Save it Saturday: Do Your Research.

Tax time always allows me to breathe a bit easier. We don't get back the refunds that some do, but the money we do get back is enough for us to splurge more than usual (as well as pay off debt and save). It's how we're able to replace our faulty appliances, how I'm going to sign up for my Praxis, and how we get to replace our stolen camera.

Replacing the camera wasn't an easy job though. My husband was convinced he needed a DSLR camera to do what he wanted (take great pictures from a distance, take print worthy family portraits, etc), even though the price was way more than I wanted to spend on a camera. I was worried that he was getting too much of a camera and that it would be difficult to just pull out and take pictures when we needed them.

I asked friends for their input, since I knew that if I had examples of other options that he'd be more likely to listen. He did, and because of that we saved a LOT of money. He chose not to get a DSLR but instead picked a point and shoot that had all the features he wanted. Since he was able to look into other options, and compare that to what he originally wanted he felt more in control of the process.

We also went in store to check out each of the cameras. He tried out many options before making his selection, and even then we shopped around for the best price. It took time and effort, but because of that we had more money left and he got a camera that was what he really wanted :)