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How much are you willing to inconvenience yourself to save money? (lemmy.world)
submitted 10 months ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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This question came to mind when driving back & forth between California-Arizona where vehicle fuel prices have a $2 PER GALLON difference. (I love my diesel vehicle. Fight me.)

So (1) would I drive 5 hours inland to Arizona just to save $2 per gallon?

Or (2) Would I buy a shit-ton of gas cans & fill them up in Arizona then haul them back to California?

As destitute as I am, would I move to Arizona for all-around lower cost of living? (3)

(1) Um, no.

(2) Sounds like a clever idea but ultimately ridiculous for so many reasons. No.

(3) Stupidly & stubbornly, no, I haven't broken yet. I still love California too much to run inland away from this extortionately high cost of living.

BUT

I prefer to walk/run/bike rather than drive short distances.

Prefer DIY-ing or foregoing luxuries rather than paying for services I could do myself. Haircuts. Massages. Handyman repairs within my ability.

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[–] 63 points 10 months ago (10 children)

I usually take my hourly wage and compare it to the inconvenience. For example, if that inconvenience takes about an hour of my life, but saves me more than my hourly wage, I take it. There are exceptions of course, for example if I am low on money.

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  • [–] 22 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    It also depends how much you like the activity. I'd rather do my job for 2 hours than cook for 1 hour.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Cooking is such a mood. It can be fun, and you get to eat something really fresh and hot, and just the way you like it. But sometimes the actual process is annoying, sometimes there might be a lot of waiting involved, there's the cleanup, the prep work, stocking the ingredients, you might need specialized equipment for good results...

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago

    Stocking is the issue for me. I'd probably be more inclined to cook fun things if I happened to have the ingredients on-hand, but I'm a single dude with very few food preferences. I try to eat somewhat healthily, but I'm a lazy cook for sure.

    Maybe I should find a good recipe book full of simple meals for one haha.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    We do this comparison, with the added "will this save money" modification. My time outside of 40 hours per week can't make me more money unless OT is approved. So that time is worth $0/hr. If the actions i do during that time save me money, I try to do them. It massively increases the amount of money we have for vacations and other fun stuff.

    I'm also undiagnosed hyper focused ADHD, so that may be why. My wife tells me I can slow down, but I absolutely cannot.

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    I'm the exact same especially the ADHD because it gives me another calculation to do "Building my own looks fun plus buying one is more expensive minus the chance of me getting bored half way through and wasting the initial investment. Hmmmm lets spend a little more and just get the thing premade.

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