Probably more applicable to older folk, but what are some examples of things you’ve bought many of, that your current one is likely the last one you’ll ever buy. Either because they are making them better such that they last longer, or your life has changed, or whatever.
I’m 64 and will likely never buy another suit or tie. Which is quite a change from when I started work and wore a suit and tie every day.
My current car is only about 5 years old. Given how few miles I put on it, it could likely outlive me. But I could imagine technology changing enough that I might buy a couple more.
I bought some LEDs to replace some faltering T12 fluorescent tubes in the bathroom. I am 57 years old. I expect these new bulbs will outlast me. (The ballast that still exists in the fixture, however, may not.)
I’ll probably never buy another suit myself. I’ll add dress shoes to that. I also wore suits every day at my first programming job and a few other ones.
My hand tool buying is way down, I would be surprised to buy another hammer, plane, handsaw and quite a few others as examples. I’m very well stocked.
I said this a couple of years ago (when I was mid 50s) but I need to wear a suit for weddings and funerals and the odd other occasion (my aunt’s 90th birthday recently). And the suits I have from the early/mid 2010s are ill fitting and hopeless out of style. So I’m off to buy a couple of suits soon.
Funnily enough, I was just commenting in another thread about a washing machine purchase a few years ago (actually, maybe close to 5 or 6 years now). Since my next place is likely to be an apartment – or, God help me, maybe a retirement community – I’ll probably never buy another washer or dryer. Actually, the fact that having the laundry room on the second floor at the same level as the bedrooms is so damn convenient is one of the many things that has me rooted to this place even though I really should move.
And yes, another suit is almost certainly something else I’ll never buy. I have some really nice suits from long ago, which definitely won’t fit me now, but I have no need of them.
I attended a wedding fairly recently, and a funeral some years ago, and the dress standards are not what they used to be. I wore conservative, tasteful clothing, but no suit or tie.
The wedding and funeral I have attended this year had 90%+ of men in suits, 100% for the wedding.
The wedding I’m going to attend in December specified formal attire and I called to clarify if that still meant tuxedo. They said business suit would be fine for people outside the bridal party and immediate family. I assume the fathers of the couple and groomsmen will be in tuxedos if not morning suits (it’s an afternoon wedding).
If it were me, I’d call to clarify that I wasn’t attending.
Not giving advice – just stating my own views on the matter. I’m not going to spend a thousand dollars of pension money on a fancy suit that I’ll never need.
I’m reminded of the line from an episode of Family Ties where the father is very concerned when his daughter Mallory’s new boyfriend announces that he dropped of high school. Anxious for more detail, the father asks, “can you clarify that?”. The boyfriend says, “Sure! When the school had classes, I wasn’t there!”.
That’s sorta like my position here. I don’t begrudge anyone their super-formal event. I don’t propose to disgrace it with my informality. I just won’t be there.
Lucky duck! Spike is sixteen and getting shaky’; multiple health issues that are causing him to lose weight. He isn’t in any discomfort and still gets around gracefully, and I still hope to see him to cool weather. I’m 81 and he’s the last of two dozen. So he’s the last one I’ll ever “buy”.
Since we’ve replaced every damned appliance except the dishwasher in the last couple of years, and re-roofed, and had the interior and exterior of the house painted, I’m guessing there won’t be too many further purchases in this arena (yeah, the new water heater’s coming Tuesday).
No more work clothes. Possibly no more suitcases or backpacks (but I loooove them, so more may be in my future).
1-2 more braces of cats.
1-2 more new cars.
We hope to have the good fortune to still be living here, leaping up the stairs, and remember what a washing machine is over the next 10-20 years, but who knows? We might be in Spain, or a van down by the river, even if we’re still hale and independent.
There are only three times I’d even consider wearing a suit. Barring catastrophe, I won’t need any more job interviews, and weddings and funerals are seldom enough (and getting less formal) that the one I have is likely to last indefinitely.
I could get by without ever buying more ties, too, but that’s something I do wear for work, so if I see one that tickles my fancy, I will.
One that’s unlikely to have many other folks in this thread is flannel shirts (or really, long-sleeved casual shirts in general). Used to be, any time I saw one I liked in my size at the rummage sale or a thrift shop or whatever, I’d pick it up. But a couple of years ago, I took stock of how many I have, and especially given that I don’t often have opportunity to wear them any more (see above about wearing a tie for work), I think I just might have a lifetime supply.
“Brace of cats” is a new collective noun to me. It’s admirable, and I congratulate you on the innovation. I offer, in contrast, “a pursuit of dogs”.
Though, of course, as I’ve said many times, my beloved Bernese never pursued cats. They hissed at him on our walks and he ignored them in magnificent dignity. But here I think we’re digressing into the subject of dogs vs cats, a subject which is often deemed subjective, but the resolution of which is obviously clear!
T-shirt. I bought my last one at, I think, a Jethro Tull concert about 30 some years ago, and wore it maybe twice. I just simply do not like the damn things, with or without graphics/messaging. In particular, I have developed a strong aversion to attire that caresses my throat area. And also, my right shoulder seems to have permanently siezed up, which make putting on pull-over type garments a genuine hassle.
I thought, five years ago, that I had probably just taken in my Last Cat.
Then, three years ago, another one came meowing at the door.
I think I’m going to wind up leaving this decision to the cats. (Provisions have been made; they’ll be taken care of.)
Shelters often have old cats looking for a home.
Here’s hoping that Spike has more time left than you think. I once had a cat hit the losing-weight-for-no-treatable-cause stage but continue for another two or three years, apparently still comfortable. He caught a mouse about two months before the end, and ate every bite, purring loudly. (You did get Spike’s thyroid levels checked?)
