Nagai Me De Miru

This weeks manga clip is from ツヨシもっとしっかりしなさい (Tsuyoshi motto shikkari shinasai) and demonstrates the use of the idiom "nagai me de miru." Literally, this can be translated as "look with a long eye" but in English, we would say, "look at it long term."

In this scene, Tsuyoshi's friend Kane is giving the family tips on lowering monthly expenses. Dialog is read from right to left.

Japanese:
あとこの冷蔵庫かなり古いヤツよね
オレが生まれた時からあるんじゃないかな
今の冷蔵庫は節電タイプがあるから長い目で見たら買い換えた方が電気代が得ね

Romaji:
Ato kono reizouko kanari furui yatsu yo ne.
Ore ga umareta toki kara arun jya nai kana.
Ima no reizouko wa setsuden taipu ga aru kara nagai me de mitara kaikaeta hou ga denki-dai ga toku ne.

Vocabulary Listing (definitions are contextual)
あと - after; later
この - this
冷蔵庫「れいぞうこ」- refrigerator
かなり - fairly; pretty
古い「ふるい」- old
ヤツ - thing (katakana indicates emphasis)
よ - adds exclamation; tone of criticism
ね - right?

オレ - male informal "I"
が - subject marker
生まれた「うまれた」- was born (dictionary form: 生まれる)
時「とき」- time (生まれた時 "the time I was born")
から - from
ある - exist
ん - abbreviation of のだ - indicates an explanation
じゃない casual form of ではありません - "did not"
かな - particle combination - "I think"

今の「いまの」- today's; modern
冷蔵庫「れいぞうこ」- refrigerator
は - topic marker
節電「せつでん」- conservation of electricity
タイプ - type
が - subject marker
ある - exist
から - because (therefore)
長い目で見たら「ながいめでみたら」- if you look at it long term (dictionary form: 長い目で見る)
買い換えた「かいかえた」- if you purchase a replacement (dictionary form: 買い換える)
方が「ほうが」- In this context X 方が Y indicates "doing X will result in Y which is better than Z" where X is buying a new, energy-efficient refrigerator and Y is a lower electric bill. Z, keeping the old refrigerator, is implied.
電気代「でんきだい」- electric utility expense
が - subject marker
得「とく」- profitable (more economical)
ね - right?; don't you think?

Sources
This clip is from page thirteen of book four of Nagamatsu Kiyoshi's (永松潔) Tsuyoshi Motto Shikari Shinasai (ツヨシもっとしっかりしなさい) and was published in March 1994 by Kodansha.

Links
Tsuyoshi Motto Shikari Shinasai on Wikipedia Japan
Nagamatsu Kiyoshi's Wikipedia Japan page
Kodansha's Home Page