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10 Cose Che Non ti Serve Comprare (MAI) — Transcript

by Giuseppe Castagna · 3,159 words · 452 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Up until 6 years ago, I was a
0:01compulsive shopper, without even
0:03realizing what I was buying, and I
0:05objectively had more debt than money in
0:07the bank. Then, one day, looking at all
0:09the stuff I had at home, in my office
0:11closet, and especially looking at my
0:13credit card statement, I got anxious
0:15and realized that I had to change
0:16something in my life, because if I had
0:18kept playing that game, I would have
0:20been someone with a lot of nice things,
0:22maybe even envied by people seeing me
0:23on the street, but with nothing of real
0:25value saved up. And from that moment on
0:28, within a few months, I completely
0:30turned my relationship with shopping
0:31and objects upside down. But to do that
0:34, I made a lot of mistakes and wasted a
0:37lot of money. So today, I’ll tell you
0:39about the 10 most absurd things I’ve
0:41bought in my life and explain why, in
0:43hindsight, I bought them at the time,
0:45and what I learned from these mistakes
0:47so that you don't make them. And I'm
0:49sure that, if you're a bit like me,
0:50you'll see yourself in at least half of
0:52these. Let's start right away with the
0:54first one, and the first category of
0:55purchases is the one from which, in my
0:56case, practically everything else
0:58started. I remember that I literally
1:00copied this item, and we were in that
1:02era, while I was finishing university,
1:04when influencers didn't exist yet and
1:06you couldn't buy everything
1:08automatically like we do now; so, it
1:09was even worse, but you’d see
1:11something on someone, you liked it, and
1:13you had to have it because maybe that
1:15someone was someone who seemed well-off
1:17or whatever; and in my case, it was a
1:19damn Replay belt. I wanted it at all
1:23costs, I couldn't even afford it, but
1:25at one point I went to Milan, bought it
1:27, wore it, and then got home and
1:28realized it didn't even look that good
1:30on me. I mean, I didn't even think
1:33about returning it, maybe I couldn't
1:34even since I bought it in the store.
1:36The point is that up until that moment,
1:38everything I had wanted was something I
1:40had seen on someone else. I remember as
1:42a kid the Prada shoes, American Cup, I
1:44don't know if you remember them, oh my
1:45god, in hindsight, and then moving on
1:47to slightly more complex things. But
1:49the point is that this first category
1:51of objects is the one you copy because
1:53someone else has it, which is exactly
1:54what made influencers what they are
1:56today. The problem is that buying
1:58something just because someone else did
2:00—whether it’s someone we know
2:01personally or someone we follow on
2:02social media—doesn't teach us
2:03anything about what we actually want.
2:05It doesn’t teach us anything about
2:07our personality, or what simply looks
2:09good on us, or maybe even what we truly
2:12want in our lives. And it was only when
2:14I stopped copying others that I started
2:15thinking about having a style of my own
2:17. I began to realize that what made me
2:19feel good was having an outfit, a
2:20uniform, like these t-shirts I use in
2:22my YouTube videos, which you also see
2:24me wearing out and about, or
2:25long-sleeved polo shirts. In short, I
2:27started being more Giuseppe and less
2:29like someone else, but this discovery
2:31cost me thousands of euros that I had
2:33spent before, so stop copying others.
2:36The second thing, or rather the second
2:38category of things I regret buying, is
2:40something psychologically strange
2:42because it’s a mechanism I still
2:44don't fully understand; but I’ve
2:46identified the behavioral pattern, so
2:48I’ve stopped buying them: things you
2:50buy just because they look nice, even
2:52though you don’t really need them.
2:55You buy them just because of the way
2:56they are, or because they happen to be
2:58cheap for some reason. And my main
3:00memory of this is a puffer jacket by
3:02Missoni for Save the Duck. A Capsule
3:05Collection, my wife later explained to
3:07me. The jacket was objectively
3:08beautiful, but beautiful on the edge of
3:10ugly, or rather, ugly to the point that
3:12it becomes beautiful. I don’t know if
3:14you’ve ever happened to see items
3:15like this. Never wore it, resold it on
3:17Vinted for € 20. Luckily someone
3:20bought it, at a loss of 300, something
3:22like that, and I realized I had a lot
3:24of things in my closet and in my life
3:26that I had bought only because they
3:28were nice or because I liked the idea
3:30of having them, without ever really
3:32using them. And this is something that
3:34makes absolutely no sense. It applies
3:36to a lot of trinkets. From the
3:38Ariannauto dictionary: a small object
3:41placed in the house, also called a
3:44dust-catcher, of no or little utility.
3:48Then at a certain point I realized that
3:50not only was I literally flushing my
3:52money down the toilet, but I was using
3:53it in a way to show appreciation, to
3:55say that something was nice and that I
3:57liked it. And then I understood that I
3:59can appreciate and say there are very
4:00beautiful things in life without
4:01spending money to buy them. And then I
4:03reached a point where I was buying
4:05things that automatically forced me to
4:07buy others. And that, too, is an absurd
4:09, vicious circle. And I think that's
4:11happened to you plenty of times. You
4:13leave the house planning to buy a suit
4:14for a wedding, you buy the suit, but
4:16then you think the shirt or the collar
4:17doesn't look right. It would need a
4:19matching tie, in my case a pocket
4:21square, shoes, and a belt in a
4:23different fabric or material than the
4:25shoes. So you went out for one single
4:27thing and came back with 10 different
4:29ones? Or do you get anxious because you
4:30feel like you have to buy other things?
4:33And this happened to me with houses,
4:34too: you buy a house and, automatically
4:35, if you get a new house you don't want
4:37the old sofa in it because it doesn't
4:38fit, so it ends up in the garage. We
4:41have two garages full of furniture; in
4:42fact, during our last move we did a
4:44giveaway. It becomes a vicious circle
4:46you can't escape, it even has a name.
4:49This is called the Diderot effect, and
4:50it works by you buying something new
4:52and suddenly all your old things aren't
4:53up to par anymore, and it's really hard
4:55to spot. It took me years. I still fall
4:58for it sometimes, so I started avoiding
5:00it. Today I avoid it 95%of the time,
5:03ever since I realized it was the
5:05purchase—meaning a purchase gave me
5:07dopamine, it gave me pleasure, so I
5:09threw another one after it and somehow
5:11justified that new pleasure. And if
5:14this has happened to you and thinking
5:15about it bothers you a bit, it’s all
5:17normal; it bothers me every time, even
5:19now that I’ve just mentioned it. But
5:22in that case, it means we’re on the
5:23same wavelength, so remember to
5:25subscribe to the channel because this
5:26is what I do every week. I try to take
5:29behaviors that seem completely normal,
5:31break them down with you, and try to
5:32rebuild them into something more
5:34functional for our lives. That said,
5:37let’s move on to the next category of
5:39objects and purchases I regret: the
5:40ones that make me feel smart. In this
5:43case, I felt like a scientist. I would
5:45buy duplicates of things or variations
5:48of things. For example, there was one
5:51thing I liked a lot and used very well.
5:53I would buy it twice for fear that it
5:55might somehow stop being produced, and
5:57I did that for a lot of years with a
5:58perfume. There was this perfume my aunt
6:01gave me; I liked it a lot. It was a
6:03Cartier perfume, and years later I
6:04don't even remember the name, maybe
6:06I'll write it in the comments later. I
6:08was completely obsessed with the risk
6:10that this perfume might go out of
6:11production, so I bought a ton of it.
6:13Then it was actually discontinued, but
6:15long story short, I've had six new
6:16bottles in my bathroom for years. Or
6:18then there were the color variations; I
6:20would buy those pants or that t-shirt
6:21or those jeans that fit me well. I
6:23would buy it in at least three
6:25different variations because it
6:26reassured me in some way. In reality,
6:28those were shitty purchases. Today, I
6:30don't buy duplicates of any kind
6:32anymore, but I only buy in series,
6:33meaning I find t-shirts like this one
6:35that fit me well, I buy 10 of them
6:36because I know I'll always wear those
6:38t-shirts, so it serves a different
6:39function; it’s a function of
6:41standardization. I want to reduce my
6:43choices and my cognitive load in the
6:44morning. I know I’ll wear the t-shirt
6:46, I know I’ll wear those three
6:47outfits, and so I reduce the hassle of
6:49choosing what to wear and thus I reduce
6:50my shopping. The point is that I only
6:53buy things that really look good on me,
6:55or I buy things with the awareness that
6:57there will always be other things, and
6:59if Cartier decides to stop making that
7:01perfume, or some other brand stops
7:03making that item, oh well, I'll find
7:04another one. So, buying duplicates of
7:07things isn't wrong in itself, but only
7:09if there is logic behind it. Doing it
7:11compulsively or to reassure myself like
7:13I used to do. Damn, that’s some ugly
7:14stuff. Now let's move on to that
7:16category of purchases that makes us
7:18realize we have psychiatric problems,
7:19in my opinion, or better yet, let's
7:21soften that. It’s something innate,
7:23if you're a good person, and it’s
7:25about not leaving the store
7:26empty-handed. I mean, a lot of times we
7:29go into a store—it’s happened to me
7:31tons of times, and I still feel this
7:33pressure—we feel bad, maybe we made
7:35the clerk try on a million things and
7:36it feels wrong not to buy anything. Or
7:40we feel like going out somewhere, maybe
7:42to an outlet, a mall, or downtown, to
7:44the shops, if we come back without
7:46having bought something, it means we
7:48wasted our time, and so we justify the
7:50purchase in this way. Nowadays, I’ve
7:53learned to recognize this pattern, so
7:54if I don’t need that item or it
7:56doesn't really fit me well, or the
7:57price doesn't convince me, oh well, I
7:58won’t buy it. I took a look around,
8:01the clerk is there to work, it’s
8:03their job, so I didn’t waste their
8:05time, I didn't do them any wrong, and
8:07I've effectively stopped buying to
8:08please others or to justify my
8:10purchases. And so, this way, I often
8:12leave empty-handed during my rounds, or
8:14rather, many times I don’t even go
8:15out at all. At this point, the next
8:17category of items I regret purchasing
8:19is something I’m reminded of 30 times
8:21a day, and I have it right here with me
8:23. The hyped item of the moment, this
8:25Stanley water bottle, bought in the
8:27United States a few years ago. Actually
8:29bought by Arianna, to be honest, and
8:31what it reminds me is that the vast
8:33majority of trends are simply trends.
8:36This is a water bottle, it cost
8:38something like 54-60 with a thing, a
8:40bear with wings and a crown, and it
8:43says Stanley. Truly convenient, I use
8:45it 250 times a day, but it’s worth
8:46just as much as the 10 euro one on
8:48Amazon. There has always been a "gadget
8:50of the moment," for me it was
8:52technology for a while, so when the
8:53Apple Watch or the new MacBook came out
8:55, now there’s the iPhone 15, which I
8:57obviously didn’t buy. In short, I
8:59bought a lot of things just because it
9:01was the item of the moment. Then I
9:03learned that the trend ends before the
9:05object itself, so when something is
9:07pushed too hard, I see it too much on
9:08social media, it starts running through
9:10my head, "I have to have it," I don't
9:12buy it on principle. If I actually need
9:14the item, I put it on the list and then
9:16I think about it. And this brings me
9:18directly to the next category, which is
9:20what tricked us as kids, or rather
9:22tricked my generation and is destroying
9:24the current one: logos. How many times
9:27have I bought something? The wallet,
9:30the belt I was talking about earlier,
9:32anything for the logo, the trademark,
9:34the brand, the status, showing others,
9:36showing others that I’d made it, or
9:38that I had money, or that I had a
9:40certain style, or that I was part of a
9:42certain group. This is devastating;
9:45companies have built billions on our
9:47backs because that same t-shirt with
9:49that logo for some reason cost 500
9:51euros. The first one, I remember, one
9:55of the most chilling things in history,
9:57was Guru; then there was Baci&Abbracci,
9:58which fortunately I didn't care about,
10:00and then all the other luxury brands,
10:02everything that exists now. In short,
10:05when we buy for the logo, we need an
10:07object to prove who we are, to prove
10:09our status. It’s not easy to break
10:12free because we are bombarded by this
10:14stuff every single day. It’s a
10:15complex issue, it takes time, but I
10:17invite you to think about it. When
10:19you're buying something, are you buying
10:22that object for its quality, its
10:23utility, for what you truly need, or
10:25are you buying it for what’s printed
10:27or embroidered on it, or for what you
10:29can show off by using it? So, please,
10:31let’s work on this together. If you
10:33need anything, write to me; I’ll give
10:35you all the advice I can. Today I try
10:37to buy 99%no-logo, like the shirts you
10:39see; if you see me around, I’m
10:41dressed almost 100%no-logo, because
10:43I’ve actually reached a point where I
10:45don't give a damn what people think of
10:47me. Whether people think I’m rich or
10:50not, or that I’m doing well or not, I
10:52care about being at peace with myself.
10:54And now let’s move to the opposite
10:55side, buying things just because
10:56they’re cheap. This is one of the
10:58things I repeat most often and that
11:00I’ve already told you a bunch of
11:01times: I prefer to spend more on
11:03something that lasts a long time rather
11:04than having 10 things that suck. So
11:07I’ve become totally against fast
11:09fashion. I try not to buy stuff that
11:11costs € 3 or € 5, or get giant
11:13packages of items shipped from China,
11:15but I did it for a lot of years. I
11:17threw away tons of clothes, objects,
11:19and tech gear of all kinds that were
11:22worth absolutely nothing and that I
11:24bought simply because they were cheap.
11:26It was the same reasoning I used during
11:28sales, the same reasoning I used at
11:30outlets. If something was cheap, I felt
11:32compelled to buy it. In reality, in
11:34this case too, I was just fueling my
11:37urge to spend money and my desire to
11:39own things. Then, at a certain point,
11:42without becoming a minimalist, I felt
11:43overwhelmed by all these things I had
11:45around in my closet, my drawers, in my
11:47office, and in my car, so I stopped.
11:50What I’ve learned is that it’s not
11:51about the deal, but always about the
11:52utility of that purchase for me.
11:54Practically everything I bought because
11:56it was cheap or on sale turned out to
11:57be wasted money. On the other hand,
12:00beyond logos and cheap items, we have
12:02things that cost a fortune, and that
12:04triggers another psychological
12:06mechanism because, unfortunately,
12:08it’s a cognitive bias. Daniel
12:11Kahneman’s "Thinking, Fast and Slow"
12:12explained it perfectly. An incredible
12:14book. If something costs a lot, it
12:16means it’s worth a lot in our heads
12:18—the fox and the grapes, or whatever
12:20I don't know—it’s a truly absurd
12:21psychological mechanism. And so I
12:24stopped looking at the price of things
12:26and started evaluating how things are
12:28made, meaning how objects are
12:29constructed, the quality of the
12:31stitching, the durability, and actually
12:32, today, that's all I care about. If
12:35what I'm buying, in my opinion, is
12:37well-made, then the price they're
12:38asking for, in my opinion, is fair.
12:40I’ve started to stop letting myself
12:42be taken for a fool in stores,
12:43especially in certain luxury boutiques,
12:45where the question "how much does it
12:46cost?" is "oh, the value of this Apple
12:50keyboard requires a financial
12:52investment of...euros." Value my ass.
12:58Just tell me how much it costs. And
13:00then I look at this keyboard here and I
13:02reason for myself if it makes sense.
13:05Apple doesn’t say value, but if you
13:07think about it, you’ll notice that in
13:08a lot of posts I’ve started using
13:10this tactic, so let's be clear: a high
13:11price doesn't mean high value. And then
13:14we get to the crazy excuse, the one I
13:16used to justify the vast majority of my
13:18purchases, that word I hear repeated a
13:20lot of times in my house, but it always
13:21gets dismantled, and that is investment
13:23. It’s my favorite excuse, and
13:26everyone else's, for spending. I'm
13:28making an investment. I'm investing in
13:31that pair of shoes, I'm investing in
13:33that jacket, I'm investing in that coat
13:35, I'm investing in that piece of crap
13:37watch, by the way. It’s a way to make
13:40us feel the pain of spending less. I'm
13:43not buying something, so I'm not
13:44consuming—which is the reality of the
13:46facts, I'm consuming money to buy
13:48objects—but I'm investing in
13:49something for my future, in buying that
13:51good, in the durability of that good.
13:54The point is that there are some goods
13:56that are truly an investment, meaning
13:57those goods that produce income or have
13:59a projection of constant value growth.
14:01Everything else is consumption. So,
14:04when I find something I like, that is
14:05expensive, that I will use for a lot of
14:06years, I call it what it is: a thing I
14:08am buying and that I will use for a lot
14:09of years. Period. This is something I
14:12have to repeat to myself every time;
14:13it’s something that is very
14:15widespread in everyone, so you have to
14:16train yourself, but truly, the things
14:18you call investments will be your worst
14:19regret. But then, if it’s not worth
14:22buying all these things, the question
14:23that comes to my mind right after is: "
14:25Okay, Giuseppe, but then what makes
14:27sense to buy?" There are specific items
14:29I've bought that regardless of the
14:31price, shape, or size, I have never
14:32regretted purchasing, and I'll tell you
14:34all about them in this video on the
14:36right. So, thank you for watching, and
14:39please always unleash your potential.

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