The real total

The number on the tag is the smallest number in the story. This lesson builds the real total of a large purchase, which is the only number worth planning for.

The five extras

Getting it to you: delivery, collection, installation or fitting. Making it work: cables, cases, mounts, the first set of consumables. Keeping it: insurance or a warranty if you would actually buy one, servicing, the first year of running costs. Replacing what it replaces: disposal, recycling fees, or the loss on selling the old one. The thing it needs: the desk for the monitor, the rack for the bike, the bigger bag for the camera.

Write the price at the top of a page and list the five extras under it with an honest figure for each, even if it is a guess. Add them up.

What the total usually looks like

For most household purchases the extras add 15 to 30 percent. A 900 € laptop is often a 1 100 € purchase once the case, the adapter, the software and the extended cover are in. A 1 200 € sofa with delivery, protection and the disposal of the old one is closer to 1 400 €.

This is not a reason to avoid the purchase. It is the number you plan for, so the month it arrives does not also need to absorb the extras.

Fill in the planner

The large purchase planner has one line for the price, five for the extras and one for the total. Fill it in now for the thing you have in mind. Lesson 2 asks three questions about that total, and lesson 3 turns it into a date and a monthly amount.