My largest purchases

Well, I talked a bit yesterday about some of the purchases i'd like to make whilst in Britain and Paris. Those are some pricey purchases, I suppose, although they are not the most expensive purchase i've ever made.

I took a year off between High School and College in order to work full time and earn some money. I think I probably pulled off about $16,000 that year in savings. I had never before earned that kind of money, and it was a little overwhelming, but fortunatly my urge to hoard it all came into play and I ended up keeping most of it. Until just recently, I was debt-free. I've done all the classes required for my degree, now all I have to do is the two semester-long work terms. I will have to use my line of credit to pay for them, but fortunatly I am making money while working so I won't have to carry that debt for very long.

While in my first year at college I bought my laptop and a brand new camera. The laptop was around $1,800 and my camera ran me a little over $800. Both are still with me, although the laptop is comming close to kicking it hard. My camera survived my last trek to Europe as well as many a road trip. It's comming with me again, and I hope to use it for many many years. The laptop doesn't turn on very well anymore, which, I think, bothers me more than anything else that could go wrong with it. The fact that it works just fine when I can get it on frustrates me because the little on/off switch would probably cost more to replace than the computer is worth. But, it's like, I have a perfectly good computer that just won't turn on. It's like a brand new car that won't start. Arrgh. Sometimes it turns on just fine, other times I have to press down on the switch while pushing random parts of the keyboard to get it on. It's actually rather comical watching me try to get this machine running.

Both of those purchases I count as necessary. My laptop has become an extension of myself in both school and personal life. I am also an avid photographer and can't go anywhere on a trip without taking it along - I couldn't travel without it! Both of those i'm very pleased with.

My biggest non-necessary purchase EVER in my life was a Chanel purse off Ebay. I bought it, i'd say about 7 mos ago. It cost me around $450 dollars I think, once I added in tax and shipping, etc. Some would argue that it was a good purchase because the purse is sold at retail for over $2,000 and it's a limited edition so the resale on it might prove beneficial. But I can't count on that, since it's a very odd non-typical Chanel purchase. I don't know if any of you are at all familiar with Chanel purses, mine is nicknamed the "2005 bag" although it was made in 2000. I'll find a picture and try to figure out how to add it in. It's a hard sided bag, burgundy tweed in an almost 'tear-drop' shape. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it on Ebay. I placed a max bid of $400 dollars and waited it out. Well, in the last second I was outbid and it ended up selling for over $600. I was saddenned but thought it was probably for the best and moved on. I still checked Ebay for other types of bags, but they were all priced far outside of my range. To make a long story short, whoever sold it had a second one and put it up for auction and I won it. I remember my boss at Subway gave me permission to use the register computer internet connection to check my auction because I was at work when the auction ended. The whole day I probably shook with excitement and nervousness. Of course, the Ebay bug catches on fast and I probably ended up bidding more than I could of affoarded. But I made it work, and I got it in the mail a week or so later.

I love the feeling of carrying a designer purse. Some people love bragging to people how much money they spent on it, I love the feeling of knowing that I got it for a steal compared to someone who paid full price. I once wandered into the Chanel store here in my city, the salespeople took one look at me (grubby jeans, tshirt and a backpack) and turned up their noses. With my purse I can walk in there and they treat me like a million bucks... suckers. Not that I'll ever buy anything from them out of spite, I enjoy walking in there, having them turn up their noses, then flashing them the bag and having them fall over themselves. I am mean like that, but it's fun sometimes.

That's really my only large-scale impulse purchase. And I think it'll do me for a long time. I'm more focused now on saving money for something big like a car or a home.

I'll continue my car vs. home debate later when i'm bored...most likely in a couple of hours.