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Someone offers you a free puppy. Free is free, right? Add up the first year and it comes to about $650 — and none of that was the puppy.
When you buy something, the number on the label is only the first thing you pay. Lots of things keep asking for money long after you get them home.
A bike needs a lock, and a helmet, and a new inner tube when you hit something sharp. A games console needs games. A pet needs feeding every single day for years.
Grown-ups have a name for this. They call it the cost of ownership — everything the thing costs you across the whole time you own it, not just the moment you get it.
Your neighbour's dog had puppies and they're giving one away. It costs nothing. Press to add up what the first year actually looks like.
Ask two questions, not one. Not just what does it cost? but what will it keep costing?
The puppy was genuinely free. So why did the first year come to about $650?
Some costs happen once and are done. Others return, over and over, for as long as you own the thing. Sort these.
Tap an item, then tap where it belongs
Here's the trick that makes repeating costs visible: whenever someone tells you a price per month, multiply it by twelve before you decide anything.
$5 a month is $60 a year. $8 a month is $96. $25 a month — the puppy's food — is $300.
Nothing changed except the units. But $300 feels like a decision and $25 feels like nothing, which is exactly why prices get advertised by the month.
Two apps do the same job. One costs $40 once. The other costs $4 a month. You'll use it for two years. Which costs less?
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Puppy first-year costs are illustrative US mid-range estimates: food about $25/month ($300/year), first-year vaccinations and a check-up about $250, starter kit about $60, toys about $40 — roughly $650 in total.