家庭相册、超预算购物与消费观点

Today I want to talk about a family album that has been around my family for decades. We keep it in the closet, in a safe place, and my mom and I take it out from time to time to look at the pictures. Usually, we flip through the pages once or twice a week, and each time we can spend more than an hour looking at the photos. The album is quite thick. It contains many old pictures, including black and white pictures of my grandma when she was young, and pictures of my mom when she was still a baby. I think it is really interesting because I can see what my family looked like in the past. The first half of the album has many black and white photos, and the second half has more colored photos. Nowadays, we do not print out as many pictures because everyone uses phones and digital cameras. Most photos are just kept on computers or phones. However, this old album is still very important to us because it keeps a record of our past and our family memories.

Families usually keep things like old photos, jewelry, watches, gold, and small gifts from the past. Some of these things are valuable because they are expensive, but some are valuable because they have personal meaning. For example, an old photo may not cost much money, but it can remind people of their grandparents or important family moments. Families may also pass these things on to the next generation.

In the past, things were not that abundant. People did not have so much stuff, and many things were handmade, so they really valued their belongings. They took care of what they had, cleaned them, and repaired them. But nowadays, things are different. Machines can make high quality products very quickly, and many products are cheaper. Also, there is a new version every year. If something breaks, many people just buy a new one the next day. So people today may not put as much value in the things they own.

Technology is very useful for learning history because it gives people many different ways to learn. In the past, the main way to learn history was reading books. But now, we can use the internet, pictures, videos, and even games to understand historical events. We can also search from different sources, which is important because one book may only tell one version of the story. Some books may be biased, but online we can compare different versions and understand history better.

I want to talk about a watch that cost more than I expected. About two months ago, I went to an Apple Store because I wanted to buy a watch. The store was not far from my house, so it only took me about ten minutes to get there. My budget was one thousand dollars. However, when I got there, I saw another watch that was much prettier. It cost about two thousand dollars, so it was double my budget. It was a hard decision for me to make, so I stayed in the store for about an hour. The salesperson was really helpful, and she spent a lot of time explaining everything about the watch. In the end, I decided to go with the two-thousand-dollar watch because it was really good and worth the price. The screen was bigger and brighter, the battery lasted longer, and it could connect to my phone and computer. I use it every single day, so I think it was a good purchase.

Yes, people buy things they do not need all the time. Need is different from desire. For example, people may only need a few pens, but they may buy many more because the products look nice. Advertisements also make people think they need a product, but truthfully, we do not need that many products. Luxury products, such as expensive watches, handbags, designer shoes, or clothes, are nice to have, but they are not necessary.

Young people spend a lot of money on food and drinks, such as bubble tea and takeout. This is normal because many young people live at school or do not have their own kitchen, so if they want something nice to eat, they may order delivery or eat at a restaurant. They also spend money on entertainment and traveling because they have school holidays and time to see the world. Compared to older people, young people also spend more money online. They pay for subscriptions, games, skins, and in-game credits. Older people often prefer to own physical things, but young people are more comfortable paying for digital things on the cloud.