The Friday Gathering: Nintendo Wii Edition
By glblguy
Photo by: Jessica Driver
I mentioned last week that we paid off our Chase card using some of the money from our economic stimulus check. The $3000.00 we received also went to a family dinner out at Olive Garden (something we seldom ever do) and the highlight of the week for me, we purchased a Nintendo Wii.
My wife and I have actually been looking to buy a Wii since before Christmas, but due to them being so difficult to find we refused to wait at the local Best Buy for one at 5:00am on a Sunday morning. We also never seemed to get lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time to stumble upon one. But we kept our ears and eyes open. Thanks to my neighbor telling me about a small video game store that had a few, I was finally able to find and buy one.
The Wii is an amazing piece of hardware. It reminds me of Apple hardware: simple and just plain works. The graphics on the Wii aren’t anything compared to the XBox 360 my kids received as a combined gift for Christmas; however, the wireless controllers used when playing make up for it. You literally get one heck of workout!. Myself, my wife, and our kids have literally woke up sore the next morning from playing! The other great thing is that all of our kids, with the exception of our daughter who is only 2 can play. We’ve had quit a few exciting boxing, tennis and bowling matches the past few evenings. While it’s a bit pricey (about $300 all said and done), I can honestly say it was worth the price.
How did we justify such a purchase? I think it’s very important to reward yourself for achieving financial goals. We paid off our Chase card, a major goal we’ve had for a while. I’ve also talked before about how I’m Gazelle Intense, but probably not as much as others. Also, it was purchased using windfall money, no credit, no emergency fund money, and zero impact to our budget.
Important Stuff
just a few small things this week:
- Amazon added a new widget to their collection this week that plays snippets of MP3 files they sell for .99. Since it seems many of you enjoy contemporary Christian music like I do, I added the top sellers in the Christian contemporary category to the widget. The widget is just below the ING Direct ad in my sidebar. Just click on it and it will start to play through the list. Nice way to listen to some great music while reading. I’ve found MP3s are the best way to buy music as you get to buy only the songs you like. Let me know what you think.
- I’m also working on revising the theme here on Gather Little by Little. Primarily a modification to the header along with a new logo. I plan to roll it out sometime this month. If you have any opinions or feedback, I’d love to hear them. Just leave me a comment or contact me.
- Next week I’ll start a contest where you can win a $75.00 Amazon.com gift card. So make sure you keep your eyes peeled for the contest details!
The Gathering
Now, here are my favorite posts from the M-Network and the rest of my blogroll this week:
- Dining Out Frugally Without Stiffing On the Tip
- Holding a Monthly Family Financial Meeting … And How It Can Benefit Your Marriage and Educate Your Children
- People Are Starting to Steal Gas Now??
- Reader Story: Beware of Scams and Pyramid Schemes
- Goodbye Citibank!
- I Just Paid a Stranger To Mail Me $29 Worth of Worms
- Teaching A Spender To Save ~ More Praise For The Emergency Fund
- The Cost of Having Kids
- Three Keys to Finding True Happiness
- 10 Things That Bring Success in Personal Finance #10 Part 1: Take Ownership
- Is Frugal a Bad Word?
May 16th, 2008 at 9:12 am
Congrats on the new Wii! I’m seriously thinking about getting one for our family for Christmas. One big gift, rather than a whole bunch of little gifts to clutter up the house. And they’ll get plenty of clutter from the grandparents, anyway. LOL
Thanks for the mention!
May 16th, 2008 at 9:27 am
Thanks for including my “happiness” article in the roundup. And congrats on the Wii – as you know, we are saving for one as well and are looking forward to picking one up soon.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Awesome!! I love the Wii, though there’s no practical reason for us to have one. But it’s fun to play at a friends’ house now and then. $300 is probably also better than you could’ve gotten it for just a little while ago, at least if you had been looking anywhere other than stores.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:35 am
Glad you found your Wii. Sounds like a hit. Mrs PT and I played one at Best Buy the other day and I think I have her convinced. It will definitely need to be windfall money though like you say.
May 16th, 2008 at 9:38 am
We are waiting for my stepbrother (works at Gamestop) to call us when they get Wii’s in. We are getting it with windfall money as well, and know for a fact (and are relying on) the workout you get from playing (hubby’s friends bring theirs over occasionally.) We are also thinking of it similar to the other games we buy–blog fodder for hubby who earns about $100 a month from blogging and making web comics plus family time.
May 16th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Thanks for the link!
We love our Wii and play it regularly, but our problem is the cost of controllers. We have 2, but would love to have some gaming parties and we’re the only family with a Wii – so nobody can bring controllers with them. Buying two more remotes and nunchucks is way beyond what we feel like paying, especially considering that they’d only be used when people came over.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Hey, great gathering! I agree, the Wii is fun. Also, I liked the widget you added with the bits of songs on it. I’m hearing some I haven’t heard before, and I like them. It’s also getting me looking closer to the ads you have posted…smart.
You said you’re changing some things with your header…are you still keeping the name, Gather Little By Little? I hope so! The name is what caught my attention…and your writing is what kept me here.
May 16th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Make sure you get the new mariokart once the bundled games start to get stale. It’ll be a lot of fun for the whole family and the online portion even works (not a given with Nintendo).
May 16th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Thanks everyone!
@Lee – Nope, not changing the name. Will never change the name. Just brightening it up a bit and adding a graphic to make it more than just words. Thanks for the compliment on the writing and thanks for reading!
@Aaron – Already have my eyes on mario kart :-) Was playing it with the kiddos in Target the other day! I preorder the Wii fit as well…but more on that later…
May 16th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Thanks for the mention! Enjoy the Wii.
May 18th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
Congrats on getting a Wii. As a gamer who got up waaaay too early to get one at a post-Thanksgiving sale in 06, I know the joy you’re feeling in finding one. Hope you get a lot of joy and use out of it.
If you want a quick fun game, grab Link’s Crossbow Training and a copy of House of the Dead 2 & 3. It’s old, school, “duck-hunt” style gaming at its finest. My pops can’t get enough of it!
May 19th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Glad you got your hands on a Wii they are a brilliant way to get the whole family exercising, and they are so much fun. Not bad considering that they were thought to be no macth for the Xbox and PLaystation
May 29th, 2008 at 12:31 am
So I picked up a Wii last week (managed to get it for $249.99, which was cheaper than I’d seen it online!) with the express purpose of using it with Wii Fit – I absolutely love it! Wii Fit is great too and, unlike a gym membership, I’m actually using it… getting exercise and having fun and NOT wasting money. (I’ve used it almost every day, too, which is surprising….)
Anyway, definitely agree with your point that we have to reward ourselves occasionally for making progress against our goals. For me, if I don’t plan a “fun” purchase or reward in periodically I get all antsy and blow my budget. :)
Really enjoying your blog, btw!