Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

By Kaniethonkie

2014 is here! And with the New Year you get a fresh start on everything; your health and weight, your home, and your budget. One way of keeping within your budget – “Is it better to buy used or new?” When buying “used” you need to use a whole lotta common sense and be aware of the new and used price of the item you are purchasing. Do your homework and research the item you are looking for. When I am out at a flea market or sailing around lawn sales I often pull out my smart phone and compare prices on a big item purchase. We live in a small community and we can get away with a lot more when buying used – you know the seller, their habits and how they take care of things. And you know where they live…

Here is a suggested list of things to keep in mind while trying to stay within your 2014 budget.

1. Cribs

Cribs – especially the drop-side kind – are frequently on recall lists, and the reasons why are pretty terrifying. The cribs’ drop sides can malfunction, detach or otherwise fail, causing part of the drop side to fall out of position, creating a space into which an infant or toddler can roll and become wedged or entrapped, which can lead to strangulation or suffocation. A child can also fall out of the crib. Drop-side incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly and with age-related wear and tear. If you see a used crib for sale and it looks in great shape you can reassure yourself by checking the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s list of crib recalls, but if you don’t know if the crib was sent back for repairs or not, this is where knowing the seller is useful. You can take the seller’s word for it, or you can play it safe and buy a new crib.

2. Car seats

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says car seats can be safely reused after minor crashes – if the air bags didn’t deploy, no one was injured, and the car drove away. But how do you tell if the car seat has been in an accident or not? You probably can’t. The damage could be internal and not visible. Don’t risk it. Buy a new one. Check with the SRMT for assistance in getting a new car seat for your precious child/grandchild.

3. Helmets

In a crash, the thick foam inside a helmet absorbs shock and protects your head. After a crash, the helmet may look fine, but it often has breaks or tears inside the foam. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends replacing a helmet after any crash – even a minor one. Otherwise, the helmet might not protect you in the next crash.

4. Video cameras

The same goes for video cameras. You may not see any visible damage, but it could have been dropped, exposed to water, or otherwise mistreated. Video cameras are costly to repair, so it isn’t worth buying one used.

5. Mattresses

Think about all the things you’d like to do in your bed. Now think about sleeping on a used mattress where someone else did all that stuff. I think you can understand why it isn’t exactly the most pleasant experience to imagine sleeping on a used mattress. Beware of buying a new mattress that is suspiciously cheap; sometimes retailers refurbish or resell a returned mattress and fail to mention it to the consumer. Look for a mattress with a tag specifying “all-new materials” in accordance with Federal Trade Commission recommendations. Have the sales clerk write “new” on your purchase receipt to ensure that your mattress has never been used by anyone else. Additionally, a used mattress can come with a lot of extras you don’t want – dead skin cells, bacteria, hair, and every other gross thing you could imagine. It might also have bed bugs. Bed bugs live off human blood, leave itchy bite marks, and can cause skin infections. Females can deposit one to five eggs a day, and may lay 200 to 500 eggs in a lifetime. Under normal room temperatures and with an adequate food supply, they can live over 300 days. Bring a bed bug-infested mattress into your house, and you’ll have a whole lot more to contend with than you ever thought.

6. Shoes

I buy used shoes and boots from online sites. I’ve bought some incredible items that I love and others aren’t worth the postage. Again, you need to make sure you can return the shoes. I believe you need a good mattress and a good pair of shoes – since you’re usually in one or the other. The problem is, those used shoes may have been great for the original owner, but they’ve conformed to his or her feet. They might not be great for you. Used shoes that don’t fit just right can lead to feet or leg pain and back problems.

7. Makeup

I see makeup at almost every garage sale I go to, but I’d never buy any. Cosmetic brushes and wands come into contact with skin and can’t be cleaned very well. That barely used tube of lipstick? It might be hosting illness-causing bacteria. Considering drug stores and beauty shops regularly run makeup sales, risking your health isn’t worth the savings.

8. Plasma and HDTVs

Old tube-style TVs held up a lot better than modern flat-screens. While MSNBC says TVs cost an average of $500 to repair, the repair costs run much higher for plasma screens and for more complicated issues. Even at the lower end, it may be more cost-effective to buy a new TV under warranty than a used one.

9. Hats

The inside of that hat could be brimming with someone else’s dead skin, hair, or worse – lice. Head lice feed on blood and cause itchy and painful reactions in the scalp. The nearly invisible bugs also travel quickly onto other people and your stuff. Getting rid of lice requires two treatments of pesticides on everyone in the household. Then you’ll have to clean your bedding, linens, clothes, mattresses, and any other soft fabric in the house. The treatment can take hours or days of hard work – all because you bought a cheap hat. Which leads to…

10. Stuffed animals

Children love to stick stuffed animals into their mouths, dirt, and gooey substances. Since the stuffed animal has a fabric surface, bacteria and dirt are absorbed in the fibers. Do you really want your child putting that teddy bear in his mouth if you don’t know where it’s been? As well, the insides of the stuffed animal are perfect homes for bugs and even maggots.