I've already shared my remodeling adventures with our kitchen and master bathroom -- so I thought I'd share our latest home improvement sojourn.
After 18 years, the Honeybee and I finally decided to give our front porch an upgrade. To be honest, ...
Continue reading My Porch Remodel (Phase 1): New Columns and the Hunt for Obsolete Bricks
Consumer Rights: What to Do When You Get Defective or Dangerous Products
It happens to everyone: You open a box, only to find out that your shiny new object is defective. Or, you use it the first time and get hurt through no fault of your own. Here's what you should do if this happens to you:
What Happened? Is There ...
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A Simple Trick to Get iTunes Songs at a Significant Discount
I've written before about my insatiable addiction to iTunes; it's one of the biggest money leaks I have to deal with on a monthly basis.
Believe it or not, some months I'll spend upwards of $100 on iTunes songs for my iPod, although I'm trying my ...
Continue reading A Simple Trick to Get iTunes Songs at a Significant Discount
Solving the Mobile Internet Puzzle
by Rob Clymo
Being able to access the internet and your email, no matter what the location is an incredibly handy thing to have. Thanks to a wealth of deals, it's now quick, easy and relatively cheap for anyone to get connected too with a simple ...
Continue reading Solving the Mobile Internet Puzzle
The Great Debate: Do Kids Really Need Their Own Cell Phone?
Last week I shared the story about my $1055 cell phone bill, courtesy of my teenage son. The article seemed to, um, resonate with a lot readers, not only here but at MSN where it was also featured as a guest post, and on Digg, where at last count it ...
Continue reading The Great Debate: Do Kids Really Need Their Own Cell Phone?
Why Rechargeable Batteries Are Rarely Cost Effective
I was standing in line at a local electronics store the other day when I struck up a conversation with the guy ahead of me who had a basket full of battery chargers and AA rechargeable batteries. It turns out he had decided to replace all of the ...
Continue reading Why Rechargeable Batteries Are Rarely Cost Effective
The REAL Cost of Owning Wireless Mice and Keyboards
When the Honeybee and I bought our last computer, there was quite a debate over whether or not we should pay the extra money for the added convenience of a wireless keyboard and/or mouse. The fear, of course, was in the uncertainty of whether or not we would end up spending a small fortune over the life of the computer buying replacement batteries.
We ultimately decided to Heck with it (wherever that is) and went the wireless route, not only for the convenience, but also because of the neatness that comes with having two less wires attached to our iMac.
Of course, being the financial nut that I am, I decided to track how often I changed the batteries so I knew how much I was paying on top of the premium I originally paid for the wireless devices.
For the record, our keyboard and mouse get heavy use; I would conservatively estimate that our computer is in use, on average, ten hours per day.
So with that information in mind, here is a summary of all the battery changes for our wireless keyboard and mouse since we got our new computer approximately 18 months ago:
So how much money has that set us back?
If you buy in bulk like we do, you can get quality AA alkaline batteries for 40 cents each in reasonable quantities for the average household. That means we have spent only $18.40 plus tax for our wireless keyboard and mouse batteries in a year and a half. Excluding the original premium, of course, that comes out to only a dollar per month - well worth the convenience over their traditional wired counterparts, if you ask me! :-)
In fact, that cost is so low it certainly doesn't come close to justifying the initial charger and battery costs we would have to pay to switch over to rechargeable batteries.
In my next post I'll not only explore why that is so, but I'll also address why rechargeable batteries actually make less financial sense than many people think. :-)
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Continue reading The REAL Cost of Owning Wireless Mice and Keyboards
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