Dont think of price, think of cost per use
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Dont think of price, think of cost per use
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Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#2The counterpoint, based on the assumption that eating out is an experience, rather than a commodity: https://bigthink.com/neuropsych/want-happiness-buy-experienc...
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#3There's some wisdom in the overall point, but the example of a mobile phone is completely upside down. I for one don't want to think of pulling a device out of my pocket in terms of some kind of microtransaction. Rather I want it to be a natural extension of my own mind, including running software that serves my interests rather than corporate spyware.
Of course one is always able to do a post-facto "price per use" calculation, it's just an extremely myopic paradigm to be thinking in. Even $/month is too small minded - that's how salesmen push you into paying way too much and financing things. But thinking $/year starts to make sense, letting you take into account things like how long upstream software is going to be supported etc.
Also yes, most everybody knows the tabs for eating/drinking out add up to a considerable amount of discretionary income. Those too are better brought into the $/mo and $/year paradigm.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#4I would expect the monthly service fees to be included in the phone example. And transportation costs when going out for food or drinks.
As a hiker, I have spent a lot of time calculating the cost and weight per calorie of food, and the fuel to cook it.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#5It should really be "cost per meaningful use" or "cost per productive use". Being able to check your news feed on your phone 60 times a day probably doesn't confer as much utility as being able to check your friends' messages 10 times a day.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#6I liked the general idea but found the examples counterproductive. I personally prefer cooking whole foods at home. However, paying $14 for one meal would provide calories needed to live. I do not "need" to touch my phone 32,000 times at 2 cents a piece.
30 years from now I will hopefully retain some my experiential (expensive) travel memories but may not remember/care if I used a value or flagship phone for a given 24 month period.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#7Trying to quantify the psychological value of our experiences to do some kind of double entry booking that justifies our expenses seems like kind of a fools errand to me but that's pretty much what you'd have to do if you wanted to optimize your personal expenses. Time of use doesn't necessarily translate to value or make sense to amortize by. If I do something that makes me just slightly happier or even worse off many times, or I do something for a short time only once creating a memory I look back on for the rest of my life with satisfaction then obviously the single use expense was superior.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#8The article falls short on the comparison part. Why is the author comparing the cost of using a phone for a couple of minute to the cost of eating out that you usually do maybe once or twice a month? The duration should be similar. Following the author's example of buying a $1000 phone every 2 years, that would cost about $9.2 every week or about two McDonalds meals every month. If I'm given the choice between the two, I'd take the McDonalds.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#9The overall idea is better expressed as – value stuff based on how important it is to you vs just the dollar amount associated with it, which is pretty generic and obvious advice. Trying to simplify it down to "cost per use" or some other similar metric is pointless. Is the $3000 flight ticket that you use once worth more or less than a $1000 phone you use thousands of times or a $5 coffee you drink in one gulp? No one other than you can answer this for yourself.
Re: Dont think of price, think of cost per use
#10Along these lines, I find that not many people correctly calculate the cost-per-use of their car. They only think of the cost of gasoline burned, and maybe tolls and parking. They don't think about the cost of insurance divided by the number of trips, or the capital cost of the car amortized over the years of ownership. If people thought hard about the cost-per-use of driving, then other transportation options start to look more attractive.