What are your next major purchases?

[ImLawBoy]

No idea. Have to have plumbers come and take a look after the clean up crew is done. It's never happened at this house as far as anyone knows (and the neighbors would know - they've been next door for 17 years). It's rained much harder than it did on Wednesday and we didn't get any water then (and the neighbors did get water in a prior storm but we didn't). We looked at it for the old house and the price was exorbitant so we didn't do it there.

[stimpy]

Water in the basement sucks.
Once you've experienced it, no matter what you put in or where you move to, every time it rains you will be thinking about it happening again.

[ImLawBoy]

For sure. Every time it rained hard here I was checking the basement even though this house was supposed to be water safe. The last house got water so much that I'm scarred for life. I was hoping that I was going to get over it after a few years in the new house, but it's not looking good. Unfortunately, the basement is not very level (old house) so tiling will be very expensive, but I don't want to put down carpet again.

[stimpy]

Unfortunately for me, it happened in the first house I ever bought.
A mere 2 months after I bought it.

I should have known something was up though when the seller grabbed the paperwork at closing and wrote in "Some seepage during heavy rain"......before signing it.
Fucker.

[Daehawk]

Im gonna post my future purchases so I can look back at this time and see how close i was...and remember how awful this time was money wise. Ive also realized that I wont be able to just have money free and do stuff as soon as pay of the house next year.

1. Save at least $2000 in the bank for problems, emergencies, and repairs. A cushion.
2. Repair the car in full if its still running .
3. Build a new computer
4. Buy the small things I need for inside the house. (Blender, get tv back...that kinda stuff)


Ill think of more. Im hoping my little dog and me will still be here...and that my home doesn't fall in.

[Isgrimnur]

[pr0ner]

One would think a new mattress would be of higher priority than a new computer.

[TheMix]

One would think a new mattress would be of higher priority than a new computer.

[em2nought]

Everybody knows not to put so called flushable wet wipes down the toilet right? I'd probably switch to Scott 1000 after paying $10k too. Or are we not talking about drains connected to the sewer?

Are there one way check valves for a whole house, I know they exist in smaller sizes?

[LawBeefaroni]

We spent about 3K to put a new roof on the garage to prevent a small leak.

During the last rain, we now have 2 leaks.


I mean I love water but fuck water.

[Default]

New garage and entry doors, new roof, solar panels. About 38k total. Add on an electrical panel upgrade, and we are talking about 40k 18 months from retirement.
Eesh.

[hitbyambulance]

at $520 + WA state sales tax, this Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU is the most expensive piece of computer equipment i have ever purchased - by a _lot_.

but going to buy a violin my friend made for me in a few weeks. at $4k + MA sales tax + shipping, this will be - by FAR - the most expensive purchase i have ever made.

[Kraken]

I recently paid $1,350 for a new mattress. It was somewhere between planned and impulsive. I've needed one for years, but only just decided to commit the funds. As I near the end of my years, I need to overturn the lifelong idea that money only ever goes IN to savings and only comes out in dire emergencies.

[ImLawBoy]

And the basement is flooded again. Plumber has been moved up from Wednesday to this afternoon. Rehab company still has all their equipment in the basement finishing the dry-out from the last time, so they're on their way. City came out this morning and confirmed that sewer system in the area is working fine, so it's likely a backup in our private drainage system - could be roots from the massive tree out front. Plumber will need to root out the drain. If it ends up that the issue is on the city side of the demarc (basically the sidewalk) then the city will pay for things. Otherwise it's on us.

[Brian]

Next major purchase (well, it's already pretty much paid for so technically not "next") is a seven day Greek Islands cruise in August-September.

Out of all the places I visited while in the Navy, Greece was at the top of my "Places I'd Like To Revisit" list.
Now, 30 years later, I'm finally getting back there.

[Zaxxon]

We got ourselves a Tonal. Going to the gym to lift weights has never been something I've enjoyed. I did it, but not well, and other than perhaps the youthful exuberance of my time running high school track, it was always a slog. Further, my wife will never go to the gym willingly. So as COVID set in and we both turned 40, we determined that we really needed to figure out a solid solution to working out that didn't involve going to the gym, but one that also actually worked well.

Spent quite a bit of time trying to determine if such a product existed, and we started leaning toward the Tonal in the middle of last year. We couldn't quite swallow the rather ludicrous price, so we kept thinking about it while looking for other options. Then coop got one and liked it, and when Tonal announced a price increase in January for machines ordered after 1/31, we bit the bullet and ordered before the change.

It came in early last week, and so far I frickin' love the thing. It works exactly as advertised, the fancy adaptive weight modes are really cool, and something you can't get with a 'normal' cable weight machine. Its space requirements are small (relative to a normal home gym--it does need a 7x7 space at minimum, and I'd really recommend 8x8) and it takes up very little room when not in use. Looks neat, too.

The gamification pieces (you get a strength score and can track progress over time down to the individual muscle level, there are achievements, a leaderboard, activity sharing/reactions with friends, detailed stats down to the level of each set) are fantastic and scratch this gamer's itch very well. There are solid communities around the product (I'm in a 'Dads' group that has a lot of activity and positivity), as well.

The big downside is the cost. It ain't cheap, and neither is the monthly service cost. That said, I've been suitably impressed with the capability of the Tonal to actually bring serviceable personal training to the house. Since the machine is tracking your strength at a much more detailed level than even a 'real' personal trainer could (since it's tracking strength not just by the rep/set, but at several points within each rep), their programs do a great job of pushing you hard but not too hard, and at tracking which muscle groups are fresh/recovering/fatigued at any given time. Viewed in the context of replacing all other home gym equipment as well as gym memberships or personal trainer costs for 2 or more people, it's not quite as egregiously expensive as it seems at first glance (narrator: but it's definitely still a tough pill to swallow!).

Granted, I've had the thing for only a week. My impressions could change over time. But part of me feared the installation day, worried we'd wasted a bunch of money and agreed to drill a bunch of holes in our wall for a machine we hadn't tested first-hand. So far, I'm 100% glad we did it. 8/8 tentacles.

[malchior]

I looked into Tonal but I couldn't get over the cost. I built a very nicely equipped traditional gym for about 1/3 the cost. The difference is of course that a traditional squat/bench press rack/bench/barbells require a lot more space. On the other hand, the tech is definitely nice but that service fee is substantial. I had the same problem when we looked at the Peloton during the pandemic. It was too bougie a purchase when 40% of the cost somewhere else nets you 75% of the features.

Edit: On another note, I also just remembered I meant to post about it but my POS Vizio 75" TV failed on the Friday before the Super Bowl. I have owned two Vizio tvs. Both have lasted less than 4 years. Vizio is complete trash.

It was however sort of a relief because the tv has color issues and we had backlight uniformity problems that started right after the warranty ended. Doh. Due to the Superbowl I was able to grab a 77" LG C2 OLED for about the same price I paid for the Vizio in 2019. Which surprises folk since they are a budget brand but this was their flagship model. In any case, talk about an upgrade. I use a LG C1 as my main gaming/computer monitor as well so this wasn't an exploratory purchase. I knew I was getting a great tv.

[Zaxxon]

I can definitely see going the old-school route to save on costs. For us, even space for a Tonal was tough to find, so a rack of weights was right out.

In other news, my 3 Vizios all lasted 10+ years (two are still going).

[ImLawBoy]

I love learning (very, very expensive) lessons!

Turns out my house has a "catch basin" in the backyard. Basically, all pipes from the house run into the catch basin in the back, and then there's a drain pipe in there that runs out to the main sewer system in the front. Apparently I'm supposed to have this cleared out regularly (annually or so). I was not aware of this.

They pumped it out yesterday and got all the gunk out of there, and then a guy came to give our drain pipe a colonoscopy. After running the camera about 77 feet through the drain under the house, he came to a tangle of roots that had come through the pipe. He was able to use the camera to clear enough passage that the water started running smoothly again. By that time it was already almost 9:00 pm, so he stopped for the night. Today they're coming out to hydro jet the pipe, use RootX to treat the roots, and run a camera the rest of the way to public sewer to see if there are any other issues (including on the city's side of the demarc, which the city would have to handle).

Plumbing work is running to about $3K on top of the $10K we're paying the folks remediate the water damage in the basement and disinfect everything. I'm expecting there to be additional charges for that since they essentially had to do the work twice, but we never discussed finances on that so we'll see.

Then, of course, we have to make the basement livable again. I'm going to end up bringing in a water proofing company to address any seepage that comes with having a 100 year old house, and then we have to figure out flooring (I'd prefer tile, but the concrete is very uneven) and the drywall on most of the walls ends about 2 above the floor line now. The floor cabinets in the "summer kitchen" in the basement were a loss, so we need to look at what we want to do there, too.

Did I mention that we also owe about $6K for legal services related to setting up wills and a special needs trust? And I had to fork out about $4,500 for CT scans (high deductible health care plan!)? And that my wife's cancer surgery is next week (that should at least get us to our out-of-pocket maximum)? And that it's looking likely that we'll have to re-engage our special education lawyer for my oldest and his ongoing battles with Chicago Public Schools?

I make good money (and bonus gets paid out next week!), but this is ridiculous!

[LawBeefaroni]

ILB, at least you learned the root cause of the flooding (no pun intended). Leakage can be unbearable when they can't nail down the cause.

Sorry to hear of the health issues and CPS battle. Here's to a successful surgery.

But hey, property taxes aren't due until April 3rd!

[Zarathud]

We get our pipe routed out annually (with video) to avoid the issue. Our inspection when buying the home revealed our basement would have flooded due to a root blockage the first time we had two showers running concurrently.

The house also has seepage control but that’s no good if the sewer access is blocked.

[Daehawk]

I make good money (and bonus gets paid out next week!), but this is ridiculous!

To my eyes it never seems to matter how much money you get there is always something that comes up to take it away no matter your plans....if you're a good person. Evil folk steal their way through life and grift. Least thats me. Never fails.

[ImLawBoy]

Evil folk steal their way through life and grift. Least thats me.

Oh, you're not that evil.

I feel bad complaining about it because I know a lot of people have it worse when it comes to finances and the ability to weather this barrage of bills. I'm not sitting around deciding which bills to pay and which I can put off for a while.

But, man. This has just been a barrage of bad (both financial and otherwise). It feels like (as the blues men say) if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!

[Zenn7]

$7,000 - getting 3 big trees taken down.
One is rotted out and I was told it needs to go (it's big, close to house, if it came down on house, aside from house damage, depending on where we are in the house, could severely injure/kill us (it's right outside our bedroom window, or a little angle from that, hit our computers, both on the wall by this tree, and I sit at mine all day between work and then gaming).

One out front, DTE has trimmed huge portions off, not a great tree, near dead and now with the other work being done, only $500 more to remove.

Last is by other end of house and over driveway. Dropped a big branch back in the ice storm of '09 (or whenever that last really really bad one was) - came down and did a number on the rear hatch of the van. Covered by insurance and neighbor kid (young man, think he was 18-20), had a chain saw, cleaned it up for us for $20, did a great job (if he was still here, I'd hire him again for work like that in a heartbeat).

That's trees down/removal, leaving stumps. They will grind out stumps in the summer for $200 each if we want, but I don't care about the stumps that much. Not like I'm doing a great job of maintaining a beautiful lawn. It's half weeds with a few dead spots.

[stessier]

Replacing a patch of roof shingles that blew away - $3599. Tried to get multiple quotes, but only one company would even come out for a job this small. Sucks, but there are no other options short of replacing the whole roof which would be about $11k for 3-tab and $20k for architectural...something we are in no place to do.

[stimpy]

Replacing a patch of roof shingles that blew away - $3599. Tried to get multiple quotes, but only one company would even come out for a job this small. Sucks, but there are no other options short of replacing the whole roof which would be about $11k for 3-tab and $20k for architectural...something we are in no place to do.

Doesnt your insurance handle wind damage?
I got a whole roof replaced because 3-4 shingles blew off during a storm.

[LawBeefaroni]

$5K+ for middle school trips for next year. They want payment this year. And this is a public school.

They had kids who went last year show up and say how great the trips are. WTF, a hard sell?

[Kurth]

Evil folk steal their way through life and grift. Least thats me.

Oh, you're not that evil.

I feel bad complaining about it because I know a lot of people have it worse when it comes to finances and the ability to weather this barrage of bills. I'm not sitting around deciding which bills to pay and which I can put off for a while.

But, man. This has just been a barrage of bad (both financial and otherwise). It feels like (as the blues men say) if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all!

Good you have perspective. But, man, perspective is hard when you’re dealing with a barrage of shit luck, and that sounds like a ton of shit you’re having to weather right now.

Sounds like you’re due for a turn of good luck. Hope it’s on the way for you!

[Zarathud]

My youngest took a hard pass on her 8th grade trip to France, and now regrets being the only one not going in her peer group. Lesson to be learned in planning ahead and talking it out with your team, and learning to accept the consequences of your own decisions. There were tears, but this is hard since she’s type 1 diabetic.

Apparently this is unheard of for the school administration who was expecting us to ask that the rules be changed to accommodate her.

[Isgrimnur]

Apparently this is unheard of for the school administration who was expecting us to ask that the rules be changed to accommodate her.

Why were they already locked and loaded for their response?

Spoiler:

[ImLawBoy]

On the plus side, the disaster recovery folks didn't charge us anything beyond the initial $10K they quoted us for the work they performed, so props to Romexterra for that.

On the minus side, we're looking at $20K+ (depending on options) for installing a drain tile system with sump pump in the house. I still love this house, but between expenses to make it wheelchair accessible and now this basement issue, it sure is taking a dent out of my bank account.

[LordMortis]

Replacing a patch of roof shingles that blew away - $3599. Tried to get multiple quotes, but only one company would even come out for a job this small. Sucks, but there are no other options short of replacing the whole roof which would be about $11k for 3-tab and $20k for architectural...something we are in no place to do.

Ouch. We're going to try and patch garage shingles ourselves (me and my father) when the weather clears up. I have no idea what I'm in for, cost or effort. We're trying to set aside 6 days to patch the shingles and replace the fascia on all four sides of a 22x25 area roof. The cost for fascia alone looks to about $300. We still haven't figured out the plan for the shingles.

[geezer]

Wow... Everyone's huge new purchases (mine included) are home repairs. (Except for the Tonal - nice pickup!) Anyway, gonna break this trend and treat myself to a new watch, which I'll somewhat mitigate by selling a few old watches that I haven't worn for over a year.

[ImLawBoy]

I've only included the frustrating things lately, but before this latest round of chaos I did splurge for myself with a Steam Deck.

[Daehawk]

Looks like a car battery. Ive waited 3 months to get some free food at one of the food places and I cant get my car started. The after trying a minute the battery dies. SO no food and Ill have to wait two weeks for money to buy a new battery. And that will take all the money I was going to use for other things next month. Plus I have no ride to get a new battery unless I find a boost or something. God it never ends lol.

EDIT: Went to boost the car with my riding lawnmower and it was dead too. Winter got to both of them. Ive had to boost the lawnmopwer before with the car. That may have contributed to it dying too for all I know. Ill either need to get the car boosted and go get a battery or a ride in two weeks when I can.

I can see suicide being an only option to people whos life goes completely wrong all the time and no way to catch up never mind get ahead. And no Im not I can just see it probably being one reason.

[Default]

Next major purchase (well, it's already pretty much paid for so technically not "next") is a seven day Greek Islands cruise in August-September.

Out of all the places I visited while in the Navy, Greece was at the top of my "Places I'd Like To Revisit" list.
Now, 30 years later, I'm finally getting back there.

Big place in Greektown?

[jztemple2]

I don't know how I managed to miss this thread for so long. 2022 was our year of big purchases. Between health issues and COVID we hadn't taken a major trip since the fall of 2018. And during 2022 we were dealing with doctors and hospitals trying to get me set up for my prostate cancer surgery. So in the spring of 2022 my wife decided we were going to spend some money on the house. I figured it wasn't going to be that big a deal... but I was wrong.

We tore up the old driveway, which was a bit ugly but functional, and laid down a new 200'+ concrete drive plus new walks around the house. And thanks to the concrete driveway people who torn up my irrigation system I had to have that redone. Then we tore up the old pool deck and laid down a new one. And laid tile on the walkway that covers the hundred feet of the front of the house. Those were the planned expenses. Then we started having plumbing issues and got new toilets and had to have the septic plumbing dug up and reset. And then Hurricanes Ian and Nicole came through and we had to replace a bunch of pool screening. We were lucky though because that was the only damage we got.

So if anyone needs info on those kind of house projects, post a question. I'm sure my wife will be happy to give me an answer

[Kraken]

After spending a long weekend in Great Barrington, Wife and I have finally decided we're going to buy a house out there. Maybe not in/near Great Barr, where the prices are pricey, but in the vicinity.

Meanwhile, we have to invest some money in making this house salable. First up is an electrical overhaul to replace the fuse box with one of those newfangled switch panels, remove/bypass the knob-and-tube wiring that's still in service because youngsters don't appreciate the classics, ground a whole lot of ungrounded outlets because plugs nowadays have three prongs, and fix a few switches and outlets that I fixed incorrectly once. With absolutely no data to base it on, my working number is $10,000 for all that. It will probably be more because it always is.

One frustration of owning an old house is needing to pour money into functional upgrades rather than cosmetic renovations. I guarantee you that $10k of electrical work will not our house any nicer than it is now.

[Lassr]

Taking a cruise for the first time in my life. Cruise price wasn't bad, adding excursions and alcohol got REAL pricey. They wanted $1000 for the alcohol package. I don't drink that much in a year. That is for 2 people for 8 days. Issue is 4 of those days we will be off ship, and you can't pick the days you are on ship for the alcohol. So guess we'll just pay as we go.

Also, bought an engagement/wedding ring for the ex-wife. We'll be getting re-married this year.

all told, that's approx $6k. Luckily tax return was decent and covered half that.

[geezer]

Looks like a car battery. Ive waited 3 months to get some free food at one of the food places and I cant get my car started. The after trying a minute the battery dies. SO no food and Ill have to wait two weeks for money to buy a new battery. And that will take all the money I was going to use for other things next month. Plus I have no ride to get a new battery unless I find a boost or something. God it never ends lol.

EDIT: Went to boost the car with my riding lawnmower and it was dead too. Winter got to both of them. Ive had to boost the lawnmopwer before with the car. That may have contributed to it dying too for all I know. Ill either need to get the car boosted and go get a battery or a ride in two weeks when I can.

I can see suicide being an only option to people whos life goes completely wrong all the time and no way to catch up never mind get ahead. And no Im not I can just see it probably being one reason.

Is your alternator good? Can a neighbor swing by and give you a quick charge?