Nickels and dimes

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Rich
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Nickels and dimes

Post by Rich »

Not so much on this forum, but I am amused by folks I see looking to save minuscule (in relative terms) amounts on various options related to flying (Stratux vs Stratus, free EFB software, etc.) I almost got caught up in this a couple of days ago. My FF subscription is up for renewal in a couple of days. So I was thinking maybe I should remove Canada from my subscription. It's $100/year. There is still a low probability I'll want to fly up there sometime, but it's looking less likely in the short term (we're personae non grata in Canada right now). But then I realized 1t $100/year it constitutes maybe 1.5% of my predictable flying overhead for a year. And way less than my overall flying expenses for any given year.

I'll keep it as it is.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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TomJ
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by TomJ »

Hmm... I agree with your general point, but in my case I do think about hundred dollar incremental expenses because if I didn't there are enough such cases that they could add up. For the example you cited, if you do suddenly have a need for the Canada subscription you could purchase it then. I have a ForeFlight ProPlus subscription (primarily for the geo-referenced plates) but just can't justify the Performance Plus subscription even though I do fly a lot of longish flights.
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by TimS »

Enough nickels together and you have a dollar or two.
They really do add up.

Tim
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Rich
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by Rich »

In contrast to other things, that $100 is nothing - a rounding error. And it'd take a lot of them to rival other expenses. For example, sometime soon I'll likely replace my iron-gyro AI with one of the electronic solutions. This will be something close to $3K. That's 30 years worth of $100/year items.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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AndrewM
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by AndrewM »

Perhaps not a popular thing to say, but when I saw some folks on forums talking about CV-19 to try and squeeze vendors to save a month or two on subscriptions such as FF I thought that was a little opportunistic and cheap.

Sure, many of us have not been flying as much... but every single person who can afford to either rent or have their own plane as their recreation / hobby should be generous right now of all times to others (professional student pilots have a free pass to be cheap!)...
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thefoxx
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by thefoxx »

To some people $100.00 is just a nickle or not even a penny - but to others, that $100 is significant - especially since it is literally 10 seconds of your time to just not have that section of the Foreflight active - and when you need it, just purchase it!

But to each their own! I am in Canada, and still also pay for the USA charts even though I'm probably not going to be able to use them for the near future, just like you!
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by Steve »

I've always been, shall we say, thrifty. I probably couldn't have purchased my airplane if I weren't. The biggest area I try to economize is maintenance costs, by owner-assisted annuals, sourcing parts (when possible) from sources other than the aircraft manufacturer, etc. But, on the other hand, I'm not getting any younger, and I have enough funds to last me and my airplane longer than I'll be flying it, so I don't sweat the small stuff...
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Rich
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by Rich »

The $100 I refer to is in the context of my situation. I just spent $700 for a set of plugs. Annual next week (what with a few specific items) will likely cost me another $1000. Every time I drive to the airport and back to go flying costs me several dollars in fuel. (If the standard mileage cost are to be believed it's actually about $15.00 each time in the long run.)

Like Steve, having exercised selective parsimony and benefiting from a succession of "right place, right time" choices over my lifetime this $8.33/month is not meaningful at all.

What's interesting to me is the guy who'll spend $50K on a panel overhaul and then crow about using a "free" (to him - somebody else is footing the costs) EFB app and dissing anyone foolish enough to actually use a paid subscription app.
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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danno2000
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by danno2000 »

AndrewM wrote: Fri Jul 24, 2020 1:42 am Perhaps not a popular thing to say, but when I saw some folks on forums talking about CV-19 to try and squeeze vendors to save a month or two on subscriptions such as FF I thought that was a little opportunistic and cheap.

Sure, many of us have not been flying as much... but every single person who can afford to either rent or have their own plane as their recreation / hobby should be generous right now of all times to others (professional student pilots have a free pass to be cheap!)...
I respect that view, although Boeing-owned Foreflight, Boeing-owned Jeppesen, and Garmin wouldn't be at the top of my list of organizations to be generous to.

Even car-insurance companies -- not exactly the most-loved of institutions -- were somewhat proactive in offering discounts/refunds of premiums when people weren't driving. Boeing could've gotten some much-needed positive publicity by doing the same with its subscription services.

I'm extremely frugal in just about every area of life except aviation. I'm not mechanically savvy so I pay up for the maintenance work to keep me alive. But I've still been known to fly a bit out of my way to save a buck a gallon on avgas, and I demand value for the things I pay for.

best,
dan
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Rich
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Re: Nickels and dimes

Post by Rich »

My car-insurance company sent a refund of 15% of a pro-rated 2 months of premiums: $24 :D
2002 DA40-180: MT, PowerFlow, 530W/430W, KAP140, ext. baggage, 1090 ES out, 2646 MTOW, 40gal., Surefly, Flightstream 210, Orion 600 LED, XeVision, Aspen E5
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