What do you buy? Where do you buy it?
>>I believe it to be rational for students to do at least some research to find optimal prices for goods they demand (keeping in mind that search has a cost)
I also think it is worthwile to read consumer information/tests to get an added perspective if a purchase of something expensive is to be made.
>>Regarding foodstuff - I generally think it is silly to spend much time to search for the store that sells a product for the lowest price - if the price difference is only a few kroner (note that I am talking NOK not USD or whatever). When income increases, a smaller share is spent on food and more on other goods. And I think it is a waste of time to care for saving a few bucks. So I look for the store with good quality instead.
>>Regarding other goods, I generally try to find good quality products that have a reasonable price, given the quality of the product. An example is shirt shopping:
>>Say I need a new shirt for one of my suits. I then ask myself - what properties do I need satisfied. Answer: Easy to iron, 100% cotton. And from experience I have narrowed such a search down to a select few shirt producers, and I am fairly happy with having to do little ironing.
>>Where I buy things then depends on what expectations I have for the product I demand - and mostly I determine this by looking at my budget constraint and by deciding what level of quality I demand.
What do you buy online?
>>music, dvds, games, hardware, software
What do you buy in stores?
>>clothing, food, etc. In general, things I would like to see for myself/test in real life.
>>furniture
What do you buy on a regular basis?
>>food and everyday goods (several times a week) <-- fresh is better than frozen
>>music (at least once per quarter - but when I am a wage-earner, I purchase more music - more often)
What type of thing do you buy for special occasions?
>>gifts (jewelery, etc) for my girlfriend/future wife
>>whisky (single malt)
What do you opt to make, create or co-create instead of buy?
>>ehm
Do you sell anything you make?
>>studying, so nothing produced but knowledge, which I will sell later
General notes:
I am a student, but I own my own place to live.
I have a student loan for X kroners, but I also have the same X kroners resting/for saving - and I am repaying the entire loan as soon as I stop studying (no interest paid while I study, and part of the loan is converted to scholarship as I pass exams). This means that the entire student loan is generating interest that flows to my "pocket". In short: government handout. As in "free money".
I have a loan to finance my place to live - but I co-own with my fiancee, and I also only need to pay half of the cost of the loan, as my fiancee covers the other half.
I therefore minimize the amount of kroners I need to pay in tax - no tax on my savings, and since I work only a little (part time, but irregularly for the time being), I have a small income.
Since I had a rather large sum saved up before I started at the university, I can afford to live like I do, with a consumption pattern that is not standard for a student.
I suppose this comment is an explanation of why I wrote what I did as answers to Narz' questions.
) Newspapers everyday.
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