On what do you spend money ?

drr said:
Computer hardware. Not much, but once in a while I add a bit of RAM, get a higher capacity drive, change switches or key caps on my keyboard, etc.
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In the US (I can't speak for other nations), there are usually "places" in most major cities that recycle used computers.
The mantra is: Refurbish (i.e., make newish, again, to put back into service), Repurpose (if no longer appropriate in its original roll, alter to suit some other need -- again, to be able to return to service), Recycle (divert from landfill -- even if that means having to disassemble it into MORE recyclable parts).
Most of these places will either sell you something, cheap (price varies depending on how saleable the item -- a 15 blade server is likely not going to find a new home so can be purchased -- "put back into service" -- for far less than a 3 year old laptop!)... Or, will let you have it for the value of its recyclable components.

Without being disassembled (e.g., to remove the nice copper heatsinks which are easily recycles), a machine is typically worth about 10c per pound. Almost all "material recyclers" want "clean" product -- i.e., JUST copper heat sinks, JUST aluminum heat sinks, JUST CPUs (to recover gold from pins). So, something "dirty" like a server/computer in its original "assembled" state is a nuisance -- they have to pay someone to disassemble it to be able to extract the "good stuff".

The downside of this is that it can become addictive/habit. You don't want to see my home lab! <grin>

And, there are costs (time) to swapping the last "goodies" out for the most recently rescued ones! (I never dick with my windows machines because installing on new hardware -- and relicensing all of the apps -- is a huge undertaking) But, I frequently pull the disks out of a NetBSD machine and install them in a NEWLY RESCUED machine to upgrade that piece of kit. And, I have a place where I can "discard" that previous machine (here, computers are considered hazardous waste so can't simply be thrown in the trash)!
 
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Blueberry yum yum :cool:

For food I'm kind-of picky, but usually go for the best of the cheapest without sugar. I thought sparkling water was fancy but it's cheaper than the usual branded sugar water :p
 
zsolt said:
Do you think the taste of beer is different when you pour both from bottles and aluminum cans into glasses?
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It actually is, I tried, in several bars. No matter the brand (Heineken, Warsteiner, Kona Big Wave), it does indeed taste better when it comes from a bottle than from a can. And a blind taste won't fool me.

Beer is best when fresh tapped, though.

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USerID said:
For whiskey, for used hardware, for public utilities, for very simple but high-quality food. I cook myself, at home. I buy smartphones once every 7 years, only to stare at CCTV cameras and Telegram. I do not drink coffee, Apple products, cannabis, powders and smoking spice. Sometimes I do not spare money to travel short distances (up to 300 km) to another city where I have not been, wander around the markets, bazaars and see NOT the glamorous tourist life, but the life of ordinary people. I would like to go and see (Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Mongolia). You can really save up money for this. But the war in my country (they call it "country 404") does not give such chances yet. Ukraine today, unfortunately, is the largest open-air concentration camp in the world...
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You should go in those countries where I traveled as student long time ago. You can breath a history...life...
 
astyle said:
it does indeed taste better when it comes from a bottle than from a can
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I saw a YouTube video by a beer expert who works for a brewery. No, I don't recall anything more than that but I'll try and find it. He said he'd rather drink from a can nowadays. I don't remember anything more than that, either.

Of note: in both cases, he recommends pouring into a glass to drink.
 
rbranco said:
learning the stock market the hard way.
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There is a sure fire way to make a small fortune with stocks. Start with a big fortune.
The more I have learned about stocks, the more I stay away from them. I invest in people.
 
Crivens said:
There is a sure fire way to make a small fortune with stocks. Start with a big fortune.
The more I have learned about stocks, the more I stay away from them. I invest in people.
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The Euro has lost like 18% of its value since Covid and +70% since its creation. Having experienced hyperinflation in Venezuela I notice the same phenomenon in slow motion elsewhere. Cash is a losing position with time decay engineered into it.
 
I have NO cash on my bank account. Everything is put into a house an apartment and gold. If i would have more cash i would buy stocks.
As such my expenditures are limited. As you can not pay a milk or a bread with a house.
 
Alain De Vos said:
I have NO cash on my bank account. Everything is put into a house an apartment and gold. If i would have more cash i would buy stocks.
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I also prefer real estate. I'll buy gold when peace comes, given that it's at all time highs now. I'm exploring stock options for quick profit.
 
I invest in myself. My skillset, my equipment, my "connections", etc.

It's the only thing that I have any certainty of outcome -- without relying on others "doing the right thing".
 
rbranco said:
I also prefer real estate. I'll buy gold when peace comes, given that it's at all time highs now. I'm exploring stock options for quick profit.
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Gold is a long term investment. It goes up & down in short term but over many years it always rises.
 
Alain De Vos said:
Gold is a long term investment. It goes up & down in short term but over many years it always rises.
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When you check the buying power, gold is surprisingly stable. A well made suit costs about the same, today or 100 years ago. A middle class car costs about the same, what you paid in gold for a model T will get you a standard car these days. So gold is not really an Investment, it is keeping the value. Untill it all gets confiscated again.
 
It's true. The amount of gold you need to buy a good steak is now the same as twenty years ago. So you keep you purchasing power. Which fiat money doesn't do because of inflation and printing of money by central banks.
I bought some stocks in a chemical firm. The revenue was fine. But there is also a risk. If the company goes broke you are left with nothing.
 
Alain De Vos said:
It's true. The amount of gold you need to buy a good steak is now the same as twenty years ago. So you keep you purchasing power. Which fiat money doesn't do because of inflation and printing of money by central banks.
I bought some stocks in a chemical firm. The revenue was fine. But there is also a risk. If the company goes broke you are left with nothing.
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That's why diversification is good.
 
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