Short post today. (Especially for me.) We just returned from Las Vegas and I have plenty to catch up on. I need to edit down a couple longer posts (on blogging, ironically) for the next two Thursdays.  I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get started on our tax returns, either. I’m working up a bonus post for Jeff Rose’s Roth IRA Movement, and I’d better make sure I have our paperwork straight before I blog about it.

Last month I posted a list of items that were a complete waste of money. I mentioned it on Dollar Stretcher in the Military Family Finances forum, where one poster nominated her ex-spouse as #1 on her list. (It took her 15 years to dig out of the debt that he left her with.) Food processors and some types of exercise equipment also made the “complete waste” roster.

However, several of the posters responded with their lists of things that were completely worth the money, even essential to achieving financial independence. I never saw that topic coming, but it’s a wonderful idea worth sharing. Here’s the reader nominations:

• Home gyms.
• Pressure cookers.
• High-efficiency washers & dryers, which pay off in electricity & water savings.
• FoodSaver vacuum sealers.
• Yard sales.
• Black Friday fabric sales, stocking up on supplies for the entire year.
• Farmer’s markets.
• Habitat ReStore.
• Canning supplies: the jars, a canner, a jar lifter.

And my personal favorite for the way the sentiment is expressed:

My own home. No more rent, instead I am building equity. I am responsible for repairs, taxes, and insurance– but I can paint what I want, remodel when I want, and no landlords. Gives me peace of mind, which is invaluable.

Spouse and I had a few to add to the list, but most of ours are similar:

• Craigslist (we’ll never set foot in a retail furniture store ever again).
• Goodwill (our daughter was raised on its clothes, toys, and even shoes).
• Garage sales (she was raised here too).
• Do-it-yourself skills in the yard, the home, the kitchen, and for car maintenance.
• A home gym, for the convenience and its selection of loud classic rock music.

Finally, here’s one that I’ve grown to appreciate over the last decade of military retirement: surfboard repair kits.

What do you own that’s completely worth the money?

Or, what have you bought that was a complete waste of money?

Related articles:
A complete waste of money
Paycheck Chronicles: “Things I’ve bought that were a complete waste of money”

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