7 Things I Won't Buy New Again | Frugal Living

Over the years I've sold a lot of things I wanted to declutter and I've talked several times before about how it's always been my favorite way to declutter items. However, I never talked about the flip side of this. When it is time to replace something or there is something I want to buy, I will almost always look for a used option first. But there are a number of things I will probably only ever buy used for the rest of my life. So today in this video I'm going to go over a list of some of those things and a little bit of my reasoning why that's the case. But first if you're new to my channel thank you for stopping by. Here we talk about minimalism, frugal living, tech, and things of that nature. So if that sounds good to you and you end up liking the video, be sure to like and please wait until the subscribe button is sleeping and then slip a mandrake root into its bed. Let's get started. Video games. Contrary to what you may have been led to believe, it is possible to play video games and be a minimalist. I am now a 30 year old man-child who does do this. But keeping up with new releases can be very expensive just like a lot of other things I'll talk about on this list. If there is something I am interested in playing, I will always look on offer up first. And if I do find something I'm looking for, I'll just throw a price out there to the seller to see if they'll accept it, which oftentimes they do. And I think this is the case because a lot of times people will play something, beat it, and it's just sitting around and they'd rather sell it than have it lay around. And they just want to get rid of it. And that's beneficial to a person looking for a used copy like me. I'll usually end up selling that eventually and it keeps the cycle going. There have actually been times where I was able to trade something in at GameStop and have it fully cover what I was looking to obtain. I've actually rinsed and repeated this process a handful of times before actually having to pay out of pocket. All in all, I really can't think of a time I will pay full price for a game in the foreseeable future. Camera gear. For as long as I've been tinkering with cameras to make videos, I've only ever purchased used. My camera I've been using to make videos on this channel since day one was purchased used at a camera store along with its lenses and batteries. For about half the price it costs new to this day, I might add. Because cameras seem to be one of those things where people will buy one brand new only to realize eventually the hobby might just not be for them. So the used market is usually highly saturated with like new models of cameras and lenses and people trying to cut their losses and get some of their money back. And unlike some electronics, this is something I'm generally pretty comfortable buying used because I feel like for the most part you could tell the condition of a camera on the surface and I've only had really good experiences buying these things used. I highly recommend looking at a used camera over a new one if that day ever comes, especially if you're new to the hobby. Car. And this is something that can obviously have an entire video dedicated to it elaborating on the pros and cons of buying a used car versus new, but I'll keep this pretty short. Cars are usually the most expensive thing we ever buy, second to only a home if we ever are lucky enough to do that. I did buy my car used and financed it for the first few years while saving to pay it off in full. I know some people may have their dream cars or even need a specific car for their occupation, but I think even in those circumstances a used option will always make sense. Because the difference between a brand new car and one hardly used is literally several thousands of dollars, I bought a Toyota intentionally. And that intention of driving it quite literally until the bottom rusts out and I have to power it like Fred Flintstone, I can never see myself buying a brand new car ever in my lifetime. A suit or formal clothing. And I can totally understand any disagreement on this point, but let me explain. In a recent wardrobe video I explained how I was going to a wedding and I had an entire suit built for nearly $40. I believe the jacket alone was purchased for like five bucks and while it definitely didn't look like Daniel Craig's James Bond, it absolutely got the job done. I think if I were someone who had more formal occasions to go to regularly or had a job that required a suit, I would probably have a one-and-done really nice suit that fit me well. But for someone like me, who literally never has the need for one, buying used or at least parts of it used really just made the most sense. Because a brand new suit that fits well could easily start at like $200 and in my case have months or even years between uses. So shopping secondhand for a jacket, shirt, or pants has been my go-to option when I do need one. Books. And books are something I committed to buying used rather recently and that's because of how affordable and available used books are. Obviously borrowing for free from the local library would be my go-to option, but more often than not they don't have what I'm looking for. But a used option of what I want is typically available online. Not to mention books are one of those things that people are willing to let go of for a fair price, especially after finishing if they're not like a fan or collector of a specific series. And since I got asked about this in a previous video about why the books are facing this way, well the reason is that exercise equipment. Now it's suffice to say I don't have a full gym at home, although I would love one one day. Exercise equipment has to be one of the things I most frequently see for sale on OfferUp, from machines to dumbbells to treadmills. And the trend with these things seems to be that the people selling these items are usually moving or just looking to get rid of this exercise equipment in a rush for one reason or another, usually leading to a better price for the buyer. Or some people planning on starting some sort of workout routine and never really got around to it. Brand new weights are very expensive to buy and obviously very durable, so condition isn't generally something I worry about. I absolutely recommend shopping used for exercise equipment almost exclusively, unless it's something like a mat, which would be kind of disgusting. Miscellaneous electronics. I realize this is extremely broad to say, but I will give some specific examples. Because this category for me ranges from things I just need to get by to some larger everyday purchases. Even though I did get my monitor at Best Buy, it was technically used, maybe returned or an open box, I'm not even sure. But I got it for like half off and it was in perfect condition. It just didn't come with a box. Even a keyboard I needed for some work, I got for literally $2 at the thrift store and it's in perfect condition. What I feel like needs to be mentioned as well, and this applies to everything else on this list, is that Amazon's used section typically has great deals as well. Because all types of electronics get outdated or returned or become obsolete very quickly, so the market for used electronics is a large one. I can't say I will never buy a new version of something on this list ever again, but for 99.9% of the scenarios, I will only buy these things used. And by doing this, I've been able to save a little bit of money by just putting in a little bit of effort. Anyways, as always, I appreciate the time you spent here and I appreciate you watching. If you did like this video and you like this type of content, be sure to like and consider subscribing to my channel, and I'll see you next time.