It’s that time of year again—the so-called “Double Eleven” shopping festival. As I glance at the endless stream of promotional messages and emails on my phone, and occasionally dismiss a promotional call, I feel utterly indifferent.
After carefully considering the household necessities we might currently need, I’ve narrowed it down to three items: a razor, shampoo, and body wash.
All in all, it shouldn’t cost more than a couple of hundred yuan.
Household Necessities
Razor
Since my beard grows quickly, I shave daily on workdays. Since my student days, I’ve tried many razors and encountered many pitfalls.
In terms of electric razors, I’ve tried common brands like Flyco, Braun, Panasonic, and Philips. The best experience was with a Panasonic model, but it didn’t last long, mainly because I couldn’t find suitable replacement parts domestically, and buying them separately on Amazon was too expensive.
Eventually, I switched entirely to manual razors.
The most commonly used one was the Gillette Mach 3 with three blades. The three-blade design offers a clear advantage in speed and effectiveness compared to one or two blades, and it strikes a good balance in terms of cost-effectiveness compared to five-blade razors.
In recent years, domestic razors have been catching up. Since last year, I’ve been trying out domestic five-blade razors, which are slightly cheaper than the Gillette Mach 3. In terms of user experience, they feel more durable, with a single blade head lasting almost two months.
Therefore, this Double Eleven, I’ll continue to buy domestic five-blade razor heads. A box of 6-8 heads will undoubtedly last me the entire year.
Daily Chemical Products
There’s not much to say about daily chemical products. I stock up for the whole year whenever there’s a good deal, and I don’t have any brand loyalty—I use whatever is available.
Kitchen and Bathroom Supplies
Currently, our kitchen and bathroom supplies are well-stocked. Yesterday, when the gas company inspector came by, he jokingly said that our kitchen was the cleanest in the entire neighborhood.
I guess that’s about right. After all, we’ve been living in this house for five or six years, and the gas meter still shows “1” cubic meter.
We usually cook in the house downstairs where my mother lives.
The only minor issue is that a part on the juicer my wife relies on daily has broken.
This is a small appliance we bought in 2015 when we purchased our first house. Despite being used intensively 1-2 times a day for nearly 10 years, it has held up quite well.
The trouble is, this juicer was purchased from Amazon US, and this model isn’t sold domestically, making it hard to find replacement parts. Checking Amazon US, the price for a single filter is almost 700 RMB, while the entire machine cost only 1500.
So, I had to turn to Xianyu (a second-hand marketplace). Eventually, I bought a used part from someone with a scrapped machine for 40 RMB to get by.
About Juicers
Over the years, we’ve used about six or seven juicers at home. The most practical ones have been two models: the Omega juicer mentioned above, which uses a pressing mechanism, and a Joyoung juicer, which is actually a blender that uses blades to crush and extract juice.
The other models either broke down or were abandoned, like a Midea juicer.
In terms of the number of parts, the Midea juicer isn’t much different from the Omega, and they operate on the same principle. The juice yield might even be higher with the Midea, given that the Omega has been in use for nearly 10 years and has more wear and tear.
Surprisingly, although both juicers have four or five parts, assembling the Midea is far from hassle-free. It requires 6-7 precise alignment steps during assembly.
First, the first and third parts on the left side of the top image need to be precisely aligned, ensuring that the two triangular marks are in line.
Then, the second part needs to be precisely aligned with the central hole of the first part.
Next, the fourth part needs to be precisely aligned with the central shaft of the second part, while also aligning the small triangle on the top of the fourth part’s lid.
Finally, the entire assembled section needs to be aligned with the central shaft hole and three small clips on the base.
Complete the locking operation.
PS: During use, the black flat part on the far right is also unidirectional and can easily get stuck halfway if inserted the wrong way.
In comparison, the Omega juicer is almost foolproof to assemble. The only potential hiccup is aligning the filter with the bottom groove, but everything else is straightforward and can even be done blindly.
Because the Midea juicer requires repeated alignment during assembly, even the slightest misalignment can be frustrating. As a result, both my mother and wife strongly dislike this juicer and have only used it once or twice before abandoning it.
Electronic Consumer Products
Lately, I haven’t had much desire to buy electronic consumer products. Strangely, yesterday my wife suddenly received a package—a friend sent our child an English learning machine.
Upon opening it, I found it to be a customized Lenovo Zhaoyang K10 tablet.
Although it looks like a budget device, it reportedly cost several thousand yuan. The tablet has only one app installed: an English learning software.
On the learning software’s website, the entire device is priced at around 4500 yuan, including a 3-year software license.
Overall, this customized tablet truly lives up to the name “learning machine” because, apart from opening this app, connecting to Wi-Fi, and adjusting screen brightness and volume, it can’t do anything else. I even doubt the necessity of the camera and wonder if it will be useful in the learning app later on.
For now, there’s no need to flash the device. We already have plenty of tablets at home, so we don’t need another one.
But just in case, I saved a copy of the ROM on Google Drive for future use.
It’s worth noting that this Lenovo Zhaoyang K10 tablet is likely sold as the Lenovo Tab M11 overseas.
The ROM can be downloaded from AndroidMTK.
Car Accessories
There’s not much to buy in this category either. We have two cars at home: one comes with 8 years of free maintenance, so there’s no need to worry about other issues for now. The other car is 7 years old and was recently serviced. We follow a once-a-year maintenance routine, so there’s not much to do.
While searching for second-hand juicer parts on Xianyu, an ad recommended original car wipers for 40 RMB for two pairs. I figured it was a good deal.
The car manufacturer has already gone out of business, so not buying these cheap parts would be a disservice to myself.
That’s about it. As I reach middle age, my desire to consume is dwindling. Looking at the colorful Double Eleven promotional ads in the elevator, I feel like these are no longer things I need to consider at this stage of life. After all, the Furongwang cigarettes I buy most often really don’t have any promotional deals.