Savings

Last year I told myself it would a year of saving. And I ended up buying a laptop and a digital SLR camera! Is this year going to be different? I hope so and I am restricting myself to a few known gadget purchases and big expenses.

First up is the PalmOne’s Treo 650. It is going to be released to Cingular/AT&T this week, according to rumours. Apparently the unlocked version will also be released at the same time. From all the earlier orders it seems like if I buy it from AT&T I would have to convert my account (back) to Cingular then be forced to take a data plan which I don’t really need. So I am going just buy a unlocked Treo 650 and then add a low usage data plan when I have the phone. Cost more initially but I reckon in the long run it would save me more since I am not that data intensive with my cell phone (yet).

Another gadget that I may buy this year is a DVD writer. It would let me back up to optical disk a lot more data as I am using CD-RW right now. Then I can also burn TV shows that the TiVo has recorded using TiVoToGo for archiving or just sharing. Right now I can’t really share any of my TiVo shows unless I transfer them to VHS. Mmm no thanks!

That’s all for gadgets but then Leah and I have two weddings in the U.K. to attend so more money to save for flights, etc. Then there is the apartment moving cost. Leah and I are moving back to Manhattan after two years of ‘exile’ to Hoboken. We got a great deal for an apartment in Battery Park City from a friend who owns one there. We will be moving in March and this time I am not going to move ourselves! We are going to get a moving company to do it for us. So that is another expense! Still I think it is well worth it. Finally we can get decent cable TV (BBC America and SpeedTV especially) and groceries from FreshDirect!

That’s it for the planned expenses so far. Hopefully there won’t be any surprises this year and I can save some money.