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Your best and worst purchases

J

JLORYFSU!

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Apr 6, 2002
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What is or are some of the best things you have ever purchased? By that, I mean something that you really enjoy or something that you use a lot. For me, my massage chair and my stand up paddle boards are probably the best bang for the buck things I've ever bought. I would estimate I use my massage chair approximately 2 hrs a day for 5-6 days a week. When I am home watching tv, I sit in it as I've had lower back issues for years. My old chair lasted 6 yrs and was the best thing I've ever bought. It crapped out a month ago and I replaced it with another from the same company. I simply love it.

I started stand up paddleboarding 3 years ago and pretty much do an hour a day weather permitting. Great exercise and I love being on the lake or ocean with no phone, internet, etc. I bought a second SUP 6 months ago so my gf and I can go out together. The second one is awesome for the ocean and catching waves and the first one is better for lakes and rivers.

Worst purchase would be my condo at Ponce Inlet that I sold earlier this year. I never used it much and it became a money pit. I lost about $45k in renovation assessments and it was a pain in the butt. I also lost out on investment interest, dividends, etc that I could've made investing the money. Very relieved it is sold and done with.

What are some of your best and worst buys you've made?
 
Best buys... probably the 1966 Corvette I just traded. Went keys for keys on a M3 convertible.... it was good while it lasted and I made some bucks considering the value of the new car.
Another is our TV. 70" LED. We use the TV every single day and having a big one is very enjoyable. The price is already pennies per hour used.


Worst buy is also a condo... Mines in PCB and I still have it.
 
Our best is, without question, a little cottage-style house on a small ski lake, about a 10 minute drive from our home. We bought it in 1999, before the crazy runup in real estate prices. We use it for about half the year, give or take a month or two; then we rent it out for the other half of the year, sometimes to a snowbird & sometimes to someone from a local, small university (not to students, typically it's been to a new teacher, coach or a grad-student). It's been a great deal financially - we've easily recovered the purchase price + with net rent income, and we could easily sell it now for far more than we paid for it. Even better, it's been a great escape & a source of fun/relaxation.

Tie for 2nd would be:
1. the $15k we "invested" in the fertility treatments that resulted in our oldest son, and
2. the $15 we "invested" in a bottle of cheap tequila that resulted in our 2nd son

Of course, the two that are tied for 2nd would sometimes top of my list of "worst buys"
 
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Worst- buying instead of leasing a house 7 years ago. Best purchase - a full set(2-lw)of Ping Eye 2 beryllium copper irons.
 
Worst is probably my 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee that I drove until 2009. It was fine for a couple of years but then started having some overheating problems. I can't tell you how many times it stranded me, but I was glad I had AAA+

Best? I'll have to get back to you on that. It's probably something that's so reliable I take it for granted.
 
Best purchase? Right now I think it might be the ~$30 I spent for a bluetooth speaker that I can connect to my phone. We spend a lot of time out on our deck - when it's nice out we'll spend the entire day out there drinking and barbequing. The speaker lets me turn on iheart radio and listen to music all day. The sound/volume is really good, given how smal it is, and the charged battery lasts a long time.

Amazon Speaker Link

Worst purchase? Probably the 1990 K5 Blazer (lifted with 35" tires, etc). It might have previously made the "best" list because of how much fun it is to drive around in. But, my wife blew the motor. Now it sits there, taunting me. Apparently swapping out a regular old 350 motor on a great big old truck (which I figured would be the easiest thing ever) is something next to impossible. All the places I've called seem like they'd rather not mess with it, and if they do it'll cost me $4k+ for the rebuilt motor and labor. So, since I'm not looking to spend that kind of money on something that a) is purely for fun/recreation/snow days, and b) won't increase the value of the truck nearly enough to justify spending it, it sits there until I figure out how to get rid of it.
 
Best was the $1600 I spent on the mediator for my divorce.

Worst--my 1985 Wave Jammer I bought in 1988. Although it was fun, it was a pain in the ass to trailer and store.
 
JLory what brand of massage chair do you have? 6 years with that amount of use is impressive
 
Not certain what I would put as my best buy, probably the ring for my wife.

Worst buy is certainly my house. There's nothing worse than being stuck in a place you're upside down on, that you'd lose money renting on, in a neighborhood you no longer enjoy living in.
 
Best is my 2000 Taco. Thing is a beast.

Worst is my house. Friend of my wife's boss was a builder. Built us a house cheap. Turns out it was a cheap house. In the first ten years I had to replace the AC and the roof. At 18 years I replaced the doors. sinks and tubs. I wish it would burn down. When the kids are gone we're selling and buying a condo...
 
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LT4PLY said:
Best buys... probably the 1966 Corvette I just traded. Went keys for keys on a M3 convertible.... it was good while it lasted and I made some bucks considering the value of the new car.
Another is our TV. 70" LED. We use the TV every single day and having a big one is very enjoyable. The price is already pennies per hour used.


Worst buy is also a condo... Mines in PCB and I still have it.
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LT, where in PCB? I'm looking for one now for retirement. third.to.home@gmail.com
 
Pacenole said:
LT, where in PCB? I'm looking for one now for retirement. third.to.home@gmail.com
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You don't want mine for retirement. You probably don't want PCB to be honest and if you really do then go towards pier park area.

For retirement I'd personally be in Mexico beach or the like. There are so many sleepy beach towns that are close enough to drive to the chaos when you want it.
 
The answer to both is houses. Best being the house I am in now. Got it as a foreclosure. Spent about 20k in renos and upgrades/updates. I am probably about +50k in value right now. Worst is the townhouse I bought in '05. Still have it, just had my sister and her bf move out after 2 years and had to do some cleaning, sprucing and repairs (stuff I had been putting off, not any damage they did). Good news is I am renting it to cover my mortgage to someone I trust, so I get a paper loss on it come tax time.
 
cmanole said:
Best is my 2000 Taco. Thing is a beast.

Worst is my house. Friend of my wife's boss was a builder. Built us a house cheap. Turns out it was a cheap house. In the first ten years I had to replace the AC and the roof. At 18 years I replaced the doors. sinks and tubs. I wish it would burn down. When the kids are gone we're selling and buying a condo...
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Not only that, but it sits on a golf course that isn't running.
 
SeaPA said:
Tie for 2nd would be:
1. the $15k we "invested" in the fertility treatments that resulted in our oldest son, and
2. the $15 we "invested" in a bottle of cheap tequila that resulted in our 2nd son
Click to expand...

See, this post is why I miss our old smileys. This would certainly merit a laughing smiley for sure.
 
Best was a 20 acre parcel on Lake Istopoga that I got for 1k per acre. Sold it for 3k per and held the mortgage at 9%. (Early 90's)
Worst was a purchase I didn't make. I had bought and was renovating a old house that we planned on flipping. In the meantime we were looking at other properties for what we thought would be our long time home. We considered a five acre tract in the western Palm Beach County. 25k for 5 acres was a decent price but I had just bought the house, the other parcel as well as some other stuff so I talked myself out of it. About 3 months later a large upscale golf community was announced on the adjacent property. Those 25k lots jumped to 75k virtually over night. Woulda, coulda, shoula.
 
We bought a beach front condo in 2003, thinking about selling it now for $120,000 more than I paid for it plus it bought in average $35,000 a year in rental fees.

Our house has less than $120,000 in it, land, pool and all. We built ourselves and saved a ton of money. Its worth 5 times that now

My Nissan Titan, 11 years old and it drives better now than when I 1st bought it.

I bought 6 lots 2 blocks from beach and my house sits in the middle of 2 of them. I bought 2 for $6,500 each, 2 for $8,500 each and 2 for $12,500 each. They are worth $80,000 each now.





Worst purchase was 2 lots in Panama City before the bottom fell out of the market, they still aren't worth what I paid for them.
 
Have a few best fro different things. Wine Cellar is definitely up there. Allows me to keep really good wine and drink a bottle of a particular vintage every few years. Funny, I absolutely love my Sous Vide. Best chicken ever made in that thing.
Worst is tough, kind of block those from my mind. Of things I still own probably that damn mosquito magnet sitting in my backyard. Worked for 3 months, then stopped turning on. Called the company and they asked me where the plug was. I said outside on the house. They proceeded to tell me that the cord needs to be inside. I told them I don't have a mosquito problem inside. We couldn't come to an understanding.
 
dmm5157 said:
See, this post is why I miss our old smileys. This would certainly merit a laughing smiley for sure.
Click to expand...
SeaPa is way up on the list. He delivers.
Long time good buy for me was an Old Town Canoe from The Canoe Shop in Tally. Lots of good times in that baby and it is still in use after 30+ years. Well worth it is the used Honda CRV wifey drives. Steady transport and go to ride in snowy times. Needed it and good investment is our log cabin that has sheltered us and helped raise two kids. Got it cheap and it has certainly appreciated. Fun for me was the NAD receiver that lasted 20 + years. I played a zillion hours of music thru that babe. Bad buy...skunky beer, cheap jeans, and green firewood in the winter.
 
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Best is probably the lake lot we bought in '01 for $125k. It has tripled in value. Or...the money I spent on an Airline Transport Rating, as it got me the airline job that could fund that lot and my retirement.

Worst right now is probably that stupid Samsung TV with the f'ed up picture.
 
Best is my house I'm living in now that I bought at near the market bottom in 2011, a close second is my Wrangler Unlimited X I bought in 2008... not one single issue with it (knocking on wood right now).

Worst is the damn laminate floor I decided to put in the bedrooms of my current house... hate that crap. Not sure what got into me, spent too much for it and it sucks. Soon as I get some time this summer I'm ripping it out and having some real wood flooring installed.
 
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OrlandNole said:
I would hope that your neighbors vote to purchase the course. I don't care for golf but can see how it would positively contribute to property values.
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I hope so too but they won't. 90% of them are idiots and it's going to take 75% of the vote. There is a motion now for the HOA to buy the property, restore the clubhouse and the pool area and get the course into 'presentable' shape so an investor might be more inclined to buy it. That is what is going to take 75% of the vote. We'll be lucky to get 50%.

But the thing for me is I got in early, I got my house cheap and it's almost doubled in value even with the course being as it is. I'll have it paid off by the time my oldest is out of college and my youngest is in college. We'll sell when the little one gets out regardless. Doing something before now, even though we'd like to, is foolish. I'm finally taking large chuncks of principal out of my mortgage each month now so I've just got to bite the bullet...
 
Best purchase was spending $4200 for a sabbatical back in 2011. It was a very rough time for me then. I had two homes that were tremendously upside down, I was in the print business and was losing most my customers to digital products (income was cut in half), I was going through a very emotional divorce, and then the BP Oil Spill hit eliminating most all of my income (lived in PCB, my clients catered to the tourist economy) .

I really lost my stuff after that, started drinking heavily, messing around with drugs...I just didn't care about much anymore.

It got out of hand and I knew I needed to take a break to clear my head so that I could start over. Got with my family, told them I needed some help, we all got together with my church to see what some options were. I found a man in Mississippii who took people in like myself, all men. Me and a handful of other guys in similar situations from Lousianna to Atlanta all spent 3 months together doing volenteer work and reading our bible. It was the best 3 months of my life and changed my life forever.

Since then I moved to Austin, got a job with the company I'm working for today, and have been promoted and able to move back to Tampa. I'm now remarried and have my first child and life couldn't be better. 2011 seems like decades ago now.

Worst purchase....wouldn't know where to start.
 
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The $33,000 I paid for IVF to have our son. He is 9, so I will let you know if it was the best or worst.
 
noleit said:
Worst- buying instead of leasing a house 7 years ago. Best purchase - a full set(2-lw)of Ping Eye 2 beryllium copper irons.
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Garage storage from sams club. Don't know the name but it's stainless steel and on wheels. Absolutely love it.
 
jamnolfin said:
We bought a beach front condo in 2003, thinking about selling it now for $120,000 more than I paid for it plus it bought in average $35,000 a year in rental fees.

Our house has less than $120,000 in it, land, pool and all. We built ourselves and saved a ton of money. Its worth 5 times that now

My Nissan Titan, 11 years old and it drives better now than when I 1st bought it.

I bought 6 lots 2 blocks from beach and my house sits in the middle of 2 of them. I bought 2 for $6,500 each, 2 for $8,500 each and 2 for $12,500 each. They are worth $80,000 each now.





Worst purchase was 2 lots in Panama City before the bottom fell out of the market, they still aren't worth what I paid for them.
Click to expand...

Funny as my Titan is high on my list of worst purchases. First house was the best.
 
wbnolefan said:
JLory what brand of massage chair do you have? 6 years with that amount of use is impressive
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BeautyHealth is the name of the company. You can google them and also see their chairs on Amazon, ebay, etc. They make a great, quality product at an excellent price. Basically, you can get an unreal chair for $1-2k that is superior to name brand ones such as Panasonic, Brookstone that run $4k and up.

Also, my 2002 Highlander Limited SUV has been a great purchase....nearing $250k miles and has been a great vehicle.
 
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jamnolfin said:
The only thing that ever happened to my Titan was the fan on the AC/heater went out less than $500. That's it in 11 years
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Consider yourself lucky - had anything gone wrong Nissan would have effed you over like they did us. There are hundreds of pages on Titan forums devoted to the issue I had and Nissan's poor response.
 
Best--My brand new 2015 Toyota Tacoma

Worst--All the money that I poured into Seminole Boosters over the years and they still gave me the finger when it came to bowl tickets and parking passes.
 
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