I'm too frugal

[liberty]

I will say it's possible to be too cheap. Example: I had an old phone. It was a "smart" phone, but still quite dumb, and it became dumber and dumber through the years. A few years ago I bought a new, much better phone, only 100 euros (discount from 160), but with 90% of an iPhone's value. I should have bought it earlier!

Now I'm in a similar situation with my computer. It's 10 years old. It works decent after I installed Lubuntu, but it's a bit slow, at least for programming, as I do now and then. Also the fan makes a lot of noise. The new computers, as the one I use in Corporate, is very quiet compared. I think it would be nice for me to pay 600 euros for a new laptop, but these money are pretty painful to pay. I think I have gotten a bit too frugal...

Others with the same problem? In the end happiness is the only thing that counts, not time, not money. I should probably get my ass in gear and go to that shop...

[AnalyticalEngine]

I just upgraded from a 10 year old computer to a new one. What triggered the decision is I was wasting more and more time attempting to fix the old one/work around problems than the thing was worth. I think that's usually a pretty good sign it's time to upgrade. Your time is valuable,and something like a computer, which has no hope of working well again, should be treated like a tool. There's a reason professionals don't waste time with broken tools.

Obviously this reasoning can be excessive and no longer frugal if applied to everything, but for 10 year old computers, I think it's legitimate to finally upgrade.

[2Birds1Stone]

Can that Chromebook run a different OS?

[onewayfamily]

I'm quite frugal with most things but realised a couple years ago that computers/phones are not the right thing to be ultra-frugal with. The reason is I use my laptop for many hours each day, and use my phone for many hours as well (if you include listening to podcasts, taking photos of the kids etc.). Therefore the extra half-second here or there, dozens of times a day or more to wait for things to load or catch up, is just simply costing me many life-hours.
Having said that you definitely do not need to spend 600 EUR.
The level I find perfect is android phones ~70-100 EUR and Chromebooks ~200 EUR (I usually buy them second-hand but near-new - like someone who got it as a gift, opened it, and want to sell it for 20-40% off the new price).
Chromebooks natively run linux now, and you can install VS Code or any other android or linux apps you want on it very easily. I highly recommend it.

[horsewoman]

With computers and phones I tend to use the "refurbished by selker/maker" option on ebay. There are great deals to be had and (at least in Germany) you get a one year warranty.

[Stahlmann]

I don't know your case, but I'd increase social capital by hanging out with friends to cheap restaurants/venues.

BTW, I'm writing this from 8yrs laptop and everything is fine.

[liberty]

I heard chrome book sucks, but that was more the OS itself, I think. Seems like it's possible to install Ubuntu on it, so maybe that would work well.

I'm skeptical to buy computers/phones second-hand. Too many potential issues I don't see when I buy it. The development in computing is also much faster than for bikes and washing machines, for example. I wouldn't buy a 5 year old computer, the money saved is not worth it. And a 2 year old computer: Why would they sell it? A fair chance that it's not working so well...

[AxelHeyst]

I think a more useful way to say "I'm too frugal" is to say "My tactics are good, my strategy needs work". It's the whole don't cheap out on a mattress thing: a good night's sleep is worth the money, every time.

I choose to keep around electronic devices (phones, computers) that are annoying to use, because I want to use them as little as possible (and I don't *have* to use e.g. my computer 8hrs/day). The more annoying they are, the more likely I am to get frustrated whilst doing something I didn't need to be doing anyways, realize I'm wasting my time in more ways than one, and decide to go outside and play. I make sure accessing social media is as much of a pain as possible, so that I do it less. etc.

[catpepper]

I go for good value instead of cheap. And when something is of good value, I'm fine buying more of it. I recently had to install some monitoring cameras in my home. Instead of buying the branded ones which would cost $1000 including installation, i went for super cheap ones which cost like $100 only excluding installation, with installation they cost about $300. They ended up being problematic as the cameras kept disconnecting from the wifi. I went one slightly 1 step up, and bought the next cheapest. It did the job fine, and cost me $150. My total cost is just $450, including the cheap ones which i've thrown away. It cost me some time, but I think as long as I don't pick the cheapest option it's fine.

As for PC, I just buy used gaming PCs. they cost like $400 and everything is already fixed up and still works well. I know how to troubleshoot when there's problems, so replacing the parts still wouldn't cost as much as a brand new one. Hardware is also so advanced that you could still be doing fine using a 5 year old or more PC.

As for phones, I think the max I can push it is 3 years. After that the battery lifespan kind of deteriorate very much even for iphones. My current one is 2 years now.

As for diapers, I did my research before my son was born. The cheap ones are terrible from what I heard from my friend as it always leaks, making a mess out of his son's mattress. I got the ones that were averagely priced. I have a friend who sells premium highly absorbent diapers, but i have never used them because my son poops 3 times a day. It's pointless to have such a good diaper and then once your baby poops in it, you gotta dump it anyway.

90% of my video games, I buy them used. Unless I really am anticipating a particular release and looking to own the collector's edition or something.

I think what I'm trying to say is that buying the best and most expensive option isn't the most financially smart choice. But buying the cheapest will cost you time. Spending appropriately is better. However, if you enjoy the process, then it's fine as well. I have taken apart speakers and amplifiers and then build my own simply because I enjoy the process.

[unemployable]

How bout that, I'm on Day 4 of my shiny new laptop. My old one finally bit the dust after seven years. I think I paid around $400 for it, so worked out to less than $5 per month. For the past couple of years it had been in pretty rough shape, mostly from my attempts to disassemble and reassemble it whenever something went wrong or felt slow. Earlier this year I epoxied one of the hinges to the motherboard when it had separated from the frame, a notorious problem with HPs. So I was living on borrowed time.

Lemme tell you, modern processors and solid-state drives are nice to have. And for only around 0.1% of my net worth. I don't regret one penny.

I would not go for the cheapest laptop you can find, unless you damage them often enough that you would expect to replace it before its normal lifespan. Paying up a bit in features and quality should buy you a couple extra years of longevity. I'd look for expandable RAM (two slots) and absolutely go for a solid-state drive over a mechanical hard drive.

It sounds like you have some time to shop around and decide what features you want and hunt for sales. I was somewhat in a hurry. If you're in the US, check the web sites of the large brick-and-mortar retailers -- Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples -- in addition to Amazon and the manufacturers' sites. My latest laptop came from Office Depot in fact, and the build-your-own offers directly from HP and Dell didn't strike me as very competitive. Also, the best sales typically happen around Black Friday. Right now supply chain cramps seem to be keeping inventory tighter and prices higher than they'd otherwise be, although not as bad as it is with new cars.

With phones I'm the exact opposite. I don't recall paying more than $20 for one and my current phone cost me $8 shipped. (Reconditioned and with a discount because something something Verizon CDMA phaseout). I'm far more likely to break or lose my phone before it becomes obsolete, and when that happens so what, it's just $8, that's lunch at McDonald's nowadays.