Weekly Roundup: Big Screen for the Big Game Edition
With the Superbowl teams set, how many of you are rushing out to pick up a big screen television for Superbowl Sunday? I suspect not many of you will actually do this, but judging from the number of ads I’ve seen in the last week or two, I’d bet this is a popular thing to do.
Sure, prices of plasmas and LCD televisions have come down a bit, but at the upper end of the market they still cost as much as a small, used car. Is it really worth laying out a few thousand bucks just to see four hours of football in higher resolution? What’s worse is the rent-to-own shops that will really be pushing the big screens over the next couple weeks. If you are in the market for a high-def television, at least considering paying cash, else you may be still making payments when next year’s Superbowl rolls around!
The Frugal Roundup
Don’t Fall Into the Minimum Payment Trap. Stop paying only the minimum payments on your credit card. With the high rates that credit cards are charging these days, most of your minimum payment is going towards interest charges. Paying only the minimum means you may be paying for that pizza for years to come! (@ Gen X Finance)
7 Ways to Control Spending When You Have Out-of-town Guests. This happens to all of us. You let people stay at your place and end up heading out on the town with them. You feel almost obligated to spend time (and money) with them. Use these great tips to break the habit. (@ The Sun’s Financial Diary)
How Conan O’Brien Wants You to Succeed. Flexo has another great guest post which talks about what Conan O’Brien’s ouster from The Tonight Show can teach you about life. (@ Budgets Are Sexy)
7 Money Lessons From Monopoly. Here is a cool list on lessons that the game of monopoly can teach you. I think some of my favorites are that you can’t avoid taxes and cash is king. (@ Financial Highway)
Best of the Rest
- 5 Creative Ways to Upsize Your Life By Downsizing
- Money In Our Life: 5 Personal Finance Basics to Work On
- Going Three Rounds With the Credit Bureaus
- How to Chose a Retirement Strategy – Or Not
- 10 Biggest Credit Mistakes to Avoid
- Saving for College – An Exercise In Depression
- Common Myths About Stock Market Risk
- How To Donate Your Used Car
Thanks for the link FD!
You’ll be very surprised how many people actually buy HDTVs for an event.
I don’t think people will make a big purchase for super bowl per se, but it definitely tips them over the edge since they’ve always wanted one.
Thx for the shout out my man…or should I thank Flexo?
I’d never buy a tv for a specific game or show, but we did buy our 47″ LCD HDTV a couple of years ago simply since we watch tons of tv and found a great after-Thanksgiving sale. We love it but would not suggest such a large purchase for anyone who doesn’t use their tv as their main source of weekly entertainment…
My suggestion for anybody thinking of buying a tv just for the Superbowl, one of your friends probably already has a good setup. Go to their house and bring them snacks or beer!
Upgraded at christmas time. Had to buy a 26″ lcd HDTV that fits our console. Since we would have to pay more for HD we don’t and the picture is better than our old 26″ CRT that we replaced. Works for us and cost just over 300 bucks.
Please check out my site: http://moneyhoneysf.blogspot.com
I tuned into an episode of Family Feud the other day and one of the question asked was “what do people tend to rent/borrow? To my surprise, there was a slot for “Flat Screen TVs.”