SidSavara.com - Latest Comments in Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 02:59:09 -0000

Thanks for coming back to continue the discussion Ben. I didn't know the
Australian dollar was so low! That is unfortunate for you, but maybe it's
time for some of us in the US to come visit - considering how bad the US$
has been doing against European currency (though perhaps it has improved
recently - I don't keep up with it), I don't think I'll be visiting Europe
anytime soon like I had planned!

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Ben — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:03:37 -0000

Hi Sid,

I'm glad you found my comment interesting. The other petrol price factor is that the petrol retailers in my country use a price benchmark from Singapore - the name of which escapes me - and this benchmark is priced in $US. The current problem in my country is that even though the price of crude oil has dropped, so has the Australian Dollar against the US dollar. A few months one Australian dollar was worth $US 0.96, now it's $US 0.66.

Still at least my country is cheaper than most of Europe.

Cheers,

Ben

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:06:09 -0000

Wow Ben! Thanks for your comments and analysis.

That is very interesting, I never knew that about Austraila. Over here (Hawaii, USA), I haven't seen that kind of price fluctuations up and down by week. Right now all gas prices are trending downwards, as the dollar gains strength and oil prices fall. I haven't seen it change based on day of the week at all, except that prices don't tend to change on the weekends, typically only on weekdays: most likely tied to trading in the oil markets.

Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Ben — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:41:25 -0000

Hi there,

In my country, Australia,and state, Victoria, there is a distinct pertrol pricing cycle. The peak price is usually Thursday morning/afternoon with the lowest price point being Wednesday morning. The closet petrol stations that I use usually have the same exact price. The only price differential is that two of the petrol stations accept discount vouchers, that give $0.04 off per litre. The vouchers are obtained by making a total grocery purchase of $30.00 or more. The most intersting fact about this pricing cycle is that the lowest day of the cycle, Wednesday has the lowest percentage of petrol purchases over a week and Thursday has the highest percentage. Thursday is the traditional payday in Australia. I generally get my petrol on a Wednesday morning on the way to work and have never had to deal with a large line of waiting cars.

Cheers,

Ben

I'm not sure whether there is the same price flucuation throughout the week in the States, but it may be noting the price each day, provided it doesn't affect your usual driving routes, to see if there is a distinct pricing cycle.

I'll finish by saying that I tracked my petrol purchases for six months and found that buying at the bottom of the pricing cycle in combination with the discount vouchers was 9.0 to 14.5 % cheaper than if I had bought petrol at the peak price.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 04:34:10 -0000

Thanks for your comment Vincent! You're right - it's all about making the best use of our time, and being aware that our time is never "free"

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Vincent — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 03:51:00 -0000

Nice post there Sid. I believe in the 80/20 rule which and sometimes when we think that we are saving money, actually we are not. If we earn 50 bucks per hour and we actually spend that hour driving around looking for cheap gas to save the additional few bucks, we are wasting money instead.

Cheers
Vincent
Personal Development Blogger

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:53:15 -0000

Good call on reading news online - it does look like more and more people are going that route.

Impulse buying is the worst. I hardly buy anything impulsively (no candy at the cash register, etc), but bargain non-fiction books, especially former Best Sellers, those are tough for me to pass up.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

David B Katague — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 01:18:58 -0000

impulse buying, that could be additive. Buying gas in Costco also saves me money. Not buying the sunday paper also saves me money. I read all my news in the internet-CNN, Comcast and Philippine Inquirer

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:18:13 -0000

I'm surprised that a best-selling published author would leave such comments
on my blog ;)

You're right though. I try really hard not to buy books unless it's one I'll
really reference often (like say, Spring MVC and Web Flow...) but I am
pretty impatient when it comes to new nonfiction bestsellers.

Funny coincidence, Amazon just shipped my new Seth Godin book (Tribes) that
I had preorded I think in the summer. Excited about receiving it, it will
probably derail my current book I'm reading (Steve Pavlina's - review
copy!).

I bet it's shorter and concise, just like their blogs.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Seth Ladd — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:08:08 -0000

For books, I use the library. You can even reserve books via their website, and they mail you when it's ready to pick up! You can tell them where to ship the book (to the library closest to your home OR work) and you can drop it off at any time.

Buying books is for suckers.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 00:07:10 -0000

Thanks Damien! I hope that my articles do inspire people to take a look at ways they may be sacrificing their time for little gain - and hopfully, use that information to make their own lives better.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Damien Oh — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:14:28 -0000

If everyone can be as detail as you and is more aware of the useless time they are spending, the World will definitely be a much better place. Great post.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:10:08 -0000

Hehe.

There is definitely something to be said for endorphins being released ;)

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Candice — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:37:04 -0000

I feel that getting things at a good price add years to my life because of all the happy chemicals it releases...

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 15:05:11 -0000

I never thought of keeping a book in my car - I always have 2 or 3 different books I am read or rereading at once. Thatâs a really good idea - I'll probably toss "Think and Grow Rich" in my glove compartment later today and leave it there.

I typically try to use the time somewhat productively by responding to email on my blackberry - but it's not ideal as I can't concentrate as heavily and it's much slower than if I'm at my desk.

I have heard many times that we are lucky in the US to have such cheap gas relative to Europe. Even though Hawaii is more expensive than most places, it could be higher!

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Cindy King — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 07:40:15 -0000

Interesting post and I have included it in my blog carnival.

I am lucky, I never get gas, my partner does that. The lines here in France are much shorter than the US, he never has more than one car in front of him and he always has a book in the car. This is something that can change your calculation. If you have a 15 minute way and spend the time reading a book, then it is not wasted time. The trick it to get into the habit of taking a book with you anywhere you go.

Living in France, we are paying about $7.15 for a gallon of gas.
about $1.90 for a liter of gas
3.79 liters to the gallon

Stumbled the post.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:12:35 -0000

Hah! Nice philosophy Bryan =)

Unfortunately, nobody here plays great music - or any music for that matter. Unless you mean in the store, I haven't noticed.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

B. Wilde — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:45:14 -0000

I personally abide by the ignorance is bliss in the area of buying gas. When I'm running on empty, I tend to buy gas at the same locations. By not price comparing, I don't know if I'm being ripped off. As for the time aspect, I like to go to gas stations where they play great music that I can rock to while the gas is pumping. But most importantly, I try to enjoy myself because I know after the tank is full, I'm on my way in for a soda.

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

sidsavara — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:19:33 -0000

Thanks for your comments Joey. Glad to see you found my blog =)

Regarding reading non-fiction books and not applying it to your life, you may also enjoy my post about metawork: http://sidsavara.com/personal-productivity/are-... . In it, I discuss exactly that: constantly thinking we're building a foundation for something, but never actually doing any work on that "something."

Re: Am I Saving Money - Or Just Wasting My Time?

Joey — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:30:01 -0000

Wow, I definitely know how you feel on books. I spend so much time on money on perusing and buying non-fiction books I hardly read, and even if they are read aren't even applied to my life.