How I think about bills. Am I alone? (startrek.website)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by electriccars@startrek.website to c/frugal@lemmy.world

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When I think about bills, I annualize them. $30 a month? That's $360 a year. $5/mo? $60 a year.

I use this to help me grasp the long term cost of all my decisions, but nobody else I know does this.

For instance, my brother and I are moving soon into 2 separate apartments (we currently share a 2 bedroom) and the new complex doesn't have Google Fiber Internet. I complained to my brother that on top of everything else I'll have to pay $5/mo extra for Google extended storage I was getting for free.

He said it's only $5/mo, just get and don't worry about it. I was like, that's $60 a year which is basically a Costco membership. He said "oh hmm, good point yeah"

So I'll work on reducing my storage usage on Google to be able to stay on the free tier, but am I alone in thinking this way about everything I buy?

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[-] Showroom7561@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

Since I use budgeting software, the monthly to yearly totals are always there in my face, so I don't have to "think" about applying this to bills.

But I like to use that way of thinking to illustrate how "small" purchases add up.

Some people, for example, get a coffee every day. "But it's only $2". OK, but would you want to pay $730 a year for bad coffee?

Apply that to smoking, drinking, eating out, etc., and you can see how these optional expenses can destroy your wallet over time.

this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023

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