I was thinking about this (sometimes I daydream) recently but it seems like there are a few different ways to measure manufactured spending (MS) and in turn determine if an opportunity is worth it or not.
1) The main one seems to be cents per mile (CPM) which means the goal is to get a steep discount but you're probably still paying a little in exchange for miles.
2) A few people seem to treat MS as a side business and think in terms of buying inventory and then selling it at a profit. I suppose miles could still be the goal but these folks are also trying to not lose money. Perhaps CPM matters less?
3) A third option is looking at MS as an investment. If someone invests X dollars into a deal then what is the return on that investment? Maybe someone who takes this approach would set a cutoff and only take deals that have a good chance of returning above a certain %. I would think miles would matter less as the goal is to maximize return.
The reason I bring all of this up is because I've recently started tracking my MS as an investment (option 3). I'm not interested in miles/points right now since I already have a lot built up. Instead I'm treating MS as a money making opportunity. I'm currently at 12% for the year which provides motivation to continue working at this (I'd take 12% in my other investments anyday). Also I think this provides a good measure of how well or how poorly I'm doing.
Maybe this is all basic to you but I think the way we approach MS will impact the choices we make. Thoughts? What metric do you measure MS with?
1) The main one seems to be cents per mile (CPM) which means the goal is to get a steep discount but you're probably still paying a little in exchange for miles.
2) A few people seem to treat MS as a side business and think in terms of buying inventory and then selling it at a profit. I suppose miles could still be the goal but these folks are also trying to not lose money. Perhaps CPM matters less?
3) A third option is looking at MS as an investment. If someone invests X dollars into a deal then what is the return on that investment? Maybe someone who takes this approach would set a cutoff and only take deals that have a good chance of returning above a certain %. I would think miles would matter less as the goal is to maximize return.
The reason I bring all of this up is because I've recently started tracking my MS as an investment (option 3). I'm not interested in miles/points right now since I already have a lot built up. Instead I'm treating MS as a money making opportunity. I'm currently at 12% for the year which provides motivation to continue working at this (I'd take 12% in my other investments anyday). Also I think this provides a good measure of how well or how poorly I'm doing.
Maybe this is all basic to you but I think the way we approach MS will impact the choices we make. Thoughts? What metric do you measure MS with?