introduction
A recent video that has attracted widespread attention reveals a surprising phenomenon: frugality can lead to more waste, while poverty mentality can become embedded in our lifestyles. This article will explore these phenomena and how to find a balance between frugality and waste.
The moment of blood pressure spike in the video
In this shocking video, we meet a big brother in the northeast and witness his mother's use of valuable extra white tea when boiling tea eggs. What is even more bizarre is that my mother regarded this tea as a variety that had expired for many years. The eldest brother was angry but did not dare to tell the actual price, after all, he was afraid that his mother would be distressed.
A northeastern brother found his mother boiling tea eggs in the kitchen.
Looking at it, the tea used is actually a special grade white tea that he is usually reluctant to drink, and only took out to entertain distinguished guests:
18 years of white silver needles, 8,000 yuan a pound of the kind.
The eldest brother held the fire and asked his mother, who brought you this tea?
His mother said nonchalantly: "I took it myself, and I saw that it was several years overdue." ”
The eldest brother was angry enough, but he was afraid that his mother would feel distressed after knowing the real price of tea, and he was not ready to tell her the truth.
As a result, I later saw in the monitoring that his parents buried him when they ate tea eggs, saying that they were lucky to boil the eggs, or the tea leaves would have expired and he would have thrown them away.
"Every day the cow is coaxing, and if you want to throw everything, you don't know how to cherish money."
The eldest brother's mentality has already Buddha, after all, this is not the first time that his parents have been like this, because excessive thrift will waste more money.
However, this is only part of the problem. Mom and Dad are extremely frugal and even pursue saving rather than enjoyment when on vacation. They returned to the pot 16 times, trying to bring everything home, but missed the plane because of too much luggage, wasting a lot of fees. These behaviors may seem frugal, but in fact they lead to more waste.
Here's the thing:
During the New Year, he took his parents to Sanya for a vacation, spending more than 200,000 yuan in two months, and renting a villa alone cost more than 50,000 a month.
And guess what? His parents didn't come to enjoy the scenery and food, but to save.
The flower rolls made by his mother in her childhood had to be returned to the pot twice a day, and by the first day of junior high school, they had returned to the pot 16 times, hard as iron.
As soon as the eldest brother asked her to throw it away, she cried, and his father couldn't bite it, and before he ate it, her mother asked to put the flower rolls on the plum and bring them on the plane.
On the way back, his parents insisted on bringing everything back.
And he was not allowed to send a courier, SF had already come to the door and was pushed back by his father.
What's included in a bunch of luggage? Leftover dishes, unfinished drinks, toilet paper, and even brooms were tied to their bodies and brought back.
As a result, the driver, who was supposed to send them to the airport, was shocked on the spot when he saw 17 pieces of luggage, couldn't fit it at all, and directly stepped on the accelerator and left.
As a result, the whole family did not catch the plane, all 6 people's tickets were invalidated, thousands of handling fees were deducted, and they could only take the train in the future.
In the comment area, many people admired the emotional management of the eldest brother, if they changed to themselves, they would have been angry half to death.
It is true that thrift is a virtue, but this kind of "thrift", which can be called a deceptive behavior, is not only meaningless, but wastes more money for it, picking up sesame seeds and losing watermelons.
It is clear that the living conditions are rich enough, but the spirit has remained in a state of scarcity and poverty.
There is a question on Zhihu: "What is the most useless act of frugality you have ever seen?" ”
The most liked answer shared the story of her bizarre ex-boyfriend's family.
My ex-boyfriend's parents are both retired teachers, and he has two apartments in third-tier cities, which can be said to have no financial burden, but he picks the door to the extreme.
The toilet at home has been used for more than ten years, the water tank is broken, the lid is gone, and the circle is gone, but it is not allowed to be repaired or replaced.
As a result, one day, his mother squatted for too long and her legs were numb, and suddenly she sat back in the toilet, and the old loose toilet was crushed and broken.
People also fell into tail vertebrae fractures, legs, buttocks and hands were injured, medical expenses cost more than 10,000, and the self-paid part was enough to buy 5 new toilets.
Not long after they were given a new toilet, free public toilets were built in the community. In order to save water, the old couple does not use tuba at home.
One big winter day after 11 o'clock at night, his father was anxious and refused to solve it at home, preferring to go to the public toilet.
It was dark and the road was slippery, and the steps were frozen with water, and as a result, I slipped all of a sudden.
Wrist fracture + calf fracture, medical expenses cost more than 20,000, and the self-paid part is enough to pay for water for 10 years.
What's more, their family once "luxurious" and made fried shrimp.
However, the whole shrimp inside was blackened, and it was obviously fried but oozed with smelly juice.
It turned out that it was a New Year product issued by his father's unit, which was frozen in the refrigerator for 8 months, and only took it out to eat because of the power failure.
The fried shrimp smelled bad, and his father wanted to eat it, so his ex-boyfriend poured it directly into the kitchen garbage bag.
Unexpectedly, that night, his mother picked up the fried shrimp in the garbage bag, peeled off the shrimp shell, chopped the shrimp meat and mixed the filling, and then carried the stuffing to his grandmother's house to make dumplings.
The old lady, who originally had a heart attack, ate and vomited and went into the hospital, and almost lost half her life in a toss.
This is no longer thrift, but self-abuse, psychological relief through pathological means.
But this kind of behavior will only cause the whole family to fall into the endless cycle of "the more the province gets poorer", wasting a lot of time and money, and even life itself.
The psychological roots of the fly-by-device effect
This video has led people to think about the "fly-by-the-box effect". This psychological concept derives from the phenomenon of the use of dart-like weapons by indigenous Australians. The weapon will fly out along an arc and then return to the thrower's hand, as if the behavior leads to the opposite result of the intended target.
This phenomenon is also reflected in the frugal behavior of many everyday life. People may rub the air conditioner in the mall because of saving electricity, and as a result, it costs more; Or eat expired food because you save food, and end up wasting more food. This is due to a lack of systems thinking that ignores more important things.
The entrenchment of poverty thinking
Poverty thinking is a dangerous phenomenon that solidifies in the thinking of individuals even after economic conditions improve. This thinking stems from past experiences of poverty, leading to material anxiety and the habit of extreme frugality.
However, as times change, this kind of hardened thinking can harm individuals. Excessive thrift can lead to impaired health, wasted time and hindered growth. To avoid this, we need to learn to find a balance between frugality and waste.
Balance frugality and waste
How to find a balance between frugality and waste? This is a question to think about. Here are three suggestions:
Don't harm your health with frugality: Eating expired foods or living in unsafe environments to save money can lead to more medical costs and health problems. Therefore, health is the most important wealth and it should not be sacrificed for thrift.
Don't waste time saving money: Sometimes it's not worth the cost of spending a lot of time looking for cheaper options to save a few bucks. Time is also a finite resource, and we should cherish it and invest it in something more valuable.
Don't let frugality hinder growth: Single-minded frugality may prevent us from investing in our own education and personal development. Buying valuable books, attending training courses, and listening to high-quality lectures can all help us improve our skills and knowledge and ultimately achieve a better life.
conclusion
Poverty thinking and fly-by-the-fly effects may creep into our lives, leading to the delicate boundary between frugality and waste. We should learn to manage our finances sensibly and meaningfully, not only to be frugal, but also to invest wisely in health, time, and personal growth for a more fulfilling and satisfying life. Through balance, we can get rid of the poverty mentality, avoid the trap of fly-and-fly effect, and move towards a better future.