This winter has been pretty brutal here in the Northeast. So the best investment I made for myself last summer was purchasing a snowblower.

Okay… so maybe a depreciating item isn’t an investment (that would be like thinking of your car as an investment). However those of you who saw my 2008 recap know I didn’t make too many positive investments last year, plus the time and strain I have saved this winter has more than made up for its purchase price.

It used to take me over an hour or more to shovel out my driveway when we got a moderate snowfall. Now with the snowblower that has been cut down to about 15 minutes.

Getting A Good Deal

Instead of purchasing a new snowblower, I decided to buy used. I used Yahoo Pipes to craft a custom Craigslist search that included some different terms (snow, snowblower, snowthrower…). I was then able to keep track of this search through Google Reader so I would be updated when a new one went for sale.

I eventually found one over the Summer from someone who was moving South. It was only a few years old, still under warranty, and they were asking less than 1/2 of the price of a new one.

Of course it took me a month or 2 of waiting to get that deal. I often find with Craigslist if you are looking for something immediately then you usually end up overpaying – but if you are patient, the right deal will come.

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