Just the other day one of my family members was complaining that their computer was really slow. As a result, they asked me how much it would cost to upgrade it as their machine is literally almost 8 years old. Now since I knew that they only used it for word processing and the Internet, there was no real reason to buy a new computer.

So, I went over to check out it and sure enough it took horrendously long to boot up as well as doing simple stuff such as browsing the web. I told them that they could probably buy a new machine for about $400 or so which would be way better than what they have, but I mentioned that I could probably speed it up.

I then did the most basic things such as uninstalling programs that they never use as well as disabling unnecessary programs that boot up in the beginning. Not surprisingly, everything then booted up lightning fast and they mentioned that it seemed even faster than when they first bought it. They were happy that they didn’t have to spend more money too.

That goes to show that many times instead of spending an enormous amount of money buying brand new things, it doesn’t hurt to ask someone who is knowledgeable about the item to see if all you need is a little tune up here and there to get things performing to an acceptable level.

For a lot of things like a toothbrush they normally have these recommended amount of days where you should replace the product despite if you think you can get more out of it. I know most people usually never follow those either as a way to save money as they usually question whether or not that date is simply a way to get you to keep buying more faster.

I think for myself the only type of items that I pretty much do follow when it comes to expiry dates are for say certain food and beverage products that have a best before date. Then again, I guess that can be a little different as those are not a how many uses type of deal.

For wear and tear on a product I personally usually do just go based on what I see/feel as oppose to what the box says personally.