I purchased an iPod nano about a year ago.  My initial purchase stemmed from the fact that I had received a couple of iTunes gift cards.  While I initially used the gift cards to purchase music from iTunes, I only listened to the music on my computer at work.  As I began working out at the gym, I realized that almost everyone around me was listening to their own music on their iPods so I decided to try one out and bought one for myself.  Initial cost: $249 + tax.
I really enjoy the ipod.  It small sleek portable design made it ideal for use in the gym but then came the cascading expenses:

  • The iPod got easily scratched so I ended up buying a protective case.  Cost: $20
  • I wasn’t content with the original songs I had from CDs and initial gift cards so I added more: $50
  • With all this music stored on a little device, it made sense to use it as a central audio respository so iPod boom box: $200
  • With the device now over a year old, the ear buds appear to be fizzing out.  Cost: $25

So what I initially thought would be a $249 expense has turned into $545 expense.
I also could have easily spent another hundred dollars on other accessories but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend any more money on the darn thing.  I also had to take it in to the Apple store once to get it repaired.  Cost of time lost and gas not included in figures above!
Plan: I’m not sure how much longer the device will last.  It will be close to being out of warranty soon and once it dies I don’t plan on replacing it.  I’ll simply revert to listening to music on my PC and wait for the next mp3 player to be < $30. But this is yet another example of how buying a single product can lead to cascading expenses.