Get Resource

Updated September 2026: in late 2020 I wanted the iPhone 12, found it over my budget and watched offers on the iPhone 11 while using my wife's Android phone. I have rewritten it into a practical guide to buying an iPhone on a budget in India.

My plan was to buy the new iPhone 12. At launch it was beyond my budget, and Apple introduced the iPhone 12 mini at the price the previous year's model had launched at. Meanwhile online shopping sites were running heavy discounts on the iPhone 11. I kept using my wife's Android phone while I decided.

What are the ways to buy an iPhone for less?

• Buy the previous model after a new launch, when Apple and retailers reduce its price.
• Wait for festive sales such as the big online sales around Diwali, when iPhones are often at their lowest prices of the year.
• Use bank offers and exchange: instant discounts on selected cards and trade-in value for your old phone can add up.
• Consider refurbished from sellers who give a proper warranty.

Is the smaller model a good way to save?

Not always. The iPhone 12 mini was cheaper than the 12 but had a smaller battery, and Apple discontinued the mini line after the 13 mini. Compare the cheaper model you are considering on battery life and storage, not only price.

How do you judge a discount?

Check the price history on a price tracker, compare the effective price after bank offers, and remember that the listed "original price" is often not what the phone was selling for. A genuine deal is a price below what the phone has typically sold for recently.

What about software support?

Apple supports iPhones for several years, but older models stop receiving major updates sooner. A phone that is one or two years old still has good support ahead of it. A much older discounted model may lose updates soon after you buy it.

Should you wait or buy now?

If your current phone works, waiting for a sale or the next launch usually saves money. If you need a phone now, the previous model with a bank offer is typically the best value. My own choice in 2020 was between exactly those two, and both are reasonable depending on how urgently you need the phone.

Keep reading

• Buying a Replacement Laptop Battery Online Safely
• iCloud vs Google One vs OneDrive: Compare Family Plans
• Why Apple Self Service Repair Is Still Missing in India

Updated September 2026: in June 2020, after a week of iterations, the onsite team sent entirely new requirements and my manager insisted the existing slides could be reused, when I knew they could not. I have rewritten it into advice on handling a manager's optimistic assumptions about reuse.

After many rounds of changes, I closed my version of the document and handed it on. The next day a long email arrived from the onsite team with a new team member added and new requirements. The week's work looked wasted: new solution slides were needed from scratch. My manager, as before, acted as if the existing slides would carry over. I knew they would not fit the new requirements and that fresh input would be needed from other teams.

Why do managers overestimate reuse?

Because from a distance, a deck is a deck. The details that make slides relevant to a specific client, such as scope, architecture and assumptions, are invisible unless you have built them. Estimating reuse is easy to get wrong for anyone not close to the content.

How do you show what can and cannot be reused?

• Map each new requirement to existing slides.
• Mark each: reusable as is, reusable with changes, or new.
• Estimate hours for the changed and new ones.

A one-page map makes the case far better than saying "none of it fits".

When should you raise it?

Immediately, before the first daily call on the new requirements. If the assumption of reuse goes into the plan, the timeline will be wrong from day one. Raising concerns in the recurring call, as I did, is right, but earlier and with the map is better.

How do you get fresh inputs quickly?

List exactly what you need from each team and ask the same day. Offer a short call rather than a long email. Teams respond faster to specific questions with a clear deadline.

How do you handle a new team member joining mid-way?

Brief them early with the requirement map and the history of changes. A new person on the thread often brings new expectations, and a short briefing prevents them restarting discussions that were already settled. Ask them what they need from offshore and by when, so their input shapes the plan rather than arriving as another late change.

Is the previous week's work really wasted?

Rarely entirely. Some structure, research or diagrams usually survive. Save the old version in the repository as well; the same content may fit another client later.

Keep reading

• Running a Client Review Call So Changes Surface Early
• Back From Leave After Someone Covered Your Work
• Finishing a Proposal Deck on a Tight Deadline

Updated September 2026: this 2020 post described being on vacation with my family when Covid-19 lockdowns began, worrying about my job until a teammate reassured me the team was busy with client work. I have rewritten it into practical steps for anyone worried about job security during a crisis.

I was on a long vacation with family when the pandemic spread across the country and our team was told to work from home until further notice. Being away, I had heard nothing from the office, and I anxiously called a teammate. He said the team was busy with work from client partners and there was no talk of job losses or salary cuts. The reassurance helped, and the unexpected time with family turned out to be restorative.

Where should you get reliable information?

From official company communications and your manager, not rumours on messaging groups. A trusted teammate, as in my case, is a good second source for how busy the team actually is. Busy teams with active client work are generally in a safer position than teams waiting for projects.

What signals should you watch?

• Your allocation: are you on billable client work, or unallocated?
• Company announcements: hiring freezes, delayed hikes or cost cutting.
• Client news: major clients pausing or cutting spending.
• Team changes: people moved off projects without replacements.

One signal alone means little; several together are worth acting on.

What can you do to improve your position?

Stay visibly allocated and useful: volunteer for client work, keep your status updates regular, and pick up skills your accounts need. If you are unallocated, ask your manager directly about upcoming opportunities rather than waiting.

How do you prepare without panicking?

Update your CV and online profile, build an emergency fund if you do not have one, and check what your insurance covers if it is tied to your employer. These steps cost little and make any outcome easier to handle.

What should you ask your manager?

Ask plainly what the outlook is for your team and your role, and what would make you more valuable in the coming months. Managers often cannot share everything, but a direct question usually gets a more useful answer than waiting for announcements.

Should you use time with family during a crisis without guilt?

Yes, while staying reachable for work. The weeks I spent with family during that period were among the most restful I had had in years. Anxiety about work does not improve your job security, and time spent with family is not a threat to it.

Keep reading

• Back From Leave After Someone Covered Your Work
• Thinking of Switching Jobs? Manager, Pay and Growth
• AI Agents For Small Business: Real Costs And Honest ROI

Updated September 2026: in March 2020 an onsite team ignored my reminders for weeks, then asked for documents the day before my leave. My manager asked me to send them, and in my out-of-office note I named the delivery lead as a backup contact without asking him first. He was surprised. I have rewritten it into advice on setting up backup contacts before leave.

After several reminder emails with no reply, the onsite team finally responded the day before my vacation, asking for supporting documents from my repository. I was annoyed and did not want to help, but my manager asked me to send them. I did, noting I would be away and that the team could contact my manager or the delivery lead who had been helping me. The delivery lead called within minutes, surprised to find himself named as secondary contact.

Why ask before naming a backup contact?

Because being named commits someone's time without their agreement. It can put them in an awkward spot with a stakeholder they have little context on. Asking first takes a two-minute message and turns an imposition into an arrangement they can prepare for.

What should a backup contact receive?

• A short note on the request, its status and what might come up.
• Links to the relevant documents and the repository.
• Who the stakeholders are and anything sensitive about the relationship.
• What decisions they can make and which should wait for your return.

How do you handle a stakeholder who ignored you for weeks?

Professionally, even if it is frustrating. Their silence was probably caused by their own priorities rather than disrespect. Send what is needed, mention your leave dates clearly, and keep a record of the earlier reminders in case the delay is questioned later.

What should your out-of-office message say?

Your return date, one named contact for urgent matters who has agreed, and a note that non-urgent items will be handled on your return. Avoid listing several people; it spreads confusion. Avoid promising to check email occasionally unless you actually intend to.

How do you repair it if you named someone without asking?

Apologise quickly and simply, explain the context, and send them the handover note. Most colleagues accept a genuine apology and a proper briefing. Next time, make the request before the out-of-office goes on, not after.

Keep reading

• Back From Leave After Someone Covered Your Work
• Running a Client Review Call So Changes Surface Early
• Escalated Over Unaddressed Review Comments? Respond

Updated September 2026: in February 2020 the leadership team kept requesting changes the day before submission, with calls running late into the night. I told the delivery person we would continue in the morning, and then offered to make what changes we could and leave the rest to them. I have rewritten it into advice on handling last-minute changes before a submission.

The call was already running late when more leadership changes arrived. I told the delivery person I would not make changes that night and we would pick them up first thing in the morning. The next morning he called before I was out of bed. I asked for time to log in, then called back and said we would make the changes we could; for the rest, leadership could decide whether to submit as it was or withdraw from the request. In the end we addressed as many suggestions as we could.

Is it reasonable to refuse late-night changes?

Usually, yes. Tired people make mistakes, and last-minute errors in a submitted document cost more than a delay of a few hours. Offering a specific time in the morning is not a refusal; it is a better plan. The exception is a genuine deadline that night, in which case the change list should be cut to what matters most.

How do you prioritise last-minute changes?

• Must fix: errors, wrong client names, incorrect figures.
• Should improve: clearer wording, better ordering, if time allows.
• Nice to have: new content, redesigned slides; usually drop these.

Share this list with the person who owns the submission and let them choose.

Who decides what gets left out?

The person accountable for the submission. My suggestion to let leadership decide between submitting as is and withdrawing was, in effect, handing the decision back to them. It is the right principle, but the tone matters. Framed as options rather than an ultimatum, it lands much better.

How do you stop last-minute changes happening every time?

Get leadership to review earlier. Schedule a leadership review two or three days before submission and make the final day for corrections only. When leadership sees the document for the first time on the last day, late changes are guaranteed.

What should you do after the submission?

Note what changed late and why, and share it with your manager. It gives them evidence to push for an earlier review next time. Last-minute changes are often a process problem, not a people problem.

Keep reading

• When Your Manager Assumes Old Slides Can Be Reused
• Finishing a Proposal Deck on a Tight Deadline
• Running a Client Review Call So Changes Surface Early

Updated September 2026: in January 2020 I drove an onsite review call, presented the slide flow I had built from my understanding of the client's needs, and the onsite team responded with entirely new requirements to be delivered in two days. I have rewritten it into advice on running a review call so that new requirements surface early.

Before the call I had worked on inputs from my manager and the delivery person, and I suspected the onsite team would discard some of them. I led the call, walking through the storyline and each slide. The onsite team acknowledged the slides, then set out new requirements and asked for everything within two days. The offshore team was taken aback, and the next morning we started again from scratch.

How should you structure a review call?

• Open with the objective: what the deck is for and what decision you need from this call.
• Confirm the client's requirements first, before showing any slides. This is where new requirements should surface.
• Walk the storyline, not every slide: the headline of each section and why it is there.
• Close with actions: what changes, who does it and by when.

Why confirm requirements before presenting?

Because the onsite team may have heard new things from the client since the brief. Asking "has anything changed on the client's side?" in the first five minutes can save a day of presenting work that is already out of date. In my call, the new requirements only emerged after the full walkthrough.

How do you respond to a large change in the call?

Do not agree to the timeline on the spot. Take notes, ask clarifying questions, and ask whether these are the client's final requirements. Then propose a timeline after a quick estimate with your team. Two days may be possible for part of the work, not all of it.

How do you research new requirements quickly?

Start with the repository for similar past work, then ask colleagues who have handled the topic. Write down the specific questions you need answered, and get them to the onsite team the same day, so answers arrive while you are still building rather than after.

What should the follow-up email contain?

The new requirements as you understood them, the agreed deliverables and dates, and any assumptions. Ask the onsite team to confirm. If the requirements change again, the email is your baseline.

Keep reading

• When Your Manager Assumes Old Slides Can Be Reused
• Finishing a Proposal Deck on a Tight Deadline
• Back From Leave After Someone Covered Your Work