If you read enough personal finance blogs, you’ll find that a lot of personal finance bloggers call anyone with a plasma television crazy. They say that such extravagances are unnecessary and that I should save money for the future. There’s a lot of truth to that. So much truth that the more personal finance bloggers I read, the more I feel just a little bit ashamed. Ashamed is probably too strong a word.
Then I came across this article of Ramit Sethi’s: How my friend spends $21,000/year on going out. It made me realize that it’s fine to have an indulgence as long as it’s well planned for. I’ve kept a great cap on spending over the past year, maxing out my 401k plan, Roth IRA plan (well I did that recently), and putting over $3000 in Prosper.com.
So this Sunday, I’ll kick back with chicken wings and mozzarella sticks, turn on the television and watch the game in high definition.
I must be crazy too. Actually I don’t have a plasma, but a DLP. It was still fairly expensive. Last spring it was around $1,900. Could we have gotten by without it? Probably. But our current TV at the time was a very old 30″ tube that began to have severe color problems it was almost unwatchable. So we needed a new TV, and what’s the point in spending a few hundred dollars on another SD tube TV when in 2009 everything will be a digital broadcast?
Plus it was the first TV we’ve ever had to purchase. For about 9 years I’ve always used second hand TVs. So I figure given my spending habits, as long as this TV holds up it should be in use for many years. Plus we do a fair share of movie watching so it is nice to enjoy our favorite movies in upscaled resolution on a wide screen.
I’m sure we could have put that money to use elsewhere for more long-term rewards, but you do have to enjoy life a little while working towards your goals. An occasional and well thought out splurge is fine in my book.
Go Bears !!!
I have a 55′ DLP as well and I never felt I am crazy. Actually, what’s the meaning of giving up those that you can enjoy when you are young just to save for something 30 years later? Save for the future, yes, but don’t sacrifice your life now just for the sake of the future.
61in Sony Rear Projection LCD. Awesome picture. Never a twinge of remorse or an inkling of crazy.
http://rateladder.com/2007/01/22/stuck-in-chicago-go-bears/
I don’t think buying a plasma or LCD is any crazier than buying anything else. So long as you budget it, and fits in your budget and goals, buying this is fine. What good is saving if you cannot buy what you want, or live a standard a living the way you want to live. I’m not sure what all the blogger nonsense about luxury cars or plasma tv’s is really about. Besides, you have a blogging site, just buy the plasma display and count it as a business expense. Connect it to your computer and and execute your business.
Not crazy, isn’t part of the goal of saving money to have money to be happy with? If you know what it’s going to cost you (short and long term) and you do your due diligence on getting one you’ll use for a long time, it seems like a something you can get a lot of enjoyment out of.
Yeah a little, but I shouldn’t talk. I have a $600 Omega and it doesn’t tell time any better than a $10 Casio. The question is whether my enjoyment of the Omega beats that of the Casio. For me it’s a definite yes. For others no, I am crazy. I value TVs such that I would not spend more than $500 on one. Fortunately, there are many people that give 50″ TVs away because they “remodelled” (I’m guessing they got evicted ;P) and the TV no longer fits. Now that IS crazy.
It’s a terrible use of money. My getting Netflix is a terrible use of money. It’s all relative – if the only purpose in your life is to save, save, save, then it’s not going to be a life worth living. At some point you want to buy the slightly better quality wine or go to a concert or something else that’s not necessary in the frugal life. Everyone has luxury priorities. I want to travel with my family, so I don’t buy plasma TVs, but hey – it just depends on what your priorities are.
I love my Samsung Plasma. I hug it everyday when I return from work. :-)