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The Dollar Rule vs. iPod/DS/PSP Games

Submitted by George on Mon, 2009-09-21 01:08

Dollar Rule vs. Handheld Game Consoles

On Sept 9, 2009 Apple announced their video-camera iPod Nano, iTunes and a few other more minor things. A large chunk of the announcement was focused on the iPod Touch as begin a great portable game console. Apple compared the iPod Touch to the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS, using the number of game titles as proof of the iPod Touch's looming dominance: 21,178 iPod Touch/iPhone games, Sony PSP with 607 games, and the Nintendo DS with 3,680 titles.

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The Dollar Rule vs. iTunes

Submitted by George on Sun, 2008-09-07 23:56

The Dollar Rule vs. iTunes

Since we've applied the Dollar Rule to iPods, the next logical thing is to analyze iTunes purchases. At only $0.99 for a song it should be easy to hit DRR of 1.0, right? Just listen to each song for at least an hour. Is that as easy as it sounds? Let's see.

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The Dollar Rule vs. iPods

Submitted by George on Thu, 2008-08-28 16:54

The Dollar Rule vs. iPods

Let's say you bought a new iPod Nano for $149. To apply the Dollar Rule to this purchase we of course want to know if you're getting at least 149 hours of (person-hours) of benefit from it? So if you use it an hour a day, that works out to around 21 weeks (say 5 months) if you use it 7 days a week.

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The Dollar Rule vs. Your STUFF

Submitted by George on Fri, 2008-08-22 00:14

The Dollar Rule vs. Your Stuff

Now that we've got a good understanding of the Dollar Rule, let's pick apart some purchases and see what makes sense. Is it okay to replace the computer every 2 years? New cell phone every 12 months? New shoes every 8 months? New TV every 5 years?

These are common purchasing decisions that we as consumers deal with all the time.

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Refining the Dollar Rule

Submitted by George on Thu, 2008-08-21 03:51

Refining the Dollar Rule

Although we've applied the Dollar Rule to various example purchases (like the Nintendo Wii Fit, baby gear, and laptops), let's take a more critical look at the Dollar Rule itself.

The Dollar Rule: A product or service you buy should return at least 1 hour o

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What's your Dollar Rule "Account Balance"? Another way to look at the Dollar Rule

Submitted by George on Wed, 2008-07-30 00:02

What's your Dollar Rule "Account Balance"? Another way to look at the Dollar Rule

I recently heard Merlin Mann say on a podcast about a particular piece of productivity software, that even though the product was not free, "it owed him not a nickel".

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The Dollar Rule Ratio (DRR)

Submitted by George on Fri, 2008-06-13 22:11

The Dollar Rule Ratio

We're going to do a little math now. But I promise it'll be simple. This is probably as mathematical as we're going to get with the Dollar Rule.

Because every purchase involves different prices and time of use, the break-even point varies a lot from item to item. It's hard to compare the break-even point of a toaster to a video game, or lawn service to basketball tickets.

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The Dollar Rule and a Laptop

Submitted by George on Wed, 2008-06-11 23:54

The Dollar Rule vs. a Laptop Computer

Here's an example of using the Dollar Rule. You want to buy a new laptop computer. The computers might be priced at three price points: $699 (budget), $999 (mid-range), and $1999 (high-end).

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What Is The Dollar Rule?

The Dollar Rule

Introduction

Financial advice is often rife with catch-phrases and guidlines that we repeatedly encounter: Invest. Reduce debt. Make budgets. Buy used. Don't lease. Buy stocks. Buy bonds. Diversify. Buy index funds. Buy and hold. Live below your means. Pay yourself first. Invest in companies you can understand. Good debt vs. bad debt. A penny saved is a penny earned. Compound interest rules. Never lose money. And so on.

But whatever mantras you live by (or wish you lived by) I give you yet one more, which I hope you will find to be rewarding and worth remembering:

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