A few weeks ago, I went shopping with a friend who was getting a new fan for her bedroom. I decided to tag along because my fan was probably on the last legs –only three now and not four. It was around eight years old and had been in many places. What I truly loved about this fan is that it has a remote control. I can turn it on and off from my bed and not have to figure out which button or knob to turn.
In the back of my mind, I decided I would glance at the laptops too. My friend played with one the day before that was lightweight and awesome. I told myself I would only look at them. I had been having trouble with my laptop and the dreaded “screen of death” appearing it seemed at times. I was looking at the laptops while she was grabbing the fan. I have always been a PC person and just looked at the MacBook from afar. (I am not against Apple- I do have an iPad 2 I got after launch in 2011.) I ended up chatting with the guys and the Apple Specialist at Best Buy about the newest light weight laptops. I loved how light they were! I have a 17 inch Dell laptop that is HEAVY! It is basically 4 years old and I bought it via online in a “refurbished” section of a company. It has treated me very well. I have definitely gotten my money’s worth from it. I still love that laptop.
I digress, I made a promise to myself that since I was turning 40 this year that if I lose 40 pounds by 40, I would buy a MacBook for myself. Then the unthinkable happens-there are on the clearance table is a 13 inch MacBook pro on sale! Regularly it is $1499 and it was marked down to $999! I struggled and struggled with the potential purchase. I talked to the guy a bunch about it. The reason for the markdown was twofold- the new MacBook was out and someone returned this one for whatever reason. I told him to hold it for me while I try calling some folks to see if this was as good as a deal as I thought. My friend told me I was crazy to buy it. I ended up buying it and getting the 3 year warranty. All in all it was a little less than full retail price. I couldn’t believe I just had purchased a MacBook and I had only lost 10lbs so far.
I left the store with my shiny new MacBook and no fan. Let me say this now, I really have no CLUE on how to operate a MacBook and its operating system. Safari is on my iPad but that is all I know basically. I was shocked I actually went through with the purchase. All night I had the new box in my room, unopened-just staring at me and me at it. I was upset at myself for purchasing the MacBook for several reasons: I went against my incentive to myself on purchasing a MacBook by losing 40lbs by 40, I spent $1500 on my credit card that I really didn’t have, and I really didn’t have the time right now to learn the Apple iOs system.
The next day after I dropped the kid off at camp, I went back to Best Buy and returned the MacBook. The girl looked at me like I was crazy. I told her I just couldn’t afford it and I am sure someone else would love the great deal. I then went back to the fan section and got the fan that I should have gotten the day before. I did really buy a fan but it was in the form of a laptop fan and not a room fan.
Lessons learned from this impulse purchase:
- Stick to a shopping list and don’t “window shop”
- Have the money ready for all large purchases
- Make sure I will not regret my purchase
- Stick with my incentive plan for the purchase of an item-even if I can just go buy it
Have you ever made any large purchases or even small purchases that you regret? What are they and why did you have trouble with them?
written by Alice Shaffer
Regarding Nannies Development Team Member