Can you afford it?

I passed up upgrading my HP 2140 net book and saved the money for this upgrade.

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Originally Posted by packaok

My wife and I subscribe to the belief that if you cannot pay for something in full 100% at the time of purchase, then you cannot afford the item. This is true for cars, electronics, furniture, etc... Anything beyond a standard mortgage on a home.

We save up and pay for our stuff. As a result, we actually have money in our accounts instead of charging everything on a credit card and then making payments to the bank every month.

This philosophy helps us make more reasonable decisions about our purchases. It makes me ask the question "Do I want iPad 2, or will my old one be good enough until iPad 3 or iPad 4 comes out?"

Personally, unless a disaster happens and my iPad gets broken somehow, I'm holding off for iPad 3. However, to answer the original question, when that day comes, we will simply pay for it in cash because we do not believe in consumer debt.

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Great Philosophy!

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Originally Posted by pencerm

I am still considering throwing an extra $100 out there to get the 32 gb model though.

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Now that apple has put the original on sale in their clearance area, you might want to think about going that route rather than the ipad2. That way you can get more memory for the same cost as the 16GB ipad2.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by packaok

My wife and I subscribe to the belief that if you cannot pay for something in full 100% at the time of purchase, then you cannot afford the item. This is true for cars, electronics, furniture, etc... Anything beyond a standard mortgage on a home.

We save up and pay for our stuff. As a result, we actually have money in our accounts instead of charging everything on a credit card and then making payments to the bank every month.

This philosophy helps us make more reasonable decisions about our purchases. It makes me ask the question "Do I want iPad 2, or will my old one be good enough until iPad 3 or iPad 4 comes out?"

Personally, unless a disaster happens and my iPad gets broken somehow, I'm holding off for iPad 3. However, to answer the original question, when that day comes, we will simply pay for it in cash because we do not believe in consumer debt.

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my parents are like this. we found it a very good way to financially live, but as kids we were never bought anything 'expensive' or cool :(

i too dont like going into debt, but you can always get an interest free credit card to use. i find this the same ethos as saving up :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by packaok

My wife and I subscribe to the belief that if you cannot pay for something in full 100% at the time of purchase, then you cannot afford the item. This is true for cars, electronics, furniture, etc... Anything beyond a standard mortgage on a home.

We save up and pay for our stuff. As a result, we actually have money in our accounts instead of charging everything on a credit card and then making payments to the bank every month.

This philosophy helps us make more reasonable decisions about our purchases. It makes me ask the question "Do I want iPad 2, or will my old one be good enough until iPad 3 or iPad 4 comes out?"

Personally, unless a disaster happens and my iPad gets broken somehow, I'm holding off for iPad 3. However, to answer the original question, when that day comes, we will simply pay for it in cash because we do not believe in consumer debt.

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+1 for this one. I don't really have to save on it, but I usually ask myself whether or not I really need (or just really badly want) something.
I still take a look at my account before purchasing anything to see how low my baseline will go if I make a purchase.

We grew up poor, so habit I've always been frugal, although these days we live comfortably enough to be able to afford most things without worrying about finances. These days the more important question for me is, do I really need this (as opposed to 'want') and the longer I wait, the less I feel the compulsion to spend and in many cases end up not buying at all.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by packaok

Personally, unless a disaster happens and my iPad gets broken somehow, I'm holding off for iPad 3. However, to answer the original question, when that day comes, we will simply pay for it in cash because we do not believe in consumer debt.

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ITA. I don't have one credit card. Love it.

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Originally Posted by BearsBairn

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pencerm

I am still considering throwing an extra $100 out there to get the 32 gb model though.

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Now that apple has put the original on sale in their clearance area, you might want to think about going that route rather than the ipad2. That way you can get more memory for the same cost as the 16GB ipad2.

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I've been back and forth on this now for quite some time.. and I may not make a decision until this Friday. The thing that is preventing me from doing that is that I do shoot some video for my website (press conferences, etc.) and then I do some light editing before posting them to the site. Obviously, my iPhone 4 would do the trick as far as taking the video, but editing and posting them on that little screen kind of sucks. Plus, my horrible mindset towards every electronic in this world is that if it isn't the newest out when I buy it, then I really don't want it. I don't always need to upgrade (i.e. I'm not getting iPhone 5) but when I buy, I get the latest.

Saved something

i didn't buy the Ipad1 (i think the first revolutionary model in most of case is a 'beta') (i have learned this from when i bought the CD-ROM reader for PC at 2x speed)

i'm not going to buy the Ipad 3 (from 1 to 3 there will be substantial difference, from 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 not enough to justify an upgrade) (but i use this for every kind of tech product)

what is the sense of buying EA Fifa 2000, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 a part feeding the industry ? (if i was rich i would do it, because money falls from the sky)

IF (i had no Ipad at all, going for the 2) i will upgrade or add a second ipad for the family, it will be number 4 or 5

ps: i forgot to say, from one Ipad X to the next Ipad X there will be more or les 12 months of life, 12 months is 'nothing'
a tech product should last or get enjoyed for 2 to 3 years at least

Notice: what i write above is a terror for the big industry leaders (money makers, big % shareholders)
a message that shouldn't get popular

:)

Since I just got mine in the end of November, for me, simple answer-like Seadog, I don't have to think about affording it as I'm not getting the upgraded one.
In the case of a tablet-realizing that an upgrade can skip at least a year. I figure, when the battery starts to go on iPad, that's when I will upgrade, as it's not user replaceable anyway and wouldn't be worth the bother of sending in at that point.
In terms of budgeting-we do a mix. We pay with cash, or a credit, but if with credit, it's usually like the next month anyway. We don't drive late model vehicles and go on fancy vacations, etc.