What is the true cost of those Black Friday "deals"?

Hi Indies,

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to buy something?

For example, what is the real cost of buying a $250 coffee maker on a Black Friday? Does that cost 250, or are there hidden fees?

As it turns out, if you count the present value of money, and how much you could've earned if you did not spend this money, the true cost of this simple and inexpensive coffee market over a lifetime is a $5,000. Crazy, right?

Personally, that sounds scary enough to stop me from buying anything, unless I can explicitly justify the value of using that item right now, and getting the most of it.

To make it easier to figure out what things actually cost, I made a GPT (using chat GPT), that uses a simple Present Value formula, with a 5% discount rate.

His name is Solvo, and if you want, you can use it for your own calculus here:

https://chat.openai.com/g/g-ZK8zdSiQT-solvo

If you want to adjust your discount rate, just ask the chat to change the rate. It makes it quite easy to see how money spent is worth so much more than money invested.

Anyway, enjoy. Let me know if you have questions, or suggestions, or whatever. Have a great weekend!