From a general standpoint, I tend to buy quality over quantity. I wear Brooks Brothers dress shirts, Allen Edmonds shoes, etc. I've found that cheaping out on these items leads to more regular purchases and more money spent in the long run.
As for the dress shoe example -- I was buying two pairs of Johnston and Murphy about every 18 months (or $200/year). I got tired of that a while ago and bought three pairs of Allen Edmonds for about $900 (big post-Christmas sale). They are still good as new and will honestly probably last another 20 years (with a re-soling here or there). The thought of investing the difference in a brokerage account, pulling from said account, paying gains taxes on these returns (hoping they go up in a two year span), just to buy some shoes simply isn't sound to me.
As applied to this example, I cheaped out and bought a $300 Dell about four years ago. It was a complete piece of shit very quickly. Opening an internet browser to do simple things (email, calendar, etc.) took forever. I was starting my computer and then doing chores around the house it took so long to load up. And then the performance sucked. It was a waste of money.
So here, the thought that you can just buy a computer with minimal processing to run a coffee roaster just isn't sound. Your computer will be jammed with just trying to run itself. Opening the coffee roaster program will start to take a really long time and will make the activity far less enjoyable.
I really don't see the point in sweating over an extra $600 on a one-time purchase for a far, far, far superior product that will last you far longer and bring you much greater enjoyment.
From a general standpoint, I tend to buy quality over quantity. I wear Brooks Brothers dress shirts, Allen Edmonds shoes, etc. I've found that cheaping out on these items leads to more regular purchases and more money spent in the long run.
It might lead to more purchases, that does NOT necessarily equate to higher total cost, as I stated previously.
As for the dress shoe example -- I was buying two pairs of Johnston and Murphy about every 18 months (or $200/year). I got tired of that a while ago and bought three pairs of Allen Edmonds for about $900 (big post-Christmas sale). They are still good as new and will honestly probably last another 20 years (with a re-soling here or there). The thought of investing the difference in a brokerage account, pulling from said account, paying gains taxes on these returns (hoping they go up in a two year span), just to buy some shoes simply isn't sound to me.
Seriously?
Unless you are living on the ragged edge financially, you won't have to be "pulling from the account and paying taxes" every time you want to make a purchase. I was making a general point that there is OPPORTUNITY COST in every purchase, and that by purchasing a less extravagant item, even if you have to do so more frequently, you will come out ahead in the long run because you can invest the money you didn't spend.
As applied to this example, I cheaped out and bought a $300 Dell about four years ago. It was a complete piece of shit very quickly. Opening an internet browser to do simple things (email, calendar, etc.) took forever. I was starting my computer and then doing chores around the house it took so long to load up. And then the performance sucked. It was a waste of money.
Okay, you must be trolling now.
Any PC or notebook, even a cheapy, built in the last 10+ years will be able to pull up email, browse the net, etc. with no trouble at all.
I think you are just looking to justify buying a Ferrari when you a Hyundai would have done the job.
BTW, I'm currently using a sub-$200 Dell notebook. It works fine for email, surfing and the like. It wouldn't work well for high end gaming, but again, you need to choose a machine and a price point based on what you plan to do with it. Running software to control a coffee roaster does not sound like it would need a high end computer like one would need to run Grand Theft Auto 5 on max graphics. My guess is, any old computer would do the job just fine.
I really don't see the point in sweating over an extra $600 on a one-time purchase for a far, far, far superior product that will last you far longer and bring you much greater enjoyment.
I do see the point. Making smart choices with money is one of the points of FIRE. This is the MMM site. Take a look around, spending for the sake of spending isn't really the theme here.
I've "sweated" the small purchases for years, taking care to not spend more than is necessary.
That's one of the reasons I'm a multimillionaire, and many of the folks walking around in "Allen Edmonds" (I had to look that one up, I'd never heard of it before) and carrying the latest "gee whiz" iWhatever phone/computer from Apple are not.