Now that tax time is over and you should be receiving your tax refund soon if you haven’t already received it, you could be eager to spend some of that “extra” money. If you’re like most Americans, you received $2,899 as a refund, which is a nice chunk of change. To give you some food for thought, I though we could all share some spending stories!
So, let’s not be frugal today and share our favorite purchases of all time!
Your favorite purchase could be fun, extravagant, techie, or frugal. Just share something that you’re really excited you bought!
My Favorite Purchase Story
My favorite purchase of all time has been my car. Actually, it is my most recent car, not the one I discussed in the 4 Finance Tips I Wish I Knew At 18. I love this car because I negotiated so hard to get it. I had my eye on a new car that was on the car lot, and it was December. I knew that car dealers tried to sell out old model years before the end of the year, so I tried to use that to my advantage. The car was listed for $33,500, which, to me, was over priced. I did my homework, and I knew where I wanted to be and what was fair, which was right around $28,000.
I went to the car dealer on the first weekend in December, drove the car, and started negotiating. They would come down to even $32,000. I was a little disappointed, but I wasn’t going to over pay.
I went back the second weekend of December, and I was able to get them down to $30,000. They were telling me that is was only $1,000 over invoice and it was a great deal. I even got them to agree to give me a copy of their invoice (which I recommend anyone ask the car dealer to do). However, I didn’t want to pay that. You see, I had already done my research on Edmunds, and knew that for this car, the company was giving dealers $2,000 cash back on invoice prices to clear out inventory in December. So, their invoice price was $29,000, but they really were at a break even of $27,000. So I left again.
I went back on the third weekend of December, and it was raining, and nobody was on their lot. I thought, “score, I can get them to negotiate!”. Boy was I wrong. They saved me a lot of time by rejecting any negotiating within 5 minutes of my arrival. Oh well.
At this point, I waited a bit longer and went after Christmas, on the 27th. Finally, they were willing to deal!
In the end, I got the car for $27,500, just $500 over their cost and $500 below the invoice price. I felt really excited to be able to negotiate a great deal on a car.
It’s my favorite purchase not just for this, but because I drive about 15 miles each way to work, so I spend a lot of time in my car. Plus, I plan on driving this car until it dies, so I will get a lot of use out of it!
Share Your Story!
So, I’d love for you to share your favorite purchase story and why you love what you bought!
About Robert
I’d have to say my favorite purchase of all time is the house where we live now. Purchased in 2005, we moved in Aug 2009 after renting out the house for four years. The longer we live here, the more I like it. Not only does the house work very well for us, the setting is beautiful.
Buying a house you love is awesome. We are in the process of doing that, and hopefully we will realize the same after a couple years!
One of my favorite purchases was buying a good watch when I achieved financial freedom. I still wear the watch twenty-seven years later and have a sense of pride because of it.
Someday I want to buy a good watch. I hope to have the same feelings you do!
My favorite purchase was probably the one we are making right now – having our dream house built. We found a builder that allows for alot of customization and we are picking our options now. I know this will cost us $260,000 in the end plus interest, but I am enjoying the process overall and cannot wait until we can move into our personalized home.
I just stopped by and read the post on your main blog. It is so exciting to be building your dream home! Good luck!
Thanks!!!