What is, “Tech ‘on the cheap’”?

Origins for my upcoming “Tech ‘On the Cheap’” blog series. (Edit: I’ve officially abandoned this idea. Read why, here.)

AI generated image from the prompt: “Engineer’s Dilemma: The age-old answer, it depends.”

Early in my career, I ran across RFC-1925 — The Twelve Networking Truths. While meant to be humorous, there is truth to the statements therein.

Never in my professional career have I been given a blank check and infinite time to do whatever. There is always a concrete goal or deliverable that I have to meet. The deadline is always too soon, the scope is too large, and I don’t have enough resources.

(9) For all resources, whatever it is, you need more.

As engineers, we’re constantly faced with constraints that force us to make trade-offs. The solution to a technical problem often depends on which aspects are most critical.

Given these challenges, we navigate projects with limited resources, tight deadlines, and evolving technology. This brings us to another important principle from RFC-1925:

(7a) (corollary). Good, Fast, Cheap: Pick any two (you can’t have all three).

[Evidence to support rule 7a] AI generated image “fast and cheap” via AWS Bedrock playground.

Since I’m working on smart home and nerdy projects, I don’t have a big IT budget to purchase the professional tools and equipment that I’m used to. That’s forced me to filter first for “cheap” and then make the trade off between “good” and “fast”.

My successes and lessons learned from working within a tight budget serve as the basis for the “On The Cheap” stories. The core philosophy is simple: Just because you’re working with limited funds doesn’t mean you can’t create something impressive and functional. It just takes a bit more creativity, patience, and willingness to experiment. I’m excited to share what I’ve learned from years of bootstrapping my way to success.