Remember after 9/11 when Bush told us it was our patriotic duty to spend money to get the economy moving again? We did, and the economy rebounded. However, it does not look like that is going to happen again any time soon Consumer borrowing falls by $7.94B in November so it looks like the recession is going to last for awhile. Funny how an attack on our country does not instill the same fear in us as the thought of a recession.
David Chameides writes that we should Get on Board the Non-Consumption Train and give some serious thought to any purchases we make. He writes the article from a "green" point of view, but the tips he mentions are sound, especially when we are trying to save a different type of "green."
Just before Christmas, Best Buy had a great deal on a new TV system. It was a (all Sony products) 46" LCD, surround sound system, blu-ray dvd player, and "professional" (Geek Squad) installation for $2000 (with three years to pay it off.) Not a bad deal until I remembered that my 36" Sony still works great (and like my brother in law mentioned "it is a Sony so it will probably last for a long time" plus it weighs +250 lbs so where would I move it to anyway? Using some of David's suggestions, it will be a LONG time before I buy a new TV.
However, my neighbor suggested that I go out and buy "something" to give me incentive to get a job to pay it off! Maybe a new F-150 that my wife keeps telling me to wait on...
Monday, January 12, 2009
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2 comments:
Thanks for linking to David Chameides' article. He has some helpful questions we should ask ourselves before making a large purchase.
When the advertisements arrive in the Sunday newspaper, my husband is anxious to snatch the inserts from his favorite toy stores. He is looking for that "great deal" which he thinks he can't pass up. Not too long ago, he found that "great deal" and calculated it would only be $60 a month for three years, which doesn't sound so bad. However, in today's economy it is very hard to predict where we will be in three years, so we passed on the deal and decided to pay off other debts first. Did I mention my husband was permanently laid off from his job six days before Christmas? We made the right decision.
"Great deals" are great when we can afford them. I think we get caught up in the monthly cost and forget about the total expense.
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