I was just going to post this. Once you have it, hard to go back. $25 is hard to beat, it takes 10 minutes to tap into your water system and set up.
Best Value:
KEF Q500, bought it on sale for 50% off. Use it for HOURS every day. I get maximum enjoyment out of audio. The $ value I got per hour of use is unbeatable. Only will get lower as time goes on. Even though the entire setup was $2k+, worth every penny I would do it again.
George Foreman Grill. <$45
I used to use this every day in college, just close it and wait. Cooks frozen.
I'm looking into slow cookers but I don't like how everything cooked on a slow cooker is soup-y and moist.
Macbook Pro. I don't care what anyone says about it being over priced or useless. You either get it or you don't. I can never replace this for productivity.
Name one alternative that satisfies all of the following: Amazing color accurate screen, superb touchpad for photo editing and accurate tracking, really good battery life, very good build quality, holds resale value well.
There is none. I paid $1500+ for it and pennies per hour of use.
How I Quantify Value:
This is something I came up with when I would research and think about making an impulse purchase. It's obviously not a clear rule, sometimes if I want something I just buy it.
But I estimate the amount of value I get out of the product/service that I want to pay for in terms of consumption. (For ROI and business, it's a different story).
I give it a rating between 1-10 on how much enjoyment I get out of using it.
For example, speakers are 10/10, maximum enjoyment. Very little tops good audio and listening to music in terms of the level of pleasure I get from it.
Watching a movie, maybe around 7/10 or 8/10.
Then I estimate how many hours of use it would realistically get, and the expected life span of product. So if I use it about 5 hours/day, maybe 5 days/week. 25 hours/week = 100 hours/month = 1200 hours/year.
Total Cost/ Total hours = $2400/1200 = $2 per each hour of use. For the first year.
If the expected life span is 5 years (more for speakers usually), it's $2400/6000 = $.40/hour.
I use my speakers more than this. and even if I didn't, the enjoyment I get out of it is 10/10.
Compare that to other consumption and fun activities:
- a movie in West LA for $16 for 2 hour run time. About $8/hr. Enjoyment only 7/10 usually. Sometimes less.
- eating out at an average weekend dinner place + tip + tax. $25/person minimum + $10 refreshments + gas, etc. $50/night. 4 hours. $12.50/hr
- go carts? I dont know probably like $30/hr
Not a clear and hard rule but when you look at how much enjoyment you'll get out of something and how much it will cost you per HOUR of consumption or use, it puts into perspective how much it's costing you.
A lot of equipment that seems expensive actually ends up being very cheap and full of value given how often you use it. I stopped spending money on things that don't give me a high level of enjoyment, has a high cost $ per hour, or isn't sentimental or important.
Noticed a lot more purchases focused on things that last and get frequent use, over temporary things.
Obviously you can easily be in self denial and talk yourself into buying a new Corvette because it's only $30/hr extra over the next car. This only works if you're honest with yourself and how much you can afford to begin with.
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