Cutting Back On The Costly
"So, concerning the things we pursue, and for which we vigorously exert ourselves, we owe this consideration — either there is nothing useful in them, or most aren't useful. Some of them are superfluous, while others aren't worth that much. But we don't discern this and see them as free, when they cost us dearly."
— Seneca, Moral Letters
Another interesting meditation today and cutting back on the costly things is something that many people have probably been thinking about during this cost of living crisis, with gas, electricity, fuel and food costs all rising significantly! People are shopping around for bargains more and more. There will be many people with monthly, quarterly and annual subscriptions for things that they don't make full use of and it's probably not financially worth it when they think about it and they will occasionally have a purge and cancel a few. What about the car you are driving around in. Is it an expensive gas guzzler just to get you to work and back and to do a bit of shopping and the odd day out etc; when something cheaper and more economical will do the same job? The list goes on.
When it comes to trading, do we need multiple screens which look great and the fanciest software with all it's bells and whistles? I have no problem trading, using one screen which I have Betfair live video feed bottom right and my trading software, on the left and the trading ladder across the middle of my screen. This is sufficient for me. I pay no monthly charges for my trading software (Geeks Toy) as I purchased a lifetime licence about 10 years ago for a one off fee of £120, which has been worth it's weight in gold and it does everything that I need it to do and it's also smooth and responsive in play.
The only regular subscription that I have for trading is to Proform Racing and I get a regular recurring 25% discount for this. I use Proform for my horse racing trading, so it is well worth it to me. I developed my L2b strategy based on Proform's stats/data and in my opinion, it's the best out there and more importantly it works for me! It is more expensive than others but I am a great believer in "you get what you pay for" and it still works out at less than a Costa coffee per day! If something pays for itself and more, then to me that is a no brainer.
Another no brainer is Sports IQ of course, at only £12 per month!
"Cutting back on the costly" is most definitely food for thought, with all the regular rises in water rates, council tax, gas, electricity etc.