i’m in the market for a new vacuum. the last time i bought one i was on maternity leave with cole, so it’s been a few years (three, now to be exact). when i mentioned to joey that i was planning on that purchase, his first reaction was “didn’t you just get a nice one?!” once i explained the cost per use on it he was more than on board.
what is the cost per use concept?
i use cost per use when thinking through how much i want to spend on an item. it’s basically taking the price of whatever you are purchasing and dividing it by how many times you think you will use it.
PRICE/NUMBER OF USES IN ITEM’S LIFETIME = COST PER USE
truly: this may be the most important math you ever need to know. here are a couple of real life examples where i’ve used this recently:
example 1: i needed a pink outfit for a bachelorette party in the winter. i found a super cute jumpsuit that i loved, but knew wouldn’t really wear again unless there was a very specific dress code (like a bachelorette party). the jumpsuit was well over $100, and while it was cute and i could afford it, i could not stomach spending that much on a one-time-use outfit. instead, i found a pair of super cute pink velvet pajama pants from target that were on sale for $14.99. not as cute as the jumpsuit, but still cute. if i only wore them that night, my cost per use would be $14.99 vs. the jumpsuit that would be $139. BONUS: i wear them ALL THE TIME as lounge pants, so my cost per use has to be down under a dollar at this point, knowing i wear them at least three nights a week.
example 2: this vacuum sitch. i didn’t splurge on the dyson, but i did spend a pretty penny on this shark vacuum cleaner 3 years ago. it’s worked well, but with two toddlers, a yellow lab that sheds hair a’plenty, and my long hair messing up the rollers for three years, it is time. i always like to back up my gut feelings with data, though, so when i felt like i needed to start a new search for a vacuum, i quickly did some cost per use math to prove out my theory (i’m no scientist; i use data to prove myself right nearly all the time. if it doesn’t work, i find new data – especially when it comes to purchases. don’t tell joey – ha!) here’s where we landed:
$300 (cost of the item) / 468 (3x a week average for 3 years) = 64 cents per use
while that doesn’t tell me which vacuum to get next, it does help me justify that it’s high time i got a new one and investing in one that’s on the pricier end is likely a decent idea, since i use it so often.
make sense? i love the cost per use concept on seemingly random and mundane things; it just makes me think about an item in a whole new way!
thanks for reading!