What are your next major purchases?

[Default]

what is it with granite countertops? why? (and stainless steel appliances)

I don't know, but it's hilarious to watch all those house hunters shows and watch people look at perfectly nice kitchens and immediately lament "Oh, but there's no granite and stainless steel. Guess we'll have to re-do the kitchen."

It's going to be hilarious in a decade or two when granite and stainless go out of fashion, and all the renovation shows will show people struggling to haul those granite counters out.

I don't know about either ever going out of style. Stainless is popular with the industrial look crowd and always has been. Unlike Formica, granite looks like you spent money on your kitchen and it's a selling point. I have no illusions that I will be able to stay in my house as I age. Someday, it will get sold and the two places where it must be appealing are the kitchen and bath.

[LawBeefaroni]

what is it with granite countertops? why? (and stainless steel appliances)

I don't know, but it's hilarious to watch all those house hunters shows and watch people look at perfectly nice kitchens and immediately lament "Oh, but there's no granite and stainless steel. Guess we'll have to re-do the kitchen."

It's going to be hilarious in a decade or two when granite and stainless go out of fashion, and all the renovation shows will show people struggling to haul those granite counters out.

I don't know about either ever going out of style. Stainless is popular with the industrial look crowd and always has been. Unlike Formica, granite looks like you spent money on your kitchen and it's a selling point. I have no illusions that I will be able to stay in my house as I age. Someday, it will get sold and the two places where it must be appealing are the kitchen and bath.

Granite counters are easy to clean and durable. Ours are may be ugly but they stand up to all kinds of abuse.

[Chaz]

I bet people said much the same thing about laminate counters and nice avocado appliances back in the 70s too. Granite will absolutely go out of style at some point, and be replaced by some new, must-have finish type.

[Jaymann]

My car lease ran out so I got me one of these:

to tide me over until the Tesla Model 3 comes out. Not flashy, but it gets me the mile and a half to work.

[LawBeefaroni]

I bet people said much the same thing about laminate counters and nice avocado appliances back in the 70s too. Granite will absolutely go out of style at some point, and be replaced by some new, must-have finish type.

So someone just drops $2K to increase their home value by $12K. As long as there is a new, must have finish there is a way for homeowners to install it.

[Isgrimnur]

mile and a half to work.

I hate you.

[Max Peck]

I bet people said much the same thing about laminate counters and nice avocado appliances back in the 70s too. Granite will absolutely go out of style at some point, and be replaced by some new, must-have finish type.

No doubt.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth, including a form of igneous rock called granite, a mass composed mostly of silica and aluminum that makes up a large part of the continental crust, and comes in all the colors of the rainbow and signifies majesty and serenity. On the kajillionth day, or thereabouts, we mined that granite and we made countertops. We laid those countertops in kitchens all across the land, in condos and co-ops, in Pittsburgh and Portland. Now that the entire United States has been good and covered, from slab to shining slab, we can take a step back and analyze the age of the granite countertop. Think about what it’s all meant. It’s meant that we wanted something easy to clean. What else does it mean?

But backtracking a bit. The laminate countertops? They said something, too, when they first became popular. They said: I am in control. They — and the closed, walled-off kitchens they were installed in — said: When I make dip, I don’t want my guests to see it. I want some privacy. They said: A kitchen should be for the cook. It’s nothing to tweet about, nothing to over-share. Someday, one speculates, we may return to that mentality. Some day, HGTV buyers will go into a house and say, “I don’t like this open floor plan. Can we close it up? Can we have non-steel appliances? What’s the deal with this raised sink? Ewww, the countertops.” Looking at the granite kitchen of today is like looking at a museum exhibit of the future, something the Smithsonian will curate. “Granite has taken on the Kleenex brand,” says Carino, the HGTV host. “Now everything’s Kleenex. Most people don’t realize that they don’t actually want a granite countertop.” They might want soapstone. They might want Silestone. What they’re really looking for, Carino says, is “granite-esque.” The forward-leaning design snobs — the readers of “Dwell” and “Architectural Digest” — have already moved on. They want poured concrete in swirling designs. Carino is trying to turn people on to quartz, which is even harder than granite, even less porous.

[Chaz]

Heh. We have granite now. It came with the house and is black leather-finish, so at least it's a little distinctive. My wife is an architect, and would rather we have quartz counters. But we're many, many years away from refinishing the kitchen.

[Default]

Most people aren't design snobs. I don't own a 3600 sq foot mcmansion, so I doubt it is relevant to my situation. Formica looks cheap, as does sheet vinyl flooring, so neither has a place in my design scheme. If you want trendy, you will go out of fashion quickly. If you go classic and conservative, you design will have longer legs.

[Default]

mile and a half to work.

I hate you.

You can hate me 50% more. I live just less than a mile away from work. 10+ hour days are a lot easier to handle when you are home in five minutes.

[Sudy]

Black Cosmic Satan's going to be the name of my metal band.

[Zarathud]

If you want trendy, you will go out of fashion quickly. If you go classic and conservative, you design will have longer legs.

That's what was said about the all white look before the 70s. Granite and steel has absolutely become dated. I have a 100+ year old house and have been told by an appraiser that granite-steel kitchens not only is in less demand but would not fit with most buyers of my house.

[MonkeyFinger]

After twenty years we completely remodeled our kitchen and went thru some of the same angst over the countertops - quartz, silestone, yada yada and ended up going with granite. We've no plans to sell the house and wanted something we loved and found it in a granite much like petrified wood with bits of smoky and clear quartz in it. That and all black appliances since we have no love for stainless steel. Finally got my Viking stovetop to boot.

[Kraken]

I bet people said much the same thing about laminate counters and nice avocado appliances back in the 70s too. Granite will absolutely go out of style at some point, and be replaced by some new, must-have finish type.

Granite is porous and will stain unless one periodically re-seals it. If you're the type who renovates regularly, that's not a big deal, but if you're the once-and-done type you're better off with a lookalike such as Corian. That said, if we do renovate our 1940s-era kitchen before we sell our house I'll go with trendy granite because resale value will matter more than durability.

[em2nought]

what is it with granite countertops? why? (and stainless steel appliances)

I don't know, but it's hilarious to watch all those house hunters shows and watch people look at perfectly nice kitchens and immediately lament "Oh, but there's no granite and stainless steel. Guess we'll have to re-do the kitchen."

I agree, sometimes if the buyers are too annoyingly privileged in their own minds I have to change the channel, and I find myself wishing a speedy foreclosure on them.

[gbasden]

Well, with my Prius being very temperamental and a money sink, I finally made a decision and picked up a 2016 Scion FR-S in black. It's definitely a sweet driving car, and should be good fun at the track. It does need a few mods for a bit of extra horsepower, but boy it handles the corners well.

You went from a Prius to a FR-S? Well done sir!

Well, technically, I went from a Volkswagen GTI to a Prius this summer when we replaced my wife's car. I won't say I'm thankful that the Prius was circling the drain as it would have been nice to get a few more years out of it, but I won't deny that the FR-S is much more fun.

[Holman]

Bought a new home boiler for around $7,000. This replaces the old unit, which was installed in 1965. I'm told the new one is more efficient.

Next up: repairing the porch (the porch is what buyers see first), replastering the outside walls, renovating the kitchen (currently state-of-the-art ca. 1955), repainting everything.

[TheMix]

Last time I had work done on our boiler, I asked the plumber about the efficiency. He said it was probably around 50%. I asked if I should replace it. He told me not to bother. Apparently I have a work-horse, and I should just let it work. I didn't realize I was dodging a $7k bullet.

[Daehawk]

Major to me is under $200. So my next major purchase will be a SSD for my games. Maybe can ge tit next month barring another emergency. Been saving for about 16 months for it and its around $147.

[Giles Habibula]

My car lease ran out so I got me one of these:

That's actually a very nice-looking ride. Congrats!

[Isgrimnur]

$40 part for the car, $180 in labor. A minor thing, what with the car not knowing what gear the transmission was in. Could have been a whole lot worse, I suppose.

[ImLawBoy]

If you want trendy, you will go out of fashion quickly. If you go classic and conservative, you design will have longer legs.

That's what was said about the all white look before the 70s. Granite and steel has absolutely become dated. I have a 100+ year old house and have been told by an appraiser that granite-steel kitchens not only is in less demand but would not fit with most buyers of my house.

I remember being told that when I was picking kitchen finishes/appliances for my condo - in 2001. I got the granite counters anyway, but I really wish I splurged for the steel appliances to help with the resale and/or visual appeal when I sold it. We just re-did the kitchen (well, appliances about a year-and-a-half ago) with granite and steel. The first thing the realtor suggested when she looked at our house to get it ready to market was to do the counters. Granite wasn't necessarily required, but it was suggested as among the better bang-for-your-buck options. It might not work in every kitchen, but it's still a great, clean look in a lot of kitchens. I know when I'm browsing online for houses, I'm always more intrigued by a granite and steel kitchen than by something with white or black appliances. (And I'm not one of those people who just wants a pretty show kitchen - I cook all the time.)

Bottom line, if you're thinking of selling soon, remodel with what's hot/what will increase the resale. Contrary to what some are saying, I've found that granite and steel works for that route, and many, many professionals are still of that mindset. There may be some kitchens where that doesn't work, of course, but I'm speaking in generalities. If you're not selling soon and just want a remodel, go with what you like. Will it be out of style in 5 years? Who knows? As I mentioned, they've been ringing the death knell for granite and steel for at least 15 years now. Regardless, if it's a kitchen you like, go with it, whether that's steel appliances or white or green or whatever.

[Holman]

Last time I had work done on our boiler, I asked the plumber about the efficiency. He said it was probably around 50%. I asked if I should replace it. He told me not to bother. Apparently I have a work-horse, and I should just let it work. I didn't realize I was dodging a $7k bullet.

We've been perfectly content with our ancient boiler for thirteen years. We're about to try to sell this house, though, and only an idiot would have bought a 1965 boiler in 2003, let alone today.

[Kraken]

Last time I had work done on our boiler, I asked the plumber about the efficiency. He said it was probably around 50%. I asked if I should replace it. He told me not to bother. Apparently I have a work-horse, and I should just let it work. I didn't realize I was dodging a $7k bullet.

We've been perfectly content with our ancient boiler for thirteen years. We're about to try to sell this house, though, and only an idiot would have bought a 1965 boiler in 2003, let alone today.

When we bought our house 27 years ago, replacing the ancient oil-fired boiler with an efficient modern gas model zoomed to the top of the priority list after I saw the first winter's oil bills. I think we paid around $6k for that and recouped the cost within 7-8 years.

When I had it tuned up last fall the service kid (who was definitely younger than the boiler) strongly recommended replacing it with an efficient modern model.

Our house needs so much other attention that I'll leave that one for the next owner.

[LawBeefaroni]

So in the last few days...

Dropped $200 on dinner last night with the in-laws (got off cheap, they paid the last three nights).
$6K in property tax (that's just one installment!)
$2K in additional income tax (wife forgot to file her quarterlies)
$200 on range ammo, $120 on new mags, $280 on a safe for it all.
$450 for this week's summer camp.
$130 on diaper inserts.

And now the Low Tire Pressure light on the car keeps coming on. It's just over 1K miles so it should be covered. Unless the tire actually has a problem, in which case no idea how much these newfangled monitored tires cost. Might be under the Michelin warranty, if I can be assed to take it to a Michelin service center. Or I can just pay the inevitable three figure penalty.

[Kraken]

Geez, our property tax is "only" $3600 per year.

A few weeks ago my Miata's ABS light started coming on intermittently. I haven't been able to discern a pattern so I can't figure out what sets it off. The internet tells me it's probably a sensor, or maybe a fuse, and in any case is not worth the likely $400-500 fix. The brakes work. Good enough for me. I'll try to stop less often.

[RunningMn9]

Geez, our property tax is "only" $3600 per year.

Mine just got bumped to $11,500. It has more than doubled in the 12 years I've lived in this house. NJ is unreasonable.

[RunningMn9]

Unless the tire actually has a problem, in which case no idea how much these newfangled monitored tires cost.

There is nothing particular about the tire. There's a sensor installed on the stem that wirelessly sends data to the car computer. If you needed a new tire, you would just swap the sensor into the new tire.

[Isgrimnur]

Geez, our property tax is "only" $3600 per year.

Mine just got bumped to $11,500. It has more than doubled in the 12 years I've lived in this house. NJ is unreasonable.

Press of AC

A growing number of New Jersey towns are failing to stay within the 2 percent cap on property tax increases that was passed into law five years ago.

An analysis by The Record newspaper found that 60 percent of the state’s 565 municipalities exceeded the tax cap last year. That’s 334 municipalities, which is the highest that figure has been since the tax changes were passed in 2011 by the Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Chris Christie.

Towns are using exemptions written into the 2011 bipartisan deal, which allow for increases beyond the cap limit for certain expenses.
...
Local government officials say the need to use the cap exemptions will be necessary as long as costs continue to rise.

Don't you just love it when they pretty much write the loopholes explicilty into the law?

[Scuzz]

Most people aren't design snobs. I don't own a 3600 sq foot mcmansion, so I doubt it is relevant to my situation. Formica looks cheap, as does sheet vinyl flooring, so neither has a place in my design scheme. If you want trendy, you will go out of fashion quickly. If you go classic and conservative, you design will have longer legs.

We want to replace the tile kitchen counters with something flat eventually. I don't know if we will end up with granite or not though. We are also due to replace the stove. But we have new tile flooring, we like the cabinets and the layout is fine. We do need new sinks and a faucet though.

[LordMortis]

So in the last few days...

Dropped $200 on dinner last night with the in-laws (got off cheap, they paid the last three nights).
$6K in property tax (that's just one installment!)
$2K in additional income tax (wife forgot to file her quarterlies)
$200 on range ammo, $120 on new mags, $280 on a safe for it all.
$450 for this week's summer camp.
$130 on diaper inserts.

And now the Low Tire Pressure light on the car keeps coming on. It's just over 1K miles so it should be covered. Unless the tire actually has a problem, in which case no idea how much these newfangled monitored tires cost. Might be under the Michelin warranty, if I can be assed to take it to a Michelin service center. Or I can just pay the inevitable three figure penalty.

Ouchy,

I'm not sure how it compares but

my property tax is about 8% of the value of my house.
Income tax is 4%
Sales tax is 6% with non prepared food and periodicals exempt.

Most of my purchasing power has gone to my health over the summer. Medical related bills, even with our "Cadillac Plan" are costing me close to my wage after normal living expenses. And I just paid summer taxes.

However, my last major purchase was stock so I must be getting back on track.

Next for me will probably be OctoCon, then more stock, then winter taxes. Unless something else goes wrong, and something always goes wrong. Though at the rate things are going, soon I will have to consider auto insurance and the cable bill major purchases every month.

Most people aren't design snobs. I don't own a 3600 sq foot mcmansion, so I doubt it is relevant to my situation. Formica looks cheap, as does sheet vinyl flooring, so neither has a place in my design scheme. If you want trendy, you will go out of fashion quickly. If you go classic and conservative, you design will have longer legs.

We want to replace the tile kitchen counters with something flat eventually. I don't know if we will end up with granite or not though. We are also due to replace the stove. But we have new tile flooring, we like the cabinets and the layout is fine. We do need new sinks and a faucet though.

I've always wanted to build a living room built in to the wall book shelf with tons of small uniquely spaced non horizontal and non vertical shelving. It's be the closest thing to "art" I'd put on my walls. However, what has two thumbs and no handy man skills, whatsoever?

[Scuzz]

Most people aren't design snobs. I don't own a 3600 sq foot mcmansion, so I doubt it is relevant to my situation. Formica looks cheap, as does sheet vinyl flooring, so neither has a place in my design scheme. If you want trendy, you will go out of fashion quickly. If you go classic and conservative, you design will have longer legs.

We want to replace the tile kitchen counters with something flat eventually. I don't know if we will end up with granite or not though. We are also due to replace the stove. But we have new tile flooring, we like the cabinets and the layout is fine. We do need new sinks and a faucet though.

I've always wanted to build a living room built in to the wall book shelf with tons of small uniquely spaced non horizontal and non vertical shelving. It's be the closest thing to "art" I'd put on my walls. However, what has two thumbs and no handy man skills, whatsoever?

I wanted to do that in our den but it would have limited the seating options. Also, I am all thumbs. I can do demo, but I can't put anything back together.

We re-did our hall bathroom last summer. I demo'd everything (but the tub/shower enclosure) and everything else is new. I did paint, but I had others do everything else.

[LawBeefaroni]

Sales tax is 6% with non prepared food and periodicals exempt.

Ours is around 10% when you add up Cook County and the City, for anything other than groceries. However it varies. It's extra for booze, anything downtown, and there are countless add-on taxes (firearms, cars, bottles of water, etc.).

I've always wanted to build a living room built in to the wall book shelf with tons of small uniquely spaced non horizontal and non vertical shelving. It's be the closest thing to "art" I'd put on my walls. However, what has two thumbs and no handy man skills, whatsoever?

I'm about to put in some between-the-studs shelves. Ideally the whole house would have them but I have to start small and convince the wife. She wants to keep the small footprint, I think we need to get creative.

[malchior]

Don't you just love it when they pretty much write the loopholes explicilty into the law?

Tell me about it - I'm running at $13500 and about to hit the eject seat. That got delayed since they avoided the constitutional amendment to require making the full pension payment (which we can't afford) uber alles in this year's election. If that had happened the glide slope to leaving would have accelerated dramatically. At this point IMO the state is broken beyond repair and I don't want to be stuck holding the bag when it inevitably implodes financially.

[Jeff V]

Sales tax is 6% with non prepared food and periodicals exempt.

Ours is around 10% when you add up Cook County and the City, for anything other than groceries. However it varies. It's extra for booze, anything downtown, and there are countless add-on taxes (firearms, cars, bottles of water, etc.).

Many people only suspect we have a special tax on everything just so we can buy public-use firearms for anyone who needs to shoot somebody.

I've always wanted to build a living room built in to the wall book shelf with tons of small uniquely spaced non horizontal and non vertical shelving. It's be the closest thing to "art" I'd put on my walls. However, what has two thumbs and no handy man skills, whatsoever?

I'm about to put in some between-the-studs shelves. Ideally the whole house would have them but I have to start small and convince the wife. She wants to keep the small footprint, I think we need to get creative.

I put nearly my entire library up for sale a few years ago and it's been slowly getting smaller at a rate of about 50 books per year. Not fast enough though, I anticipate liquidating hundreds of them to either Half Price Books or a donation bin (the latter more likely since these books have little value on the secondary market). Any books that would have been interesting enough to showcase in a living room have mostly sold (many for a nice profit). With the need for physical books waning, it becoming a storage burden more than anything.

[Scuzz]

We have 6 book cases in the house, with more in boxes in the garage. We recently discovered the county library will take donations for a fund raiser they do a couple times a year. We discovered this at their fund raiser while buying more books. The local used book store has done well enough that they are getting very picky about what they are willing to give credit for.

And I don't want book cases to showcase my books, I want them so that I can browse them. I can tell you were every book I own is, within a few inches anyway. And even surprisingly to me I have started re-reading many books from years past.

[PLW]

A new car! We're looking at the Nissan Rogue, but the wife is really in charge of this, as it's going to be her primary vehicle.

[LordMortis]

Sales tax doesn't vary here. Income tax for cities. Property taxes vary wildly. And then we have hidden taxes on everything from gasoline to all of the sin stuff like the retail sales of TLC goods.

I put nearly my entire library up for sale a few years ago and it's been slowly getting smaller at a rate of about 50 books per year. Not fast enough though, I anticipate liquidating hundreds of them to either Half Price Books or a donation bin (the latter more likely since these books have little value on the secondary market). Any books that would have been interesting enough to showcase in a living room have mostly sold (many for a nice profit). With the need for physical books waning, it becoming a storage burden more than anything.

While I rarely open them anymore and even more rarely buy a new one, I still love all of my books. It's a half a room of a memory of what I once learned or enjoyed I guess. Much like if I were still seeing shows, I'd still buy CDs (it used to be TShirts but I have long since rarely worn a TShirt). The older I get, the more my memory fades. The more my memory fades, the more I appreciate things that suggest those memories. Kinda makes me wish I took more pictures. The only problem with pictures was that commemorating something meant I wasn't doing the thing I was taking the time to commemorate. I have gotten to the point where a novel I read less than 10 years ago may as well be new again, whereas when I was younger and I reread a novel, I could remember the act reading specific passages as I reread them.

[Jeff V]

I have too many unread books to ever hope to re-read anything. Since I don't write or otherwise need to research history anymore, a lot of books I have (had) for research aren't needed anymore. I really don't want to move more than 1000 books again when we move next year though.

[Isgrimnur]

Got a list handy?