The Savvy Consumer: Recent Episodes
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Hey everyone, my name is Marcus, and welcome to The Savvy Consumer podcast. In this podcast, we discuss the psychology and human behaviour behind consumption, and how we can utilize this knowledge to become a more savvy consumer. We also talk about related topics such as optimizing personal finances, staying productive, and buying and selling preloved items.
$2.50 per entry for gym access sounds extremely reasonable... until you factor in the travelling time and cost of actually getting to the gym. As past and present gymmers respectively, Jon and I discuss the economics of a home gym in the Singapore context. We also talk novel ways to get stronger (12:33), "sharing" your home gym with others (36:49) and who would win between a historic school and two teenage boys (46:35).
Food is one of Singapore's national unofficial pasttimes - some of us live and breathe food. While this does not apply to all Singaporeans (e.g. Jon), this tends to be the case in this island of ours. We discuss our thoughts on food in general, talk about some of Singapore's "national" foods, and talk about foods that range from cheap to wallet-breaking. We also talk about superheroes created by fast-food chains (2:22), a novel (or not) way to travel once it is feasible for us to do so (26:08), and how to definitively know that we have transitioned from a young person to a not-so-young person (48:50).
Having bought and sold stuff for nearly the past seven years, I share my experience in meeting and dealing with all sorts of people and get Jon to share his instinctive opinion on these experiences. We also talk about chocolates which have extended their stay (2:30), the lessons we have learned in the process of recording this episode (37:52), and how Food & Beverage (F&B) establishments generally view customer service (46:57).
Jon directs this episode as I take a backseat and go with the flow... not. In this episode, we propose a new way of looking at your possessions, and how to utilize this perspective in everyday life. We also talk about selling your opinions on second-hand platforms (6:36), how you can use boxes to contain all the joy you have sparked (42:57), and how you can create a win-win situation in a traditional win-lose situation (53:36).
Genshin Impact is a hugely popular free-to-play game that has brought the spotlight back on freemium games and lootboxes. We give our take on games using a similar model and lootboxes as actual players of these games, and discuss how can approach these games with a realistic mindset. We also talk about choosing between Charizard and marriage (4:06), how gameboy taught us the value of money (38:46), and why vocal warmups are important (62:00).
A 16-year old boy in Singapore made the headlines when it was reported that he makes up to S$30,000 in a month buying and reselling branded sneakers. While many applauded his sense of entrepreneurship, others called foul on his behaviour for artificially raising prices. In response, Jon and I discuss how ethics plays into the entire situation. We also give our take on online "experts" (10:33), where guitar pedals got their name (40:25) and the best way to beat the queue for anything, anytime (57:08).
Original Article: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/cnainsider/teen-sneaker-resale-hypemaster-remus-singapore-13190860?cid=telegram_cna_social_28112017_cna
Response Commentary: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/sneakers-air-jordan-yeezy-nike-limited-edition-resell-sale-trade-13290794?cid=FBcna
While free stuff is generally a welcome sight, not all free stuff is always good. In this episode, Jon shares his love for all stuff free while I take on a different approach. We also talk about the "Circuit Breaker" in Singapore (15:10), chicken cushions in the shape of a prism and cuboid (21:00) (60:02) and why we trust strangers but not family and friends (37:20).
Many companies are moving to a subscription model for their products, because if nothing, subscriptions often make them more money. Knowing this, what should our response be as savvy consumers? Jon and I also explore an alternative career in sports podcasting for all of one minute (12:15), talk about non-sea pirates in Singapore (29:40), and software with really good names (51:10).
A recent article on the local newspaper The Straits Times surveyed respondents on unfair practices they had encountered while shopping online, with 18-37% indicating they had encountered each of the ten listed practices. In this episode, Jon and I discuss whether these practices should be considered unfair and how we can outwit sellers using these practices via a buyer-seller tic-tac-toe analogy.
Today's episode is motivated by The Social Dilemma - a netflix documentary that aims to inform the general public of the dangers of social media consumption. We touch on both sides of the social media coin, and share our experiences of healthy relationships with social media and how we can reduce our consumption of it should we choose to. Also, tl;dr "It's your life, do whatever you want. But if it's not good for you, try not to do so much of it." - Jon, 2020
In this trailer, we elaborate on the purpose of the podcast, recurring themes, podcast formats, and provide some disclaimers.
Minimalism, where less is more, is a growing trend these days. There is also an antonym - maximalism, which is lesser known... Does that mean it has less value? In this episode, we discuss the arguments for and against both minimalism and maximalism, what the middle ground looks like, and become official hypocrites when we each disagree with ourselves, although we did preface the disagreements with the argument that our preferences for more or less can be domain-specific. Also, please wear pants in your own homes when other people can see you.
People usually look at spending as a whole, and may feel indifferent to spending a certain amount of money on various categories of items - however, we make the case that some categories of things are worth spending more on, while others are worth spending less on. We also teach you about Singaporean coffee and tea, despite declaring later on in the episode that we would apparently be fine giving up either of these beverages.
Winning the lottery is apparently a Singapore dream because it enables us to afford things and live comfortably, although most people would have thought of it at some point in their lives. Now that I've gotten you to think about it, we explore how you should spend your lottery winnings if (or when, BELIEVE) you ever win one, who you should tell, and discuss how we would change up our lifestyles if money ceased to be a concern.
Buying secondhand stuff has its pros and cons, although some of them may not be as straightforward as you think... Sometimes the people are the problem rather than the items! In this episode, we provide three pros and cons of buying secondhand stuff to help the listener make a more informed decision on whether to buy secondhand stuff or not.
There are normal ways to save money, and there are weird ways to save money. In this episode, Jon and I explain why we (or he) drink before going to clubs, give credit cards to our friends and sleep without bolsters.
Jon and I improvise on the $1 per hour rule we discovered playing video games to help determine whether a purchase is worth the money spent, and how we can reduce dissonance after having made a particular purchase. One of us also talks trash about Apple (spoiler alert: it's not me).
Figures such as Jean Chatzky have advocated for spending on experiences rather than material possessions, with many of those in agreement being moderately well-to-do as well. Jon and I discuss our best and worst purchases in an attempt to figure out whether this principle holds true.
Back to the classics! In this episode, we discuss three ways to help you sell your items more quickly. Or at all. Some of these tips are obvious, others less so.
There is a growing movement of people who are making the conscious decision to consume less and produce more... of anything and everything under the sun. In this episode, we discuss the definitions of consumption and production, our thoughts on the balance between consumption and production, and how people can change if they do decide they want to consume less and produce more.
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected us and our consumption behaviour in unprecedented ways. In this episode, we make observations on what sells during the pandemic, and how we can take take advantage of this to buy and sell what we need or want.
Hey everyone, my name is Marcus, and welcome to The Savvy Consumer podcast. In this first episode, I introduce myself and the podcast to give you, the listener, a better idea of what to expect from this podcast in the weeks to come.