Comments on: Total costs of ownership and why Indians hate dry cleaning http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/ Personal finance blog for college students, recent graduates and everyone else -- including entrepreneurship -- for getting rich. Featured in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times. Sun, 8 Nov 2009 06:09:27 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Cady http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-40213 Cady Fri, 09 Nov 2007 20:37:56 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-40213 I don't know how Zachary and Kenneth managed to post comments from thirty years ago, but I'm impressed. I couldn't possibly say why women make up a smaller proportion of your readers than men, but it seems to me that those kinds of comments must hold a clue. What struck me about this post was that the dry-cleaning bill came as a surprise. It seemed reasonable to me for seven items, but there are two reasons for that: 1. I only go to non-toxic dry-cleaners (because of <a href="http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20060105/ai_n15995503" rel="nofollow">stories like this</a> - talk about your TCO!), and I guess that is more expensive - although apparently it costs about as much as the place you went! (And I'm over in the East Bay; I think our regular dry-cleaning prices should be comparable this close to SF. Maybe the healthy alternative isn't so expensive after all!) 2. I <a href="http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/2006-makeover-step-2-budgeting-and-saving" rel="nofollow">stick to a spending plan</a>, so when I thought about getting my clothes dry-cleaned, I checked out the prices first and worked on (okay, am still working on) where that would come out of my spending plan. I could see just going in without doing the research first if I knew I had lots of spending money or a full clothing budget to spend this week, but I suspect it would be a bad idea. I was surprised when the price almost made you faint! Does research like that usually fit into your budgeting? I don’t know how Zachary and Kenneth managed to post comments from thirty years ago, but I’m impressed. I couldn’t possibly say why women make up a smaller proportion of your readers than men, but it seems to me that those kinds of comments must hold a clue.

What struck me about this post was that the dry-cleaning bill came as a surprise. It seemed reasonable to me for seven items, but there are two reasons for that:
1. I only go to non-toxic dry-cleaners (because of stories like this – talk about your TCO!), and I guess that is more expensive – although apparently it costs about as much as the place you went! (And I’m over in the East Bay; I think our regular dry-cleaning prices should be comparable this close to SF. Maybe the healthy alternative isn’t so expensive after all!)
2. I stick to a spending plan, so when I thought about getting my clothes dry-cleaned, I checked out the prices first and worked on (okay, am still working on) where that would come out of my spending plan. I could see just going in without doing the research first if I knew I had lots of spending money or a full clothing budget to spend this week, but I suspect it would be a bad idea. I was surprised when the price almost made you faint! Does research like that usually fit into your budgeting?

]]> By: Katherine http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-15048 Katherine Sun, 13 May 2007 04:19:16 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-15048 As someone who used to work in textiles - let me tell you something. A lot of the items marked "Dry Clean" can, in fact, be washed. The secret is looking at the fabric content and doing a spot test on lining or an inconspicuous spot - google it and you can find a lot of good tips, but basically, if it doesn't run, wash it in cold and line dry, you should be fine. THERE IS NO REASON I'VE FOUND YOU CAN'T WASH NATURAL FABRICS like linen and wool if the dye doesn't run. This drives me insane, it's a pet peeve. Line dried linen is crisp, white, and fresh smelling. Wool softens a little and if it doesn't repel water as much as you'd like anymore, rub a little lanolin on your hands and give it a rub-over. Polyester is, hello, polyester. The world's most ridiculously durable fabric? Just spot test and wash already. Fabric manufacturers put this stuff on the label to protect themselves. Don't let them protect the common sense out of you. Rayon, yeah, maybe I'd go on and do the whole dress shields, wear it several times thing, but instead I just check the tag before I buy and decide whether it's really worth it. Oh, and I've found that most of the time the rayon/polyester pieces or rayon/cotton pieces are washable. (There are 2 kinds of rayon in use, that's why it's tricky - one's washable, one's not.) Anyway, I know that's not quite what you were on about but it's something to consider. As someone who used to work in textiles – let me tell you something. A lot of the items marked “Dry Clean” can, in fact, be washed.

The secret is looking at the fabric content and doing a spot test on lining or an inconspicuous spot – google it and you can find a lot of good tips, but basically, if it doesn’t run, wash it in cold and line dry, you should be fine.

THERE IS NO REASON I’VE FOUND YOU CAN’T WASH NATURAL FABRICS like linen and wool if the dye doesn’t run. This drives me insane, it’s a pet peeve. Line dried linen is crisp, white, and fresh smelling. Wool softens a little and if it doesn’t repel water as much as you’d like anymore, rub a little lanolin on your hands and give it a rub-over.

Polyester is, hello, polyester. The world’s most ridiculously durable fabric? Just spot test and wash already.

Fabric manufacturers put this stuff on the label to protect themselves. Don’t let them protect the common sense out of you. Rayon, yeah, maybe I’d go on and do the whole dress shields, wear it several times thing, but instead I just check the tag before I buy and decide whether it’s really worth it. Oh, and I’ve found that most of the time the rayon/polyester pieces or rayon/cotton pieces are washable. (There are 2 kinds of rayon in use, that’s why it’s tricky – one’s washable, one’s not.)

Anyway, I know that’s not quite what you were on about but it’s something to consider.

]]> By: Marco http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-14452 Marco Tue, 08 May 2007 19:33:15 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-14452 Living in the Bay Area, one of the most important costs of product ownership is real estate to store your stuff. An extra bedroom to store stuff costs about $800/mo for a few hundred square feet of space. Overall renters pay a marginal cost of about $30/year per square foot here. So buying that new $99 inkjet printer that requires a 6 square foot stand is also going to cost you $180 in real estate costs every year, in addition to the hundred or more that it costs to replace the inkjet cartridges every 6 months before they dry up. Living in the Bay Area, one of the most important costs of product ownership is real estate to store your stuff. An extra bedroom to store stuff costs about $800/mo for a few hundred square feet of space. Overall renters pay a marginal cost of about $30/year per square foot here.

So buying that new $99 inkjet printer that requires a 6 square foot stand is also going to cost you $180 in real estate costs every year, in addition to the hundred or more that it costs to replace the inkjet cartridges every 6 months before they dry up.

]]> By: » Links for May 4th, 2007 - Goals to Action http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-14046 » Links for May 4th, 2007 - Goals to Action Sat, 05 May 2007 02:45:05 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-14046 [...] Sethi blogs about total cost of ownership and how it can make some items much more expensive than they may initially appear when you consider [...] [...] Sethi blogs about total cost of ownership and how it can make some items much more expensive than they may initially appear when you consider [...]

]]> By: chanchow http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-12778 chanchow Tue, 24 Apr 2007 22:52:09 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-12778 Reading that Indian people hate to pay for shipping made me laugh. I married into a Bengali family. An aunt on my husband's side decided to give us a full set of china (made in Bangladesh) for our wedding anniversary. Instead of shipping it to us, she is having relatives visiting from the motherland bring it to us here in US bit by bit. It'll be a few years before the set is complete. Reading that Indian people hate to pay for shipping made me laugh. I married into a Bengali family. An aunt on my husband’s side decided to give us a full set of china (made in Bangladesh) for our wedding anniversary. Instead of shipping it to us, she is having relatives visiting from the motherland bring it to us here in US bit by bit. It’ll be a few years before the set is complete.

]]> By: Jayna http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-12769 Jayna Tue, 24 Apr 2007 21:00:16 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-12769 When I was in Germany about a decade ago, I was impressed to find that my college friends referred to the cost of driving in their cars as around $3 per mile - their assumption was that they should consider walking versus driving in terms of all costs divided by miles driven - gas, car, insurance, repairs, parking, etc. It would be a lot easier to make the decision to walk based on those kinda numbers! When I was in Germany about a decade ago, I was impressed to find that my college friends referred to the cost of driving in their cars as around $3 per mile – their assumption was that they should consider walking versus driving in terms of all costs divided by miles driven – gas, car, insurance, repairs, parking, etc. It would be a lot easier to make the decision to walk based on those kinda numbers!

]]> By: ali http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-12705 ali Tue, 24 Apr 2007 15:50:37 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-12705 #41 - Hazzard, I totally agree with you. I've spoken about the same topics several times with my friends and they still think they'll cut cost by moving out of main city (in my case Toronto, Ontario -Canada) Hey Ramit, man that's a hefty bill -OUCH....on the other hand, if your wardrobe is made up of expensive apparel, e.g. Armani, versace and Brooks like me :) I wouldnt mine paying to get them cleaned professionaly as I want to make sure the ROI in the long run is better Just my 2 cents #41 – Hazzard, I totally agree with you. I’ve spoken about the same topics several times with my friends and they still think they’ll cut cost by moving out of main city (in my case Toronto, Ontario -Canada)

Hey Ramit, man that’s a hefty bill -OUCH….on the other hand, if your wardrobe is made up of expensive apparel, e.g. Armani, versace and Brooks like me :) I wouldnt mine paying to get them cleaned professionaly as I want to make sure the ROI in the long run is better

Just my 2 cents

]]> By: j http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-12634 j Tue, 24 Apr 2007 03:57:21 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-12634 theres a good chance youre punjabi and not indian. yes, there is a difference theres a good chance youre punjabi and not indian. yes, there is a difference

]]> By: MoneyChangesThings http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-12614 MoneyChangesThings Tue, 24 Apr 2007 01:20:37 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-12614 About that Coke deal on the cruise. I am willing to spend a chunk up front for a nice time, but I would hate having to pay for my drinks on a cruise. Not like you can walk across the street and find a cheaper bar! Cruises should be all inclusive. Though I guess coming up with appropriate clothes is not included in the price.... Another COO. About that Coke deal on the cruise. I am willing to spend a chunk up front for a nice time, but I would hate having to pay for my drinks on a cruise. Not like you can walk across the street and find a cheaper bar!
Cruises should be all inclusive. Though I guess coming up with appropriate clothes is not included in the price…. Another COO.

]]> By: MoneyChangesThings http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning/comment-page-2/#comment-12611 MoneyChangesThings Tue, 24 Apr 2007 01:09:48 +0000 http://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/blog/total-costs-of-ownership-and-why-indians-hate-dry-cleaning#comment-12611 Printer cartridges! That's the biggest "gotcha" going. I switched to a laser printer and while the cartridges go further than ink jet, they still cost 1/4 of the cost of the printer. I thought $100 for the printer was the deal of the decade, but you have to figure out the cost per copy. Printer cartridges! That’s the biggest “gotcha” going. I switched to a laser printer and while the cartridges go further than ink jet, they still cost 1/4 of the cost of the printer. I thought $100 for the printer was the deal of the decade, but you have to figure out the cost per copy.

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