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Hi everyone, and welcome back to happy hour. Hi, 安澜.

hi, Lulu, hi, everyone.

So, I think what we can see is really like, fewer showy stuff.

Yeah.

More down to earth, what I actually need.

Yes.

In terms of clothes, okay, I know it’s sounds braggy but I don't currently feel any cash flow problem as of this moment, but I fell in love with 拼多多.

Okay.

I fully own up to that, I know it has a lot of rubbish, but it also has some steals. (a steal：价格远低于本身价值，超值的东西，捡漏好物)

Okay, yeah, yeah. I've started look at 拼多多myself.

This is what you say, right? A steal.

Yeah.

As in a huge bargain.

Yeah, exactly.

And then you start asking yourself, do I truly need this?

That is true. I have to admit that like, for example before I would happily go out and buy a coffee.

Mhm.

Now I feel like, I said, maybe I should just make the coffee at home.

Yeah.

So I grab my own beans, and to be perfectly honest, I actually make a really good coffee.

Yeah. I mean, social life shrinks on purpose, like you said you don't have any dates. You just stay at home and…

Yeah. But that's not so much about money, I think that's more that no one's interested in me.

Oh. I'm sure there are people interested in you. Okay, for me, it's fewer performative dinners.

Yeah.

Like the ones that you just go to have 漂亮饭. You know, we have the idea of 漂亮饭.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

The Instagrammable, the photogenic, new hot restaurants. But now you feel like do I really wanna spend a few hundreds just to eat some food that is really not that nice so that I can show a few pictures on social media?

Well, yeah.

You're like, no...

Exactly, entertainment also gets cheaper and a bit quieter. The idea that if you meet up with your friend now, you just go for a coffee type of thing or when you want to watch a film, you don't rely on having a Netflix account anymore, you just download it illegally.

I just stream it illegally.

Stream it illegally.

I don't even wanna take up my space.

Well, exactly. And you notice that people for entertainment nowadays they don't really say let's go to the cinema or let's go to an arcade (拱廊商业街), they say let's go to a park.

Actually, I recently went to a park and just took a walk there.

It was very nice.

And yeah, or maybe just reading books.

Yeah.

Yeah. The thing is, you know Chinese people we’re still taking trips but statistics are showing now when you're taking trips, you're not spending as much.

No. I have to admit, when I... I love to travel, but when I travel, I focus on probably not only buying things so much, but you know, just like nice experiences. You know, going for street food and going for walks and stuff like that. That's normally how I travel.

Yeah, exactly. I mean, if you want to save more money, don't even go for street food, just buy some groceries and cook at home.

Sometimes I do go to supermarkets in other countries and I'd like to just see what they have and just help myself really.

Exactly.

Well, not help myself. I pay for it but you know what I mean.

Yeah, but I mean, it's not just saving money per se. It's also mentally people are also, I think people are calming down a bit.

Well, yeah.

Instead of making your life dramatic. It's like I’ve been traumatized. This is a diagnosis, my family of origin. Now this is like just wash the rice and vegetables.

Well, yeah. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Yeah. By the way, 安澜 I know you speak pretty good Chinese, but have you heard about all of these relevant words that have gone popular over the years, like躺平.

Sort of lying flat.

Yeah. More like I'm not playing your game.

Yeah, yeah.

But it's also 摆烂.

So, let it rot.

Yeah, do you know that in English there is a word called bed rotting?

Ewww.

Yeah. But you also know the goblin mode.

I know goblin mode.

So bed rotting is kind of like goblin mode.

Okay.

Just giving up.

Well, a friend of mine calls it being trailer trash. Just like you're kind of like just at home, you're sitting there, you're not doing anything, you're just eating and just not really moving, not spending money either, but not washing.

Yeah. But over the years we've also heard about 消费降级 like the trading down. The direct translation from Chinese is consumption downgrade. But I think in English, people say trading down.

Yeah.

There's also something very specific called 精致穷。

Exquisite poverty.

Yeah. It's like my salary is small, but my latte and my skincare ain’t.

Okay.

But I think过日子 sits in a completely different chair.

Well, yes. You still have to go to work, you still cook, you still care. It's just that you're not using consumption as the proof that you exist.

Yeah. I remember reading it somewhere. They call it defensive shrinking of desire.

Okay.

So It's like lower the target.

Yeah.

So, you won't get disappointed.

That's sort of depressive if your are really like that.

Yeah, so this is one way move on to the shadow side.

Well, yeah.

The negative side of this whole过日子of just living.

Yeah.

When it becomes a cage.

So, for example, you're romanticizing scarcity.

It’s basically slapping another name on poverty.

Exactly. And you're saying it's great to live like this. And in a lot of cases, it's not great to live like this.

Yeah.

And when you're doing it in a way that you can actually afford things, but you're sort of romanticizing it. You're taking something away from people who really do not have a great deal. You know, when you're struggling to put food on the table, having someone who clearly has money kind of posting on social media, oh, look at me, I'm surviving on...

That’s another thing. Because when it got made into content.

Yeah.

When it’s social media content. This brings new form of pressure and sort of new competition.

Well, yeah.

This is why I’ve heard a lot of English speaking like YouTuber or social media content creators, they start to complain about this whole under consumption thing, saying that some people who are posting under consumption or 过日子type of content， just so that they can role-play poverty.

Exactly.

Role-play poor people.

Well, yeah. And that is still a performance.

Yeah. Performative frugality and poverty.

Exactly. And the thing is for me there is nothing wrong with sometimes wanting a little bit of luxury. I enjoy going on trips, I enjoy going for a glass of wine. And that’s the type of thing that makes life worth living.

Yeah. And don’t get me started on what it’s going to do to relationships.

Well, yeah. So, for example, if it says on a dating profile good at 过日子, that's great if it means that we can build a life together, but it's rather depressing if that is don't have any desires, never ask for a trip anywhere.

Yeah. It's like I'm easy to keep as a pet, I'm very low-maintenance.

Exactly, exactly. And also, there is a false economy as well when you're talking about health, so extreme saving can easily slide into skipping care, skipping food, skipping heat in winter.

Yeah.

So, thrift that harms the body is not wisdom. It's just delayed damage.

All the money that you're going to save from this type of extreme frugality.

Yeah.

You're going to pay it out of your own pocket when you fall ill, right?

Yeah.

So really there is a line between 过日子，being maybe frugal and careful with money just totally checking out.

Well, yeah. Now it's important to note that English doesn't really have a term that directly translates into 过日子.

Yeah, you have words like getting by.

Yeah. making ends meet, keeping house.

Okay.

And living within your means and also no-frills living.

No frills basically means没有任何花哨的是吧?

Yeah.

就是bare minimum.

Well, exactly. So we talk about no-frills airlines, for example, where you have to pay for everything.

Where you have to pay to go to the loo.

Exactly.

That is ridiculous.

Well, that's not actually true. They were threatening that but there was too much of an outcry about that.

Yeah, I think in English, you also have something called recession core.

Well, yeah, yeah.

You know, cottage core and then you have recession core.

Absolutely.

Or this under consumption core.

Yeah.

Filming yourself not buying things, only owning one dress, one jacket,

Yeah. Mhm, exactly. So what about China though?

Well, like I said, I think more people are embracing this 过日子 style, whether because they want to embrace it or because they have no other options.

Yeah.

But honestly, I think if 过日子 means you're down to earth, you're not being flashy, you being responsible, not wasteful, I'm all for it.

Well, yeah.

But if it means giving up every little pleasure in life and just have a bare minimum living, then what's the point of living?

Well, exactly.

So we want to hear from you, if you guys are having the 过日子 mode, and if so, what is your number one tip for like bargain hunting and being thrift?

Yep. So, until next time,

We'll see you next time.

Bye.

Bye.

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文稿校对：梅薇薇 & Jenny

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