Comments on: Graduation Present or Pay Off Debt?

By: ECC Finance

ECC Finance — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:21:04 +0000

I think you made a good choice. Electronics always come down in price. You’ll get a sweet deal in 6 months to a year.

By: Becky

Becky — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:58:28 +0000

Pay off the debt! It is neat to see you making responsible decisions. It will be sweeter if you wait, and you are right, you can get more for your money in a few months. Do you have lots of time to watch football?

By: Clever Dude

Clever Dude — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:29:29 +0000

@All, thanks for your insights! While I’m still dead-set on paying off the student loan debt, I think I will end up pulling back from the LED LCD TV and opting for a good quality regular LCD or plasma TV of similar size. As far as a smaller size, we have quite a long (narrow) room, so a 50″ wouldn’t seem very big in there. Now a 60″…

By: Cecelia

Cecelia — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:49:21 +0000

I say that you should get the TV. Financial responsibility is about moderation. It sounds like you’re a person who is restrained (although I don’t know your total background). My motto is be careful, not cheap. Something that you interact with every, single day is an important part of your life.

I also agree that you may want to consider a compromise for a smaller tv.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:06:24 +0000

Wow, I actually thought you were going to run w/ the TV! We all know the obvious thing you *should* do w/ that money financially speaking, but I wouldn’t hold it against you at all if you changed and picked up the TV. It’s perfectly fine to reward yourself every now and then, esp. since it’s not like you go out on splurging binges anyways. If you wanted a new toy every 3 months then I’d say you’re crazy. But when was the last time you treated yourself to something in this range?

Either way, it’s cool to see you’ve put in so much thought Congrats on almost being done!

By: James

James — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:51:41 +0000

After I graduated I had two things on my “need to have” list. A PS3 accompanied by a no smaller than 40 inch LCD HD TV. My first job didn’t pay extremely well, but I was still making more money than I ever have before. And of course I had the dreaded school loans… I did a lot of research online and came across a site that had too good to be true promotions. After really looking into it I realized I could get the TV for ultimately half price. I knew what I had on my plate so I got creative with it and got everything I wanted cheaper than I ever imagined…so go after the present…why wait for happiness?

By: Bucksome

Bucksome — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:22:33 +0000

You are a good example. I don’t know if I would have been as disciplined (who am I kidding, I wouldn’t).

Congratulations on your masters. As Mr. ToughMoneyLove indicated that is the real present!

By: Mr. ToughMoneyLove

Mr. ToughMoneyLove — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:48:55 +0000

Dude – Your graduation present is your degree – no more classes and exams. What could be better than that? Pay down your debt. There are some new display technologies breaking out. You should wait for them anyway.

By: SingleGuyMoney

SingleGuyMoney — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 23:17:39 +0000

Get rid of the debt!! You’re right, once your debt is paid off, that new TV will be so much nicer.

I agree with Nick that you could also do a compromise and buy a smaller TV. Wait until Christmas time and you can get it a lot cheaper.

By: Nick

Nick — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:26:19 +0000

Buy the TV. Buy the TV. Buy the TV.

I looked at the LED type myself when considering an upgrade to a bigger TV and didn’t see enough savings or benefit over an LCD type. I think you needed to watch something like 80 hours of TV a week for five years before the energy savings made it worth it. And LCD over CRT would have been such an upgrade that LCD to LED wouldn’t have been that much of a gain. (Ultimately we bought nothing when we remembered we watch one hour of American TV a week, if that.)

How about a compromise: a 42″ LCD TV for $600 until the LED types drop down closer to $1000? Do it! Do eeeeeeet!!!