Do you convert big purchases into working hours before you buy?

[u/eurekainstant]

A few years ago I started to count prices in working time instead of euros. It changed my spending more than any budget spreadsheet did.

The method is simple: net monthly pay divided by the hours you actually work. If you net €2,500 for 160 hours, one hour is worth about €15.60. A €1,200 phone is then around 77 hours, so almost two full working weeks. Seen like that, I skip a lot of things I would have bought without thinking.

I also split my pay into pots: one for fixed bills, one for a safety net, and one for projects and pleasure (travel, a computer or an instrument). I heard that tip at a personal development workshop and kept it.

How do you look at it here? Do you think in savings rate, in years to FI, or in hours of work? And for those who are FI or close to it: did prices feel different once work became optional?

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[u/GlKar]

No, I look how much I need it. If i really really need it I buy it directly. Otherwise I postpone the purchase.

But I'm a bad saver, so essentially when I see something that I really want and I really don't need it I still end up buying it.

Yet I try to save around 300 a month. Sometimes more sometimes less.

[u/Oyala]

If you save 300 euro a month after all your rent, food, bills, etc is paid, that 1200 euro phone is actually 4 months of work

[u/eurekainstant → u/Oyala]

it depends on which budget you will "take" it but i understand the idea

[u/iseko89]

Nah. My logic for buying stuff:

1) the more it costs, the longer I hold off from buying it. If I don't really want it anymore after 2 days... Good call. If I still want it after 2weeks? Well it's only 200 euros... Buy it. If it costs like 3k... Wait a couple months.

2) how much will I spend versus how long will I enjoy it. I bought a ps5 and am still having fun with it 4 years later. Worth it. A 70euro ps5 game that only has a playtime of 12hours? Lol gtfo. I'll wait for a 50% discount...

3) I don't like doing purchases that will require me to dip in my savings. As long as the purchase only means I'll save "less" this month. Thats ok. If it means I need to dip into my savings? Rule 1 becomes EXTRA important. Or I need to "spread out" the cost across two months. It works in my head

[u/lygho1 → u/iseko89]

This, it's not about how much time it cost you to afford something. It's the 'roi' per time. My 2k PC that has now already lasted 6 years has much better value than that 15 euro cinema ticket.

Only thing I consider my own time, is if I buy someone elses. Cleaning lady, delivery service,...

[u/Zw13d0]

Yes i do. And opportunity cost and cost per use.

[u/Doxxter]

I usually ask myself 2 questions,

1) How does it impact me if I don't buy it? 2) Can I wait 2 more weeks before I can make the decision to buy?"

Most often the impulse stops by then. I just repeat the loop.

[u/SgtSausage]

Yes. And dont forget Tax and Deductions. You wanth the Gross Up figure here, NOT Net Pay. 

To have $100 to spend - I have to earn  $138. Tax. Unemployment. Social Security. Medicare . ... 

Convert the 138 (whatever your number is) into work hours -  not the 100 you're spending..

[u/Aexxys]

It gets skewed the more your income is, I avoid this.
Instead I just ask myself if future me will be happy or mind this purchase.

[u/SnoooCookies]

Every time I use toilet paper I count the seconds and that’s when I started folding them

[u/adappergentlefolk → u/SnoooCookies]

the free newspapers and reclame you get in your mailbox are much better for this. there’s a certain soviet technique to make them into small and pliable fragments you need to learn…

[u/Oyala → u/adappergentlefolk]

Or you can just split your water supply and hang a small shower head near the toilet like they have in maternity wards in the hospital

[u/adappergentlefolk → u/Oyala]

if it were up to me i would hike vat on every bathroom renovation that doesn’t include a bidet or bidet sprayer of some description

[u/allwordsaremadeup]

Today I did the opposite. I had a large, discretionary, arguably stupid but non-selfish expense. I divided my net worth by the amount and went ok, I can do stupid things like this X hundred more times, in the last 10 years, I've only had to do similar things once or twice; we're probably ok here.

[u/corsalove → u/[deleted]]

Ik vroeg onlangs ook aan iemand « hoeveel uren per maand moet je werken om de sigaretten te betalen? ». Ik kreeg een raar gezicht terug.

[u/Icy-Beaver → u/corsalove]

Yeah don't try to reason about smoking with addicted smokers bro. Source: I quit 5 years ago after 20 years a pack a day.

[u/Larvemealone]

Yes. I ended up being ultra frugal.

[u/Alternative_Cry_2680]

Neen, eerder in € per gebruik in uren, of € per jaar door aankoopprijs te delen door levensduur. Doorheen de tijd genereert je vermogen ook meer dan je loon en zal per gewerkt uur redeneren minder van belang zijn.

[u/Glittering-Trick-234]

No.

[u/eurekainstant → u/Glittering-Trick-234]

I reached a kind of financial awareness after trying paywatch.live with my own number. Maybe you will have the same experience.

[u/Rol3ino → u/eurekainstant]

Why would you want to live life this way though? Try to also enjoy life a bit and not overthink every purchase. To me, being wealthy is being able to just not think about money, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have self control.

[u/drakekengda]

I decide what purchases I really want, and then find the cheapest way to get it. Some examples:

I wanted to go mountain hiking for my holidays, so I found a cheap place to stay in the Alps during the low season. I want a phone with good picture quality, so I researched the minimum specs, and bought the cheapest corresponding phone. I want transportation in a comfortable car, so I bought a used vehicle with an acceptable age and mileage.

I spend way below my means, still have pretty much everything I want, and just dump all my leftover money into etf's each month

[u/latecookies]

I sometimes divide the price by 12. I tell myself, would you pay a 12 month subscription for something that is x/12 per month.

Or i use a different value to divide with, for example shoes, if i wear shoes for about 2 years, i divide by 24 and ask myself the same question.

[u/eurekainstant → u/latecookies]

It looks like "leasing" concept, ... Do you have some surprise (good or bad) in doing that practice ?

[u/latecookies → u/eurekainstant]

Mobile phones, clothes...

[u/eurekainstant → u/latecookies]

I don't buy clothes very often. After maybe two or three years, I just bought three pairs of shoes—one for sports, one for casual wear, and one simply because I loved them (it s not planned but it s under "control"). My question is: are you really able to smooth out your purchases like that, or are these just theoretical numbers?

[u/Alternative_Cry_2680 → u/eurekainstant]

Cars

[u/felipasset]

At befire we also take opportunity cost into account 😄

[u/frnzle]

This backfires when you are self employed

[u/Upper_War_846 → u/frnzle]

Indeed. A Porsche Taycan is like 3 days of work per month.

[u/eurekainstant → u/frnzle]

why ? Because your times explodes for a purchase or ... ?

[u/frnzle → u/eurekainstant]

because then that phone you wanted is barely 2 days work and the calculation encourages you to buy more things

[u/Ill_Competition_1769 → u/eurekainstant]

Because every hour you'be been lazy, watched tv, or did something brainless you're thinking "damn i could have made 200€ instead".

[u/adappergentlefolk → u/Ill_Competition_1769]

well it’s because it’s true. on the other hand, there comes a point where you have enough net worth this feels way less bad