Let’s say I’ve got some disposable income, and I want to help the economy by disposing of it. What goods and services are cheaper now than they normally are?
Cars are a mixed bag. American ones are pretty cheap and have good financing available. The cars I’m interested in, however, are foreign and the prices look every bit as high as they were last year, with no 0% deals in sight.
Electronics are still expensive, even at the Circuit City phony clearance sale. TVs prices are scary now that you can’t find a CRT.
I’m positive that used book and CD prices have continued their multi-year price rise. $8.99 for an album with 2 good songs? This is a deal?
Flights prices from here have not improved measureably.
House prices, at least here, are still absurdly high. Maybe it’s better elsewhere?
Sounds like fun, I like the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, fish, and Bjork. What’s a good time of year to go? Has the economic trouble resulted in an increase in crime, like drive by Viking attacks?
Cheap is a relative term. Housing prices around here have dropped by up to 40%, however nobody would call a $300K starter home cheap (I live in California). Flights from large metropolitan airports seem to have become cheaper lately… but I wouldn’t consider them “cheap”.
The only thing I can think of in general is the stock market. You can buy a share of GM stock for less than $3, and that’s pretty cheap!
Many currencies have fallen in value relative to the US dollar. So if you are in the US (or have US dollars), anything you can mail-order directly from Canda, Europe, UK, Australia, etc. is pretty cheap right now.
But the Japanese Yen has gone up. So I’d guess Japanese products will be going up in price. I think Japanese camera prices are already going up in the US and Europe.
Well in Orlando, My son bought a condo for around $125K, 2 just went up for sale where he is for $45K, If my job situation improves I might buy one or two for investment purposes.
I’m having my front and back yard torn out, mulched, leveled, replaced with new sod, fully irrigated, and a ton of pavers installed. This is going to run about 4K, about half the bid I got two years ago. Great time for me to infuse some money in my local economy!
I was at Ikea last week to buy chairs (because after 3.5 years in CA I finally decided to have a party and that necessitated buying some furniture, which I have also put off doing) and even at Ikea, which is cheap, stuff is on sale. They are selling club chairs for $65. I bought a couple of Poang chairs for $89. I remember them as $129 for the cheapest ones a few years ago.
My boyfriend is letting me redecorate his apartment because he went 10 years without furniture (we’re really materialistic, obviously) because now that he’s unemployed he’s woken up to the fact that he has been living in an empty apartment for a decade. For him, I’m looking at places like Design Within Reach, Crate & Barrel & Macy’s…they are all having gigantic sales.
My sister and brother-in-law bought a 130 year old home in Massachusetts and are restoring it (it was last “restored” in 1972). It’s still pretty expensive-but they’re getting a good deal on the contractors and materials.
You need to be looking outside the box [stores]. Prices are ridiculous right now on places like craigslist. People are desperate for cash, and they’re selling things they ordinarily wouldn’t at very low prices. You’re not going to get a warranty or anything, but you could easily upgrade your entire home theater for 40% the cost in a few weeks.
Buy used European luxury/performance cars. 2006 BMW M5s are running in the ~45K range now. I am pretty sure you can pick up a 2007-ish Mercedes S65 AMG for about the same price. The Merc was a $190K car new. The rumor I heard was there are depreciating during this economy at almost $2K per month. I think most other cars of this ilk are losing $1K/month in value.
I’m trying to decide on my holiday, what’s it like in Iceland in September? Any interesting museums full of medieval stuff (armor, musical instruments, pottery) ?
We didn’t really dig that medieval knights thing, but I don’t want to hijack this thread.
September is a pretty good month to visit (expect rain though) and search for the “ask the Icelandic dude”-thread or just send me a PM and I’ll be happy to give you some advice and point you in the right direction for more.
So…he has been able to do quite well without brand-new furniture and decorations for the past ten years. But now that he is unemployed and has no income, this is a good time to spend some of his savings on these things?
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