h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Why, when you have just bought yourself something you either really need (e.g. a new engine) or really want (e.g. a new computer) do all your friends come round and say;

'Oooh, you havn't just BOUGHT one of them have you? I've got 2 in the garage/Know a bloke who's selling them cheap/Just thrown some away/Seen one like that in free ads'

The likelihood of this is directly proportional to the amount of money spent multiplied by the potential saving.

There is another one if this type that happens when you buy a car. It doesn't matter how much you discuss your proposed purchase (or with how many people), after you have bought it, someone will always say 'Oh, you didn't buy one of those, did you?' and then proceed to tell you what rubbish they are mechanically, etc, etc.

Oh you didn't want to do that...no...you should have done it like this...(WHERE WERE YOU BEFORE I SPENT THE MONEY!!!)

So it's obvious what you need to do, right? Say to people when you've decided what to buy but BEFORE you actually buy it that "I've just paid £- for -whatever-, are you not happy for me?" Listen carefully to what they say, possibly recording it all for transcription later. When someone says "Oh, I know where you could have got one of them for £--", demand that they take you there forthwith.

Now, come on. You KNOW that Universal Laws are not that easily manipulated. Something will go wrong, you will not meet the know-all until you have actually parted with the dosh.

There's a comforting irritant in all of this that (as far as I know) only works for buying computer hardware: Whatever's bought will be rendered last-month's big deal within six moths and the price will drop accordingly....when the NEXT big deal will appear and the price will be just about the same as the original prace for the LAST big deal was.

The "comfort" here is that there's little mark-up possible on hardware, so getting a terrific deal is unlikely. Also, KNOWING the price is going to come down fairly soon will head off the "oh, I just found that at £ over there" effect. Of course, the DRAWBACK to this is finding that the next big thing is also a dramatic improvement and nobody wants to OLDER edition any more because of its new limitations.

For those that just "have to have" the latest thing, much of this still applies although it'll be ignored. For the rest of us, the older stuff is still going to be terrifically useful for a while (until the software evolves to the point where the hardware can't handle it any more) so discounts are still possible.

(Confused? Go shopping for this stuff.....)

Fruitbat

Here's a little codicil (is that the word?) to the buying something expensive law.

When you decide to update your expensive thing (e.g., car, washing machine, house) your current thing will immediately start costing you large amounts of money, like your car will start needing lots of replacement parts and repairs. You are then caught in the dilemma of wondering whether to spend the money or not. If you decide not to spend the money, there will, of course be no suitable cars on the market for you to buy UNTIL YOU SPEND THE MONEY on your current car.