My friend Ryan sent me this list of things you should never buy new, which also has a link to things you should never buy used. I agree with most of it. I got burned two years ago on buying a used laptop for my kids. Here are links to the lists:
Things you should never buy new.
Things you should never buy used.
Then I found another link that asked, “Are you ready to be extremely frugal?” I first thought about Jerod, because he’s the most frugal person I know besides myself. If anyone were to rank me and Jerod, he would win on the frugal scale. I found something interesting…
Stop buying stuff. This may not sound too extreme but it can be. Those who are part of The Compact vow to buy nothing new for a year. There are some exceptions such as food, medicine, and hygiene products but otherwise they buy nothing new for a year. If you want to try your own version of The Compact, you could try not buying anything new for a week or a month. You will save the money you would have spent buying the stuff plus they money you would have spent maintaining the stuff. While these frugal measures may be extreme, implementing them or the less extreme alternatives can save you a lot of money and help you keep your budget under control.
Ha! Yep, already doing this. And I joined The Compact group on Yahoo of people who are also doing this for a year. They have over 10,000 people in the group!!!