Typhoid's Advice Column

[manasecret]

Me second!

My girlfriend and I want to buy a snowball machine. As a review, snowballs differ from snowcones (at least in local language here) in that snowballs use shaved ice while snowcones uses what is more like crushed ice. The difference is you get a nice powdery almost slushy treat that soaks up the flavors with snowballs as opposed to what amounts to chewing a bunch of ice with a little bit of flavor on it.

The machine costs about $1900, and we have room for it in our home. Every once in awhile, we would also like to take it down to the park at the end of our street where lots of little league baseball games are played, to sell some snowballs street vendor style to recoup the price and maybe eventually make a small but fun profit.

The thing is, that $1900 plus the say $200 in cups, straws, spoons, etc. would go on my credit card. We decided we would buy once I got a new job, but it looks like I will be sticking around at my old job for at least another month or two. That's still in time for summer, when snowballs are the perfect quencher for the sweltering Houston heat. But I may not actually get a new job for many months more and maybe even past summertime.

My question is, should I:

A. Buy it right now
B. Wait until I get a new job, even though that may be a long time from now
C. Not buy it at all

?

A side question for anyone who knows about such things, is liability insurance required for street vendors?

[Professor S]

Be sure to add a vendoir license to your total cost. They will shut you down without one, and they will know to ask you because other vendors will rat you out in a second.

[Typhoid]

Dear Manasecret,

I can see you really want this snowcone machine.
What I would rhetorically ask back to you is: Can you afford buying this snowcone machine, cups, flavours and possible vendors license without making yourself poor in the short term? Getting things you want, and doing things you have your heart set on are great ideas, unless they cause you financial problems, then you have to look at it like an adult, strap up your boots, and trudge on with what you're currently doing. If it will end up putting you financially under, and yet you still really want it - just cut back on extra spending for a while until you can justify buying it. Cut back on video games, eating at restaurants, going to sports events, movies etc. Sacrifices usually have to be made.
Now, I'm not here to tell you to flat out not do it. That isn't my place. Just look at the reality of it. You will be spending upwards of 2500 dollars for a snowcone machine that will give you something to do over the summer months. Do you have that money? Do you have the free time to justify it? Do you have prices in mind for what to sell them? Do you think you'll pay off that 2500 by selling snowcones?
My suggestion would be to wait until you have the money in hand/bank, or at least close to it. That way you're not scrounging for rent next month, or food. There is nothing that can tear up a relationship faster than money problems, so don't put dreams ahead of relationships.

And I do believe liability insurance is only required if you're employing other people to do that job. If you do it yourself, I don't think it matters. But I could be completely wrong on that.