Pretty sure the assumption was that you could make your 1/12th or 1/18th monthly payment without touching your 2k emergency funds. So then, you'd make your final payment and you'd still have your 2k for emergency.
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Financing an iMac
- Thread starter peacenfunk
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Pretty sure the assumption was that you could make your 1/12th or 1/18th monthly payment without touching your 2k emergency funds. So then, you'd make your final payment and you'd still have your 2k for emergency.
Not really. Stick it in the bank and get £60 or buy some premium bonds and maybe win something. Either way your capital is safe.
Apple fanboy said:
As I get older i get more and more risk averse. So I agree with you, only more so. I wouldn't have blown £2k on a toy unless I could afford it. And it is a toy. I had a Mac Mini that was perfectly useable.
Nah, put it on credit! Be a good consumer!!
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I really hope you don't charge for your financial advice...the ENTIRE credit system is collapsing and you talk about how important it is. Open your eyes.
The entire credit system huh? You need to become non-ignorant. Credit is partially why you are able to chat on this internet via a glass and silicon machine. Credit is also partially why you have a job. Just crack open wikipedia and look up economics.
Cost of money is only an issue if you have other things to invest with that capital. For example, I financed about $20,000 of my income tax bill and used the money to buy what I needed to expand my business. The IRS gave me a far lower interest rate than a loan to buy what I needed would have been.
On the other hand, if the money would've just sat in my account earning 0.1% interest, if any at all, then just pay cash even if credit is available.
Rainy day goes both ways also. You can keep it in cash or a combination of cash and credit. I have about $44,000 (USD) n credit limit between my 3 credit cards, which is plenty of rainy day fund I think. I keep far less cash on hand, just enough for 3 months worth of expenses. Should something come up, I'd shift to paying with credit and using remaining cash reserves to make minimum payments until the cash flow emergency was over. At my current rate of spending I can live for about 18-20 months off of credit cards without altering my lifestyle.
I also collect rewards on my cards and use them as a mode or payment but I pay them in full every month. So I agree, collect points and rewards, but it doesn't mean you finance beyond the 30 day grace period.
And opportunity costs or costs of money only apply to those who have better INVESTMENTS they can do, which 90% of consumers don't have so its irrelevant.
Nah, put it on credit! Be a good consumer!!
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I really hope you don't charge for your financial advice...the ENTIRE credit system is collapsing and you talk about how important it is. Open your eyes.
Credit system is working wonders in my part of the world! They sell excellent books on this subject matter and it'll be worth your while to pick one up. Let me give you a quick run down on how credit has been great for my family. First, I am a Programmer, my wife a Doctor of 3 years now. We will never have enough money to just buy everything with cash, wouldn't be safe anyway. After my wife finished medical school, we wanted to purchase a house at $875,000. My wife always had that old school mentality that credit was bad, and we just couldn't get the rate we wanted on this house. Fast forward two years, after getting a few Prime credit cards, keeping utilization low, and repairing wrong information on our files, we had a medium score of 787 on our FICO. We bought our house with a low interest rate and payments we could afford. 6 months ago we went to buy my wife her first car since graduating from Med school. We got an interest rate under 1% from Navy Federal Credit Union even with the "collapsing" credit system you speak of. We make more money from the interest on our investment accounts. Christmas 2012, my parents flew from Florida to Southern California for free! How? From free milage we earn every month with one of our credit cards. We run every single one of our bills through a credit card. We both try to keep about $100 dollars on us in case of an emergency. Credit has been great to us and it can be great for anyone who can manage their finances properly.
Edit: Typos from iPhone auto correct
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Not sure what sort of favorable bank you're getting 3% at in Europe, but in the States a savings or money market account return is a third of that at best. So you might make $20 in a year, or a bit over $1.50 a month. That isn't even worth the time to go through financing to start with.
As a german it is really funny to read this thread. Nobody i know would try to finance an iMac or something like this. And the people who do are mostly the ones with very low income. But they have often the problem to pay the installments.
But on the other side, we dont have this credit card usage in germany.
But on the other side, we dont have this credit card usage in germany.
At those rates, I'd agree. Santander pay 3% on current account balances, and iMacs cost more here in Europe. So it might be £60 or £70 earned - or $100 a year. For 10 minutes of paperwork. $600 an hour.
Still, we are getting into detail. The principles I was trying to get across are that there is a cost of money however you pay, and that finance is not a bad thing if the rates are in your favour. I stand by that comment.
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How do you figure that out? Most people have access to some sort of cheap finance via a credit card or in-store interest free offer. And most people can open a savings account and get 2 or 3% interest. This applies to the vast majority of potential iMac purchasers, not a tiny minority.
So true. You have to balance the thought of being in the soup kitchen in your 70's with the thought that you could save all your life and then die of a heart attack at 52.
So I just bought a car I can not really justify or afford. But WTF. At least I won't go to my grave thinking "I never did get to own a xyz"
Finance only with ZERO Interest Special
I financed my iMac back in 2011 through Apple. Retail price for all I wanted was just under $1,800 USD. I didn't pay one cent more than what you would have paid in cash. Apple gave me 12 months to pay it off with zero interest!
...Get a best buy card and pay it off in 18 months with zero interest!
Goodluck
I financed my iMac back in 2011 through Apple. Retail price for all I wanted was just under $1,800 USD. I didn't pay one cent more than what you would have paid in cash. Apple gave me 12 months to pay it off with zero interest!
...Get a best buy card and pay it off in 18 months with zero interest!
Goodluck