Things not to buy in 2014

[ERD50]

I am thinking of the smaller trailer that HF has, which is 4'x4' I think. It is enough to haul said bags of manure, bricks and blocks from Home Depot, plus the occasional new fridge or appliances.

Every time I think that one of those would be handy, I remind myself that you can rent a truck from Home Depot for $19. And you don't have to store the truck or put new tires on it.

-ERD50

 

[Katsmeow]

Well, I partially agree with it but not entirely:

1. Cable TV - We went without cable for a couple of years but currently have it. My big thing I like to watch is the show Chopped. It has limited episodes available on both Hulu and Amazon Prime. However, what I like is that I can record shows and then play them while on the treadmill or rower. I would probably cancel cable though but DH watches more of it than I do. We are currently on a reduced price offering. When it goes up we will probably cancel, but then our internet service will go up.

2. Landline service - Gone for a long time

3. GPS devices - I have built in navigation in my car. My son's card had a standalone Garmin GPS but it wouldn't stay stuck to the windshield. He just uses his phone now.

4. DVD and Blu-ray players - We have them, but don't use them often. Still, some stuff can't be streamed so if I want to see it I have to watch it on DVD.

5. Hotel rooms - No, I don't want to give them up.

6. Two-year phone contracts - The author doesn't seem to understand that not everyone lives in a big city with every choice. We are in a suburban area and the only carrier that has decent signal is Verizon. I actually did buy an off contract iPhone recently but right now I have no other real options than Verizon.

7. Desktop and laptop computers - Again, the author doesn't seem to understand that not everyone had the same needs. First, there is a vast group of people who play games on computer. To play these games, you must have an actual computer, not a tablet. Also, while I love my iPad I don't particularly want to do major composing of documents or spreadsheets on it. It is nice, but doesn't replace my computer. I realize for many people it would be a fine replacement, but I don't see it being a replacement for my needs. Also, lots of other programs have iPad apps but they have reduced functionality to the actual program you use on your computer.

8. Extra legroom in economy - I'm short

9. Credit cards with points or miles programs - I use Amex blue cash preferred. Basically everyone has to analyze what is most profitable for their situation.

10. Digital cameras - I have a really nice digital camera with a variety of lenses but mostly use my iPhone.

 

[calmloki]

My solution is a Harbor Freight trailer that folds and stands on end in the barn for storage.

Utility Trailer 4'x8' - Heavy Duty Folding Utility Trailer

Up North I bought that same trailer used for $50. Worked it like a Sardinian donkey for years with the rentals - could strap 3 new 14' Costco refrigerators on it at once (with a bit of overhang). Put 4x8 plywood sides on to haul wet barkdust and bent the axle, swapped plywood deck twice as it rotted away, replaced wheels, lights, bearings; cut the roll-away wheels off, welded the trailer hinged portion solid as it got way too flexible.

Piece of lightweight junk that served me way beyond it's expected capacity. Handy handy handy, and easy to scoot around.

 

[sailor]

6. Two-year phone contracts - The author doesn't seem to understand that not everyone lives in a big city with every choice. We are in a suburban area and the only carrier that has decent signal is Verizon. I actually did buy an off contract iPhone recently but right now I have no other real options than Verizon.

Have you given a thought about trying a Verizon MVNO, like Page Plus?
DW likes $29.95 plan it for her iPhone 4. Here are the prices from Genius Wireless - Page Plus Plans :
$12 / month – The 12: 250 cell minutes, 250 texts, 10 MB data
$29.95 / month – Talk n Text 1200: 1200 cell minutes, 3000 texts, 500 MB data
$39.95 / month – Unlimited Talk n Text: Unlimited cell minutes and texts, 500 MB data
$55 / month – The 55: Unlimited cell minutes and texts, 2.5 GB (2560 MB) data
$69.95 / month – The Data King: Unlimited cell minutes and texts, 5 GB (5120 MB) data

 

[Katsmeow]

Have you given a thought about trying a Verizon MVNO, like Page Plus?
DW likes $29.95 plan it for her iPhone 4. Here are the prices from Genius Wireless - Page Plus Plans :
$12 / month – The 12: 250 cell minutes, 250 texts, 10 MB data
$29.95 / month – Talk n Text 1200: 1200 cell minutes, 3000 texts, 500 MB data
$39.95 / month – Unlimited Talk n Text: Unlimited cell minutes and texts, 500 MB data
$55 / month – The 55: Unlimited cell minutes and texts, 2.5 GB (2560 MB) data
$69.95 / month – The Data King: Unlimited cell minutes and texts, 5 GB (5120 MB) data

I have thought about it. But I have a 4G iPhone 5s and PagePlus doesn't do 4G LTE yet. I think it will likely do it in the future and, when it does, I will definitely look into it.

 

[Jack_Pine]

Agree with some, some not.

Cable. Presume that includes sat. I need one because I like sports and need/want the nfl package. Will do one or the other until I can stream the sports games I choose.

I need more horsepower than a tablet can give, but I come from an IT background.

Digital Camera. If all you want to do is quick snap shots, your camera is fine. Photography is a hobby for me and I need more than that.

For the add on pickup truck. I will always have a pickup. Maybe not the F350 I have now but some sort.

 

[Al in Ohio]

GPS devices will be popular for several more years or more. A windshield mounted talking turn by turn Garmin is hands down way better than a smart phone GPS app.

Don't count DVD players out either as long as $1.49 Redbox movies are available. The def is still superior to streaming.

 

[DayDreaming]

Re DVD and Blu-ray players - I just bought my first Blu-ray player recently. I stream most of my movies, but also have the Netflix 1 DVD at a time subscription for titles not available on streaming. My old DVD player died and new Blu-ray players are so inexpensive, it made perfect sense to buy one. Good thing I didn't read this article first!

 

[Mango1956]

Re: Hotel rooms, for 2 day or longer stays, we are switching to renting houses in select locations via VRBO or Airbnb. My sister and niece do this all the time, and it is a real cost saver. You have a kitchen and can cook all your meals if desired rather than having to go out to restaurants. Plus, it just feels more comfy staying in a house rather than a room.

 

[tryan]

My solution is a Harbor Freight trailer that folds and stands on end in the barn for storage.

Mine last over 15 years ... need to keep the bearings greased. I blew out the bearings 3 times. The last time was hauling firewood (on the highway) .... scary! So I "upgraded" to a Snowbear with larger wheels. All metal construction on the Snowbear is key.

 

[NW-Bound]

I bought a Bluray player last year. Have not played a single Bluray disc yet, only DVDs.

The reason I bought it was that the older ones I had did not have an HDMI output. And this new one can stream video and music from my home media servers as well as from the Web.

 

[NW-Bound]

Re: Hotel rooms, for 2 day or longer stays, we are switching to renting houses in select locations via VRBO or Airbnb. My sister and niece do this all the time, and it is a real cost saver. You have a kitchen and can cook all your meals if desired rather than having to go out to restaurants. Plus, it just feels more comfy staying in a house rather than a room.

I have not done this, but recently looked at Aibnb and liked what I saw. Yes, staying in a hotel room and eating all meals out can be a chore for longer stays. That's why we like our timeshare exchange.

 

[aja8888]

I've looked at Aibnb and liked what I saw also. Once we burn off the remaining 300,000 Marriott points, 100,000 Holiday Inn points and a few nights at Hyatt's, we will have to pay for travel lodging again.

I really hate hotel rooms after 35 years of frequent business travel. Actually, I hate to travel anymore, period. But, occasionally, it's worth the hassle to leave the homestead for a period of time. I have no interest in travelling to Europe or Asian countries anymore so its North America or nothing.

 

[rodi]

When traveling with kids - vacation rental apartments/houses is the ONLY way to go. More space, a kitchen, and usually cheaper than a 250sf hotel room.

 

[smileydog]

I'm with you on flying (economy seats) for a short flight but if you are much over 6 feet tall and are flying international - the economy comfort is worth the difference to me. I've done it both ways and sitting in a wide "V" position for 11+ hours is painful.

 

[sailor]

GPS devices will be popular for several more years or more. A windshield mounted talking turn by turn Garmin is hands down way better than a smart phone GPS app.

Why is it better?
Why can't your smart phone app have talking turn by turn directions and be mounted on a windshield?
The smartphone app also has much better traffic info, compared to FM traffic receivers in Garmin GPS and better screen visibility in bright light conditions.

 

[Janet H]

In keeping with a number of discussions going on at the moment (getting rid of cable, dying technologies, extra legroom when flying, etc.) I thought this was a timely article:

10 things not to buy in 2014

Here are the CliffsNotes:

1. Cable TV
2. Landline service
3. GPS devices
4. DVD and Blu-ray players
5. Hotel rooms
6. Two-year phone contracts
7. Desktop and laptop computers
8. Extra legroom in economy
9. Credit cards with points or miles programs
10. Digital cameras

Interesting list. I disagree with 7 however... A tablet or smart phone is no substitute for a Laptop.

Notably missing from this list is subscription radio services e.g Sirius. Giant waste of funds imo. Your cell phone can store and/or play (via bluetooth) to your car radio and these services are expensive. .02 cents

 

[steelyman]

I'm a latecomer to the GPS world. I have a Garmin and a dash-mounted beanbag thing that works well. I haven't used it a lot except to get familiar (I know where I'm going around here). I really like it and it's portable.

 

[mpeirce]

Why is it better?
Why can't your smart phone app have talking turn by turn directions and be mounted on a windshield?
The smartphone app also has much better traffic info, compared to FM traffic receivers in Garmin GPS and better screen visibility in bright light conditions.

I use both the built in nav system in the car and Waze on the iPhone.

The built in system doesn't need network connectivity, which matters in many areas.

Waze not only has excellent voice based turn by turn, but also has crowd sourced speed trap and other hazards information.

 

[sailor]

I use both the built in nav system in the car and Waze on the iPhone.
The built in system doesn't need network connectivity, which matters in many areas.

I use Google Maps on my phone and as long as I remembered to cache the map (roughly 50 x 50 mile squares), it will work in offline mode (except traffic info)
There are some paid apps which have full maps in offline mode.

 

[Katsmeow]

Why is it better?
Why can't your smart phone app have talking turn by turn directions and be mounted on a windshield?
The smartphone app also has much better traffic info, compared to FM traffic receivers in Garmin GPS and better screen visibility in bright light conditions.

Well, for one reason, once you buy the Garmin you have no further charges. With smartphone GPS, you are paying for data and if you are in a 4G area with a 4G phone it can use a LOT of expensive data.

Soon after we got 4G phones, DH tried using the phone as a GPS and used huge amounts of data in a 45 minute drive.

Using a smartphone to check a map is fine, but actually using it for turn by turn directions if you don't have unlimited data can be cost prohibitive in 4G.

 

[FIREd]

Well, for one reason, once you buy the Garmin you have no further charges. With smartphone GPS, you are paying for data and if you are in a 4G area with a 4G phone it can use a LOT of expensive data.

Soon after we got 4G phones, DH tried using the phone as a GPS and used huge amounts of data in a 45 minute drive.

Using a smartphone to check a map is fine, but actually using it for turn by turn directions if you don't have unlimited data can be cost prohibitive in 4G.

Just make sure the app you use on your phone has maps stored on the device. Then the GPS function uses no data at all (in fact it works whether you have cell phone signal or not). I use the Navigon app on my iPhone (a Garmin product I believe), and I use it for long road trips all the time. I has never resulted in an uptick in data consumption on my monthly bill.

 

[ERD50]

Just make sure the app you use on your phone has maps stored on the device. Then the GPS function uses no data at all (in fact it works whether you have cell phone signal or not). I use the Navigon app on my iPhone (a Garmin product I believe), and I use it for long road trips all the time. I has never resulted in an uptick in data consumption on my monthly bill.

Someone please correct me if I have this wrong, but as I understand it, your GPS app in your phone needs to access data for turn-by-turn directions and route planning.

If you store the maps on your device, it will use the GPS w/o data to tell you where you are, but that's all (and might be enough for you).

App descriptions are not clear on this, it seems to take some digging to distinguish between "here I am" functions, and" turn-by-turn navigation" functions.

The typical handheld GPS device has the routing/planning and turn-by-turn built in. Phone apps go to the cloud for that stuff, so need a data connection. Pre-loading the maps may be able to help cut down on the amount of data, but that might all be app dependent.

-ERD50

 

[foxfirev5]

I am going to give away that minivan to a needy family. The cost to keep it just to haul something once in a while is getting to me.

Besides ...



... I have trailer hitch on my 2 SUVs. The problem is I have only one trailer and it's up in the boonies home to haul my dirt bikes to the forest trail heads. Pulling the thing back and forth between two places is a chore. Buying another trailer is out, of course.

The trailer option is often overlooked by those thinking a pickup is the only option. After watching a builder complete our house with just a Dodge Omni I reconsidered. When our family built our lakehouse we used just a converted boat trailer with a wooden deck. This hauled all our oddball stuff while we had the heavy stuff delivered. ( blocks, trussses etc.) In building the house our delivery charges were less than $100 total.
A small economical vehicle is all you need. With the money saved we stay in four star hotels on our quarterly vacations. To each his own.

 

[Hermit]

True, most people would get by very well with a minivan if their pride would let them.

The snow plow sets my heavy duty 92 F250 down in the front pretty good, but most minivans are front wheel drives, so I guess it wouldn't matter if the back wheels are in the air.