I have this experience quite regularly with my parents.
When I suggest buying stuff online, they are reluctant. After much persuasion, my mum decided to check Courts online and she went to the retail store and told me that the prices are the same...
I rolled my eyes. She just doesn't get it. There are other websites, smaller merchants who will be able to sell her something at 10-20% cheaper. It's hard to communicate this cos they are so reluctant to change old ways of thinking...
Or she would want to buy a 'branded' tv for a certain price, when she could get a similar quality tv for 20% cheaper. But somehow she has the perception that certain branded TV's are awesome and she just HAS to get that particular brand...
I've also suggested that I could supply her with a load of vegetables when I visit her. But when I bring a load of veges, she says not to bring her so much cos she doesn't know what to do with them...
The thing is, she wants to buy ALL the vegetables that she wants, then choose a handful from what I bring over.
Instead of, taking everything that I bring over and choose to buy a little of the stuff she really wants.
I'm quite dumbfounded by this. And yet it's common behavior. When I brought over a new DVD player, I got questioned about why I brought over a new DVD player. It's brand new, and better but I still got queried for it.
Then I think about the financial /frugal community and realize... It's all the same.
The idea of... You can bring a horse to water but you can't force it to drink.
We can talk about all kinds of financial concepts or money management ideas, but many people would just do things their own way, cos change is hard.
They may agree it's a good idea, but "nah it's not for me. That's just too troublesome".
I found it quite strange at the start, cos... Free stuff. Isn't that such a great idea? What's so hard about accepting free stuff, or ordering items online?
And yet this is the same as, setting up bank accounts to optimize bank interest rates or using a particular credit card for rebates.
It all requires change by the individual and that's harder than staying status quo, even if it means saving some money. Since they can afford it, they would rather just not change and continue doing things their own way.
I've started to get a better feel when giving away stuff. Some people are grateful for free stuff. And others, they look at the stuff I give them as a problem that I passed on to them instead. So now I've decided to be more aware when giving out free stuff or financial suggestions.
This blog is free for readers to come and go so I post whatever I feel like it.
But like for cases like my parents who aren't willing to adjust their habits, then I think I'll just let them do whatever they want. Even if I think something is better, I'll try to remember to keep it to myself.
It's like... If a child is unwilling to learn, then force teaching will frustrate both parent and child. But if a child is ready to learn, then it becomes rewarding for both parties.
I suppose I'll just have to wait for a better opportunity to suggest ideas to some other people. It's not just my parents. This occurs with a lot of people I have talked to. And I've learnt to keep quiet on financial suggestions. Now, I also have to learn to keep quiet on freegan ideas and items.
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