As we are trying to figure out what the most frugal way to fix our fish tank is (the lights burned out on the hood and they aren't replaceable...a new hood costs $20) it got me to thinking about the additional costs of buying just about anything.
In the case of the fish, we were at Walmart a few years back and hubby decided to buy some cute goldfish. They were feeder fish so they only cost 15 cents each but the ongoing costs to keep those suckers alive is orders of magnitude more than what they originally cost! So far we have bought two complete tanks/hoods/filter systems as they have grown, fish food is a regular cost, and when we travel we need to find someone to feed them, not to mention that they are messy so hubby cleans their tank once a week which is a major undertaking. So much for fish who started out costing a couple of quarters!
Pretty much everything we buy has additional costs. When you buy a cell phone you then need to buy a cover for it, buy an additional memory card, maybe buy a car charger for it. When you buy a laptop there are additional costs for a padded cover, maybe software costs, etc. When we bought our new car we needed seat covers, a dash cam, an emergency kit, regular car washes and regular maintenance service like oil changes...
So today's lesson is to think about all of the associated costs you will need to pay when you buy many consumer items. You might think buying an item on sale is a great deal but it pays to calculate the additional costs associated with the item to figure out if it really is the great deal you originally thought it was.
I never buy any of those extra things you mentioned in the penultimate paragraph. I must be missing something.
ReplyDeleteSo true....especially on products that go down in value or if you were to try to sell them, you'd never get back a fraction of what you've put into them.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were swayed by the cutest recue dog - after our last dog died and we cried for two years , we swore "never again" - but here we are with an old rescue dog we love madly - who is 12 years old with medical problems - needs constant grooming - he's the "gift that keeps on giving" would we do it again - you bet because we are emotionally hooked - but beware of the cost of "love at first sight" Mary Ellen
ReplyDelete