Shopping for expensive items can be a tense, frustrating experience. You’re never sure you’re choosing the best product or getting the best deal. Jason recently wrote looking for help:
After reading some Consumer Reports blogs, particularly about vacuum cleaners, I came across a comment about “staying within your budget” when you’re trying to decide what vacuum to buy.
My question is: How do you budget for occasional necessary expenses? You had a post recently about thinking in annual terms instead of monthly, and that really helps with automotive maintenance. But if you’re only buying a vacuum every 5 or 10 years, how do you know how much is a good amount to spend? Where does it fit in your budget? It’s not groceries!
Meanwhile, Nick wrote with another problem people face while shopping:
I would like a new televison. I have wanted one for several years. Mine is a little 19″ thing that is at least 20 years old.
I have gone out shopping for a TV multiple times. I look at barebone TVs and don’t care for them much. There is always one that is just a little bit better or a little bit bigger for $20 or $30 dollars more. I start by looking at the $300 models, but eventually I’m looking at a 46-inch flatscreen for $2200. That’s just too much money. So, I just leave.
This happens to me all the time. It happens when I’m shopping for computers (“oh, another gig of RAM is only $20!”), it happens when I’m shopping for power tools (“this cordless drill has an oscillation overthruster!”), and it even happens when I’m looking at cars or houses. (I’ve heard many people confess that they start looking for a home in a certain price range, but then end up paying more than they had intended.)
So, what is the best way to shop for occasional big-ticket expeneses? How can Jason decide where a vacuum cleaner fits in his budget? How can Nick decide which television to purchase?
Here are some personal guidelines I use to steer my shopping:
- Know what you want before you start. If you’re buying a vacuum cleaner, what are you going to use it for? What features do you need in a television? What features do you want? Before our trip to England last summer, I decided to buy a digital camera. I jotted a quick wishlist: wide-angle lens, large display, easy-to-use menu, good video quality. Some of these items (like wide-angle lens) were much more important than others.
- Set a budget. Ideally, you’d set a budget for your purchase before you started shopping. That’s not realistic. You can’t know how much a dishwasher costs until you actually look at a few. But once you have a sense of the landscape, decide how much you’re willing to spend. If you don’t set a budget to start, it’s easy to succumb to “desire inflation”. When shopping for my digital camera, I had a budget of $300.
- Research your options. Once you’ve created a features list and a budget, search for options that meet your requirements. In most cases, Consumer Reports is a great place to start. Your local public library probably has a copy of the annual Consumer Reports Buying Guide. But don’t discount the web. I often do product research through Amazon.
- Make a selection. Once you’ve done your research, you’ll probably find one or two items that seem most promising. (There’s rarely one perfect choice.) I tend to write down the manufacturer and model number of my top three choices before I move on to the next step. Last year, I was able to narrow my choices down to two camera models, both of which were within my budget.
- Compare prices. Now that you have a shortlist, begin researching prices. Again, check Amazon. Check other online vendors. Check your local stores. Don’t forget to consider used or refurbished items.
- Make the purchase. Once you find the best source for the item you want, buy it. Be confident that you’ve researched price and features so that you know you’re getting a good deal.
- Protect your investment. The older I get, the better I am about saving warranty information and boxes. (If we had a smaller house, I’d only save boxes for a couple weeks. Because we have space above the garage, I save them forever.) A little foresight when you buy a product can save a lot of headache down the road.
What about you? How do you shop for those occasional big-ticket items? If you were in the market for a new vacuum cleaner or a new television, how would you go about it? How would you set a budget? How would you shop?
I often use amazon as well after checking Consumer Reports and other review sites. One thing I would add is to also focus on the user reviews/customer comments. There have been several items that got good “editorial” reviews, but when I checked the user reviews on amazon, there were often practical problems noted by consumers that caused me to opt for a different product.
loading....
One thing I would add into consideration is how much extra money different versions of the product will require in peripherals. If Nick buys that 46″ wide screen, he’ll then probably want a blu-ray player instead of his old dvd player, and countless other hi-def add-ons. If someone is looking at cars, they should remember that not only is that sports car more expensive, it probably also recommends higher octane gasoline.
Don’t just look at the up front cost for the item, make sure you consider additional related costs.
loading....
It’s kind of a joke around our house, but pretty much any purchase of an expensive item gets me physically sick. This is especially true for things that you just know there will be something out in six months that will mop the floor of anything you buy today, like computers, cell phones, televisions, or if it involves negotiating a deal like a car purchase, etc. I find that even doing everything mentioned in the article still leaves me feeling like I got ripped off, or I could have gotten a better deal “if only” I’d waited or did more research or whatever. I’ve gotten better over the years, but I’ll probably never be able to just go in and buy a TV, new furniture, or new computer without feeling I’m somehow getting shafted. What I will say is that the advice in the article is spot on in that you have to focus on knowing what you need, then buying the item to fit that need, then focus more on using the item for the need rather than turning around and holding it up to something you could have gotten a while later. For example, I’d rather be maximizing the use of my digital camera than bitching about why I didn’t get the one with 10 megapixals versus 7.2.
loading....
I’m a perfectionist, so if I did what I would consider adequate research, I’d never buy anything. This does actually save me quite a bit of money. I just bought my first digital camera this spring, so I was able to get a much better camera for much less money than if I’d been an early adopter. When I finally do buy something, I need to limit my options, so I usually decide where I’m going to buy it first and then choose from what they have. By then, I’ve done enough research to have at least a general feel for which brands are more reliable and which features are most important to me.
loading....
I am actually the opposite when it comes to these purchases – I like to spend more for an item if I know it will outlast a cheaper version. I usually look for reliability of a brand name and then go for the model within an acceptable price range.
loading....
Does anyone know a good way to shop for things like mattresses? That one’s got me stumped, and a futon mattress just isn’t doing it for me anymore. But $1,000-$2,000 is a lot of money to come up with, even if it is a good investment.
loading....
we have a “big ticket fund.” we put $100 a month into it . we’re young and broke and we don’t have a lot of “grown up” home furnishings- there are some things we will need to buy (and buy new) in the next five years (a mattress leaps immediately to mind. it’s one of those things i just can’t bring myself to buy used.) so when the time comes to buy the item, we will have the money ready. I think a really good thing to do is decide six months before you are going to buy it what it is you want and how much you can spend. so let’s say that my mattress is going to be an expenditure of $400. Now, I know that there are many mattresses out there, so I would wait until I found out about some closeout sale or something. I’d read the circulars weekly. and when I finally found the deal I wanted, I’d pounce. I think time is your best ally in these big ticket purchases- anticipating what it is you want and buying when the time is right, instead of waiting and having to pay a premium.
Most big ticket items i have no problem buying used. one of our biggest mistakes- before we went frugal- was to buy a brand new dyson vac full-price. i could just cry when i see the same thing listed on craigslist for 1/5 of the price.
loading....
Big purchases are researched to death in our house. We use consumer reports and whatever online reviews we can find.
No specific budget, but we have a very healthy slush fund in our 1% savings account.
Rule of thumb is to buy a middle-of-the-road product for best value. We will buy from Craigslist, ebay, or another source of nused goods when it is feasible. We will spend more if something is important to us (such as the mattress we bought last year.)
RE: the mattress, after some research we concluded that the hallmark of a good mattress is the weight of the springs. That and comfort led us to our ultimate choice. It was not cheap, but I thank Jimmy for that mattress every night.
loading....
I agree with Beth that I like Consumer Reports and Amazon.com. One of the things I like to focus on at Amazon is the negative comments. In fact I used to frequently sort “from lowest to highest” when they had that feature because the negative comments are often the most specific and useful.
I’m particularly looking for any negative comments to be about issues that I don’t care about. Or sometimes the problem seems clearly to be with the user and not the product or service. You’ll also relatively often see a negative comment being comparative, “This had a flimsy plastic housing, much less less durable than Product Y, which I also have.” That helps find similar products.
And truth be told, I don’t trust that positive comments weren’t written by shills for the company. I like to check the history of the user and see if they have commented on other products (or if only products from one company) and if their other comments seemed candid.
As to whether I spend a bit more for a better product, I probably do. For electronics, I really scour the net for feedback, check Consumer Reports, think about features I want. I try to buy products I’ll be happy with for a long time.
The only other really expensive thing I buy is probably firearms, and I read up for a long time about them as well. Unlike electronics, you should expect a good firearm to last a lifetime or longer. So I like to take my time, weigh opinions of people with more experience than me, and compare widely to see how prices vary. I try not to buy too many because they are quite expensive, so I want to make sure what I get is something I’d be happy to keep indefinitely (while staying conscious of budget of course).
loading....
As many will attest to, never buy ‘cutting-edge’ tech items – they’ll always be cheaper and better soon. Instead, buy one or two year old tech – great deals abound: 2 years ago I got a highly-rated Toshiba 52″ LCD TV at Sears Outlet for 40% of original retail; I recently bought a Samsung digicam (again, highly rated by users at http://www.dpreview.com) for half off original retail. Amazon reviews are OK, but Google the item’s model number and read a couple pages of results from forum posts as well as retailers.
loading....
Our old crt TV was making a very annoying high pitched whine, so I was quite motivated to get a new TV. Obviously I wanted the largest LCD I could afford, but my wife and I decided that the 42″ was the largest we needed for our space.
So we decided on the size, the features, chose a midrange price ($1300), and started setting aside money. By the time we reached $1100, prices had dropped below $1000, so we made a purchase. I had been looking at two brands, but ended up buying a third brand since it was available that Friday night.
I’m particularly proud of this purchase since it is my very first ‘large’ cash purchase since we decided to get out of debt and established an emergency fund. I was never a shopper, so it was a very positive experience to go to a few stores throughout the savings process to shop features.
Anyway, I think that was a really good way to make a purchase. Choose a midrange price, then research and shop while saving up for it. We had the money in savings to purchase our TV outright, but I feel like this purchase was completely guilt free since the money set aside was all from overtime and callback, therefore outside the normal budget.
loading....
This is a really good post. It is hard to know what you can afford unless you’re in the “crap, my vacuum cleaner broke and now I need the cheapest one I can find that is adequate” group. Some of these purchases would be covered by an emergency fund – a vacuum cleaner because your old one broke – but others are ones to be saved up for – a Dyson because you want the best vacuum cleaner available, or an HDTV.
I think you should definitely start by thinking about what features are important to you, what you’d like to have, and what doesn’t matter at all. So for example, if you were shopping for a new TV, which is really overwhelming, start by listing the stuff you really want. Do you want an HDTV or are you okay with a regular one for the time being? If so, does it have to be 1080p (if you don’t know what that is, it doesn’t matter to you)? What size? Etc. Once you know your priorities, you can think about what you’re willing to spend for features, ie you can buy a nice-looking, big rear projection HDTV for less than the same size in a flat-panel (LCD or plasma). You can’t hang it on the wall and it will take up more space, but the picture still looks really nice. Or maybe you want a flat panel because it’s easy to transport if you move a lot, but you’re okay with an off brand or a smaller size to save money. Then you can price things, read reviews, and comparison shop. If you go into Best Buy knowing what you want, it won’t matter if there’s another version for $30 more. There’s probably negligible difference between two models priced $30 apart anyway, except for maybe some marketing speak, so you’d really be wasting that money anyhow.
People waste money when they go in blind, not knowing what matters to them, and letting a salesman or a placard (zomg, gold-plated oxygen-free 12-bit color HDMI cables that like, totally improve picture quality – not) tell them what they want.
loading....
I think researching your options and know what you want coming on are the most important things to do. The reason is if not, you may be talked into something bigger, better, and much more expensive. Knowing exactly what you want makes the people at Best Buy or the store you are going to feel like they can’t push you into a more expensive TV.
loading....
I am the Research Queen when it comes to big-ticket items, not just because I want a good deal (though I do!) but also because I want the best possible quality.
Consumer Reports is a staple and where I always start. I use their actual model ratings if I can, but sometimes my timing doesn’t match with their review cycle, in which case I note trends in brand names and the ‘what to look for’ tips they usually include.
I’ve also come to like consumersearch.com, a site that canvasses reviews for each product category, including product-specific magazines I wouldn’t otherwise see, and collates the results.
Anything with a rapid upgrade cycle (computers, cameras, televisions — most electronics, really) tends to have a ‘sweet spot’ where the price drops a lot but the features drop only a little. You’re looking for not the latest and greatest but for one or two iterations back, usually what was cutting-edge six months or a year ago.
My mattress is a pillowtop I bought at Costco almost ten years ago now, still going strong.
loading....
I might go about things a bit backwards. Particularly for technical items like TVs. I set the price I am willing to pay for the product I want… and then I wait for it to fall into my range.
For example – I needed a TV (other than the 19 inch hand me down I had used for 5 years). I figured 42 inches was plenty big enough for my space and I wanted an LCD HDTV (not a monitor). I figured that 1k was the right price, did some research on brands etc and then I waited. Two years after I set that price – they finally dropped to there and I pulled the trigger and bought it.
Now sure, I could have waited even longer and gotten it cheaper… but I think the waiting and purchasing at *my* price gives me a sense of control over the price I am willing to pay. I also feel like I got a good enough deal because I didn’t pay the prices I first saw it at.
For things like appliances I look at consumer reports and reviews on websites… and then se what the best price I can get on something is. I shop new, used and refurb and see what I can get.
loading....
Big ticket items we’ve purchased:
Furnace: High efficiency, my dad did all the research and bought the same one. It will save money over the years.
Front-load washer: bought new, used the “wrong kind of soap”…bearings went bad after five years. We replaced it with my parents’ old washer and are fine for now. Lesson learned: take care of your purchases, I guess.
Vacuum: Bought cheaply made one in college, it lasted two years. Bought more expensive one with wedding money, it’s lasted 10 years.
Digital Nikon SLR: spent my husband’s bonus money on it, we splurged because we new what features we wanted, we LOVE it and take good care of it.
Gas stove: I got really mad at the stove that came with our house one day, and went and bought a bare-bones floor model on clearance at Home Depot for $250. It’s paid for, it has nothing to break, I’m good with it.
Computer: got refurbished from Dell website several years ago. Recently added RAM for $40 and it’s like we have a new computer.
My husband’s Honda: we bought new, but got a great deal and plan to drive it until it’s dead. Buying used would not have saved us much with this brand. I drive a cheap car, purchased used and am fine with it. But we had to replace the transmission within a month of purchase. Since then, the cost has been minimal, so it’s sort of evened out and has been economical. We do not have any car payments, right now, knock on wood.
We often use forgotten money for big purchases, but I wish we were more organized. We do have credit card debt from medical, unfortunately, so we don’t do a lot of spending elsewhere. For instance, I really only have two pairs of jeans, and two pairs of work pants. Thank goodness for my parents’ wash machine, hey?!
loading....
I agree with the shopping guideline listed here for purchasing anything – little money or big money – but food. I actually had stomach upset about purchasing items without doing a thoroughly research on it.
Most of the time I do my research online by reading reviews about my “wanted item” on shopping sites that allow buyers rate the item like Amazon, CNET, NewEggs, etc.. I also google the name of the item and some keywords like “review” “complaint” to get more ideas from people who knows about the item.
To #6-mattress: We shopped for our new mattress at the normal furniture store and some mattress warehouses. Usually the display model is always half off or even less. Our last mattress – very comfy one and it’s recommended by chiropractics – is from Eclipse, might be the Spinal Zone I think because I can’t recall the mattress name right now. We bought it at IFL (this store is expensive though) for $600, including a box spring and the mattress – of course this is the display model. To get the set home, we rented a truck from Budget for $20/day – cheaper than using the store delivery service. And to clean it because it’s a display model, we used baking soda powder, vaccuumed then sprayed with fabric cleaner. I think spending money on Tempur is ways too much.
loading....
Depending on the item and the outlet, you may be able to go back and get money back if you find the same item at a lower price during the first few weeks after your have bought it.
I did this with a piece of electronics at a national electronics store and it worked like a charm. Basically, I would have returned the item for a full refund and bought it for cheaper elsewhere had the store not matched the price and refunded the difference.
Even when it’s over…it might not be over!
loading....
I look at time frame for usage. For instance I bought a vacuum about 6 years ago. We have a Golden Retriever (lots of long hair). I decided to get the “cadillac” of models and bought a $700 Oreck. It’s been worth it. This vac has a 21 year warranty as long as I have it serviced annually – which they do the basic service for free. This vac still runs like a top even though I abuse it with all those dog hairs and dust. I compare this with my friends who buy cheap $200 vacs every year or two at Target. Those vacs are heavy and don’t work as well even when new.
Similarly I’m in the market for a washer and dryer for a home I’m buying that doesn’t already have one. I looked at those expensive front load models that are 3Xs the price of the top load. I’m no rocket scientist, but water and sideways seals don’t seem to make sense to me. I’m going to purchase the top load models that are cheapest cause they will still get my clothes just as clean as the more expensive side load.
I look at similar things when purchasing big ticket items. Is this car going to last me 10 years? Will this TV be obsolete in 10 years? I don’t mind shelling out a lot of money for a quality item is I know its going to last and do the job better than inferior items.
loading....
$2200 for a 46in?? First thing that guy in your post needs to do before saving for anything is to use the internet to find better deals. There are so many better deals on the internet for electronic goods that I still wonder how best buy and circuit city still exist.
in addition, when searching online, i.e. pricegrabber.com, you can filter your search to only those that you want. Especially at pricegrabber you can filter by price, tv type, and size.
loading....
Another good website to check out when getting ready to make a big purchase is http://www.consumersearch.com. This website is basically like the “poll of polls” of the products review world. They look at what Consumer Reports says, but they also look at many other sources to get their information. Best of all, it’s free! Check it out.
loading....
You may not even need to visit the library in person to use Consumer Reports – lots of library systems have subscriptions to online databases that you can access from home with your library card, including Consumer Reports.
loading....
I like this post a lot! Another thing to keep in mind is that companies know a lot about consumer psychology. Specifically, what you end up choosing is a function of the choices you are given. If you are in a store choosing between a $200 breadmaker versus a $300 breadmaker, and the $300 breadmaker has three “EXTRA” features, they didn’t get that way by accident. Ask yourself: “Will I really use the three extra features? Do they really make the product worth one and a half times as much as the base version TO ME?”
I learnt this one the hard way, and it wasn’t with bread makers — it was with cars!!
loading....
loading....
I’d like to add that doing extensive research is likely to make you feel like you got a worse deal – not better (read The Paradox of Choice). Now I try to limit what I will research up front and make a choice from only a few options.
Also we try to buy most big ticket items used. That naturally limits your choice and saves big bucks. Our big ticket used items include cars, washer, dryer, sofa, weed wacker, laptop. I often get a better model than I would have bought new at a fraction of the price.
loading....
So JD, what do you think about the BB comics from Moonstone?
loading....
When shopping for high price tag items I always prefer to choose customer service over the cheapest price. Who is going to service my new car? can I return this jewellery? It makes sense to shop around but do check the warranty!
loading....
I was just about to mention The Paradox of Choice, but Adrienne beat me to it. It’s good to keep in mind that your time and energy are finite, and the time and energy you spend carefully researching a household purchase is time you’re taking away from something else in your life, whether it’s your career, your family, enjoying items you have purchased, or whatever else is important to you. That’s not to say that you should never do research, but think about how much additional value you’re getting per hour of time spent, and decide whether or not it’s worth it to you. For me, it’s worth it on a car, but not on a vacuum cleaner, especially since I have a tiny apartment and no pets or kids. The extra money I pay for vacuums over my life is worth it to me for not having to think about it so much.
Plus, as Adrienne mentioned, there’s psychology research showing that the more you try to get the “best” item you possibly can based on all available information and criteria, the less satisfied you’ll be with your eventual purchase.
loading....
I’m in the market for a new digital camera before our trip this December. I’m starting my research by reading reviews at CNET. Then I compare the prices for a few of the models I’m interested in. I’ve set my budget at around $300 because that seems to be the range that gets me the features and photo quality I want without a lot of extras I don’t use.
But before I buy, I’ll visit a couple stores to actually touch the cameras and see how they perform.
loading....
Before you buy anything on the Internet, especially big-ticket items, check Microsoft Live “cashback”. http://search.live.com/cashback
I recenly bought a $600 barbeque from an Internet retailer, and I got $100 cash back from Microsoft. It takes 60 days to get your money, but it does work. I got a better price than anywhere else factoring this in.
loading....
If it’s a ‘known’ expense, I’ll start saving in advance in a separate fund within our savings account. Then, when the time comes, the money is there!
loading....
One thing I consider about big purchases is where I am buying from. For instance, and call me naive, but I would rather pay $50-200 more at best buy for a product, knowing that their return policy is very good, there aren’t any hassles, I can touch and feel the product, and generally same-as-cash financing isn’t bad if you budget your payments.
I’d much rather do that than ordering online and not having the piece of mind to be able to look a customer support person in the eye if something comes up.
I know- spend extra, same as cash financing, etc. might as well be heresy on this blog, but hey, it’s what works for me
Ian
loading....
I’m a “good enough” shopper – instead of having analysis paralysis I tend to make a decision and move on. I’m sure I could save myself a bit of money, but I find the deciding stage unpleasant, so I try to get beyond it quickly.
For example, here’s how I chose my vacuum:
a) it wasn’t a lot of money
b) I recognized the brand name
c) I live alone and take my shoes off when I’m home, and only have a couple of area rugs, so I don’t have high-volume vacuuming needs.
d) it was red!
As an apartment dweller, I don’t make a lot of big ticket purchases, and when I do, I usually ask the obsessive researchers I know to get a handle on what I should consider. Then, as I said, I pull the trigger quickly and get on with my life.
loading....
I mostly wanted to respond to Jason’s question since everyone has given great information, including JD, about Nick’s.
I think what JD was getting at in his discussion of ‘annualizing’ the expenses is what we do in our budget.
You’ve got stuff.
Some stuff is pretty important [is a vacuum a necessity? Not if you won't eat to get one - but it's pretty darn high on the list]
Some of that stuff is going to break down or get lost over time – all of it eventually – so figure out what you can set aside in your regular budget for ‘maintenance’ or ‘household’ or whatever you want to call it – you’ll have a fund built up that is NOT your emergency fund that is there when your toaster oven makes that death rattle, the fridge starts feeling a tad warm, the tv blows it’s tube [they still have tubes right? or whatever ;p]
It may not always have ENOUGH money to do what I need to do but it sure does put me in a better place.
For bigger items that you know you’ll be buying you can use your ‘browsing’ time as a measure of what the budget is LIKELY to be for the item and then begin saving right away! Give up a dinner out or another pair of shoes or whatever and put it towards that item even while you’re still deciding or researching – by the time you’ve made your decision you’ll probably be ready to pay cash, or if not, you can wait while you save and it comes down in price – hopefully you’ll meet it in the middle!
loading....
Part of your research on a big ticket item should be to go see it in person. Touch it, try it out if you can. I’ve found things that are highly regarded as “the best” in print and when I go see them I do not like them at all. Things look different in a photo than they do IRL so you may bot have noticed the giant bezel on that TV in the photo but you may not like it when you actually see how big it is in person. There have been times when after reading reviews and looking at pictures I thought I wanted the top of the line widget. After checking it out in person, I end up buying a cheaper widget that I like better.
Something to keep in mind when looking at things in the store (like appliances, furniture and tvs), is that said item will almost always look smaller in the store than it will in your home. It’s easy to make the mistake of upgrading to a larger model only to get it in your house and see it clutters your space.
The last suggestion I would make is it’s always easier to start shopping for something before you actually need it.
loading....
In terms of annualizing big ticket items, think of it how a business does. Often times, capitol equipment is budgeted by looking at the capitol equipment purchased the prior year along with estimated needs in the coming year. A business uses this information and budgets accordingly.
So, if you bought a new vacuum and new refrigerator last year, use that expense as your upcoming year household budget. That should cover maintenance or perhaps a new washing machine, etc. Do the same for electronics, yard equipment, etc.
loading....
This is a good article. But the problem I am having is how to shop for an item that has certain attributes that does not necessarily translate well to features in a specification.
For example, I need new tires. I want some tires I can use year round. I want some tires that handle extremely well in wet weather, but have good performance in dry weather. I want tires that last longer than the crappy 25,000 miles I got out of my stock tires. How does this translate into tire specifications? I have found that it translates well into marketing claims, though. That means I can get no trustworthy information from manufacturers.
I find tire reviews baffling. There are some good resources out there. But what I really need is a reference from somebody that lives in my area and drives the same make as my car to tell me if the choice is right for me (since they are driving in the same conditions I am).
I might just have to go all “paradox of choice” on this, buy, and hope for luck. But I wish I could come up with a better way to buy tires.
loading....
This is a good article with some very useful tips on how to stick through the day of shopping without getting the next best of the next best of the next best and so on.
However, my main problem and one that I’m sure that over time adds up to big $$ is impulse buying. I recently walked into the local grocery store to get some sandwich meat, nothing else. I was able to get through the entire store without any extra pick-ups, and had made it all the way to the checkout lane when BAM! I look down to my right and see a bin of some cheap candy in bulk. All senses in my head are saying No, Don’t do it! But… I did..
What useful tips might you give for someone in need of thwarting this bad habit?
loading....
Re. Buying a mattress–I’ve found by experience that price does seem to relate to comfort and durability. Unfortunately, like most big-ticket items there is no way to adequately “try-before-you-buy,” so you have to make a leap of faith. I recently purchased a mattress that was originally priced at over $6,000 for just $400 on sale at a major department store’s furniture clearance center. It may have been a return from one of their stores, but it is top-of-the-line, and as far as sleeping on it, like new. I guess some people may be a bit squeamish about a mattress that someone else may have used for a few nights, but by law they must be sanitized. Anyway, no one ever hesitates to jump into bed in a hotel even though thousands may have slept in the same bed.
loading....
No matter how big the purchase, if I’ve made it and it didn’t put me into debt, I want to accept my decision and stop obsessing about the choice. I’ts hard, but to help, I’ve developed a practice of thinking about a sunk cost goal, how much do I need to use something to feel it’s ok to sell/donate/discard it if it was actually a mistake. For clothes, I try to get “cost per wearing” down to no more than $10.00 (the equivalent of lunch out. Similarly with a vacuum cleaner, if you think about the cost of hiring a cleaning service, each time you use your machine is worth some percentage of that, and even a mistake will at some point “pay for itself…” at which point you can try again…
(on matresses Salon.com did a comparison feature that indicated that price isn’t a very good indicator of how well you’ll like it).
loading....
With applicances and televisions, don’t forget to consider that you pay after you take them home. The cost of operation can be significant.
For example, CRT televisions and plasma TVs use more electricity than LED models.
I recently purchased a new front-loader washer & dryer combo to replace an older top-loading model. I bought the heavy duty models and paid about $2500 for the set, delivered, with taxes & installation.
Since replacing them, my electric bill has been $200-$300 a month less, and my water bill has gone down by about $35/month. They also use much less soap. They’ll completely pay for themselves in less than a year.
loading....
Basically this advice all boils down to: quality does matter to some people, anticipate your needs well in advance by saving up, research and try before you buy, and watch for deals on the exact model you want. Another tip is to take ONLY the cash you have saved up to the store with you (no credit cards). That way, even though you already know exactly what you want, there’s no temptation to splurge on a slightly better model or an in-store warranty.
KAD
loading....
I find for big-ticket items that I plan to use on a daily basis, a lot of times you get what you pay for, and cutting corners on initial price can be costly in terms of quality and post-purchase expense. Example: A more “expensive” vacuum cleaner, in my experience, will last longer and work more efficiently than a cheap one.
So while I typically am inclined to scrimp on the small stuff (like generic brand groceries, etc…) I will pay quite a bit more to get the quality that I want in a big-ticket item like a TV or dishwasher.
To negate some of the expense, though, I will run these high-quality items into the ground and fix them as often as possible, until they are completely worn out or broken beyond all repair.
loading....
OFF TOPIC:
Wow – I have an all electric house (no oil or gas) and I pay fixed sewer and trash bills. My absolutely highest electric bill was $240/mo. during the coldest month of winter using a heat pump, two ceramic space heaters and a couple of baseboard electric heaters. Being able to SAVE that much blows my mind.
loading....
In addition to Schwartz’s Paradox of Choice I’d recommend Blink by Gladwell (just finished it last night).
Schwartz’s thesis is the more options you have the less satisfied you are.
Gladwell’s thesis is that having more information need not yield a better decision.
So fully researching the ins-and-outs of every [insert item here] will likely make you less satisfied in the end (unconscious anxiety about having not made the best choice) and may yield the wrong decision (too distracted).
Lots of stores thrive on giving you choice so good luck!
loading....
Great suggestions, everyone. 2 words define my main strategy– delayed gratification. Like most of you, I do a lot of research while socking away extra funds for the item. By budgeting and waiting, the price often goes down which gives you a little extra leeway.
A couple ways to save extra dough: look for sites that offer free shipping and don’t charge sales tax in your state. I saved 8% CA sales tax and got free shipping ($200 usually) on a $1k 47″ Philips LCD HDTV just by doing 5 minutes of web research. Also, once you have the cash for the item, buy it on a credit card that gives you rewards AND extends the manufacturers warranty, then pay off the credit card when the bill comes.
A few sites that are excellent for tech deals are dealnews, ben’s bargains, and fatwallet. I’d suggest going there for price comparisons (found the above mentioned TV at dealnews).
I also second Sarah’s (#21) comment on consumersearch; great site for appliances and household items.
loading....
I think a good strategy to put in place is to go around your house and look at all the everyday things that will need to be replaced ie tv, vacuum cleaner, toaster, washer/dryer, fridge/freezer and so on – estimate a time frame that you think it would last or would like it to last – do a quick scout around the net and in shops to get prices for a mid range product or one that fits your required needs then basically do the math – for each item the price divided by the amount of life left or time frame you wish to replace it (you can just do a quick estimation if you wish) add it all up then – break it down to whatever your budget is ie weekly/bi weekly/monthly put that money into a section of your budget called update of appliances/furnishings – oh add like a 10-20% buffer to take in account of inflation etc. that should cover it in your budget!
loading....
My wife and I often taken researching to absurd extremes. Sometimes I get so sick of researching stuff that I wish I could make impetuous decisions. Alas, I know researching is the way to go.
Currently looking at GPS. I narrowed it down to Garmin, but the dizzying array of models makes my head spin!
loading....
If it’s a need, sticking to one or two trusted research sources is probably the best way to make a decision and get it over with, especially if there’s a time crunch. As far as how much money you should spend, I always want to spend the least I can get away with.
Consumer Reports does a good job of pointing out the best values (“best buys”) in a given category and detailing specific favorable points or drawbacks. I went with their cheapest best buy recommendation a couple years back for about $100 on amazon when my craptastic walmart special broke. It has a lot of features, few drawbacks and most importantly, it still works.
I researched HDTV’s obsessively and just ended up buying a clearance deal that popped up on slickdeals for a decent name brand. I’m happy with that, too. The research time could have been spent sleeping.
loading....
My husband jokes that I research big items to death. But I want to know if we are putting out money for a dishwasher that it is going to last and be what I want. We generally set aside money into a fund which I also read on another post…we knew we were going to be needing a new dishwasher and were throwing money into an account for a year before the purchase was made. This allowed for me to take my time, do some great research and end up with exactly what I wanted without feeling restricted by my budget. I am not talking about emergency breakdown things–but we rarely have that happen on anything but the car. and even that is not too common since we take care of the vehicles but still…life happens. Taking that amount of time to make the purchase also gives me time to think of all the practicalities that will come up for example we have really hard water where I live, so getting a dishwasher without exposed elements was crucial but I hadn’t thought of that originally. That was a couple of months into the research. When my husband was ready to get a new TV as his reward and bonus after his last tour in Iraq, we had been putting money into the account while he was gone–he just knew the size he wanted, that was what was important to him (it will shock most people to know that his size was just a 37″ TV) and Flat Screen, other than that he didn’t care as long as it was good. So I took the 6 months of his deployment to track consumer reports etc. and told him which TV was going to be best for the money when he got home and all we had to do was go pick it up and know we were getting what we wanted from the purchase. We don’t make whimsical purchases. I don’t go looking for a vacuume and purchase it that day. I do the research first–take my time and make sure I get what I want. Now if I could get myself to do that for all those stupid little things we would be in great shape financially–anyone know where to research a candy bar???
loading....