Yet another "What should I get with $500?" Thread.

[Xander562]

With Christmas and birthdays now over I have ~ $500 to buy pretty much whatever. I've already got a MacBook Pro so no need to suggest another mac. Some things i've been thinking about

• Dell 20" or 24" display
• Nintendo Wii
• Nintendo DS

But I'm open to suggestions, which is really what I came here for. What would you get with $500? I'm just trying to spark some thought, so I'm open to pretty much anything! Thanks!

 

[clevin]

1. a Wii
2. a Palm T|X
3. a full year bus ticket
4. a full year subscription to local GYM
5. a plane ticket (round trip) to Austin or Philly
6. a cheap laptop pc
7. .....

 

[GoCubsGo]

Not a Wii because paying $500 for a machine that is $250 is stupid.
A 24" dell because it's better than 20" and you'll wish you went to 24" very soon.

 

[dartzorichalcos]

Leopard
A couple of Blue-ray discs if you have a Blue-ray disc player/burner
Maybe an Apple TV

 

[Xander562]

Not a Wii because paying $500 for a machine that is $250 is stupid.

Well obviously It'd be for the Wii, a few games, and I'd have money left over for whatever. Com on now, I'm not a COMPLETE idiot.

 

[zap2]

I love my Wii and DS...my Wii more then my DS lite(get the Godfather..its SO MUCH FUN on the Wii)


Also put a few 100 for 10.5, iLife'07 and iWork '07 wouldn't be a bad idea(that is if you want all those piece of software)


Or the iPhone...

 

[theman5725]

iPhone if your on cingular.

 

[pknz]

Save it?

 

[Xander562]

Save it?

This is what I plan to do if can't immediately think of something uber-cool that I MUST have.

 

[robPOD]

24 inch dell or gym membership or a sweet mountin bike or put it towards a car

 

[livingfortoday]

Step 1: Go somewhere that sells 99 cent tacos.
Step 2: Buy 500 tacos.
Step 3: Eat.

 

[sahnert]

A greenhouse

 

[siurpeeman]

This is what I plan to do if can't immediately think of something uber-cool that I MUST have.

if you can't think of anything that you MUST have, then there isn't anything that you must have. save it for possibly an iphone later.

 

[coach z]

401k or roth ira account....start thinking about the future and not thinking about blowing all the money you have the second you get it
-chris

 

[dukebound85]

24 inch dell or gym membership or a sweet mountin bike or put it towards a car

haha $500 wont get you much of a mountain bike just so you know

 

[djstarrock]

Step 1: Go somewhere that sells 99 cent tacos.
Step 2: Buy 500 tacos.
Step 3: Eat.

And he has $15 left to spend on drinks.

 

[cwedl]

Save it?

Or invest the money, then have enough to buy whatever you want!

 

[sionharris]

AAPL

but wait until just after the stock split

 

[netdog]

Save it for the iPhone?

 

[Nicolasdec]

Save up for a PS3.

 

[Chrispy]

Or invest the money, then have enough to buy whatever you want!

YES! Invest at least some of that money. You will be glad you did down the road

 

[clevin]

Step 1: Go somewhere that sells 99 cent tacos.
Step 2: Buy 500 tacos.
Step 3: Eat.

Jack in the Box offers 2 for 99c, and Im afraid 1000 tacos will gone bad before anyone can finish them.

 

[ready2switch]

Step 1: Go somewhere that sells 99 cent tacos.
Step 2: Buy 500 tacos.
Step 3: Eat.

Only if that includes tax too. Where I live I could only get ~465 tacos (fewer if I wanted drinks).

Seriously, though, I would save it for either the iPhone or the next iPod. There's got to be something "uber-cool" around the corner in that department.

 

[Collin973]

401k or roth ira account....start thinking about the future and not thinking about blowing all the money you have the second you get it
-chris

A very good suggestion. I have a roth and am saving in it continually. Another good option is a special savings account that offers close to 5% interest (I think ING has one.) I have one through EdwardJones that I didn't know I had, but I've been making really good returns on the money in there. I wish I would have invested in apple a couple years back when the stock price was $10 or so. Now it's up past $80. That'd be a nice bonus!

An external display would be nice too. If you work with large spreadsheets or something, it makes a huge difference.

The wii is fun, but you might lose interest in it quickly.

 

[mrgreen4242]

Hm. If you already have a good savings plan (like automatically putting money into a 401k every week/month) and no debt and it's just some fun money I would say go on a little trip! If you have a decent car buy $100 worth of gas and go on a long weekend somewhere fun. Not sure where you can get to by car from your part of CA, but Oregon is really nice, or over to Vegas/the Grand Canyon... lots of choices.

Or buy a discount ticket to somewhere farther away and catch a concert in a cool city, or see your favorite non-local sport team. There's something pretty cool about flying into Chicago for a Sox game and then going home - it's not like you went to Chicago and caught a baseball game while you were there... you went to Chicago TO SEE A BALLGAME.

Hire a fishing or sailing charter for the day and take some friends. Go on a canoe or kayak trip.

Take up a new hobby and buy all the stuff you need for it. Register for a class in something complete useless but fun at a local college (photography, painting, cooking, etc).

Go out for a $500 meal with your significant other. There's some places that you could do that near you I'm sure.

There's lots of way to spend money other than gadgets! But pay towards any debts first, and make sure you are saving, but otherwise enjoy!