Comments on: 10 Hidden Costs People Fail To Consider

By: Spreading the Word | Frugal For Life

Spreading the Word | Frugal For Life — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 06:03:53 +0000

[...] Jeffrey’s posts on 10 Hidden Costs People Fail To Consider and 10 Steps That Will Ensure Financial [...]

By: Brandon

Brandon — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 08:21:14 +0000

The only way to avoid “extra” charges is to be aware of what you are buying. The average person does not know how many minutes they talk on the cellphone. The sales person can only estimate. When it comes to updates, the critical ones are free. Software functionality, phone performance etc. The rest is just vanity. Most people want a deal and get the cheap pricing.

Do you negotiate at Target on price?
I don’t think so. Your lucky your buying a cellphone.

Do you buy a car one week on a plan and get a better deal on a more expensive one and expect an upgrade for free. I don’t think so.

Cellphones are mini-computers and NOT a home phone. Wait till there are NO sales people and you will be hollering over the lack of service!!

People want to buy things cheap and they forget that a cellphone is an expensive piece of technology. Try to buy one direct from the manufacturer adn you will see what they really cost without a contract or rebate.

By: Aimee

Aimee — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 02:15:08 +0000

Printer ink is one that no one thinks of! We actually found that it is cheaper to get a new printer (comes with ink) each time than to buy the replacement ink for our printer. We get the replacement ink to cut down on waste, but the pricing is just so far off!

By: Gary

Gary — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 17:05:51 +0000

razor blades last a lot longer if you don’t use shaving cream, but use shaving soap (or regular soap) instead. i’ve been using shaving soap and the same razor blade for 6 months and it still cuts fine.

By: Susan

Susan — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 14:50:48 +0000

So glad you brought this up…cell phones have become a necessary evil (?)
I’m considering telepathy, much cheaper.

By: nick

nick — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 14:51:57 +0000

PC vs Software. Being a techie, I am running Linux. So I never spend a dime on 90% of the software on my machine, but I guess for most of the regular folks, the ratio of the free software on their Windows probably is much lower. With a decent PC costing below 1K, how much did you spend on software, and software upgrades?

By: Getting To Enough

Getting To Enough — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 13:53:57 +0000

I agree about the comment on the house. I think an even bigger cost than the upkeep though is the standard of living for which it sets us up.

What I mean is that what we consider to be “enough” is based a lot on our peers and neighbors. For example, the type of car we drive or the types of vacations we go to or the furniture we have. There really is something about “keeping up with the Jones’” even if it’s subconscious. So, moving to a bigger/nicer home because the mortgage is affordable could cost more money in the end due to lifestyle expenses.

By: makingitbig

makingitbig — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 14:54:55 +0000

When it comes to electronics — specifically HDTVs — don’t forget about wires and cables. They may not sound like much, but money of the newer TVs don’t come with the necessary high-def cables.

By: Max

Max — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 04:19:28 +0000

I’ve yet to meet a person who would drop ten large on music at iTunes. Come on, nobody’s THAT honest.

By: samerwriter

samerwriter — Tue, 03 Oct 2006 19:51:23 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with your comment on houses and cars. Another significant hidden cost for cars is the resale value. I’ve seen 10-year-old Honda Civics selling for $8000, while a 10-year-old Dodge sells for $3000. And for at least the first year of home ownership I easily doubled my mortgage payment buying “necessary” home ownership items.

Regarding printers, I now only buy laser printers. I don’t care much about color printing, and I print seldom enough that when I had an inkjet the heads were always dried and clogged by the time I needed to use it. What a waste.

I disagree with your comment on music players. A music player that holds 10,000 songs can easily be filled from one’s own CD collection. There’s no need to buy $10,000 worth of music to fill it.