Cost Analysis Calculator

How cost analysis works:

Buying large ticket items can be an overwhelming and stressful endeavor. This calculator is meant to take the stress out of your decisions or prove to yourself (or significant other) why they are worth it or aren’t worth it.

I’ve listed a few examples above. Let’s use them to analyze some large purchases.

Example #1:

All-Clad D3 Cookware Set

Cost: $700
Usage: 30 Minutes a day

The results put it into perspective how expensive All-Clad Cookware can be. If you only cook one meal from home a day, let’s say using a pan for 30 minutes.

If you use it for 30 minutes a day for 1 year, it costs $3.84 per hour.

I’m not sure about you but to me almost $4 an hour seems incredibly expensive.

However If you use it for 30 minutes a day for 20 years, it costs $0.19 per hour.

That is more tolerable, but still it sounds expensive to me!

However if you cook Breakfast and Dinner at home, and say use a combination of pots & pans for 2 hours a day, it might make a lot more sense.

Those results:

If you use it for 2 hours a day for 1 year, it costs $0.96 per hour.

If you use it for 2 hours a day for 20 years, it costs $0.05 per hour.

Much better. It’s all about how often you will use something, and how long it will last.

Example #2:

Thorogood American Heritage Work Boots

Cost: $225
Usage: 40 Hours a week (Used weekly hours, as most people work 5 days a week)

If you use it for 40 hours a week for 1 year, it costs $0.12 per hour.

If you use it for 40 hours a week for 5 years, it costs $0.02 per hour.

This jumps off the page to me as a great deal. I’d say on average Thorogood boots are expected to last at least 5 years, and if they do they are well worth their price tag.

Let’s say a pair of work boots from Walmart costs $150 and lasts 1 year.

The results would be:

If you use it for 40 hours a week for 1 year, it costs $0.07 per hour.

So those boots would cost you $0.07 in their lifetime.

If you were to use the Thorogood boots for just two years, you would have already gotten a better deal as they would cost $0.06 after two years. Not to mention other things like comfort and ankle stability which would be much better on the Thorogood boots.

Example #3

Now let’s try a very large ticket purchase.

John Deere X500 Riding Lawn Mower

Cost: $8000
Usage: 1 hour per week

If you use it for 1 hour a week for 1 year, it costs $153.85 per hour.
If you use it for 1 hour a week for 10 years, it costs $15.38 per hour.
If you use it for 1 hour a week for 20 years, it costs $7.69 per hour.

Ride on mowers aren’t what they use to be, so who knows how long a John Deere bought today will last.

However for the sake of argument let’s say that it would last 15 years.

You could probably hire someone to cut your lawn for $300 a year.

After 15 years the John Deere would have cost you $533 a year.

Hiring someone to mow your lawn for $300 a year for 15 years would have cost you $4500, a savings of $3500 (from the original $8000 purchase).

Cutting the lawn yourself also doesn’t take into consideration the cost of fuel, your own hourly wage and annual maintenance.

To me, unless you have an extremely large lawn, a brand new John Deere would not be worth it.