Don't Underestimate Upkeep Cost on Five Common Purchases

Jeffrey Strain mentions the importance of considering "lifetime" cost of purchases and provides five common purchases with greater "upkeep" cost than you might estimate. These include: homes (insurance, utilities, lawn and house maintainence), cars (gasoline, repairs and insurance), pets (food, health care, toys), printer (ink cartridges primarily) and razors (blades or blade cartridges).

I love having a nice home, a dependable car, loving dogs and a computer which allows me to print off exams and other things at home. I will admit, however, that it would be much easier to live frugally with an apartment, a bus pass, no pets and doing all my computer work at school.