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by perryizgr8 1780 days ago
> remote server for about 8 years now

> I did not have the money for a new laptop

> I could afford the ~55/month for a dedicated server with 32GB and 4cores

Umm... you spent 55128 = ~$5000 over 8 years. You could have bought 3 top-specced laptops. A good $1500 laptop will last at least 2-3 years. You would also get some resale value out of your laptop when you upgrade.
3 comments
JoeQuery 1780 days ago
It hasn't been the same remote server for 8 years :) I don't pay for a server like that anymore now that I'm employed full time and one is provided for me.

And I was barely coming out of homelessness at the time. 1500 doesn't just pop out of nowhere.

You did just remind me of the time when I was contracting for that company, they flew me out to California but I didn't have enough money on my card to cover the incidentals fee at the hotel they booked for me. Thankfully an employee came through for me. That was pretty embarrassing.

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theshrike79 1780 days ago
But the thing is, if I have $60 extra money on my account RIGHT NOW, how long would I need to save to get a laptop?

I can get a $55/mo dedicated server right now and code for 30 days straight and get paid. Or I can save for X months for a laptop.

Also the server price will most likely go down over the years or I could get a beefier one for the same money. The laptop will depreciate every day.

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p1necone 1780 days ago
I'm not sure why you're phrasing that math as if it somehow shows it was a bad idea. It is in fact possible to be able to afford a small monthly cost, but not have enough in the bank to immediately drop ~$1500 on a laptop, especially if you're just starting your career.

According to you they paid roughly the same amount as it would have cost to buy laptops and upgrade them relatively frequently, but amortized over much smaller monthly installments.

And their system would have been elastically upgradeable.

On top of that holding on to money and spending it later is generally better than spending it now, because $X is usually worth > X future $ because of inflation/lost ability to invest.

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