In these uncertain times, saving money is a must to weather through any storm.
In this article, we’ll look at how developers can save money by following some easy to follow habits.
Cut Cable TV
Cable TV isn’t all that useful since we all have to sit and wait for ads and our program to be on according to the TV station’s schedule.
Also, it’s quite expensive as it can get up to $100 a month easily.
Because of the low value that it brings but with a high price, this should definitely go.
Use Lower-Tier Internet Plans
The Internet is pretty fast nowadays. Even cheap plans are OK.
Unless we’re uploading high-def videos or using lots of upload or download bandwidth for commercial purposes, we really don’t need such an expensive Internet connection.
Even if we’re working at home every day, most people only deal with textual data, which doesn’t take much bandwidth.
Also, we definitely don’t 4K videos for any reason. Regular HD videos are already pretty clear.
And most of the time, watching dramas and movies in standard def resolution is still OK.
We really don’t need the excessively high resolution for videos.
Therefore, unless we need super-high bandwidth for work, we definitely can go for a lower-tier Internet plan.
Downloads can wait a bit and we can forego the 4K streaming.
Eat Out Less
Eating out less will save us a lot of money. We can buy food in bulk and make many deals with all the ingredients we’ve bought.
Also, we don’t need to eat 3 meals a day. Just eat when we’re hungry.
We aren’t going to run out of food in this world if production continues and supply chains are strong.
This can also save us money.
We can always as for a second opinion if we aren’t sure about how many meals we should eat.
Try Other Options When Eating Out
There’re many options when it comes to restaurant choices.
We can save money by thinking out of the box like trying ethnic food. They’re often more affordable than the regular restaurant chains and fancy restaurants that people go to.
They may even if more affordable than fast-food restaurants. The quality is often comparable to mainstream options, but the price is much lower.
If we go out to eat, then we got to think outside the box and try different things.
Buy Older Generation Electronics
Older and newer generation electronics aren’t that different. Things like cell phones, computers, etc. haven’t changed that much for the last few years.
Therefore, even if something is 2–3 years old, it’s still pretty much the same as the newest, shiniest gadgets.
It’s just that the older ones are much cheaper.
For instance, it’s pretty hard to tell the difference between the last few versions of Android.
They all look similar and do similar things. Android has really matured.
Also, developer machines can also live for a few more years. Many developers write CRUD apps that don’t take that many resources.
We can run Linux on Windows with Windows 10 as an app or as a full-fledged VM in the near future, so we don’t really need a Mac for running Linux programs.
Most apps are deployed to Linux VMs or containers, so we can just use Linux instead of Macs except in some rare cases.
Therefore, since PCs can run Windows and Linux, we can just use a PC that is much more affordable than Macs.
The performance is comparable and there’s no vendor lock-in.
It might not be as polished as a Mac, but we can forego that after comparing the price tags.
PCs are way cheaper than Macs for the same hardware.
Pay Off Credit Cards
Credit card balances are meant to be paid off every month. Never forget to pay off our credit card bills.
Otherwise, the interests and late fees will shock anyone looking at their bill.
The interest rate is often more than 10%, and it also is more than 20%.
Therefore, we got to remember to pay our credit card bill every month.
Conclusion
There’re lots of ways for developers to save money. We can choose older electronics.
We never need the newest phone since the hardware and software didn’t change that much in most cases.
Also, PCs are sufficient for most cases and it’s much cheaper than Macs.
Finally, the slower Internet is sufficient for most people. And cable TV isn’t all that useful for most people.
