4 ms·

Here's the way I figure: 1) If you're a student, yes. Store less stuff. 1080 instead of 4k video won't kill you. 2) If you're a software engineer, factor in a

Here's the way I figure: 1) If you're a student, yes. Store less stuff. 1080 instead of 4k video won't kill you. 2) If you're a software engineer, factor in at least $200 of your time for each upgrade. Bigger drives mean you need to upgrade less often, so no, buying more is not overkill.

ubercow13 6y ago
Do software engineers really put dollar values on all of their time?
- mbreese 6y ago
  When figuring out build vs buy decisions, it helps anyone to put dollar amounts on their time. “Should I buy a lawn mower or pay someone to cut my lawn?” You factor in the cost of equipment, maintenance, and your time for both options, then figure out which works for your budget. If your budget is zero, that also helps make the decisions easier.
  - ubercow13 6y ago
    It's a bit of an alien way of thinking to me because I don't know how to put a value on my free time, as it is not fungible. That time cannot be always be freely exchanged for time doing something else specific, or more productive. I certainly can't monetise that time easily, and if I could its value would probably not be related to my professional salary. If I always spent money to save myself time in line with how much I am professionaly worth (eg. paying for a lawn mower, never cooking for myself etc.) I think I would quickly be broke.
    - jedberg 6y ago
      The way I used to value my free time was by figuring out how many hours I would have to work to pay for something. A two hour movie would be one hour of work. Probably worth it. A trip to Disneyland was about 10 hours of work, but if I got there when the park opened I could do 16 hours of entertainment, so it was probably worth it. Paying someone to mow the lawn was a few hours of work, but I could mow the lawn myself in an hour. So not worth it. And so on.
    - imtringued 6y ago
      I personally think the entire calculation of how much your free time is worth is pretty stupid. There are things that I am willing to pay for even if it was cheaper to do it myself. There are also things that I'm willing to do myself even if it is cheaper to buy it. You only do this calculation because you don't have any free time left so either you put it off until you can or you pay.
  - bserge 6y ago
    You should probably factor in the enjoyment and experience gained - doing repairs or building something yourself, for example, could be more rewarding than the dollar amount.
- murgindrag 6y ago
  I do. That said, the value calculation is complex. It's not just annual salary divided by 2000 hours per year worked. It's more based on things like: a) If I work harder and/or learn more, my salary and career trajectory will go up. There's an integrated increase over the rest of my life. b) If I do consulting / startups / etc. on the side, what's that worth? And you want to factor in risk, as well as not having bank account hit zero (even with risk). So if I'm unemployed (broadly speaking -- including planned unemployment like going to school), the expected value of my time hasn't changed, but the risk profile has, so my spending goes to as close to zero as I can bring it until I'm employed again.

ubercow13 6y ago

Do software engineers really put dollar values on all of their time?

mbreese 6y ago
When figuring out build vs buy decisions, it helps anyone to put dollar amounts on their time. “Should I buy a lawn mower or pay someone to cut my lawn?” You factor in the cost of equipment, maintenance, and your time for both options, then figure out which works for your budget. If your budget is zero, that also helps make the decisions easier.
- ubercow13 6y ago
  It's a bit of an alien way of thinking to me because I don't know how to put a value on my free time, as it is not fungible. That time cannot be always be freely exchanged for time doing something else specific, or more productive. I certainly can't monetise that time easily, and if I could its value would probably not be related to my professional salary. If I always spent money to save myself time in line with how much I am professionaly worth (eg. paying for a lawn mower, never cooking for myself etc.) I think I would quickly be broke.
  - jedberg 6y ago
    The way I used to value my free time was by figuring out how many hours I would have to work to pay for something. A two hour movie would be one hour of work. Probably worth it. A trip to Disneyland was about 10 hours of work, but if I got there when the park opened I could do 16 hours of entertainment, so it was probably worth it. Paying someone to mow the lawn was a few hours of work, but I could mow the lawn myself in an hour. So not worth it. And so on.
  - imtringued 6y ago
    I personally think the entire calculation of how much your free time is worth is pretty stupid. There are things that I am willing to pay for even if it was cheaper to do it myself. There are also things that I'm willing to do myself even if it is cheaper to buy it. You only do this calculation because you don't have any free time left so either you put it off until you can or you pay.
- bserge 6y ago
  You should probably factor in the enjoyment and experience gained - doing repairs or building something yourself, for example, could be more rewarding than the dollar amount.
murgindrag 6y ago
I do. That said, the value calculation is complex. It's not just annual salary divided by 2000 hours per year worked. It's more based on things like: a) If I work harder and/or learn more, my salary and career trajectory will go up. There's an integrated increase over the rest of my life. b) If I do consulting / startups / etc. on the side, what's that worth? And you want to factor in risk, as well as not having bank account hit zero (even with risk). So if I'm unemployed (broadly speaking -- including planned unemployment like going to school), the expected value of my time hasn't changed, but the risk profile has, so my spending goes to as close to zero as I can bring it until I'm employed again.