5 ms·

Agree, I would much rather rent my apartment if I could, but the way the market looks here it's not an option. Renting is just like insurance, you pay a premiu

Agree, I would much rather rent my apartment if I could, but the way the market looks here it's not an option. Renting is just like insurance, you pay a premium so that others take the greater financial risk: You're not tied down, you can move anytime, and you don't have to care about the housing market or interest rates. For some people this is worth it, for some it's not. Your mileage may wary. The only other problem I have with his text is that he seems to suffer from analysis paralysis by not buying a computer for years since they drop off in value so fast. There's also a value in having a computer, or whatever other item, in that time. Yes, if you wait one year you'll get a faster computer than what you can buy now, but you'll also be stuck with your current computer for one more year. How much does that cost? Sometimes you just have to suck it up.

billybob 16y ago
Agreed. Better advice would be "stay behind the curve." Right now, if you want a Wii, it's expensive. If you're happy playing Playstation 2, it's cheap. A Wii will be cheap 5 years from now when something cooler is out. Same kind of thing applies to computers.
- pixelbath 16y ago
  I use this method of saving on home electronics. Home electronics depreciate at a stunning rate, and by buying "behind the curve" you can find great deals on things you wanted a year ago. This is why I still enjoy, and buy games for, my (refurbished) PlayStation 2 (actually, I still play games on my SNES too). My workstation was dated, so I built a new machine with parts just below top-of-the-line (Core2Quad rather than i7, 600 GB instead of 1.5 TB hard drives, for example). The advice in the article about new cars is valid; new cars depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot, because then they're "used." You might get a nice warranty package with it, but you can get extended warranties for used cars from certain dealerships.
  - vimalg2 16y ago
    I did the same thing around 6 months ago, except I refined it into 2-phases. I got a Core2Duo E7500 and overclocked it well with a CM Hyper212+ heatsink+fan, for my worskstation. Spent the money saved on high quality Power supply, case and motherboard. The next upgrade is a top-of-the-line Core2Quad when local distributors slash prices on those to dump their old stock. I'm aware there is a trade-off in Electricity consumption Edit: technical typo
- icefox 16y ago
  I got a SNES for my birthday last year from my wife. It is awesome! More seriously I have a PS2 and a printout of the top 25 games for the PS2. Whenever I think of a new game system I can just look at that list, buy any one of those games for extremely cheap and have a ton of fun. (The good SNES games on ebay are a more expensive, but still $10-$20, Chrono Trigger was a bit more...)

billybob 16y ago

Agreed. Better advice would be "stay behind the curve." Right now, if you want a Wii, it's expensive. If you're happy playing Playstation 2, it's cheap. A Wii will be cheap 5 years from now when something cooler is out. Same kind of thing applies to computers.

pixelbath 16y ago
I use this method of saving on home electronics. Home electronics depreciate at a stunning rate, and by buying "behind the curve" you can find great deals on things you wanted a year ago. This is why I still enjoy, and buy games for, my (refurbished) PlayStation 2 (actually, I still play games on my SNES too). My workstation was dated, so I built a new machine with parts just below top-of-the-line (Core2Quad rather than i7, 600 GB instead of 1.5 TB hard drives, for example). The advice in the article about new cars is valid; new cars depreciate as soon as you drive them off the lot, because then they're "used." You might get a nice warranty package with it, but you can get extended warranties for used cars from certain dealerships.
- vimalg2 16y ago
  I did the same thing around 6 months ago, except I refined it into 2-phases. I got a Core2Duo E7500 and overclocked it well with a CM Hyper212+ heatsink+fan, for my worskstation. Spent the money saved on high quality Power supply, case and motherboard. The next upgrade is a top-of-the-line Core2Quad when local distributors slash prices on those to dump their old stock. I'm aware there is a trade-off in Electricity consumption Edit: technical typo
icefox 16y ago
I got a SNES for my birthday last year from my wife. It is awesome! More seriously I have a PS2 and a printout of the top 25 games for the PS2. Whenever I think of a new game system I can just look at that list, buy any one of those games for extremely cheap and have a ton of fun. (The good SNES games on ebay are a more expensive, but still $10-$20, Chrono Trigger was a bit more...)