I'd never heard of Erewhon, but I understand the feeling of many of the folks interviewed for the article. When you're broke, and let's be real making 40-50k in a major American city today leaves...
I'd never heard of Erewhon, but I understand the feeling of many of the folks interviewed for the article. When you're broke, and let's be real making 40-50k in a major American city today leaves you pretty broke, luxuries are pretty few and far between. I remember when deciding whether or not I could afford to buy a bag of ginger chews, my favorite candy at the time, felt like a real make or break decision. It was only $6 dollars a bag! But it gives you a feeling of normalcy, of being able to indulge.
I do appreciate that the framing of the article didn't swing into financial responsibility, even if it was the clear subtext. The truth is these people aren't working 3 jobs to afford Erewhon, they are working 3 jobs to survive. The first person they quoted in the article said she spends $50-75 dollars a week there. That's only $3250 a year if you average it out. I spend more a year than that on my mountain bikes. It would be great to have a larger discussion about wages and cost of living that didn't nitpick the 5-10% of personal spending that everyone does.
That and the guy from SF looking for peanut butter needs to get his ass to Berkeley Bowl.
Don't get me wrong, it's a good amount of money, but in the grand scheme of an annual budget it isn't. Firstly, while we are talking about wants not needs, they are still spending their money on...
Don't get me wrong, it's a good amount of money, but in the grand scheme of an annual budget it isn't. Firstly, while we are talking about wants not needs, they are still spending their money on groceries. They'll be eating something even if it isn't something from Erewhon, elsewhere it wouldn't be as expensive so I see the flashy Erewhon purchases as a "subsidized" need (normal food item + brand/localism = Erewhon food item). Even if we took it as a straight want, hobbies and other wants are pretty expensive as well. For me locally, an annual gym membership to the municipal sports complex is $1200. A sit down dinner, will probably cost you $40-80 per meal. When we compare it to other wants it doesn't seem too extreme.
I think that income vs cost of living is so out of balance these days that spending habits are nitpicked in a way they weren't in the past. To be honest, I'd rather have folks spending their extra cash on small "mom and pop" brands supporting our food economy than pouring it into fast fashion or something else. Ironically, the goods at markets like Erewhon are more likely to have beneficial domestic impact that shopping at a big box store. Higher livable wages, more diversified owners, lower ecological impact. It's a form of unwise expenditure I can get behind!
If you are "pretty broke", then spending close to 3.5k per year on needless luxuries (that you could get cheaper at the same quality when making them yourself, as admitted by the interviewee) is a...
making 40-50k in a major American city today leaves you pretty broke
If you are "pretty broke", then spending close to 3.5k per year on needless luxuries (that you could get cheaper at the same quality when making them yourself, as admitted by the interviewee) is a pretty stupid thing to do.
If you are "pretty broke", then 10% of your annual budget matters. 10% when you make >100k a year doesn't have the same importance as 10% of 40k.
I'm amazed that the basic concept of "take care of how you spend your money" has somehow been completely and utterly coupled (in the minds of some American progressives) to conservative talking points of "the poor are poor because of their own faults".
No, the poor are not poor because of their own decisions. But unfortunately they are still responsible for how they spend their money. It's not fair, but unfortunately you still are responsible for your own life even if you are in a bad situation for no fault of your own.
I think I may be doing a poor job of representing my stance. I said, be it a little tongue in cheek, in response to the other comment about how much $3250 is in the US that "It's a form of unwise...
I think I may be doing a poor job of representing my stance. I said, be it a little tongue in cheek, in response to the other comment about how much $3250 is in the US that "It's a form of unwise expenditure I can get behind!"
And I mean it. You're right, it is unwise spending. I don't disagree with that at all, I don't even think the people shopping at Erewhon do. You can hear in their responses that they know it's irresponsible. However if you haven't live at that level of income in a place that costs that much to live you might miss out on how absurd everything starts to feel. You are working full time, or in some cases more than full time, to just exist. That 3k in spending might really changing the feeling of your life.
My gripe is that the underlying subtext of the article is such a common narrative that at this point it's become a trope. Sure it's dumb to spend your extra cash on expensive groceries or coffee or whatever your small daily vice is. It just feels like such an easy punching bag when there are bigger problems, the ones driving this one, at play.
But we are not talking about a small daily vice. We are talking about 10% of your annual budget while being broke, it's simply not in the same category. You spending more than 3.5k yearly on your...
Sure it's dumb to spend your extra cash on [...] whatever your small daily vice is.
But we are not talking about a small daily vice. We are talking about 10% of your annual budget while being broke, it's simply not in the same category. You spending more than 3.5k yearly on your mountain bikes is perfectly fine, assuming you can afford it. I also don't care if rich people shop at Erewhon. But if someone is broke and then wastes 10% of their very limited money on it, that is IMO a damn stupid thing that should be called out as such.
I simply can not condone such a stupid way of escapism. Because yes, it will change how you feel. It will make you feel somewhat less poor for 5 minutes and then significantly more poor until you get your next paycheck.
Fifty dollars a week is just over 7 dollars a day, it is absolutely a small daily vice. Maybe we should be running new charity ads like those ones from the early 2000s, "for just 7 dollars a day...
Fifty dollars a week is just over 7 dollars a day, it is absolutely a small daily vice. Maybe we should be running new charity ads like those ones from the early 2000s, "for just 7 dollars a day you too can lift the spirits of a low wage city worker..." We could even get Sarah McLachlan to sing the background music.
The beauty of this world is that you don't have to engage in that form of escapism. You can save your money and comfortably finger wag at the riff raff from your home with a reasonable interest rate due to your high percentage down payment. It's great!
Mean while these folks can buy a trendy coffee before heading in for yet another soulless shift at their minimum wage job. No article needed.
7$/Day is a small vice for you and me (actually less for me currently since I'm back to school full time to study for my master electrician certification), but again, if you are broke that money...
7$/Day is a small vice for you and me (actually less for me currently since I'm back to school full time to study for my master electrician certification), but again, if you are broke that money is very important.
So yeah, I will live my reasonably comfortable life. And they can live their life. But if they complain about money troubles, I'll just say "there are 3.5k in your budget just waiting to be used more wisely".
I think it's worth considering how much spending this money actually impacts their lives. The girl who didn't have air conditioning would have to change her shopping habits for at least two years,...
I think it's worth considering how much spending this money actually impacts their lives. The girl who didn't have air conditioning would have to change her shopping habits for at least two years, maybe closer to five just to be able to afford to install one. And that's assuming $0 expenditures on groceries, which obviously isn't realistic. With that same metric it would take at least 10 years to save up a down-payment for even an extremely cheap house, and during those 10 years, prices will keep climbing. What is she actually missing out on by spending this cash? A retirement she was never going to be able to afford anyway? It improves her quality of life, and there's not much you can do for $3250 power year that will drastically improve your life long-term, so what's the real harm?
That's just incredibly short sighted. You mentioned retirement and how she won't be able to afford it. If I remember correctly she's 25. Let's be incredibly optimistic and say she retires with 65....
there's not much you can do for $3250 power year that will drastically improve your life long-term
That's just incredibly short sighted. You mentioned retirement and how she won't be able to afford it. If I remember correctly she's 25. Let's be incredibly optimistic and say she retires with 65. Saving the $3250 yearly would add up to $130k. Would it be enough to retire? No. Would it help? Yes, absolutely. Small sums add up.
And just short term, having $3250 more available yearly can be insanely helpful if you are pretty broke. Should any unexpected expenditures come up, you are able to pay for it without having to result to very expensive short term loans (of any sort, be it payday loans, not paying back your credit card bills, overdrawing your bank account, etc.). Saving money upfront can save you even more money down the line.
I mean, you pretty much just said it right there. Given the choice of "be even more miserable now in order to still not be able to afford to retire in three decades", are you so sure saving is...
Would it be enough to retire? No.
I mean, you pretty much just said it right there. Given the choice of "be even more miserable now in order to still not be able to afford to retire in three decades", are you so sure saving is really the right choice?
And this is exactly the failure of reasoning. You could also eat something good that's significantly cheaper and save the difference. It's not a matter of "save to independence and be miserable or...
And this is exactly the failure of reasoning. You could also eat something good that's significantly cheaper and save the difference. It's not a matter of "save to independence and be miserable or live paycheck to paycheck for a modicum of joy". Other foods exist, other sources of joy beyond social climbing do too.
By the time she's ready to retire, we'll be lucky if $130,000 covers more than two years of retirement. It won't even buy her a house. Maybe a small condo if housing prices don't rise at all. It's...
By the time she's ready to retire, we'll be lucky if $130,000 covers more than two years of retirement. It won't even buy her a house. Maybe a small condo if housing prices don't rise at all. It's not ridiculous to want to enjoy your life while you're young rather than save towards a retirement you may never get. If all you have is $130k when it's time to retire, you can't retire. Even if she doubles that, it's not likely.
Yes, saving for unexpected expenses is smart and definitely helpful, but again, how much difference is that really going to make? If her unexpected expense is medical, it's likely to wipe out that savings in one blow and then some.
My point isn't that saving money is silly or that spending it frivolously is good. It's that's frivolous spending and other slightly unwise methods for seeking joy make sense when we live in such a precarious economic situation. You can spend your money, enjoy your life, and be poor, or you can save your money, enjoy it substantially less, and still end up poor. It's not the ridiculous gamble that it seems when you look at it that way.
I had never heard of Erewhon before their food got featured on a few episodes of Good Mythical Morning... and my general impression of it from those episodes was that it's insanely overpriced, and...
I had never heard of Erewhon before their food got featured on a few episodes of Good Mythical Morning... and my general impression of it from those episodes was that it's insanely overpriced, and totally not worth the cost. Especially since it didn't even beat out most other grocery store prepared/branded foods when blind taste tested side by side with them. So the fact that there are people so obsessed with it that they would take on multiple extra jobs just so they can afford to keep shopping there, is absolutely nuts to me. TikTok influencer hype is a scary and powerful thing. :(
It is aspirational, maybe with an escapist twist I think. This reminded me heavily of Vance Packard's The Status Seekers, which detailed life in every socioeconomic bracket based on hisbtravels...
It is aspirational, maybe with an escapist twist I think.
This reminded me heavily of Vance Packard's The Status Seekers, which detailed life in every socioeconomic bracket based on hisbtravels around the US. He generalized the trend but his general conclusion is that, except dor the very poorest and very richest, you have people generally trying to live in the bracket above them, hoping to ascend there themselves.
This article describes the behavior fairly well. They want to live a better life so, either for escapism or class aspiration, they shop at Erewhon. This applies double for the influencers who are hoping to aspire themselves to the next level
I moved to Los Angeles in 2020 to be with my current partner and one of my first memorable LA experiences was going to Erewhon. And boy let me tell you, it is one of the dumbest places in America....
I moved to Los Angeles in 2020 to be with my current partner and one of my first memorable LA experiences was going to Erewhon. And boy let me tell you, it is one of the dumbest places in America. I love me some fancy snacks and quality food but that place is more of a status symbol than anything else. Anyone willing to work three jobs to shop there is an asshole.
LOL whoops. I guess my brain auto-corrected the spelling in my head while reading it, without me even noticing it was spelled wrong in the first place. Fixed.
LOL whoops. I guess my brain auto-corrected the spelling in my head while reading it, without me even noticing it was spelled wrong in the first place. Fixed.
I'd never heard of Erewhon, but I understand the feeling of many of the folks interviewed for the article. When you're broke, and let's be real making 40-50k in a major American city today leaves you pretty broke, luxuries are pretty few and far between. I remember when deciding whether or not I could afford to buy a bag of ginger chews, my favorite candy at the time, felt like a real make or break decision. It was only $6 dollars a bag! But it gives you a feeling of normalcy, of being able to indulge.
I do appreciate that the framing of the article didn't swing into financial responsibility, even if it was the clear subtext. The truth is these people aren't working 3 jobs to afford Erewhon, they are working 3 jobs to survive. The first person they quoted in the article said she spends $50-75 dollars a week there. That's only $3250 a year if you average it out. I spend more a year than that on my mountain bikes. It would be great to have a larger discussion about wages and cost of living that didn't nitpick the 5-10% of personal spending that everyone does.
That and the guy from SF looking for peanut butter needs to get his ass to Berkeley Bowl.
I don't know much about finances in the US, but, depending on who you're talking about, ain't $3250 a bunch of money?
Don't get me wrong, it's a good amount of money, but in the grand scheme of an annual budget it isn't. Firstly, while we are talking about wants not needs, they are still spending their money on groceries. They'll be eating something even if it isn't something from Erewhon, elsewhere it wouldn't be as expensive so I see the flashy Erewhon purchases as a "subsidized" need (normal food item + brand/localism = Erewhon food item). Even if we took it as a straight want, hobbies and other wants are pretty expensive as well. For me locally, an annual gym membership to the municipal sports complex is $1200. A sit down dinner, will probably cost you $40-80 per meal. When we compare it to other wants it doesn't seem too extreme.
I think that income vs cost of living is so out of balance these days that spending habits are nitpicked in a way they weren't in the past. To be honest, I'd rather have folks spending their extra cash on small "mom and pop" brands supporting our food economy than pouring it into fast fashion or something else. Ironically, the goods at markets like Erewhon are more likely to have beneficial domestic impact that shopping at a big box store. Higher livable wages, more diversified owners, lower ecological impact. It's a form of unwise expenditure I can get behind!
If you are "pretty broke", then spending close to 3.5k per year on needless luxuries (that you could get cheaper at the same quality when making them yourself, as admitted by the interviewee) is a pretty stupid thing to do.
If you are "pretty broke", then 10% of your annual budget matters. 10% when you make >100k a year doesn't have the same importance as 10% of 40k.
I'm amazed that the basic concept of "take care of how you spend your money" has somehow been completely and utterly coupled (in the minds of some American progressives) to conservative talking points of "the poor are poor because of their own faults".
No, the poor are not poor because of their own decisions. But unfortunately they are still responsible for how they spend their money. It's not fair, but unfortunately you still are responsible for your own life even if you are in a bad situation for no fault of your own.
I think I may be doing a poor job of representing my stance. I said, be it a little tongue in cheek, in response to the other comment about how much $3250 is in the US that "It's a form of unwise expenditure I can get behind!"
And I mean it. You're right, it is unwise spending. I don't disagree with that at all, I don't even think the people shopping at Erewhon do. You can hear in their responses that they know it's irresponsible. However if you haven't live at that level of income in a place that costs that much to live you might miss out on how absurd everything starts to feel. You are working full time, or in some cases more than full time, to just exist. That 3k in spending might really changing the feeling of your life.
My gripe is that the underlying subtext of the article is such a common narrative that at this point it's become a trope. Sure it's dumb to spend your extra cash on expensive groceries or coffee or whatever your small daily vice is. It just feels like such an easy punching bag when there are bigger problems, the ones driving this one, at play.
But we are not talking about a small daily vice. We are talking about 10% of your annual budget while being broke, it's simply not in the same category. You spending more than 3.5k yearly on your mountain bikes is perfectly fine, assuming you can afford it. I also don't care if rich people shop at Erewhon. But if someone is broke and then wastes 10% of their very limited money on it, that is IMO a damn stupid thing that should be called out as such.
I simply can not condone such a stupid way of escapism. Because yes, it will change how you feel. It will make you feel somewhat less poor for 5 minutes and then significantly more poor until you get your next paycheck.
Fifty dollars a week is just over 7 dollars a day, it is absolutely a small daily vice. Maybe we should be running new charity ads like those ones from the early 2000s, "for just 7 dollars a day you too can lift the spirits of a low wage city worker..." We could even get Sarah McLachlan to sing the background music.
The beauty of this world is that you don't have to engage in that form of escapism. You can save your money and comfortably finger wag at the riff raff from your home with a reasonable interest rate due to your high percentage down payment. It's great!
Mean while these folks can buy a trendy coffee before heading in for yet another soulless shift at their minimum wage job. No article needed.
7$/Day is a small vice for you and me (actually less for me currently since I'm back to school full time to study for my master electrician certification), but again, if you are broke that money is very important.
So yeah, I will live my reasonably comfortable life. And they can live their life. But if they complain about money troubles, I'll just say "there are 3.5k in your budget just waiting to be used more wisely".
I think it's worth considering how much spending this money actually impacts their lives. The girl who didn't have air conditioning would have to change her shopping habits for at least two years, maybe closer to five just to be able to afford to install one. And that's assuming $0 expenditures on groceries, which obviously isn't realistic. With that same metric it would take at least 10 years to save up a down-payment for even an extremely cheap house, and during those 10 years, prices will keep climbing. What is she actually missing out on by spending this cash? A retirement she was never going to be able to afford anyway? It improves her quality of life, and there's not much you can do for $3250 power year that will drastically improve your life long-term, so what's the real harm?
That's just incredibly short sighted. You mentioned retirement and how she won't be able to afford it. If I remember correctly she's 25. Let's be incredibly optimistic and say she retires with 65. Saving the $3250 yearly would add up to $130k. Would it be enough to retire? No. Would it help? Yes, absolutely. Small sums add up.
And just short term, having $3250 more available yearly can be insanely helpful if you are pretty broke. Should any unexpected expenditures come up, you are able to pay for it without having to result to very expensive short term loans (of any sort, be it payday loans, not paying back your credit card bills, overdrawing your bank account, etc.). Saving money upfront can save you even more money down the line.
I mean, you pretty much just said it right there. Given the choice of "be even more miserable now in order to still not be able to afford to retire in three decades", are you so sure saving is really the right choice?
And this is exactly the failure of reasoning. You could also eat something good that's significantly cheaper and save the difference. It's not a matter of "save to independence and be miserable or live paycheck to paycheck for a modicum of joy". Other foods exist, other sources of joy beyond social climbing do too.
By the time she's ready to retire, we'll be lucky if $130,000 covers more than two years of retirement. It won't even buy her a house. Maybe a small condo if housing prices don't rise at all. It's not ridiculous to want to enjoy your life while you're young rather than save towards a retirement you may never get. If all you have is $130k when it's time to retire, you can't retire. Even if she doubles that, it's not likely.
Yes, saving for unexpected expenses is smart and definitely helpful, but again, how much difference is that really going to make? If her unexpected expense is medical, it's likely to wipe out that savings in one blow and then some.
My point isn't that saving money is silly or that spending it frivolously is good. It's that's frivolous spending and other slightly unwise methods for seeking joy make sense when we live in such a precarious economic situation. You can spend your money, enjoy your life, and be poor, or you can save your money, enjoy it substantially less, and still end up poor. It's not the ridiculous gamble that it seems when you look at it that way.
Sure, but that's not exactly a life-changing purchase, which was my point.
I had, exactly once: POV: you’re dating an L.A. girl (YouTube link)
I had never heard of Erewhon before their food got featured on a few episodes of Good Mythical Morning... and my general impression of it from those episodes was that it's insanely overpriced, and totally not worth the cost. Especially since it didn't even beat out most other grocery store prepared/branded foods when blind taste tested side by side with them. So the fact that there are people so obsessed with it that they would take on multiple extra jobs just so they can afford to keep shopping there, is absolutely nuts to me. TikTok influencer hype is a scary and powerful thing. :(
For those curious to see the episodes:
Cheap vs. expensive grocery store (taste test)
Whole Foods VS Erewhon taste test | Food feuds
In what world is Whole Foods the more affordable grocery store option haha—in LA County, I guess.
It is aspirational, maybe with an escapist twist I think.
This reminded me heavily of Vance Packard's The Status Seekers, which detailed life in every socioeconomic bracket based on hisbtravels around the US. He generalized the trend but his general conclusion is that, except dor the very poorest and very richest, you have people generally trying to live in the bracket above them, hoping to ascend there themselves.
This article describes the behavior fairly well. They want to live a better life so, either for escapism or class aspiration, they shop at Erewhon. This applies double for the influencers who are hoping to aspire themselves to the next level
I moved to Los Angeles in 2020 to be with my current partner and one of my first memorable LA experiences was going to Erewhon. And boy let me tell you, it is one of the dumbest places in America. I love me some fancy snacks and quality food but that place is more of a status symbol than anything else. Anyone willing to work three jobs to shop there is an asshole.
They seem to have only 10 locations, all in Los Angeles County.
@cfabbro it looks like neither of us knows how to spell "people" :P
LOL whoops. I guess my brain auto-corrected the spelling in my head while reading it, without me even noticing it was spelled wrong in the first place. Fixed.