What are your next major purchases?

[geezer]

Unfortunately, probably a new car. I really don't want a new car but my (paid off) Mini has now had 2 car repairs costing around $1800 in the last 4 months and this model and year are known for falling apart once the major repairs start. I don't want to sink more money into it.

So, I did end up trading my Mini in for a Hyundai Veloster lease. With my trade-in, the lease will end up costing me $72 for the 36 month term; my payments are $127 per month for 36 months after putting $2000 down (the $2000 coming from the Mini trade-in). The taxes and fees were also covered by the Mini trade-in, and they are sending me a check for $4500 for the rest of the trade-in value. I feel like I got a decent deal and now I don't have to drop the $2200 the Mini would have cost me this month for thermostat repair and new tires. Yay?

Absolutely - yay! Enjoy it - I always thought they were cool looking cars

[Default]

Forgot, I have a custom mandola being made for me. The guy just finished carving the top.

[LawBeefaroni]

City sticker: $141 for 19 months (19 months?).

For those not familiar, if you live in Chicago, the city sticker allows you to drive and park in the city without getting a $250 ticket for not having a city sticker.

What about tourists? Or if you have to come into town for some special reason?

They check the plates. If you don't reside in the city, or it's a rental, no ticket.

[LawBeefaroni]

Unfortunately, probably a new car. I really don't want a new car but my (paid off) Mini has now had 2 car repairs costing around $1800 in the last 4 months and this model and year are known for falling apart once the major repairs start. I don't want to sink more money into it.

So, I did end up trading my Mini in for a Hyundai Veloster lease. With my trade-in, the lease will end up costing me $72 for the 36 month term; my payments are $127 per month for 36 months after putting $2000 down (the $2000 coming from the Mini trade-in). The taxes and fees were also covered by the Mini trade-in, and they are sending me a check for $4500 for the rest of the trade-in value. I feel like I got a decent deal and now I don't have to drop the $2200 the Mini would have cost me this month for thermostat repair and new tires. Yay?

Sound like a good deal.

Any reason you didn't just tell them to apply the check to the lease, give them $72 and say "see you in 3 years!"?

I thought about it, but there was no finance charge for financing it, so I'd rather have the money in hand now so I can use it now since there's no downside to having a non-interest payment.

Makes perfect sense. Just curious.

[Lassr]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter got engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

[coopasonic]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter go engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

As the father of two boys I hope this father of the bride foots the bill thing lasts a couple more decades.

[LordMortis]

I just put $200 gambling money into scottrade for the first time and I'm excited about that... I'll actually be able to gamble with it in a couple days.
I am about find out how much it costs buy a stent and have it placed in (next to? Coming out of?) my heart. I'm sure that won't cheap. Though I've already hit my deductible for the year, and I think my co-pay caps at like $150, the problem is "Co-insurance" I don't even really understand what co-insurance is exactly, in that it isn't the deductible and it's isn't a co-pay and it you have spend thousands of dollar a year out of that kitty before you are immune to further charges. I'm pretty certain heart surgery is going max it out for the year though.

Sound like a good deal.

Any reason you didn't just tell them to apply the check to the lease, give them $72 and say "see you in 3 years!"?

I thought about it, but there was no finance charge for financing it, so I'd rather have the money in hand now so I can use it now since there's no downside to having a non-interest payment.

Makes perfect sense. Just curious.

I was under the impression the 0% financing was a form of rebate. Not necessarily the case here, but with Ford or GM or FCA 0% financing can be negotiated out, for instance if you plan to pay cash for a car and the financing incentive is removed.

[Isgrimnur]

From my experience, coinsurance just means a copay that's percentage based rather than a set amount.

[hentzau]

I really want to get a video projector for my backyard. I have a crappy little pico projector right now, and I'd like to upgrade to a nicer model. Like in the $200-300 price range.

[hepcat]

I'll say it again: I will never understand your desire to run America's first outdoor theater for squirrels.

[LordMortis]

I'll say it again: I will never understand your desire to run America's first outdoor theater for squirrels.

Squirrel Theater?



I figured somewhere out there was video of squirrels doing the can can, so I googled it. That video was not what I expected.

[hentzau]

I'll say it again: I will never understand your desire to run America's first outdoor theater for squirrels.

Just trying to give you something to do on the weekends, Hep.

[hepcat]

It's when he forces them into little cars before the movie starts that I start to question his sanity.

[Lassr]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter go engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

As the father of two boys I hope this father of the bride foots the bill thing lasts a couple more decades.

we are hoping that cost sharing is the thing these days. We set a budget of $10K which some people say is low but I take that as a challenge.

I don't want to have to finance it.

[stessier]

We need a "what do you wish your next major purchase is?" thread. I want a Vizio P65-C1, an HTC-10, and a Volt. I'm likely to end up with a new book or something.

[Kraken]

New brakes and tires for the Fit weren't on my list, but $600 later I has them.

[coopasonic]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter go engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

As the father of two boys I hope this father of the bride foots the bill thing lasts a couple more decades.

we are hoping that cost sharing is the thing these days. We set a budget of $10K which some people say is low but I take that as a challenge.

I don't want to have to finance it.

$10k is hilarious based on my wedding, however the weddings my blood family is accustomed to tend to run much closer to $2k and most of that is alcohol. I married into a whole different world.

[stessier]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter go engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

As the father of two boys I hope this father of the bride foots the bill thing lasts a couple more decades.

we are hoping that cost sharing is the thing these days. We set a budget of $10K which some people say is low but I take that as a challenge.

I don't want to have to finance it.

Does your daughter expect you to foot the full bill? When we got married in 2004, my inlaws said they had X to spend and we could do whatever we wanted with it (it happened to be $10k). We then did all the planning and then just covered any overage with out own money (came to about $5k more (fed 178 people) + $5k for the honeymoon). I never expected even that much help. I plan to do something similar for my kids - we'll help, but we aren't footing the whole bill if you go crazy.

Edit: Oh - and congratulations to the happy couple!

[Lassr]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter go engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

As the father of two boys I hope this father of the bride foots the bill thing lasts a couple more decades.

we are hoping that cost sharing is the thing these days. We set a budget of $10K which some people say is low but I take that as a challenge.

I don't want to have to finance it.

Does your daughter expect you to foot the full bill? When we got married in 2004, my inlaws said they had X to spend and we could do whatever we wanted with it (it happened to be $10k). We then did all the planning and then just covered any overage with out own money (came to about $5k more (fed 178 people) + $5k for the honeymoon). I never expected even that much help. I plan to do something similar for my kids - we'll help, but we aren't footing the whole bill if you go crazy.

Edit: Oh - and congratulations to the happy couple!

Yes, my daughter expects me to foot the bill. She's broke and will have student loans when she graduates. Instead of wedding gifts they will be asking for Honeymoon donations.

and thanks, it was a good weekend for her. She got engaged while at he Shakey Beats music festival in Atlanta and then while there she got access to the VIP section and met Chandler Riggs and got her picture taken with him (Carl from TWD) she said he was really nice and not stuck up.

[Scuzz]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter got engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

I have offered to just give my daughters some cash in they have a small wedding or just elope. I hope they take me up on that.

[Isgrimnur]

I have student loans, both sets of parents are alive, and I spent $10k on my own damned wedding!

[LawBeefaroni]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter got engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

I have offered to just give my daughters some cash in they have a small wedding or just elope. I hope they take me up on that.

We just went to the courthouse. FIL was so happy he didn't have to pony up for a wedding, he wrote us a check right there a dinner when we told him (after the fact).

[LordMortis]

This thread is beginning to piss me off. My AC technically works, you know if you want to have motors and fans running but not actually pump cool air. My financial year is about to go from a wash to being in the red with no relief soon. By the time I pay off these bills, it will summer property tax season.

[Lassr]

Guess I get to add a wedding to my list of purchases.

Daughter got engaged this past weekend. Wedding in 2 years so I have some time to save.

I have offered to just give my daughters some cash in they have a small wedding or just elope. I hope they take me up on that.

good luck, mine did not...

[coopasonic]

I have student loans, both sets of parents are alive, and I spent $10k on my own damned wedding!

I probably spent $15k above and beyond what the mother-in-law spent on the wedding, which was a lot more than I spent (sit down prime rib and an open bar for ~150 at one of the top locations in town. The town being Rochester, not Dallas, saving us a good bit). Most of my expense was jewelry and honeymoon, so for the most part not directly the wedding. It is a ridiculous way to start a marriage.

[LordMortis]

I think I spent $700 on my wedding (fair ground pavilion rental with liquor license for a day, gambling junket for 2, and Elvis) if you don't count the ring and the incidentals of food and gambling and entertainment in Vegas, for which we came out ahead (not including the ring)

I'm guessing each of our parents probably spent another $200 in stuff for the picnic at the fair grounds and I think my ex- spent another $150 for balloon animal clown guy. Remus brought volley ball stuff.

We sent no invitations. Show up or don't. Make your gift a dish to pass. BYOB. One guest's dish was keg.

I can't speak for the guests. They said they had a great time, but people always say that. I had a great time and it was zero stress leading up to having a great time. The wedding was planned in 15 minutes. A web site was created and hosted in couple of hours. It took maybe two days of lunch and after work work to implement the plan.

[ImLawBoy]

There's a big difference between a wedding between 22 year olds fresh out of college with no savings and weddings between couples who have had years in the workforce. My sister was young when she got married, and I believe my folks paid a decent share of the wedding costs. I was in my mid-30s with a good paying job, and while my parents gifted us some cash that we used toward the wedding, we paid the lion's share ourselves.

[stessier]

There's a big difference between a wedding between 22 year olds fresh out of college with no savings and weddings between couples who have had years in the workforce. My sister was young when she got married, and I believe my folks paid a decent share of the wedding costs. I was in my mid-30s with a good paying job, and while my parents gifted us some cash that we used toward the wedding, we paid the lion's share ourselves.

I think the expectations should be different as well. A 22 year old better understand there is a budget and compromises will be made.

[ImLawBoy]

There's a big difference between a wedding between 22 year olds fresh out of college with no savings and weddings between couples who have had years in the workforce. My sister was young when she got married, and I believe my folks paid a decent share of the wedding costs. I was in my mid-30s with a good paying job, and while my parents gifted us some cash that we used toward the wedding, we paid the lion's share ourselves.

I think the expectations should be different as well. A 22 year old better understand there is a budget and compromises will be made.

Damn straight. Especially if I'm having this discussion when my kids turn 22!

[LawBeefaroni]

There's a big difference between a wedding between 22 year olds fresh out of college with no savings and weddings between couples who have had years in the workforce. My sister was young when she got married, and I believe my folks paid a decent share of the wedding costs. I was in my mid-30s with a good paying job, and while my parents gifted us some cash that we used toward the wedding, we paid the lion's share ourselves.

I think the expectations should be different as well. A 22 year old better understand there is a budget and compromises will be made.

Damn straight. Especially if I'm having this discussion when my kids turn 22!

My rule (still tweaking it):
Wedding budget will be 15% of the retail cost of completed college. If wedding is post-grad, bonus will be equal to any remaining 529 scrilla.

[Kraken]

I really don't know how much our wedding cost. Wife and I spent a lot just to be there; at the time, I lived in Elmira, she lived in Albany, and the wedding was in MI. Since we had met at MSU we got married in the university chapel and the reception was in the student union, so that was free or nearly so. IIRC her parents picked up the food and my parents bought the booze, and we covered flowers and invitations and suchlike ourselves. I made a mix tape and we borrowed a kickass stereo so there was no band or DJ. It was not an expensive wedding. We had already lived together for four years by then so we didn't feel the need for a big spectacle.

[Jeff V]

My rule (advances in science notwithstanding):

Be dead by the time female child marries.

Otherwise. there is absolutely no history of weddings being paid for by anyone other than the couple involved in either of our families.

[stessier]

If wedding is post-grad, bonus will be equal to any remaining 529 scrilla.

I would modify as

If wedding is post-grad, bonus will be equal to (any remaining 529 scrilla) * 0.9

Since you'll get hit with the 10% penalty. Depending on savings and scholarships obtained, that could be significant.

[LawBeefaroni]

If wedding is post-grad, bonus will be equal to any remaining 529 scrilla.

I would modify as

If wedding is post-grad, bonus will be equal to (any remaining 529 scrilla) * 0.9

Since you'll get hit with the 10% penalty. Depending on savings and scholarships obtained, that could be significant.

Wouldn't be a cash out. 529 can transfer. Bonus would be from cash that I would hopefully have.

[Zarathud]

Television. The 6 year old apparently left the Roku online long enough last month for the red Showtime logo from the home screen to burn in noticeably. Of course, I notice it Monday night after all of the holiday sales are over. I want to build a custom corner TV stand this summer so I might wait for the full upgrade.

[hepcat]

Television.

No, it's Xia.

[LawBeefaroni]

Took the wife to Menards for "some closet stuff.". Walked out $250 poorer and I still don't know what we bought. Certainly not a grill, dammit.

[Zarathud]

Kickstarters don't count.

[Kraken]

Wife's teeth are going to crowd everything else out. We have a $2800 bill for five root canals. That isn't right; according to the insurance company's statement we should owe a few hundred, so that needs to be straightened out. BUT she needs three more canals AND eight crowns, and insurance is already tapped out for the year.

On the plus side, we're going to make the medical deductions threshold for the first time ever.

[Giles Habibula]

I am about find out how much it costs buy a stent and have it placed in (next to? Coming out of?) my heart. I'm sure that won't cheap. Though I've already hit my deductible for the year, and I think my co-pay caps at like $150, the problem is "Co-insurance" I don't even really understand what co-insurance is exactly, in that it isn't the deductible and it's isn't a co-pay and it you have spend thousands of dollar a year out of that kitty before you are immune to further charges. I'm pretty certain heart surgery is going max it out for the year though.

Good luck! When I went in for my heart attack, all they did at that time (aside from the ER stuff where they saved my life) was install two stents in the main artery supplying my heart. It was not invasive (they threaded them up through arteries via my groin area), but it was rather expensive. I do not have a total amount for that procedure, as deciphering the sporadic (and sometimes incomplete until much later) hospital bills was impossible. However, I can tell you that in my case, it was expensive.

My insurance paid 90% of everything until my out-of-pocket reached $4,500. After that, my insurance picked up everything until January 1st, at which point it starts all over, so in my case, it was beneficial to have as much as I could done before January 1. So I had the bypass surgery done that same year (2015), which needed to be done anyway. But just the initial stents (and ER visit) maxed out my out-of-pocket right then and there.

Your area might cost less (costs vary wildly), but it sounds like it won't be cheap (I'm assuming your insurance is somewhat similar to mine).

The bright side is that the benefits far outweigh any monetary cost. You'll be a lot less likely to end up in the ER or worse after you have it done, for instance.

Also, don't be afraid to ask for and complete the Financial Assistance paperwork, if the hospital has such a program. Depending on a wide variety of factors, they can write off some or all of the remaining balance. In my case, it helped greatly, even though I didn't think it would. Definitely worth the three hours I spent putting it together.