OT-Opinions needed

amymeenieminymo

Not diet related, but was hoping I could get some opinions on something....every year I do my Christmas shopping with my bonus. Since nobody was sure if we would be getting one this year, a couple months ago I put aside $300 so I would be covered no matter what, and if we got one I would just put the $300 toward my credit card balance.

Well it looks like we are getting one, but now I am torn. I was saving up for a new laptop....mine is pretty old and refurbished and it just shut off the other day while I was doing homework. I try to actually save up the money first for things I don't NEED (I do need one, but not like, tomorrow) the plan was to just use the money from my credit card perks once I get enough saved, but that's not going well, at this rate it would take about 14 months to save up 75% of the cost and I am graduating in two years, haha.

So my dilemma is, if my bonus is enough for xmas shopping, should I just use that $300 saved for the laptop, or should I put it on my credit card. I feel guilty for shopping with it, but if I put it on my card and continue saving for the laptop, isn't that pretty much the same thing but just drawn out over a longer period, after all I saved that $300.

Help, I don't know what to do....FYI I can't ask for the laptop for Xmas because nobody would spend that much and I need to clothes (ones that fit, yay) so I don't want the latop to be the one gift from everyone pitching in. And while my credit card balance is higher than I would like, I am not anywhere close to maxing it out or anything. Thanks in advance for any advice!

amyalwaysonline6

I'd get the laptop, but I'm in tons of debt. That's what college is for. I heard somewhere they're going to have laptops for $129 on black Friday.

Benson

I would put the money on my credit card balance and then use my credit card for the laptop and get the points

epoeraven

I would put the money on my credit card balance and then use my credit card for the laptop and get the points

I would put the money on my credit card too. When you are ready to go buy a laptop if you need to, you can use your credit card for the $300. No sense paying interest on the balance on the credit card if you don't need too.

1Corinthians13

I would put the money on my credit card balance and then use my credit card for the laptop and get the points

I would put the money on my credit card too. When you are ready to go buy a laptop if you need to, you can use your credit card for the $300. No sense paying interest on the balance on the credit card if you don't need too.

I agree. This is probably the best move. Right now, creditors don't want to be completely paid off, and they want to see you using the card. Otherwise, they close the account, and that hits your credit. I know from experience. So, pay it down some and then use it to buy the laptop. This will keep your credit looking good.

havingitall

Save the interest that you would pay on your card. When you are ready to buy the laptop, you can always use your card if needed

TheMaidOfAstolat

Pay off the card...it'll be best in the long run. You can always buy the lap top later.

JJs25th

Pay the card, you are probably paying more interest on your card balance then you are getting on your $300 saved. That is money lost...:ohwell:

Phoenix_Rising

How much would it cost to have your current laptop repaired?
Is it beyond repairs?
Be honest: is a new laptop a NEED or a WANT?
If it's a true need for school, I don't see where you have a choice.

However.

What is the interest rate on the credit card? (You don't have to actually share that with the group.... I'm just asking rhetorically.)
How much help with the $300 do in bringing that balance to zero?
Have you looked at same-as-cash finance offers on laptops?
(I bought mine at Best Buy, got a same as cash deal, pay $33 a month for two years, and will never pay a penny in interest.)

azwildcatfan94

OK, first, start doing your homework to figure out what type of laptop you really need and how much money you'll need to drop into it. With Windows 7 coming out, it is probably better to wait as long as possible so all the big bugs get patched. If you can make it, wait 6 months. If you can't wait that long, so be it, but try. Don't forget the added cost of MS Office. If you are going to college, you'll probably need to turn stuff in in that format. You might want to look at openoffice.org to see if you can use that instead. It is free and you are supposed to be able to save in ms office format, but I've never tried it. My daughter uses it, but just has to turn in the physical paper--not an electronic copy. My experience in converting formats is that you can get some formatting errors and you won't want to turn in a paper with errors like that.

Next, save up that whole time toward the laptop. Follow your usual money spending skills. But, bottom line, if it is taking too long to get your homework done, and you absolutely need to spend the money, then you need to.

There are pretty good deals right now, but usually they are middle of the road in terms of performance. It has been my experience that, unless you want to buy a laptop every 3 years, then spend the money now to max RAM and processor speed. RAM is pretty easy to upgrade yourself, which could save you money. Depending on the computer brand, you can upgrade it yourself without voiding your warranty. If that is an issue for you, then definitely buy the laptop with maxed out RAM.

mello

Walmart is having early "black friday" sales every Saturday up till Thanksgiving, they have an HP on sale tomorrow morning for $298. Not sure of the specifics though and I think each store is only going to have 10 but if your going to buy one it would be worth it to get in line at electronics to get such a great deal. (I have an aunt who works in electronics in our local WalMart)

rtmama

I agree. This is probably the best move. Right now, creditors don't want to be completely paid off, and they want to see you using the card. Otherwise, they close the account, and that hits your credit. I know from experience. So, pay it down some and then use it to buy the laptop. This will keep your credit looking good.

that is completely false! I pay off my credit card EVERY month down to zero, and I have no problems with my credit or credit score.

I have cards that I don't use anymore, and they do not close the acct.

havingitall

Don't forget the added cost of MS Office.

Download Open Office for free. It does all the same things as MS Office but it is free on-line. Why pay for something you don't have to? It saves in MS formats just fine

vrdz3215

Don't forget the added cost of MS Office.

Download Open Office for free. It does all the same things as MS Office but it is free on-line. Why pay for something you don't have to? It saves in MS formats just fine

Where do you download this??????

Phoenix_Rising

Don't forget the added cost of MS Office.

Download Open Office for free. It does all the same things as MS Office but it is free on-line. Why pay for something you don't have to? It saves in MS formats just fine

Where do you download this??????

www.openoffice.org

BTW, Student edition of Office is only around $150, I think.

amymeenieminymo

How much would it cost to have your current laptop repaired?
Is it beyond repairs?
Be honest: is a new laptop a NEED or a WANT?
If it's a true need for school, I don't see where you have a choice.

However.

What is the interest rate on the credit card? (You don't have to actually share that with the group.... I'm just asking rhetorically.)
How much help with the $300 do in bringing that balance to zero?
Have you looked at same-as-cash finance offers on laptops?
(I bought mine at Best Buy, got a same as cash deal, pay $33 a month for two years, and will never pay a penny in interest.)

I'm not sure how much it would cost to fix, I don't even really know what is wrong with it. But it was older when I got it and I've had it for two years. The shutting off thing is weird, sometimes it will do it several times in a week, and then it won't do it for weeks. When it shut off the other day, thankfully I was typing something that I could easily re-type, but if I was working on a paper that I forgot to save, I think I would cry.

My boyfriend took his laptop to geek squad a year ago and it is an automatic $70 just to look at it, and then I am sure at least a 100 if not more to fix whatever is wrong. The laptop I have my eye on is about 300 (it got good reviews, so I am pretty confident in it) so I just don't think the old one is worth fixing when I can get a new one for 300.

The same as cash offer sounds good, but I really don't want to add a monthly expense for the next couple of years. Which is the same reason I don't want to just outright charge it.....I figure for something like this, if I don't have the money for it to pay for it in full, then I can't afford it.

Thanks everyone for all of the advice, I just looked at my credit card balance and like I said, it's not outrageous, but it has climbed well beyond my comfort zone and no, the 300 wont come anywhere close to paying it off but every little bit helps. I think I will just try to save $50 a month for the next several months to save up for it. I hadn't even thought about the cost of MS Office or virus protection (my laptop now is set for virus protection for life) and waiting 6 months for the bugs to be worked out of MS 7 is a good idea.

havingitall

You don't need to pay for antivirus either. AVG has a free one you can download.

paddlemom

Google "Advanced System Care" and download this software, it is free and runs a scan on your computer to remove any spyware and other unused files (like temp files, etc) and optimizes how your laptop is running. My IT guy at work told me about it and I use it all the time now. I put it on my hubby's really old PC that was running slower and slower and it made a huge difference. It may even resolve your 'blue screen of death" issues so you laptop doesn't suddenly shut down on you.

azwildcatfan94

I use AVG too. I like it because it isn't as intrusive as other anti-virus programs. Oh, yeah, and its FREE. Well, they do have a purchase version, but I have the free one.