Any suggestions on how you make your controlled decisions?
Situation 1 - You have a fully functional smartphone and it meets your satisfaction. However, there’s a new model in the market with upgraded tech, looks classy too.
Would you spend a few extra bucks to get minor upgrades? Or do you convince yourself that its not that important?
I convince myself by comparing the alternatives (opportunity cost), and often trip planning works well for me in this regard.
For example, when a new model is launched in the market, costing somewhere around 30K, I choose to have a trip instead of spending 30K on minor upgrades. Sometimes, time availability becomes an issue, which prolongs the spending period on the trip and results in savings.
On occasion, I transfer the exact amount into my Jupiter account and start spending as if I am the son of an industrialist until it is exhausted
My horizon on saving money is moved from making every instinctive purchase to now planning for it.
What changed it - when the luxuries bought did not come in handy when I needed it the most, I realised it better to plan for things in advance and if something does not fit into the plan, drop it.
For a phone, I purchase if it fullfills all my requirements.
Value for money products >>> trending products
I don’t purchase things unless it is of atmost importance. I review my total amount of purchase for that month to get demotivated.
Even if I purchase it, I want to make the most out of it. Like using grabdeals platform for extra income, search coupon codes, use pricehistory websites to make sure it is the lowest possible price etc…
This is literally me whenever a new model of smartphone is introduced in the market.
I really thought to purchase Nothing-1 Phone when introduced in the market. However, my first course of action is to check if it’s available on Bajaj EMI Card, preferably with a tenure of 9 months or more. If it’s not available with a suitable EMI option, I quickly drop the plan without much further thinking.
If yes, the Phone is indeed available with a favourable EMI plan, I would rethink for the next 2-3 days whether it is a good or bad idea and finally take the decision that since the existing Oppo Reno 3 is functioning smoothly and meeting my needs effectively, let it me use it until it reaches the end of its usable life .
@ctinguria Okay, I need to try this one
Previously I used to add items to Carts. Amazon/Flipkart reduces the price of these items if you keep them for too long.
I currently have a 5 year old 20k ish Samsung with a broken screen. Hinders a lot of my office work. I can easily buy a new phone with my savings but I don’t want to dent my investments. Saving 2k every week in pots to buy a phone next year hopefully.
I read this somewhere - “Pay yourself first”. So I save, invest, pay bills, etc and the left over money (if there is any) goes towards my purchases or other wants.
But I am not perfect, many times the budget is disturbed by unexpected expenses or I miss out on the savings and investments. And then there is this evil called “credit cards” (I know you guys have a little devil of your own by the name of Edge. ). That disturbs every financial plan.
As for phones, I have a simple calculation/rule. Per year I’ll spend only Rs.10000 on a phone. So if I buy a Rs.30000 phone, it should be used for 3 years. Rs.20000 phone should be used for 2 years and so on. Also I don’t like to cross the 30k threshold because I don’t think phones are worth more than that. Some years back, I used to have a Rs.15000 barrier. But nowadays you don’t get good phones in that range #IMHO.
As for clothes, I am not into fashion. So it’s easier to not go shopping. But even when I go, the prices are very costly and worst part is you don’t even get the money’s worth. Especially in Bangalore.
And as for other expenses, I try to be frugal. So it takes care of a lot more things.
As for travel, I think we all need to travel more within our budgets. It recharges your soul…
). That disturbs every financial plan.
