A $500 watch tells the time just as accurately as a $100 or $20 watch. You can try to argue in favor of the more expensive watch that the quality of the materials gives it more durability, the luxury makes them look better, or they are more technological, etc. but they all give the time. So based on this, is it really worth spending more than $20 or $100 on a watch? We could ask this question with anything we wanted to buy, especially when we could obtain an equally effective and capable product cheaper and use the difference better. In other words, it's time to learn how to spend money well.
The idea behind this post comes from the conjunction of two events, first the launch of the Apple Vision Pro and that I recovered (again) my watch by changing the bracelet myself for those of another old broken watch. Yes, now I'll explain to you, you'll see that everything makes sense.
The moral of the story of my watch (which I have recovered with parts and elements from other already useless ones) is simple, how much money would we save if instead of throwing away and buying a new product we repaired or mended the ones we have? Obviously I am not referring to taking things to a workshop or technician since many times it is better to buy a new one than to repair it. I point to those things that we can easily repair ourselves and that for “convenience” we prefer to throw away and acquire something new. The recycling/recovery/reuse combo can help us save a good amount of money, and saving money can allow us to invest later. Be careful, it is not something absolute, sometimes purchasing something new or more expensive can help us save in the long term because the equipment may have lower consumption and greater efficiency in general. They are simple decisions, but they should not be taken lightly and this is part of learning how to spend money well.
In my case, I saved the $20 that a new watch would cost me, or the $2 that new bracelets would cost me. It may not seem high, but in a country (Cuba) where the minimum wage is just 7 dollars a month it is quite a lot.
The case of the Apple Vision Pro brought to me a very interesting idea, and that is that many people will buy this product with their credit cards or with a 24-month monthly payment plan. So, if you are going to go into debt, wouldn't it be better to go into debt with something that generates value and not something that will depreciate in less than a year? This question is crucial to learning how to spend money well.
These questions led me to question, how many Apple shares can you buy with the $3,499 that the Apple Vision Pro costs? The answer is about 18.5 shares at a price of $188.85. These shares would bring you a quarterly dividend of about $4.44, which added to an annual growth of Apple shares close to 20% (last year it increased by 20% and in the last 5 years by 343% or 60% annually) They would mean profits of around $716. I'm sure this generation of Vision Pros will cost less than $3,000 within a year. And unless you are one of the influencers who is currently monetizing the hype of this product, it is very difficult for such an investment of money to bring you an economic or professional benefit.
Now imagine applying this principle of learning how to spend money well to life in general. Instead of spending 500 dollars on a watch, it is better to buy one of 100 or 20 and invest the rest in shares of a recognized brand of watches and the same with clothing, appliances, etc.
Of course, there are other things you need to learn to spend money well, but I hope I've sparked a spark in you. Tell me, what do you think about this way of spending and investing?
All images on this post was created by me