Paraphrasing Zig Ziglar – would you rather spend a little more today or realize later that you spent less than you should have?

With the cheaper machine where would have been a bug in your ear – almost imperceivable at times – asking when the machine would break… that doesn’t exist with the other machine. That’s another cost – incalculatable as it may be – that is also associated with the cheaper solution.

Good stuff!
Dave

You borrowed money for a car, so that you would have funds to invest when opportunities come along. You can’t have it both ways – you either didn’t have enough money for the car or you didn’t have enough money for the investment.

Sometimes investments go bad or your needs for the car will change (your wife gets a job closer to home) either way you have added an element of unecessary risk/stress in your life.

You’ve taken the “simple” out of the simple dollar.

Yes although I don’t have the source numbers handy. Additionally, I was very conservative in the estimate for each years savings from not having to purchase new batteries. The annual savings estimate is about half of what I think it will be (based on a month of a fairly typical month for us) and that is still a tax free annual return of 18%.

Here is a link with more info:
http://www.grinningplanet.com/2004/11-23/rechargeable-batteries-battery-charger-article.htm

A little encouragement goes a long ways. :)

Because I made that choice, for example, I can do things like go to estate sales and, if the right deal comes up, cut a check for it. I’ve put in a lowball offer on the abandoned lot next to our home that would more than double the square footage of our lawn – if the person goes for it, the land addition to our existing property will increase our assessed property value by more than the offer, let alone the resale value. And that’s just in the first month.

The choice was very deliberate. The only people who think otherwise are people who didn’t read the original article or people who are out there solely to elicit reactions.

Arian (#47) I think most people have made their peace with the whole thing; whether they think Trent made a wise decision or not they can accept it.

Stop lurking on here and go send out some resumes. Or go shopping and get the economy out of the tubes. Seriously. I have a career all lined up – if I didn’t, I wouldn’t be commenting. I’d be absorbing as much information as possible and I’d refrain from wasting energy commenting that could be harnessed for my job hunt.

What happens if, five years from now, a new washing-machine technology shows up that uses only half as much water and electricity to make your clothes minty-fresh? If you bought the cheap machine, you chuck it and upgrade. If you bought the expensive one, you either grimace and upgrade (writing off, oh, about $200 more than the person who bought the cheap washer) or grimace even more and tough it out for a while longer with the old technology.

I should point out that auto technology changes faster than washer technology. Computer tech changes faster still.

Like many, I bought a front-load machine for the environment and longer-term savings. 6 months out of warranty, our “processor” died and it cost $450 for parts. 6 months later, the machine developed a very healthy vibration – “bearings” we were told and the repair would involve two service techs tearing it completely down to replace them. We decided the bill would be too much so we just ran it as long as we could (another 18 months) until it became unbearable. Against my better judgement, we bought a top loading high efficiency machine this time. About 8 months in, another electronic repair but at least it was under warranty. Thus far, $2500 spent (2 machines and 1 out of pocket repair) after 6 years of ownership. Vs. $450 for cheap basic top-load machine…. Extra $2000 that will never be paid back except as life experience!

My recommendation: Moving parts + vibration + heat combined with fancy electronic processing boards do not mix. Consumer Reports likely does not evaluate the failure data that the manufacturers have when they make their recommendations. Save your money and buy a machine that you can fix yourself with over the counter parts if it breaks.

I posted a comment yesterday that is still “awaiting moderation” I’m not sure if that’s because of its length or because of its contradictory argument. But, here it is shorter, and maybe nicer.

Run a spreadsheet with columns for the $600 Dryer, $300 Dryer, and the $300 you won’t spend if you go with Dryer 1. String the costs out over 15 years. The $600 one costs you $20 a year and the $300 costs $40 a year. Then, we’ll say you invest the $300 you never spend if you went cheap and give that 8% returns (over 15 years I think that’s fair). The cost of the expensive dryer will always be more than the cost of the cheap one plus your savings and invested balance, ALWAYS. Even if water and electricity quadruple the operating costs you’re still better off to go cheaper and invest. Try it.

That makes it unlikely operating costs will ever pay for option B, when B costs double that of option A.

BTW, nearly 90% of the running cost of a washer is heating the water, so use cold water only.

And front-loaders are much more expensive to repair than top-loaders (electronic control board vs. mechanical controls).

So you want to think hard about an extended warranty for the former (out of warranty, it could easily cost $300 installed for a new motor control board for a $600 front-loader)

I’m just here for the regular influx of what I consider to be a positive message, to counteract the negative financial messages I hear all day from t.v. and radio. I find TSD to be very helpful for that.

Oh yeah – up front spending (that WAS the point of this post, right? Not Priuses – I mean Prii). I’ve learned the hard way that clothes definitely fit into that category, especially if you are an urban professional or do any specialized activity (North Face fleece jackets are, it turns out, worth the investment. Who knew they weren’t just status symbols?). Now I try to buy high-quality clothes from discounters like Syms, rather than cheap clothes at full price from someplace like Old Navy. Lesson learned the hard way.

My AC stopped working recently on a Saturday, and so I checked everything I could. Reset circuit breakers, reset thermostat, checked unit for any obvious damage, nothing seemed wrong. Called service guy to come out and take a look. He checked everything out, put a multimeter on to find that the thermostat wasn’t triggering. We replaced my cheapo batteries with a well-known alkaline and everything worked just fine. The thing is, my thermostat has a low battery indicator to tell when to replace the batteries, only it didn’t tell me.

I got off cheap, but not free. The final cost of the “Cheapo” batteries:
$50 service call
5.50 well-known alkaline
3.50 for cheapo battery
====
$59.00

I bought the “cheapos” because they were 2 dollars less than the well-known brand. I’ll never do that again!

Anna – I did not take SS until 3 months before my 65th bd. The agent talked me into the early by saying that it would take me 6 years to make up those three checks. I took it early. However, when I went home & figured it out, she was right. Then I immediately turned it around and figured it from my perspective. I always tease that I am going to live to 123. But, to be sensile, I toned it down to 100, as that is an often reached age now. I ended up losing $5000 over my lifetime left. Whew!! I could use that.
Whatever I do in life, I always figure for the long haul. If I won the huge Powerball I would take it in annual payments. I might not live to get all of it, but I would have paid less taxes and what would I care about the money after death?

In 1967 we bought a brand new Ford pickup – cost $$2100 with $300 trade in. Because of our work it took us 7 years to pay off. Had a lovely banker. But it cost us nothing but tires over a 20 year period and my husband was a farmer who drove it hard, over hills, dales, ditches, etc. with heavy loads. Finally keeled over when the cab started swinging around a corner. The posts had rusted through. Money well spent, in spite of the interest.\

Thanks for your helpful blog Trent. I have learned a lot and do have an EF of at least 4-5 months, enough to buy a used car and pay cash if I need another one. The one I drive now is a 2000 Ford Taurus Wagon and only has 167k miles on it.

Now that we’re homeowners and are responsible for everything we’re trying to pay for everything upfront. We paid for painting, new light fixtures and ceiling fans, and a new furnace up front. I’m saving for a new roof right now (end of July for a $6000 roof). It isn’t leaking now, but we had a lot of damage from Hurricane Ike last year. I know it needs doing.

I put on 25-30k per year. I did spreadsheet after spreadsheet analyzing annual operating costs for a new Civic vs. used, and under no circumstances was a used Civic significantly cheaper than new.

Buying new, you are assured the car hasn’t been abused or wrecked, and don’t have to worry about the past maintenance.

But I suspect a thorough, scientific examination of the total cost of owernships here would probably be pretty close to a wash.