Saving Money

Today in class, I continued a unit about computer networking. It made me realize how much I use my computer.

I use my computer a lot. I use it for storing and editing photos; creating, editing, and storing documents; email; internet access; VoIP; chat; budgeting; and various other applications.

These applications could be done without the computer, but think of how expensive it would be!

Mail
I write about 5 emails a day. 1 of which is international. If I was to send these first class and airmail, it would cost me 4*$0.44 + $0.94 = $2.70/day

Chat and VoIP
I use chat a lot. I'd estimate that the amount I use chat would be comparable to 1 hour on the phone. Based on my cell phone plan, I spend roughly $0.06/min. So based on this rate, I spend 60*$0.06 = $3.60/day

I also use Skype about once a month for an international call that lasts about an hour. Without skype, that would cost me $0.12/min. So that is another 60*$0.12=$7.20/month

File Storage
My computer holds tons of files. Articles I have found on the internet, reports I've received, papers I've written, instructions, all can be found on my computer. These would easily fill a large file cabinet. That would cost $150.

Photos
My computer has tons of photos. Not only ones I have taken, but also ones others have taken. My computer has over 7,000 photos on it. If these were all printed out at $0.20 a piece, it would be 7000*$0.20 = $1400

Now I also need to store those photos. Let's get some photo albums. We will get some that hold 300 photos for $30. So that is 24*$30 = $720

Now I also have a photo website. The only reason I made it is so that I can see my photos wherever I am. So I would need to print another copy of those photos and some photos albums. There are about 1,000 photos on that website, so that is 1000*$0.20 + 4*$30 = $320

That's a total of $1400+$720+$320 = $2440

Internet
I use the internet for news, entertainment, information, and a host of other things. It has replaced my television as I do not own one. I can watch the things I want, such as sports, on the internet. For entertainment, I can watch a DVD or a video on youtube on my computer. For information, the internet and sites like wikipedia have replaced the set of encyclopedias that I had when I was a kid. We'll use a cheaper television at $500, a cheap DVD player $20, and a World Book Encyclopedia $1000. So the internet saves me at least $500 + $20 + $1000 = $1520

Music
I love music. I am always listening to music on my computer. Because I have a computer, I do not have a stereo. So that would be $500. The music is all from CD's or bought on the internet.

Budgeting
I budget on my computer, but would be able to do this with just a piece of paper without the computer.

So on just these few applications, the internet saves me on
Mail - $2.70/day
Phone calls - $3.60/day + $7.20/month
File Storage - $150
Photos - $2440
Entertainment - $520
Encyclopedia - $1,000
Stereo - $500

Or $4610 + $6.30/day + $7.20/month.