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The no-pants guide to spending, saving, and thriving in the real world.

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-22

Misc

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-29

Misc

The Magic Toilet

Finance

Funny Toilet #1
Image by tokyofortwo via Flickr

My toilet is saving me $1200.

For a long time, my toilet ran.  It was a nearly steady stream of money slipping down the drain.  I knew that replacing the flapper was a quick job, but it was easy to ignore.  If I wasn’t in the bathroom, I couldn’t hear it.  If I was in the bathroom, I was otherwise occupied.

When I finally got sick of it, I started researching how to fix a running toilet because I had never done it before.  I found the HydroRight Dual-Flush Converter.  It’s the magical push-button, two-stage flusher.   Yes, science fiction has taken over my bathroom.   Or at least my toilet.

I bought the dual-flush converter, which replaces the flusher and the flapper.  It has two buttons, which each use different amounts of water, depending on what you need it to do.   I’m sure there’s a poop joke in there somewhere, but I’m pretending to have too much class to make it.

I also bought the matching fill valve.  This lets you set how much water is allowed into the tank much better than just putting a brick in the tank.   It’s a much faster fill and has a pressure nozzle that lies on the bottom of the tank.  Every time you flush, it cleans the inside of the tank.  Before I put it in, it had been at least 5 years since I had opened the tank.  It was black.  Two weeks later, it was white again.  I wouldn’t want to eat off of it, or drink the water, but it was a definite improvement.

Installation would have been easier if the calcium buildup hadn’t welded the flush handle to the tank.   That’s what reciprocating saws are for, though.  That, and scaring my wife with the idea of replacing the toilet.   Once the handle was off, it took 15 minutes to install.

“Wow”, you say?  “Where’s the $1200”, you say?  We’ve had this setup, which cost $35.42, since June 8th, 2010.   It’s now September.   That’s summer.  We’ve watered both the lawn and the garden and our quarterly water bill has gone down $30, almost paying for the poo-gadget already.   $30 X 4 = $120 per year, or $1200 over 10 years.

Yes, it will take a decade, but my toilet is saving me $1200.

Anchor Price Your Salary

Finance

Image by Dalboz17 via Flickr

Conventional wisdom says that, when negotiating your salary or a raise, you should make whatever crazy ninja maneuvers it takes to get the other person to name a number first.

Horse pellets.

Have you ever watched an infomercial?  Those masters of of impulse marketing geared towards insomniacs, invalids, and inebriates?

“How much would you pay for this fabulous meat tenderizer/eyelash waxer?  $399?  $299?  No!  If you call within the next 73 seconds, we will let you take this home for the low, low price of just $99.99!”

That’s the magic of anchor pricing.

The first number you hear is the number you will base all further numbers on.  If you hear a high number, other lower numbers will feel much lower by comparison.   The number doesn’t even have to be about money.

There was a study done that had the subjects compare a price to the last two digits of their social security numbers.   Those with higher digits found higher prices to be acceptable, while those with lower prices only accepted cheaper prices.

What does an infomercial marketing ploy have to do with your salary?

If you are negotiating your salary and your potential employer gives a lowball offer, every higher counteroffer after that will much, much higher than than it would otherwise.   On the other hand, if you start with your “perfect” salary, they amount you will be happy to settle for won’t seem to be nearly as high to the employer.   At the same time, you will be less likely to accept a lowball offer if you set your anchor price high.

For example, if you are looking to make $50,000:

The employer offers you $40,000.   $60,000 seems too high by comparison, so you counter with $50,000, then compromise and settler for $45,000.     Or, you could start at $60,000, making the employer feel that $40,000 is too low, so he counters with $45,000, leaving a compromise at $52,000.   That’s a hypothetical $7,000 boost, just for bucking conventional wisdom and taking a cue from the marketing industry.

How have you negotiated your salary?

Human Interaction

Business, Life

Life may be like a box of chocolates, but it is certainly not a game of Sorry, where one person wins at the expense of all others.   It is entirely possible for everyone to win in most voluntary interactions.

For example, if my company gives me a $10,000 raise, it would seem like I win and they lose.  I’m getting more money, at the expense of their bottom line, right?  Maybe.  But what if that raise spurs me on to make an extra $100,000 for the company?  That makes it a good investment and a Win/Win scenario.

When I’m dealing with one of my side-business customers or an advertiser, I’m definitely pushing for the Win/Win.   Of course I want them to pay me as much as possible, but I also want their repeat business, which won’t happen unless they walk away happy.   If I insisted that each of my customers pay the absolute top dollar, I may come out ahead in the short-term, but what about next month or next year?  It’s much better for both of us if we can find a happy middle ground.

The four basic forms of interaction are:

1.  Win/Lose.    This is where I win and you lose.  Haha!  The problem with a Win/Lose is that the loser isn’t going to come back to play next year.  He’s not happy and he’ll probably tell his friends how unhappy he is.   This is also the interaction that people are mistakenly assuming when they complain about excessive executive interaction.   The CEO is making a million dollars while the folks on the assembly line are stuck with $15 per hour?   It’s entirely possible that, if the CEO weren’t doing his job, nobody else would have one.   That is, like it or not, Win/Win.

2.  Lose/Win.   This is where I give up everything, hoping you’ll eventually throw me a bone.   It’s a cowardly interaction that won’t work well when dealing with someone playing #1.  I’ll keep giving, you’ll keep taking.  You go home happy, I go home sore.   When it’s done, I won’t do business with you ever again.

3.  Lose/Lose.  Nobody wins.   We fight so hard to get what we want, forcing the other side to give up as much as possible, while they are doing the same.   At the end of the day, the hatred is flowing so strong, there’s no possibility of a relationship.

4. Win/Win.  Yay!  Everybody wins!  Everybody’s happy!  This will involve some compromise, but hopefully we can reach the happy middle ground where we are both smiling.   If I’m looking for a deal that involves you paying me $1000 per month, is it better for me to push to get exactly that, or let myself get talked down to $750?   If the $1000 is more than you can afford, so you quit with hard feelings after one month, the ongoing $750 is much, much better for both of us.  It is actually in my greedy self-interest to give up that 25% to build our relationship.

Winning doesn’t have to be done at the expense of others.   If you do it right, we all win.

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Carnival Roundup

Misc

Live Real, Now was included in two carnivals last week:

Carnival Masqueraders in Trinidad and Tobago
Image via Wikipedia

Carnival of Personal Finance #348 hosted by Money Qanda

and

Yakezie Carnival hosted by 101 Centavos

Thanks to all of the hosts for including my posts.

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