What are you buying with the "rebate"?

[warbirdlover]

Looks like a 47" Magnavox flat screen HD TV for us. How about you?

[eclark53520]

2008 Yamaha YZF-R6

[bames]

I'm going to be the boring spoiler on this one. I'm probably saving it for next year since it is only an advance on next year's taxes. It acts as a "right now" bandaid kind of a stimulus.

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by warbirdlover

Looks like a 47" Magnavox flat screen HD TV for us. How about you?

What? No new Nike driver?

I always roll my tax refund over to pay on next year's estimated tax. This year will be no exception.

I have a front projector in my living room, hooked up to a LG HiDef TV tuner, projecting a 86" diagonal picture. The Masters in HiDef (1080i) looked really nice.

[MCDavis]

Rebate and this year's refund will be put back into the house. It'd be nice to pay it off early.

[eclark53520]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

I have a front projector in my living room, hooked up to a LG HiDef TV tuner, projecting a 86" diagonal picture. The Masters in HiDef (1080i) looked really nice.

I am finishing my basement and thats whats going in my "theatre" room down there, great picture, and no big ole tv to move around!

I predict projectors are going to take over the TV market eventually...they will start getting smaller, better, cheaper and they will take over.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by eclark53520

2008 Yamaha YZF-R6

Where you the same one that said putting $1 a week into the lottery was a complete waste of money, indicating the interest lost. What kind of money does the Federal Government pay on a $10k loan given over the course of the year via the IRS. Bet it was less than that $1 a week.

[ezra76]

Probably tires for my car and couple golf lessons.

[eclark53520]

Originally Posted by Pa Jayhawk

Where you the same one that said putting $1 a week into the lottery was a complete waste of money, indicating the interest lost. What kind of money does the Federal Government pay on a $10k loan given over the course of the year via the IRS. Bet it was less than that $1 a week.

lol, yes, but i bet the gas i am going to save driving back and forth to work on it will make up the difference(or most of it, i dont really want to do calculations this early).

Plus, i get to enjoy the 10k i just spent along with saving money on gas...1$ into the lottery is like dropping it on the ground...you get no enjoyment(unless you get off on willingly handing money to the government after they have already taxed you on making it)...

I have no problem with the lottery itself...i have no problem with the people that play the lottery...i just dont prefer to spend my money padding politicians pockets

[SiberianDVM]

Originally Posted by eclark53520

I am finishing my basement and thats whats going in my "theatre" room down there, great picture, and no big ole tv to move around!

I predict projectors are going to take over the TV market eventually...they will start getting smaller, better, cheaper and they will take over.

The only bad things about them are:

-bulbs only last 2000-4000 hours
-bulbs cost $$$$$$
-projector life is not long. My last projector, an InFocus, lasted only 3 years, before the color wheel died. The cost of repair was going to be almost as much as a new projector, so I bought a new ViewSonic. Contrast that to my old 26" Panasonic Prism TV that is in the bedroom: I bought it in 1988 and it's still going strong!

The picture on a nice projector ($400-800 range) is hard to beat, though, for OTA HiDef and DVDs.

[eclark53520]

Originally Posted by SiberianDVM

The only bad things about them are:

-bulbs only last 2000-4000 hours
-bulbs cost $$$$$$
-projector life is not long. My last projector, an InFocus, lasted only 3 years, before the color wheel died. The cost of repair was going to be almost as much as a new projector, so I bought a new ViewSonic. Contrast that to my old 26" Panasonic Prism TV that is in the bedroom: I bought it in 1988 and it's still going strong!

The picture on a nice projector ($400-800 range) is hard to beat, though, for OTA HiDef and DVDs.

Once people start going after projectors more heavily they will start competing more for customers and the price of bulbs will come way down as will the price of projectors...

produce a quailty projector with less upkeep or get left behind by the market.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by eclark53520

Plus, i get to enjoy the 10k i just spent along with saving money on gas...1$ into the lottery is like dropping it on the ground...you get no enjoyment(unless you get off on willingly handing money to the government after they have already taxed you on making it)...

I have no problem with the lottery itself...i have no problem with the people that play the lottery...i just dont prefer to spend my money padding politicians pockets

Although that is short sighted as well and ignoring the investment value of the $10k, for which over the course of the last year that is about what we owed. Although over the course of the year we also came pretty close to doubling the initial investment, courtesy the federal government on income that they should have held. So after paying our taxes we still walked away with the $10k that we made and considered a nice return from the IRS, and still enjoyed having our money accessible if needed, as opposed to in the words of Tom Cruise in the movie The Firm. "Feeling as though I just had a colonoscopy with a market umbrella." So while I admit the lottery is frivolous, that is my choice. In the same sense, I do not blame someone for dropping the money they would have made by wisely investing the money they instead gave to the government to hold for them. And actually, on my $52 investment I did get a return of around $20 in winnings, yet still had the opportunity (however slim) of making millions. So I was out $32 in a year. It was still more opportunity, and I was out far less than simply having the IRS hold onto your money for you. In which case you still are simply padding the pockets of politicians.

Simply put, the lottery is short sighted and a frivolous attempt at making money, but lets be honest, my point is that it is probably a wise investment and far less costly in the long run in comparison having the Government hold onto to your money for you. $32 is pretty mute considering the $10k I could have lost by having the government hold my money for me. Unfortunately this year did not provide quite the same opportunity, because the possibilities of penalty.

Kinda the same with golf, I continue to hit $1 golf balls in the woods and know they to will eventually be lost, frivolous, yet the entertainment value is all a matter of the judgment of it being worth the money. Certainly don't enjoy losing golf balls, but kinda hard to enjoy playing without one.

[eclark53520]

"entertainment" is almost never a "Good" investment, however, saving money while also enjoying your entertainment offsets some amount of the cost...

And you are very right, the "Entertainment" value of playing the lottery is very dependant on he who is playing or not playing.

[Pa Jayhawk]

Originally Posted by eclark53520

And you are very right, the "Entertainment" value of playing the lottery is very dependant on he who is playing or not playing.

It is really simply all a matter of interpretation. In the same sense, many get great enjoyment out of what they get from a tax return, while I simply view it as a colossal waste of money.

The funny part is, in all honesty I actually probably view the lottery as the same and don't really get a lot of enjoyment out of it, but then I sit there and think every time I hit a golf ball into the woods, that ball is not coming back and that money could have been spent more wisely, and I do it far more than once a week. Then think of all the golf balls I could buy if I won the lottery.

Cheers, and enjoy the returns guys, didn't want to take away from that part.

[TheWOAT]

I want to buy a Ping Kartsen Anser 2 ($89!!! cheap), but my wife really thinks my golf clubs are perfect for me. Soooo with the money I think Ill take a Comm. College course a few blocks away; Advanced Golf. Apparantly the teacher there is good... he teaches "Gravity Golf"... Sounds like a gimmick, but I dont know any better.