I’ve been a little depressed off-and-on because I have to write on my desktop computer, and I keep getting distracted by games. I talked to Alex about that “getting a laptop before I’m published” thing, so I can get back in my writing groove, and he said that we’ll get one if we get a good tax return.

Well, he did taxes this morning, and the preliminary report is that we’re getting a return that will amply cover a (tax deductible!) laptop for my writing and get me away from my gaming computer.

I wanted to get a used, last-year model off of ebay, because it’d be cheaper, but Alex can’t repair laptops like he can PC’s. So, new it is.

Now we just have to wait for the return. I’m very excited about this, because I need to start working regularly again. This laziness is driving me up the wall.

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Buying Big Items

Dave Ramsey is a Christian finance radio guy in Houston who tells you how to manage your finances with savvy and ethics.

And he insists on haggling over prices.

He says, when buying a big ticket item, you should always know exactly what you want and how much the fair market value for it is, and you should always have enough money to buy it in your hand and in cash. (The only big item you don’t need to do this with is a house, for obvious reasons, but he has some cost-cutting rules for that, too.)

He says that when you walk into a store for furniture/appliances/cars, and you wave a wad of hundreds in the salesman’s face and you say “I want that $10,000 car for $8,000 cash right now,” they’re usually willing to deal. If they say “Only my manager can approve that,” you say, “Get me your manager, then.” If they won’t cut the price down to your standards, you walk out and go to their competitor. (He says that the willingness to walk away is key. If they know you’re gonna buy it no matter what, they won’t cut the price.)