STACK #196 Feb 2021

TECH LIFE

FEATURE LIFE TECH

1 Draw up a list of exactly what you need and, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz , don’t deviate from the pathway. 2 Research, research, research Make sure what you’re buying will do the job it needs to do. 3 “You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you just might find, you get what you need,” sang Mick Jagger in 1969. Take a leaf out of Mick’s book and plan for an alternative in case you can’t get the model you want. 4 Set a budget for each item on said list and, importantly, despite the ever present temptation to up it, stick to it like dog hair on a couch. 5 Marketing is designed to fire those desire receptors in your brain, so it requires Jedi-strength willpower to resist. Always buy what you really need and not what you really want. Tips for buying on a budget Well, I didn’t know that! The word budget derives from the French word bougette , which means leather bag, and was used as ‘budget’ as far back as the 15th century in England. 200 years later it would evolve to mean the contents of the leather bag. The modern financial interpretation comes from the 18th century, when the treasury minister would open his budget to reveal his fiscal plans.

Getting Set With Tech For Less

W ho doesn’t love a bargain? The beauty of buying tech on a budget is the plethora of options in the bargain basement bracket. Not everyone who buys a laptop will have the budget – or desire – to drop $2k on a top shelf model. And do you know what? In 2021, you don’t have to either. Affordable tech, whether it's a speaker, a tablet or even an air fryer, doesn’t necessarily mean a significant compromise in quality. With a bit of research, the savvy shopper can get just what they want at a fraction of the cost. With Christmas now a distant blur in the rear-view mirror, thoughts turn to getting stuck into the new year and negotiating the challenges ahead. For many of us ( STACK staff included) that will mean a continued period of working from home while events around the globe remain uncertain. As such, this might necessitate further investment to bring your home office up to speed so you can work as efficiently as possible in your PJs! The end of the silly season in Australia

generally sees a high level of relocation either through work, moving to get into a catchment area for a school, or because your grump of a landlord has hiked up the rent. Real estate agents report very high rental demands in January and February and with that comes the dreaded move, and the potential need to update the new home network or increase the TV size for a bigger living space. Again, this undertaking to furnish a home with new tech essentials on a budget is definitely achievable. And if you’re one of the many students preparing to set off to university for the first time this year, the excitement of new beginnings lies ahead. Alongside the requirement to kit out your accommodation with the bare basic living essentials is the need to make sure your tech inventory is ready to roll. This month, we look at the budget-busting tech options that will help kickstart your 2021 and leave your bank balance in the black.

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