Planning for replacement of large purchases (car, tv, appliances)

Gigglepig

I am wondering how people are planning replacement of large purchases. My laptop is 4 years old and my tv 7 years old, things don't seem to last as long as they used to, so it occurred to me it might be a good idea to save up in anticipation of things needing replacement.

How long do you plan for things to last before they need replacing? Do you put aside a sum each month, or just wait and hope for the best?

Laptop?
Tv?
Car?
Large appliances like washing machine, fridge, drier?
Sofa?

ilovelondontown

I used to be really precious about getting my things new- but this was before I started being a MSE wannabe.

Now I actually prefer buying something second hand- the discount in price always makes me feel like it's a better deal than a brand new something and like you say these things never last as long as you think they should.

I'm amazed at what you can get for a good price in a large charity shop. There are a few near me that stock all manners of household appliances and furnature and I love having a rummage.

As for paying for it, my thinking is this- if I want it and I can't afford it I'll save for it. Never should something that is a "luxury" should go on credit.

Even something like a dishwasher. Save and wash up by hand then get a new one. New TV? Get an older £20 one and wait.... etc

If you can't afford it straight up, you can't afford to be picky.

InsideInsurance

Cars I tend to lease these days and so is out of the equation.

I used to put money aside each month into the emergency pot of which I had a minimum balance that it was to contain. If the pot became overfull then I could use that to replace something early as long as it didnt reduce the pot below the floor.

Periodically I reviewed the floor for the pot and adjusted it (up normally) based on the cost of having to replace the two most expensive items within a month.

Gloomendoom

We don't save for anything specifically. We just save what we can and dip into the general savings pot if anything needs replacing.

That said, things are rarely, if ever, replaced for the sake of it. They have to break first.

We are lucky/tight enough to be able to never buy anything on credit, even new cars.
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fashionlover10

We also buy most of our appliances second hand. Our fridge was actually from freecycle and we paid £30 for our washing machine so we haven't really had to save much so far.

We're not really in a position to save much at the moment anyway so luckily our sofa and cooker belong to our landlord so we wouldn't have to worry about replacing those.

My laptop has recently given up after 4 years but as we're not able to buy me a new one yet I'm having to use OH's laptop as and when I can.

ETA: OH knows his way around cars so that saves us from having the costly garage bill vs buying a new one dilemma. We also don't replace things unless they break.

VestanPance

The only thing I'd need to save for would be a car.

I only replace items like those listed when they break. Even with cars I tend to run them for years and years. I've had the current one for six years now and hope to get that again from it.

Desperado99

Gloomendoom wrote: »

We don't save for anything specifically. We just save what we can and dip into the general savings pot if anything needs replacing.

That said, things are rarely, if ever, replaced for the sake of it. They have to break first.

We are lucky/tight enough to be able to never buy anything on credit, even new cars.

Ditto, especially the highlighted bit.

Back when we had no spare cash, we decided to set aside any wage increases to savings (although it's a lot harder to do these days) so we now have a buffer if something breaks. I've also found that it's harder to write a cheque for £1,000 for a couple of sofa's than it is to sign up for 3 years interest free credit. So I'm a lot less likely to spend if I have to actually hand out the cash

Gigglepig

I won't be replacing them until they break, but since these are rather expensive items I don't want to be stuffed if/when they break down on me, in particular if they were to need replacing while I am on maternity leave and short of cash.

So basically I am looking for ideas how to plan in advance for replacement when they break.

fireyfirenze

Gigglepig wrote: »

I won't be replacing them until they break, but since these are rather expensive items I don't want to be stuffed if/when they break down on me, in particular if they were to need replacing while I am on maternity leave and short of cash.

So basically I am looking for ideas how to plan in advance for replacement when they break.

start saving a little bit aside a month, for an 'emergency pot' for when they break? it's pretty simple, what else can you do?! I suppose you could keep an eye out for amazing deals and snap them up and keep them to one side for when they do go but I would never do that because you don't know how long they will last.

Gloomendoom

Gigglepig wrote: »

I won't be replacing them until they break, but since these are rather expensive items I don't want to be stuffed if/when they break down on me, in particular if they were to need replacing while I am on maternity leave and short of cash.

So basically I am looking for ideas how to plan in advance for replacement when they break.

I suppose one way of minimising risk and spreading the cost would be to rent all your appliances and lease a car.

The overall cost would be more though.

lostinrates

The car is the main one that worries me. we really should be looking to replace soon. knowing us we'll pretend its not a problem till we have to! This is mainly because we hate cars.

Other things, if need be, can all be bought very cheaply second hand while one saves. For one in better new condition.

TVA are not a big purchase these days, they can almost always be got free to collect if one is not fussy about model. . We're certainly not. Its only if you want all the bells and whistles they are expensive. IMO, I'd rather the that sort of money went into things that were useful.