Posted: 7/1/2011 7:51:20 AM EDT
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My co-workers think that I'm odd...when I look at purchasing an item (say a shirt or pair of pants to wear to work), I think of that item in terms of how much it will cost me per use. For example, a $20 shirt would have to be worn 200 time to get to the 10 cent per use range. 200 uses is like once every other week for 7 years...so needless to say, I rarely buy clothing that cost more than $20.
Does anyone else try to get a rough estimate of how much they are paying per use for an item? |
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Quoted:
My co-workers think that I'm odd...when I look at purchasing an item (say a shirt or pair of pants to wear to work), I think of that item in terms of how much it will cost me per use. For example, a $20 shirt would have to be worn 200 time to get to the 10 cent per use range. 200 uses is like once every other week for 7 years...so needless to say, I rarely buy clothing that cost more than $20. Does anyone else try to get a rough estimate of how much they are paying per use for an item? I do that with some items. My work pants average out to $.10 per use over there average life. My suit is probably more along the lines of $10 per use which is still cheaper than renting. I also look at what else I can by the for the amount and which item I need more or would get more use out of. The better return on invesment is the one I go with unless there is a need for the other. Some items it is more than dollars and cents. I have some tools that would run pretty high $ per use, but I have them when things need to be fixed which is hard to asign value to. |
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Quoted:
My co-workers think that I'm odd...when I look at purchasing an item (say a shirt or pair of pants to wear to work), I think of that item in terms of how much it will cost me per use. For example, a $20 shirt would have to be worn 200 time to get to the 10 cent per use range. 200 uses is like once every other week for 7 years...so needless to say, I rarely buy clothing that cost more than $20. Does anyone else try to get a rough estimate of how much they are paying per use for an item? Yes, everything. In fact, I do it with vacations and meals. Did I get $6 worth of satisfaction out of the Hamburger? $2.50 worth of comfort out of that beer? I also calculate the cost of a vacation with the cost of NOT earning money during that time. $1000 for a cruise plus $1000 not earned that week eqauls $2000 vacation devided by 7 days = 300 per day in rest and relaxation. On the other hand, this refrigerator cost me $650 and has lasted 25 years; thats 7 cents per day. |
Sadly though I do not know of any 5.56 ammo that is ten cents per use.
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CPA here, yes I do that to some extent. When I have to return something at Target say, my little brain goes to work and thinks, all right it's $50, they have a markup of 1.5 so they are making $17, the person at the return counter and the restalker make x so how much are they loosing.
See my thread on how much a boat costs in getting women vs going with a top of the line call girl. |
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Quoted: CPA here, yes I do that to some extent. When I have to return something at Target say, my little brain goes to work and thinks, all right it's $50, they have a markup of 1.5 so they are making $17, the person at the return counter and the restalker make x so how much are they loosing. See my thread on how much a boat costs in getting women vs going with a top of the line call girl. Link to thread. |
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I only go so far as to calculate how many hrs/days pay something costs me...
Not when I buy something but rather when the wife goes and blows a chunk of cash on something I wouldn't. Like when she takes herself and the kids to get their nails done.. It's like $220! Wtf..? I tell her that every dollar she blows on pedicures is a dollar less for me to spend on ammo... She just doesn't get it, but her nails are immaculate. |
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Quoted: Quoted: My co-workers think that I'm odd...when I look at purchasing an item (say a shirt or pair of pants to wear to work), I think of that item in terms of how much it will cost me per use. For example, a $20 shirt would have to be worn 200 time to get to the 10 cent per use range. 200 uses is like once every other week for 7 years...so needless to say, I rarely buy clothing that cost more than $20. Does anyone else try to get a rough estimate of how much they are paying per use for an item? Yes, everything. In fact, I do it with vacations and meals. Did I get $6 worth of satisfaction out of the Hamburger? $2.50 worth of comfort out of that beer? I also calculate the cost of a vacation with the cost of NOT earning money during that time. $1000 for a cruise plus $1000 not earned that week eqauls $2000 vacation devided by 7 days = 300 per day in rest and relaxation. On the other hand, this refrigerator cost me $650 and has lasted 25 years; thats 7 cents per day. This. It is worth while to do this, especially with expensive things. It doesn't pay to get caught in the minutia, though. You have to live life and it costs some money to do so. You don't want to be the guy who trips over every dime so much so that they don't enjoy life. Another (better imho) way to look at what you're actually spending is to figure out how many hours of work that "xyz gizmo" is costing you. That's not to just use your hourly wage. You must take your net income, subtract ALL expenses of everyday life, THEN divide that number by the hours worked. All of a sudden, it's costing you 10 or 20 hours work for that dinner out or that fifth of liquor. |
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It really depends on what you are looking at, its sensible to do that on something that is predictable, but most things you have no idea how long it will last, regardless of cost, and a lot of times more expensive items don't last any longer than cheaper ones, sometimes the more expensive items don't last as long as cheaper items. Example: I spent most of my life in the home appliance business, many people would ask me what is the best buy for their money, I would tell them the best buys in most items are in the middle of the line. The low end cheapie is usually built down to a price, valuable features are left off to get the price down. Top of the line is exactly the opposite, loaded up with useless gimmicks, and all that extra stuff you probably won't use, and those extra features are more likely to fail. Go middle of the road, to use a phrase, they are the bread and butter of appliances, reasonably priced, more reliable and with the useful features you are most likely to use. |
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Quoted: I buy most of my clothes from thrift stores. I let some other chump take care of the depreciation. I've got shirts five years old that I got free for donating blood. i do the same for pants and shorts. i buy new t shirts because the goodwill ones are worn out or super gay. |
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I actually think in those terms on some things. I thought of how much it was costing me to swim when I had a pool and I got rid of it. Technology is disposable now so when I was shopping for an mp3 player I gave it a lifespan of between one and 2 years. That's all I expect them to last. I can get several sanza's for the price of 1 ipod. 1 fuze started acting up after a year, teh other is fine. |
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Quoted:
I do that, but I'm not so OCD about it. I will consider how much most items cost me per use. I also calculate how many hours I have to work to pay for specific items, or how much my time is worth to decide if a job is worth paying someone else to do. I do the same as OP, but I am just not as cheap, I guess. Example 1: Cable TV, if I watch it or not, costs me $1.96 a day. I have to work for X hours a month to pay for cable TV. Example 2: This firearm is worth X% of my yearly salary. Do I like this firearm to work X% of the year for it? Example 3: My mortgage is $X,XXX per month. The first Y days of work every month go towards the mortgage. My vehicle costs per month are $ZZZ. The next W days of the month pay that off. https://www.mint.com/ Really made this worse for me. |