 a month to $60 - $100+ a month and add on top of that internet access for probably $50 a month. It just makes me wonder how we are conditioning the younger generations to accept always having to pay these large re-occurring monthly bills that many people think of as a necessity.

i've thought about things like that as well...like this : people back then utilized the 'lay away' system and never took possession of their goods until they were fully paid for...nowadays, people get it without paying for it and take possession relying on credit.

I don't think people spend all of that money as a "necessity"...

I pay close to $100/month for my TV, but it's satellite with a lot of sports packages. Basically, I have a lot more options of what to watch than my parents did for their $30 cable bill. yes, it's a larger bill, but not a necessity. If things got tight, I could cut my package way back to about $30/mo or drop it altogether if I had to.

I'm considering dropping my internet since I got the droid. I can do most everything I need to off my phone.

Are you under a service contract with your cable company?

Yeah, but I just have to have them for two years (which isn't a problem - cable sucks big floppy donkey dick up here, so I don't see myself wanting to leave DirecTV anytime soon).

i've thought about things like that as well...like this : people back then utilized the 'lay away' system and never took possession of their goods until they were fully paid for...nowadays, people get it without paying for it and take possession relying on credit.

I've thought about this too...KMart even talked about layaway in one of their ads before the holidays. It really is a good way to buy stuff, but people (including myself) are so used to instant gratification that it's almost foreign to think of purchasing something like that.

I probably spend way too much for cable/internet/phone...but I like the fact that if there is a problem, someone comes out immediately to fix it...no hassle. I am willing to pay for good service.

I dunno...I know I'm part of the problem though.

I don't think people spend all of that money as a "necessity"...

I pay close to $100/month for my TV, but it's satellite with a lot of sports packages. Basically, I have a lot more options of what to watch than my parents did for their $30 cable bill. yes, it's a larger bill, but not a necessity. If things got tight, I could cut my package way back to about $30/mo or drop it altogether if I had to.

I'm considering dropping my internet since I got the droid. I can do most everything I need to off my phone.

Droid a good porn vehicle, is it?

actually, not as good as I had hoped.

It will be much better when they upgrade the Droid platform to include Flash.

true

i've thought about things like that as well...like this : people back then utilized the 'lay away' system and never took possession of their goods until they were fully paid for...nowadays, people get it without paying for it and take possession relying on credit.

I've thought about this too...KMart even talked about layaway in one of their ads before the holidays. It really is a good way to buy stuff, but people (including myself) are so used to instant gratification that it's almost foreign to think of purchasing something like that.

I probably spend way too much for cable/internet/phone...but I like the fact that if there is a problem, someone comes out immediately to fix it...no hassle. I am willing to pay for good service.

I dunno...I know I'm part of the problem though.

When we make major furniture or jewelry purchases, we often do layaway. One benefit of living in a small town is that it's possible to do layaway on very casual terms. "Come in and pay when you feel like it." I find it gratifying to work towards paying something like that off, even if I could just go buy it. Spending $3000 in a day for furniture, for instance, would really stress me out, even when I could do it, but paying for it on layaway really doesn't. It makes me more aware of my budget and makes me less likely to blow cash on things I don't need, like manicures or eating out constantly. We don't use credit for anything but our house and vehicles.