How do you do the math?

[scrivelry]

People can be very creative in financing things they really want or need. I remember a couple from my college days who had a miniscule food budget. When they ran out of food money, they went to McDonalds and listed it as "entertainment."

So, when it comes to buying a pen, how do you do the math? Specifically:

1. What exactly do you include in the cost of the pen?

2. How do you calculate what sort of after-purchase expense is justified?

3. Do you manage to shift any of this from the pen budget to some other budget line?

4. If it comes with extras, do you account for that?

For example, SBRE Brown seems to discuss the price of a pen as the price by itself.

1.) I count the price of a pen I buy through the mail as the price, plus postage - whatever it took to get that pen into my hot little hands. If there is tax, I include that.

On the other hand, in a grand sweep of illogic, if I paid 73.42 in tolls, parking and gas on top of the purchase price in order to buy the pen in person, none of that counts. It's just the price and tax.

I expect any vintage pen I buy to need a sac, but I do not include that in the price of the pen when I buy it. I think buying sacs is some dirty little habit of mine, or something.

2.) I have not had a pen repaired by someone else, or a nib re-tipped, or purchased a new nib for a pen but to me the logical way to think that through is "I think this pen should be worth XX of my money (No one else's - these decisions are different for us all and often defy logic) and therefore if I can get it for YY and pay no more than ZZ to get it in running order, totaling no more than XX, then I should be pleased with myself." Not that I have got this far yet, but I can see it coming at me like a train... And all of that would figure into the price of the pen. And the postage. And the tax. But not the travel costs, because, well, see above.

3.) If I had a pen budget, I would put the cost the of the pen itself, the shipping, and any tax on the pen line. I would put driving, parking, tolls, etc on something else - probably mental health. (I love to drive.) I would do this even if the pen was the only reason I drove the miles. (It's never only one thing - you can always drag in something else...)

However, I don't have a pen budget, which is convenient, because that means I can never go over it...

cough

And I pay no attention the picture of General Kitchener or whatever other do-dads they throw in, financially. I may like them, but they don't affect my prospective accounting. If I did it. Which I don't. But...

How do you do the math?

[jar]

I don't do the math.

[mhosea]

I think you should ask yourself what you need to keep track of and why. Then keep track of it. However, if you just want to throttle your pen-related expenses, then the cost of the pen may be a usable proxy figure, even though the total out-of-pocket expense is higher.

[ac12]

I count ALL expenses to getting a pen part of the cost of a pen; pen, tax, shipping, etc.
That is why I don't drive far to get one.
That is also why I loose most of my UK bids on eBay. The shipping to the US is factored into my max bid, and that puts the UK guy ahead of me.

I presume that ALL sack pens will need to be resacked. So that is a $2 sac + few cents for talc and shellac.
My time to do that...well for now it is not factored in.

I have not figured out how to account for the AW SH*T mistakes that I have made that destroys the pen.

[scrivelry]

I don't actually keep track of any of this - it is more for deciding what I am willing to pay for a pen. But I do think about it from time to time.

[Waski_the_Squirrel]

Postage and whatnot are all part of the cost of the pen. But, I put the pens into a larger category of "fun" expense, unless I choose to save for something specific, in which case the fun fund goes toward that specific pen or whatever it is I'm looking at.

[caribbean_skye]

when buying a pen I take postage and tax into consideration. However in my personal notes about the pen, the price paid for pen is listed separately from shipping and taxes.

[Jeph]

I don't do the math.

This

[RuiFromUK]

I cannot afford to do the math.

If I did the math I would have realised I couldn't afford some of the pens I have bought.

[Laura N]

What is the value of happiness?

[johnus]

May be simplistic and inaccurate, but I look at purchases in terms of "cost per tank of gasoline". If an item that I'm thinking of buying cost less than a 'tank of gasoline' it's usually a done deal.
Other words... 10days a tank of gas, 10days indulgence.

[Cob]

May be simplistic and inaccurate, but I look at purchases in terms of "cost per tank of gasoline". If an item that I'm thinking of buying cost less than a 'tank of gasoline' it's usually a done deal.
Other words... 10days a tank of gas, 10days indulgence.

Here in England, If I go to a "chain" restaurant and have a half-reasonable meal, a glass of a wine and a coffee, then with tip, it will cost me more than a half-reasonable Swan. Enough said I suppose.

Cob

[Rusty888]

I use the whole expense. Price shipping or parking to pick up. Plus you forgot the extra bottle of ink you need to buy for your new pen

[pajaro]

Why do you care about any of this?

The concept of a pen budget infers that you are on a regular course of buying pens. As in so much budgeted per month and you spend it on pens on a regular basis. As if it's a regular process of acquiring whatever can be bought for the money. I don't see the fun in this.

I got the most enjoyment out of my pens when I bought one about every few years.

1970 a Parker 51 and a Parker 45 Flighter.

1972 a Cross ballpoint.

1975 a Sheaffer C/C Imperial.

1977 a Sheaffer Dolphin Touchdown and a couple of Sheaffer Imperial Touchdown desk pens with marble bases, all at a closeout.

1978 on, started picking up Parker 51s at yard sales.

1980 Cross fountain pen, 10K gold filled.

1983 bought a Montblanc 146 and a red 144, plus two 164 ballpoints.

1990 bought another Montblanc 144 red.

I used these pens and had a lot of enjoyment from them for years. I bought occasional Parker 51s at yard sales and flea markets and stored them.

I had a lot of enjoyment from these few quality pens. Then I found serious pen collecting, and I have had fairly little enjoyment from pens since. It's time to sell them. I don't write much any more, and it's no fun, just a compulsive bunch of buying that has lost its sparkle. I think collecting and constant acquisition are the kiss of death.

[Runnin_Ute]

I don't strictly keep an accounting of those dollars spent on pens, ink paper and the like.

That being said I do keep an inventory of my pens on the Fountain Pen database available for download at FPN.
Each record has a field for pen cost and shipping cost. The pen cost is just that - I paid $15.50 US for my P45 Flighter and it goes to that field. I paid $5.80 for shipping. When I refer to what I paid it is usually the former, but occasionally the shipped cost depending on context. Some pens I don't know the individual component costs. For example I paid $120 USD shipped for my Pelikan 120 M & K and Pelikan M205 in Toledo Red together. I don't know the prices of shipping and what I paid for each pen. So I just say I paid $60 each shipped.

[LagNut]

I really don't do the math. What I do is have s budget, which is related to gas and restaurant meals, and then figure what fun I can have with that sort of outlay.

That's translated to nib purchases, lately. I have fun inks and paper.

But I don't figure out the cost. I've deferred gratification most of my life, and pens are a cheap indulgence.

At least that's my justification. And when it ceases to be fun, on to the next. I've had ample example that life is finite, and I have no desire to delay small pleasures.

[Kaputnik]

I include postage, sales tax, and anything else that I may actually have to pay to get the pen.

I look at different dealers. Some of my Japanese pens were bought from Ebay or even Amazon dealers who were selling pens for much, much, less than American ones who are known to be reliable. In those cases I assume that I'll be able to handle any nib tweaking that might be necessary.

In the case of vintage pens, unless I'm buying from someone who is known to do a reliable job of restoring pens before selling them, I assume that I'll have to restore it myself or pay someone extra to do that. I factor that in.

Right now I have some other obligations and needs which are more important than indulging my hobbies. I look at the spreadsheets detailing what I've spent on pens, inks, and accessories, and use that to talk myself out of buying anything more at present.

[00Photo]

I ask myself, is this cheaper than professional psychiatric help. So far the answer has always been yes.

[Jon Szanto]

http://i1.cpcache.com/product_zoom/1295778339/4_out_of_3_people_struggle_with_math_tshirt.jpg?he ight=250&width=250&padToSquare=true

[pajaro]

http://i1.cpcache.com/product_zoom/1295778339/4_out_of_3_people_struggle_with_math_tshirt.jpg?he ight=250&width=250&padToSquare=true

Excellent!

[Tracy Lee]

I cannot afford to do the math.

If I did the math I would have realised I couldn't afford some of the pens I have bought.
Amen. This. Because math? LOLOLOLOLOL[emoji3] I'm so bad at math my husband calls it "Tracy Math". Lord knows where I would be if I did the math on a lot of things.

[Crazyorange]

I cannot afford to do the math.

If I did the math I would have realised I couldn't afford some of the pens I have bought.
Amen. This. Because math? LOLOLOLOLOL[emoji3] I'm so bad at math my husband calls it "Tracy Math". Lord knows where I would be if I did the math on a lot of things.

Good thing you're not an engineer. Rockets would be going all over the place. ;)

[ainterne]

I have very strict rules about budgeting for pens. It's just that I break them all the time :-( .. I cant tell you how many times I have said, "right, thats the last pen I buy this month", and then 10 mins later one of my macro's announces there is a new pen available somewhere that matches my criteria...l@#$@#$#

I do keep all my pen dealings from one account. The only criteria about purchasing is, can I sell the pen for the same or more than I paid for it, unless they are new pens of course. Does that always work? Hell no....

[Hawk]

All of my pen purchases come from one account. It's easy because I only have one account.

[VertOlive]

Well, to the original question, I just think of it in terms of pen, convertor, and shipping as the total price of the pen. There's nowhere hereabouts to drive to and buy in person.

I do set a little aside each paycheck and sell a pen occasionally so I have a small pen cash stash-- so when I do buy a pen, it doesn't bounce the rest of our checks for the month!

[Sammyo]

My wife tells me if it's OK or not, I keep it simple that way :)

[Silverbreeze]

My wife tells me if it's OK or not, I keep it simple that way :)
Not married but logic seems sound to male brain