What Purchases Have Been Your Best Values?
15 Comments Published by Alex December 15th, 2006 in Booze, Cars, Clothes, Fitness, Movies. Share ThisYou may not agree with everything my friend William says below, but I thought you would all be happy to dissent.
“There are a handful of things that seemed expensive at the time but have proved their value in the long run.
1.) Kitchen knives. I bought a set of Henckels ten years ago and I still use them every day. Best $300 I ever spent.
2.) Boots. You live in your shoes. I always buy quality boots with goodyear welted leather soles. They may cost a few hundred more, but you can get them resoled again and again. I’ve owned some pairs for five years or more compared to a year for cheaper boots.
3.) Mattress set. The only thing you spend more time in than shoes is a mattress. Make it a cloud.
4.) Tools of the trade. This will vary depending on your profession, it could be an industrial sewing machine for a clothier, or a Gibson for a guitarist, but you can’t reach your potential without the right tools. I’m a software engineer and I make sure my hardware is up to date. I don’t buy the top of the line (because the price performance curve is too steep at the top end) but I replace my machine every couple years. Basically, if I notice performance, I upgrade.
5.) Music. Your friends are in a band. Represent!
Then there are the mistakes…
1.) Cell phone. A cell phone has an average lifespan of two years. You don’t need to spend more than $50 for a phone in order to make calls – heck, most plans offer one for free. And if you think you can impress people with a cell phone, you’re hanging out with the wrong people.
2.) Wine. This is subjective, and doesn’t apply to the truly great wines at the high end (if your palate knows what it wants), but I see no reason to spend more than $15 for wine. You can find excellent wines below $10 and I’ve rarely noticed an improvement at the $20 level.
3.) Over the counter drugs. Store-brand drugs have the same ingredients. Why would you ever buy Bayer or TheraFlu?
4.) Car. What a waste of money, of your body, of the earth. Stop making car payments, gas payments, mechanic payments, gym payments, and insurance payments; buy a bike and a membership to Flexcar.
5.) Movies. I can’t believe it costs $20 to take two people to a movie. Buy a projector for $600 and watch movies at home. It’s more comfortable and you’ll save money in the long run.”
Putting down the loot for a lifetime subscriptio to Tivo about four years ago comes to mind as a “best value.” It seemed a little ridiculous to drop $300 on it at the time, but looking back, especially now that they’ve canned that option, it’s been worth every penny.
A good sorround sound (5.1, not 7.1) setup will do you well. I bought one at the tail end of high school instead of a crappy bookshelf all-in-one, and it has lasted me till now (4th year of college) and will last till forever as far as i can tell. And the speakers, etc. can be upgraded over time. Best money spent since i listen to music when I’m home and not sleeping (alot).
Also I second the get a good bike and try not to drive comment.
RK corrective eye surgery. It’s been about 10 years now with no glasses. That alone is worth it. The technology is only getting better but even a decade ago it was worth it.
Values: My Le Creuset French Oven has been a great tool for me, and well worth the $250 (or so) I spent on it. It’ll last forever too. And from the lower end of the spectrum, I have a couple decks of KEM plastic playing cards for poker night. Considering one long poker night pretty much ruins a freshly opened deck of Hoyles, the plastic cards are truly the way to go over the long run.
Shit I wish I wouldn’t have purchased: Why do I need a lob wedge if I can’t swing my other golf clubs properly? Well, it is pretty nifty to take a Paul Bunyan crack at the ball just to see it go 120 feet straight up and only ten feet straight out, but still… Football jerseys were something I went on a little tear buying, but at $200/pop I should wear them more often. And I never should have purchased Infinite Jest if it was just going to sit on my bookshelf unopened. I have no dedication to that task.
Anthony Bourdain has a whole rant in Kitchen Confidential about buying knives. I think it boiled to something like A) you only need one proper chefs knife, and B) dodge the very nice but expensive German blades for less expensive but equally good Japanese steel.
I would love to pay $20 (£10) to take 2 people of the movies! In England it can be $40 (£20) for 2, even more reason to splash out on the projector.
my etnies. http://www.etniesskate.com/footwear/mens/callicut/brown-sand/
i’ve had them for over 5 years and still wear them everyday. worth the 60$.
my wallet, i spent 40$ on a nice polo one and felt shitty (i was 16 at the time and felt that 40$ for a wallet was fucking outrageous) for a week well its still in my pocket and i love it now.
my regrets: every penny i’ve spent on a girlfriends.
I agree with the knives. I got some a couple years ago, a nice set of Wusthofs, very well used.
Value: First, a decent watch – every man should have one, and I think mine was one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. Second, a really good set of headphones, especially if you (like me) listen to music a lot. They won’t go out of date, they’ll last forever, and your ears will thank you for it. Plus they’re easier to carry around than speakers, and sound an awful lot better for the money. While I’ve spent plenty of cash on headphones, I don’t consider any of it wasted.
Not so sure about mattresses. Nice ones are great, but as I’ve discovered, they’re a real hassle to move from place to place. This can be a problem for those of us who live a more nomadic lifestyle.
Mistakes: I agree 100% with wine, although getting a nice bottle to celebrate a special occasion is something else entirely. Not just wine, either – buying ultra-expensive alcohol is rarely a good purchase in my opinion, because someone’s just going to drink it.
I enjoy driving far too much for cars to be a mistake – that said, they certainly can’t be called value, for me anyway.
Your home — be it a one bedroom condo or a 6 BR manse — best money you could spend. It will almost certainly appreciate, you get a nice deduction for the interest portion of your mortgage payment, and you aren’t pissing money away renting.
Now for me . . . my tv and 5.1 speaker setup. With 2 (little) kids, going to the movies is a rarity, but I can watch in my basement when they are asleep and it is like going to the movies. Also incredible for sports, etc. the cash value on all these things has depreciated, and TVs cost MUCH less now, but this was, for me, a great “investment.”
I also agree on a good mattress. Got a tempurpedic bed four years ago, and I still get into it every night and think about what a great bed it is. Yep, it’s a little pricey, but you are spending around 1/3 of your life there, so get comfy.
I love my car, but I totally agree that cars are, in general, a sucker bet. My current car I bought (barely) used — it had 6,000 miles on it and was a dealer car. thus was considerably less than new, but still had a nice warranty, plus the CPO warranty. If you must by a car, this is a good way to go — you will feel like less of a sucker. Also, don’t lease the car unless you need the expense and don’t want the asset (i.e. you have a corporation and you can ave the car be a corporate expense, and a corporate car — thus the corp. buys the car, you drive it, the corp makes less money and the car was not paid for with your money, and thus you didn’t pay the taxes on the money that bought the car). Also, buy a car that will hold its value.
Worst values? I second name-brand drugs, also any speaker or a/v cables you buy at Best Buy — All of the Monster stuff is overpriced shit. You can do MUCH better on the internet.
Also, Extended service plans — these are, almost always, a sucker bet. Many don’t cover accidental damage (although I see Best Buy now has a second tier of coverage that does cover accidental damage) — usually a sucker bet, but it depends what it is for . . . laptops break if you use them like a laptop, so get the extended warranty — Apple Care for macs is pretty good and has saved me a LOT of money over the years. Desktops, if they are just going to sit on your desktop, will usually only break in the warranty period. Don’t bother with the extended warranty.
Finally, buying insurance against blackjack in a casino. Grow some nuts, and never take this sucker bet.
Totally in agreement on the bed. When the gf and I split and I got my own place, I splurged and got a hotel-grade cal king bed w/ a 25-year warranty. Every night I go to sleep I feel that money was well spent. Another one was the $325 I put down on a Boker folding knife–ceramic blade w/ titanium handles. Going on 15 years and it’s as sharp as the day I bought it.
Mistake #4 should read: Stop making car payments, gas payments, mechanic payments, gym payments, and insurance payments; MOVE TO A CITY, buy a bike and a membership to Flexcar.
For those of us living in the ‘burbs, not having a car is not an option.
My uncle once gave me a piece of advice along these lines:
“If you can fly it, float it, or fuck it, lease it. Buy everything else.”
I’m not rich enough to buy cheap shit.
The year was 1990, and having just returned to school in the fall after a summer working and saving, I had four things I valued:
A girl (we had been going out for nearly 6 years!)
A crappy futon bed (never again, and not recommended for anyone over 33)
…and then I splurged…
A brand-new set of Ping Eye 2 golf clubs
A brand-new Braun top-of-the-line coffee maker
The girl broke-up with me after I bought the clubs – something about spending $450 without consulting her first. They still play great (even if I don’t), and she got old, fat, and ugly. Yes, the consequence worth the reward!
The Braun, now 17 years old, still makes perfect coffee.
To the not-so-excited-about-wine crowd: For the “every-day” bottle, Trader Joe’s or Cost Plus provide incredibly palatable discoveries at quite the budget of paupers. Still, what you get in the $14-22 range can’t be matched in the single-digits – put a J. Lohr next to anything you can find for $9.99 or less and compare, you’ll see what I mean.
This goes triple for Champagne. I got schooled one night, thinking my mid-teens bottle of Domaine Ste Michelle was a smooth and tasty treat. That is, until my friend opened a bottle of Dom Perignon. Wow – I mean, have you ever seen a Major League pitcher throw his heat at a Single-A lineup, or Michael Jordan turn it on during his basketball camp (you know, where those rich bastards who can burn 10-grand for the week, just to smell his jock strap?). Anyway, you get the idea.
Mistakes are many…
- buying call-options on Enron
- Thinking United Airlines at $1/share was going to make me rich (good-bye, grand!)
- The combination of lots of alcohol and strip clubs in Dallas is NEVER a good idea, at least when you have to explain to someone a few weeks later about those unusual charges on the AmEx
- nearly everything I did in 1993 and 1994. Just ask around New Canaan, Tennessee, or Portland and I’m sure you find someone laughing at me…