I'm in a Buying Mood

Here's a comment left on my post titled Are You Saving More?:

Well, I'm still saving above 30% gross, but the truth is, I used to save more than this.

The reason why is because of a lot of "recession deals" that I finally decided to take advantage of. I have literally years of stuff that I've put off simply because I didn't want to pay the full price so to speak. Even now, there are some good deals out there.

For the "average American", if you will pardon the term, the recession has made them pull back in order to weather this financial storm. However, for people who I think are already frugal and wielding cash... it's still a buyer's market out there.

This comment summarizes a couple things that I wanted to comment on:

1. I agree that when times are tight that people with cash can snap up some great bargains.

2. We are doing some shopping ourselves, and I thought I'd share our purchases with you.

Let's start with the list of things recommended to buy before the economy improves. Of those, we are currently looking at buying:

• A house -- Maybe, but not likely IMO.

• A car -- Probably next fall. Will the economny be better by then? Probably, but probably not so much better that car prices will have shot up.

• A vacation -- Looking at going somewhere warm this winter.

• A laptop -- Probably around back-to-school time. This will be a business-related expense. :-) Thanks for your help.

• A Television -- On the verge. Thanks for your help again.

• Furniture -- We've purchased a new entertainment center (that will hold our TV), our first one in 15 years (the old one was looking a bit ratty.) We also plan to buy a couple chairs for our living room (we currently have just a couch -- we trashed our only recliner, 35 years old or so, when it simply gave out.)

In addition to those items, here's what we're looking at doing/have done:

• We had our deck washed and stained (first time in 10 years.) We got a GREAT price and helped a friend with a painting business at the same time.

• Our furnace is 22 years old or so. Thanks to the Congress, we now have a $1,500 tax credit incentive to buy a new one, and we're planning on doing so. Will get a new AC too -- 13 SEER will do here in the north. I may write a post on how we're going about buying a heater and air conditioner.

• We're having the glass in two windows replaced. Probably not saving as much due to the economy as we are simply by getting bids. But the seals are broken and replacing them should save us on utility costs in addition to looking nicer.

• We're looking at getting cable TV. Ever thought you'd see me write that? Ok, before you think it's the $99 a month 500-channel package, it's only basic cable (we can't get all the channels we used to thanks to the digital conversion -- thanks, US government) plus an add-on for the Fox Soccer Channel. One way to become a better soccer ref is to watch more soccer (or so I've been told.) Since my son and I are working on making money as soccer referees, I wonder if I can write off the TV (at least in part) as a tax deduction as a business expense. Anyone think I can? :-)

• A Wii is on our list. Winter's can be long and hard here in Michigan and we're looking for a bit of winter-time fun that will be a bit more active.

How about you? Anyone out there buying more during the tough times?

Comments

[MC]

Wow, that's quite a long list!

I'm also in the market for a laptop and some furniture for the living room--I already bought everything else on your list last year except for the winter vacation!

I was thinking new windows due to the tax credit, but decided against it for this year. The wood windows I have will last at least a couple more years, and replacing them is going to be a major hassle. Anyone know any good online resources for researching window replacement options? I dislike the "boxed-in tiny window" look of replacement windows that don't disrupt existing siding, but what other option do I have?

[Andy]

Being a soccer ref is a great way to make money. I played soccer in high school (mid 90's), but was a keeper so I did not have to run much during games. Therefore, I reffed usually 2 games every Saturday morning in the local rec league for $15-20 a pop. There would always be one Saturday a season when we had a bye so I would do 4 games on those days. Good, easy money. Rec leagues were the best as they only took 1 hour (although the parents are no less competitive). My dad still refs, rec and high school games and gets upwards of $30 for rec and $50-75 for HS games. He probably pockets upwards of 1k each year doing so (late Aug-end Oct only).

[Strick]

Did just replace the family car, though it was time (I always sell the family car at around 6 years/95K miles). What is different is that instead of replacing it with a 2 year old car as usual, I bought new. I found the per year depreciation cost of keeping the new car 6 years versus a 2 year old for 4 years so close there was no reason not to buy new (after this rebate/that discount, etc.).

Of course nothing is as good a deal as the second car (8 year old camry that still runs perfectly, so I'll probably hang onto that another 8 years).

AS far as the TV write-off goes, I guess it would be the same analysis as a computer or cell phone purchase, a section 179 election allows you to deduct the percentage of the business use of the purchase in the first year, as long as the percentage is 50% or greater, so I think you'd have to be claiming the TV is on soccer more than half the time (and you'd have to actually have the ref income to deduct it from).

[BenG]

Waiting 10 years to stain a deck is what I'd consider to be penny wise and pound foolish. Letting the wood get exposed to those long Michigan winters is just going to cause the deck to prematurely age. I'm sure the cost of a few cans of stain is a bit lower than replacing the entire flattop of a deck!

[ronald rule]

I am in market for a new desktop computer. The wife and I have had ours for 5 years.

We are looking at the following PC:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9361184&type=product&id=1218091192749

I am also looking at the machine at Ibuypower.com. Anyone with any experience with this site.

[lincmercguy]

It's a good time for used stuff as well, especially if you need any tools. Craigslist has really become the central place for used tools that are impractical to ship. If you're looking for any, especially power tools, now's the time.

[Josh Stein]

If you're reporting the soccer officiating income as a Schedule C, you should be able to use a bit of the Cable TV expense. That said, you will have to keep pretty good records of when the TV was watched for "soccer officiating training" opposed to "Oprah," just to be safe. As such, not a whole lot of it will get deducted.

Don't forget to deduct your mileage to and from matches.

[Eugene Krabs]

Hey, thanks for quoting me? :D

I've snapped up most of what I wanted now, so I am winding down considerably.

I was particularly proud of the buy-one-get-one-free suits. Every man needs at least one decent suit, and now, I have two! And that buy-on-get-one-free deal was on top of an existing discount!

I've also upgraded my computer. Finally. My last upgrade was back in 2001, and my current upgrade is only with average components. However, it's still a competent machine that runs all the software I need, so I don't mind it at all. By the way, the Blu-ray drives are less than $100 now.

I think my next biggest thing is a replacement car. My current Corolla is 12 years old, but it's still driving like a champ. So, I am hoping that I don't have to replace it anytime soon, but that's what I am focusing my immediate savings on.

[FMF]

Josh --

Good points! I forgot about mileage too!!!!!

[JerryB]

FMF - If nothing else you should be able to write off at least part of the cost of the soccer channel. I somehow doubt the IRS would look favorably on you writing off the whole cable bill.

MC - Reglazing a wood window isn't that difficult if you're even moderately handy with tools. Time consuming,yes. Difficult, no. Search "reglazing a wood window", the first hit on yahoo is from e-how and gives the basics, but makes it sound faster than it really is. Also, if you're going to go through all the trouble you may as well scrape off any loose paint and give the window a nice fresh coat while it's out of the frame.

[Andy]

"By the way, the Blu-ray drives are less than $100 now."

I don't think this is the same situation. Yeah, the recession might have driven it down faster, but this is just an accelerated version of what normally happens to new technology. I think you could wait until your income goes back up and not have to worry about the cost of a Blu-ray player going up too. The biggest cost of the player is the urge to buy expensive Blu-ray media or a TV that takes advantage of it.

I know the post topic is about stuff you plan to buy anyway, but consumerism becomes too much of a slippery slope for me to get crazy about a "buyer's market" for things on the wrong end of the "wants vs needs" scale.

[Andy2]

Oops, I just realized I'm not the only Andy in here.

[Eugene Krabs]

Er yeah, bad context on the Blu-ray drive comment.

That was more of a separate thought for FMF because he's looking into a flat screen TV, which I assume will also involve a Blu-ray sooner or later.

[Jim]

We're looking at a couple big purchases right now and the feeling we'll get a good price due to the economy is one reason. We're looking at adding insulation to our home and doing some major landscaping. But I'm not even sure if the current state of the economy is really giving us that great of a deal. I don't have much to compare the prices too, since I didn't shop for quotes before the recession.

[Bad_Brad]

I agree that one thing to love about a recession is that there are screaming hot deals on a lot of things, especially very nice/premium things. If you've been considering splurging on some of this stuff, and you have money set aside and your finances in order, now is the time to do it.

[Corporate Barbarian]

We're not in the market for a car or appliances, but we've replace the overgrown shrubs in our yard. Two nurseries in our area were offering 40%-50% discounts, so we took advantage. We saved a couple hundred dollars.