How do you afford your Mac?

I use Mini's. Only about $1000 after I get done with configuring. I'm a simple user. I save. If I were to buy a PowerMac or something more expensive I would consider using the 90 day same as cash, but only if I new for sure I'd have the whole thing paid off in 89 days!

save ... pay cash

Now I'll try to avoid preaching

I managed to go for about a year with a company loaned Black MacBook Core 2. (I was working for an Apple reseller). Previously, savings, then went savings went, a little bit of savings from government unemployment payments. Now, savings again!

There was a period of financial mismanagement when I was blowing way too much money on Apple stuff ... maxing out my credit card. That was bad, that was in 2003-2004. In the past four years as I mentioned I've used instead savings, or, luckily, working for an Apple reseller where sometimes I get to set up new demo Macs which feeds the craving just a little.

I have enough put away for 0.5 of a Mac Mini ... excluding the resale value of my MacBook Core(1) "Yonah" 2ghz.

Hopefully through this year I will be able to save a bit more for a Mac Mini / MacBook Alu/ iMac 20" which I can afford from savings and trading in / selling 2nd hand my MacBook.

My white MacBook Core(1) is doing alright, 2GB RAM and a 7200rpm drive. Surprisingly adequate. Though the 3 year Applecare runs out in May, so after it runs out I am kind of hoping something goes wrong so I can justify a new Mac ...

I just have some cravings for gaming, I want to set up a dual 9800 GT in SLI -- a gaming PC. But to deal with Vista 64bit, though interesting, and then installing/buying games, then lugging around a heavy, noisy PC box... The Xbox360 is looking attractive although it has its own negative qualities...!

I probably save up WAY too much money. I never ever want to be in debt to a credit card, and I've always made all my payments on time. Basically I don't spend money I don't have. Started looking into what computer I wanted towards the end of 2007 and finally decided on the $1300 white Macbook (ordered off Amazon to save on shipping and tax) when they updated them in Spring '08. I love it : ) When my crappy non-iPod mp3 players stopped working, I went and got a 120 gig iPod classic.. I think I at a Best Buy cause I didn't want to wait. Around the same time I lost my Razr (thought it was gone forever and tbh I was glad to be rid of it) and got an iPhone two months earlier than when I had planned to have to get one. Oh and during all this time I slowly turned my Macbook into a desktop config, got it a cooling pad cause it gets WAY too hot, got a Logitech v470 cause I don't like trackpads, the Apple bluetooth keyboard and a very nice Samsung 22" monitor. I also use my home theatre as speakers for it.

I beg and whine at my wife until she relents and lets me buy a toy.

This thread's a joke, right? Even if I had a billion dollars I wouldn't throw any of it away on a Mac with stuff I don't need that costs twice as much as a similar PC. In fact I might use the money to short Apple stock.

Hey, maybe that's how I can afford one!

As a student, I can tell you how to get by doing this without being a doctor , engineer or lawyer like some people might be:

1) Don't eat lunch outside - ever, or at least try to limit yourself to going out once or twice a week
2) If you drive a car to college, stop, invest in transit
3) Get a job. Being a TA or invigilator usually pays well (in Canada) (around the order of $28.96/hr
4) Wait. Most laptops should last throughout university, so do exactly that - use the laptop as much as you can before you buy another - when the old one gets too slow to open lecture notes properly, then you may want to ditch the old one.
5) Apply for Scholarships (or if in Canada, use OSAP - a portion of it is supposed to be for laptops)

Now, the first two may seem like you should live your life like a hippie, but I'm sure if you ask some of our european friends here on Appleinsider, they'll tell you that this isn't a wacky lifestyle - just a sensible one and more environmentally friendly.

Have you wandered into the wrong forum?

don't feed the troll!

No, I just have waiting-too-long-for-mac-mini update syndrome.

I do not know why the rest of you are not up in arms about this. This situation with the Mini is not the same old news. Do most of you understand the gravity of what's going on here? Macs are premium products, but when have they ever gone 18 months without an update or price drop?

Since when is that acceptable?

It's acceptable as long as people continue to buy what you describe as premium products that have gone without an update or price drop in 18 months.

I built mine.

i Buy one save some money and upgrade it a bit and sell it off.

I'm 18, and bought a 24" iMac about 3 months ago.

I constantly saved. I sat down one day and made a budget, including my bills, some play money, food etc. and set aside a certain amount of money weekly for my computer.

My "play money", if there was any left over at the end of the week, it goes into the iMac fund, along with the cash I was setting aside to begin with.

Then i just started over the next week.

it took me roughly 6-7 months, but now I'm using my iMac with no regrets, and no debt either

Option 4?
Theft?

Option 5

TARP funds.

I might use the money to short Apple stock.

I paid for mine with some of my AAPL profits.
Bought call options when I first started hearing the word
'IPOD' everywhere I turned.

Tripled my money in about 18 months.

Thanks Apple !!

I work and make good money and pay cash. My next one will be paid for by work though. I have my own slush fund I can stimulate the economy with.

It's hard to short apple and make money. Short Goldman Sachs if you want to make money shoring. (well don't short it any more)

I always save and pay cash. The great thing about owning a Mac is they have good resale value. Something else which is beneficial, is they tend to pay for themselves overt time if you use it for work related stuff!

High School
College
Crap job after college
Paid dues at crappy job but learned a lot
Get better job after years go by
In 30's now can afford to buy toys

In all seriousness there is no way I could afford a Mac when I was in college. Gratz to those that can from saving and hard work!

My first iMac I received as a college gift. I sold the iMac to a friend. It still works today 10 years later.

I bought a PowerBook five years ago and a MacBook Pro last year. For those purchses I saved half of the cost, put the rest on credit. Then write the purchase off my taxes. I sold the PowerBook and used the money towards the MBP.

I bought a used PowerMac G5 four years ago and sold that last year.

Right now my MacBook White Core Duo, I reckon has a reasonable resale value of 1/3 of a new Alu MacBook 2.0 ghz. More or less close to savings for the remaining 2/3 in about a few months time. We'll see.

I can't, which is why my six-year-old G3 iBook has never been replaced. It also hasn't been powered on in almost six months. New and used Macs are all priced absurdly high.

I don't have a car payment, I use the money that would have gone toward car payments for Apple stuff - 24" iMac, 14" iBook, 2nd Generation iPod Touch and so on .

work--fight the monster of "dependency"
set realistic goals
separate wants from needs
prioritize spending
taxes first--retirement 2nd--savings goals--set aside some for the less fortunate--live on rest
learn to say no, not now, "all things come to those who wait"
buy refurbished
learn to manage $1, then you can manage $100....then $1000
minimize credit use
follow dave ramesy
marry a prudent person
invest in yourself
don't waste--still have my strawberry imac g3 slot loader--(internet and print server)
listen to successful people--success breads success---talk less listen more

we've talked of this before

The question should not be "how to you afford a Mac", but rather "how to you afford a PC"

Seeing that PC's are actually more expensive to own than Macs once you do the full calculation and not just the upfront price on hardware.

My present Mac is woefully in need of replacement, but I can't afford to right now; when the time comes it'll be paid for in cash.

Due to 'extraneous' circumstance the purchase of my current Mac was very expensive, but worth every penny (the extraneous circumstances that is, if not the Mac itself )
Depends on your needs though, my experience has been the opposite.

WOW you are way ahead of the game, where did you learn such discipline?? good for you
most your age can barely spell budget let alone make and stick to it.

eBay, fool.