Saving a bit more...

Chevron said:
Either you fill mess it up or need to buy more tools for the job. When you can just get it done right the first time, using someone else's tools.
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I don't agree at all. Specifically with the example of painting which is dirt cheap to do yourself while it's crazy money to have someone else do it and they do it badly. I've never ever seen a paid painter put the same level of detail into it that I do myself.

Same goes for basic plumbing like fixing leaks or replacing a tap.

Same goes for handyman stuff like mounting crap or fixing a fitting or whatever.


When it comes to genuinely specialist stuff like replacing the geyser or building a wall etc it's a different story, but to say that you should always let someone else do everything and it will save you money is just plain false.
 
SauRoNZA said:
But to say that you should always let someone else do everything and it will save you money is just plain false.
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Also depends on your how you earn your income I suppose. As a consultant I get paid by the hour. So yes, I can spend the next two weeks playing 'handyman' around the house, p*** off the wife, and loose thousands in income/potential customers... or just pay someone else, who will most likely do a much better job than me anyway.
 
MeroD said:
Also depends on your how you earn your income I suppose. As a consultant I get paid by the hour. So yes, I can spend the next two weeks playing 'handyman' around the house, p*** off the wife, and loose thousands in income/potential customers... or just pay someone else, who will most likely do a much better job than me anyway.
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Well that's assuming you would do these things in your regular working hours which makes for quite a different scenario.

Maybe you are just *** at it? :)

I just pointed out its not a universal truth and doing it yourself can often save thousands. And once you have the tools you have them and most of the time even when needing to buy the tools it still costs half the money.

Case in point...discs and pads all round for my car quoted R7000. Did it myself including purchase of all tools and parts R3500.
 
SauRoNZA said:
Well I just upgraded from an iPhone 5S to an iPhone 5S because I can't justify spending crazy money on a phone every month now that I'm paying for it myself.

That's R350-R400 easily saved a month and I doubt I'll ever use more than the R200 airtime included.
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+1 That's great.

I have a Huawei Y560 smartphone which I bought for R1k. The phone is working fine and supports Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, etc. We have been brainwashed into only buying R10k phones instead of a R2k phone for example.
 
Sly21C said:
+1 That's great.

I have a Huawei Y560 smartphone which I bought for R1k. The phone is working fine and supports Twitter, Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, etc. We have been brainwashed into only buying R10k phones instead of a R2k phone for example.
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Yeah I must say having had free reign on almost any phone with my previous job to now having to pay for it myself has really seen me re-evaluating things very critically.



Having gone from the latest Macbook Pro top spec and iPhone to a ****ty old Windows 7 HP and a Lumia 830 has shown me just how amazing those were but also how I really don't need them to manage.



IPhone 5S is still top class and if I want to go buy an iPhone 7 cash I still can and wouldn't lose anything.
 
heartbroken said:
The men who made us spend.

Take a look at this, was an eye opener for me

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x20j885_the-men-who-made-us-spend-episode-1_creation
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I watched it a year ago, I'll watch it again to refresh my mind. Thanks for the link. I think many people should watch this and they'll have their minds opened and they'll become enlightened.

SauRoNZA said:
Yeah I must say having had free reign on almost any phone with my previous job to now having to pay for it myself has really seen me re-evaluating things very critically.

Having gone from the latest Macbook Pro top spec and iPhone to a ****ty old Windows 7 HP and a Lumia 830 has shown me just how amazing those were but also how I really don't need them to manage.

IPhone 5S is still top class and if I want to go buy an iPhone 7 cash I still can and wouldn't lose anything.
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These expensive smartphones are overrated, while a cheaper one which is a tenth of the one most people go for can perform a similar function. I have a colleague, who probably earns half of my salary, who can't wait to buy the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S7. I've tried educating her the disadvantages of spending R12k on a cellphone instead of investing it, and she doesn't want to hear it. She's determined to buy it, claiming it'll make her feel good. She obviously represents many other people who want shiny things at the expense of their future financial health.
 
The answer is buy a flagship phone but 2hnd 1 or 2 generations back, often will still be under 2yr warranty and still be a killer phone but will typically cost sometimes as law as a third of the new price.
 
airborne said:
The answer is buy a flagship phone but 2hnd 1 or 2 generations back, often will still be under 2yr warranty and still be a killer phone but will typically cost sometimes as law as a third of the new price.
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Currently i would recommend lg g3.

Goes for around 3k second hand ,great phone for the price.

LG phones drop in value very quickly ,always great deals on them 2nd hand.
 
Another absolute winner that is tanking in price is a Note 3, still blazing fast, good camera and a fantastic phone, they are quite easy to find for under R3k
 
we (2 persons staying at my flat) manually switch geyser on, and only when we're about to use it, for about 20 minutes prior to showering and doing dishes. switch off before using warm water. will stay warm until next morning.

has saved us more than R300 per month for the 3 months we've been doing it, of a normal electricity account of R700 per month. will later update this with proper stats (kwh).
 
BloodBurner9000 said:
we (2 persons staying at my flat) manually switch geyser on, and only when we're about to use it, for about 20 minutes prior to showering and doing dishes. switch off before using warm water. will stay warm until next morning.

has saved us more than R300 per month for the 3 months we've been doing it, of a normal electricity account of R700 per month. will later update this with proper stats (kwh).
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Is that water getting to a safe temperature to kill the germs?
 
yes, i have omitted that we leave it on for a while every now and then, which is definitely required. . i should research on the minimum time required for this. i am aware that setting geyser temperature below 60 deg can cause perfect breeding hazardous conditions for certain harmful bacteria.
 
Interesting stuff in here. My old man kept on about saving etc since I could speak, it wired me in a way that only benefitted me. He even made me pay rent while doing articles as he didn't want me to live in "false economies".

The result is that I saved, invested, etc. I did make some errors, like when he asked if I wanted to go in with him on buying out small apartments in about 2002. I declined as I wanted to buy a fast car. Needless to say when he sold them I was driving my second car.

Me term of saving is very different now considering the current **** in the economy but its about adapting when you have to. I look at my decisions and they are yielded amazingly well, but it is half luck.

When it comes to homes, I wait to buy and never stretch myself, and when I do I make sure that it's a great area (no traffic, close to major things like gautrain).

When it comes to cars, never have residuals, never overstretch a monthly payment. I add in extra every month to pay them off sooner too.

Both the wife's and my cars are still current models and paid off. Liberating.
 
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