Comments on: PFCollege: Don’t Buy Nice New Stuff

By: mbhunter

mbhunter — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 20:10:04 +0000

This is great advice. Especially the moving several times part. That’s a pain. It’s hard to be a pack rat at those times.

By: John Wilks

John Wilks — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 19:14:25 +0000

Great advice. The only thing I really believe buying new is cars.

-JW

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:07:50 +0000

I can’t say enough for the buying used furniture from schoolmates suggestion. Practically all the furniture I used throughout college, in my post-dorm years, was either 1) bought for $25 bucks from a neighbor, 2) found in the place I moved into (seriously, in both the apartment where I lived Junior year and the house I lived Senior year, I acquired a large wardrobe, a dresser, a bedstand, a mirror, and some misc. chairs) or 3) bought at the local consignment shop for a ridiculously low price.

The point is, even if YOU plan on taking good care of your nice, new stuff, your roommates likely won’t care when they come home at 4am on a bender with 10 other people and decide to have a dancing on the tables party… I’m just saying…

By: HC

HC — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:39:26 +0000

True, but you don’t want to buy all cheap junk, either.

As one of my going-to-college presents, my dad took me down to a standalone audio/video store to buy some decent stereo components. I didn’t get Klipsch or anything like that, but my receiver and speakers weren’t off the shelf at Best Buy, either.

All I did was keep them on my dorm shelves, store the boxes, and bring them home with me every summer. They were a nice bonus when I had people over, and they’re still my main system to this day, ten(!) years on.

Of course, I never lived off campus during undergrad, so I never had to buy much in the way of furniture. If I had, I might have changed my calculations. But I love my speakers still, so I doubt it.