I can only have two of these three things. Help me choose?

[AngeloMysterioso]

DH and I have just over £300 in JL gift vouchers left over from our wedding. I also have £240 “treat money” from this year’s bonus with which to get something “for myself”. So here are my options-

Thing 1 - £229
We recently moved into a fairly small flat which has largely been furnished with hideous, chunky, black Ikea furniture - bought when DH was furnishing his bachelor flat (before I showed up). At the moment we are stuck with a dining table not dissimilar to this, with 4 matching chairs. We can’t fit all 4 chairs under the table at once and DH is using the table as his desk atm (new one due to arrive in a few weeks and it will go in our bedroom) so his office chair is in the sitting room and two of the chairs are currently in our bedroom.
One of the three things I have my eye on is this table and chairs set- it is pretty perfect for us in that it folds up nice and compactly and will look much nicer in the space than the awkward black one we have now. If I used the gift vouchers to get it we’d have roughly £80 left.

Thing 2 - £449-£675
I have wanted a Vitamix for so long. At least 7 years. I have watched the videos on YouTube more times than I’d like to admit. I have a Pinterest board full of delicious recipes I would make with one. Baby DS is also weaning at the moment and I would love to be able to make lots of lovely homemade things for him. I know there are other, cheaper blenders out there but I want one so badly!!
The Explorian is out of stock at JL atm so in order to get one of the more expensive better ones I would have to combine both gift vouchers and treat money. If I wanted the most fancy pants one I’d have to save up a bit more on top as well. DH is happy for me to get one with the gift vouchers and would probably use it too but to him any blender would do so he’s not fussed really.

Thing 3 - £240
I recently completed my first half marathon 5 months after having my first baby and have well and truly caught the running bug. I’ve been using my phone for tracking, listening to music etc but would love a proper fitness watch, and really like the look of the Garmin Vivoactive 4S. Of the three things, this is the only thing that would really be just for me is. The dining table, while being something only I really want, would be used by the whole family, the blender too but the fact that it’s a Vitamix is what makes it a treat for me.

My options are

A- get the table and the watch, spend the remaining vouchers on a shitty cheaper blender and continue to lust over a Vitamix for the rest of my days.

B- wait for the cheapest Vitamix to come back in stock, get that and the table or watch

C- combine vouchers and treat money for a more expensive Vitamix, make my peace with the ugly table, get a cheaper fitness watch for my birthday in a few months time.

What would Mumsnet do??

Get the watch, coz you need to remember that you are you before you are a mum and and wife, and every time you use it, you will know that you value yourself.

A and a cheaper watch, there are plenty of dupes for a lot less that do the same to a similar standard

B. As a regular runner, I don’t have a running watch and while they are fun there is very little a smartphone with Strava or similar and a £30 Bluetooth heart rate monitor from Decathalon can’t do... The watch strikes me as the one object you don’t actually know if you’ll use or love, you just quite fancy it. Whereas a blender with a weaning baby plus your own obsession seems a good idea (even though I’d probably get a cheaper brand as I’m stingy) and you clearly need a better table (although I know several people here dislike the gate leg ones). Good luck and enjoy your presents - I loved wedding vouchers as an excuse to splash out!

Sod the blender. My Garmin Forerunner is the danglies, buy the Garmin and some furniture.

I think the table looks a lot cheaper than it is. I also wonder if you will out grow it quickly 'cos you mention a baby (will there be a second baby and then toddler to sit at the table before you get to move?) It is quite expensive for something you might not use more than a couple of years. There is probably a cheaper alternative in Argos that would do the same. There is also probably a ton of very similar stuff on ebay/shpock/facebook market place in great condition that will cost you £50 max. If you look for a week or so, something will show up. It always does for me!

For me, A

Well I love my garmin so C

Def get the watch. Look on eBay for a second hand table if the one you've chosen isn't exactly what you want. Second hand furniture is usually very cheap.

You will the probably have enough money left for the cheaper Vitamix when it comes back into stock.

Putting it out there that you can get a refurbished Vitamix for way less money! It’s a thing!

Buy a cheaper garmin - I think mine cost about half that - but does all I need

If I won £20m on the lottery I wouldn't spend that much money on a blender, but there you go.

Not too keen on the table either - having had an oval gateleg for some years, I would suggest that you get a square or rectangular one.

I got a vitamix and it's just collecting dust!

Use your bonus money for the watch but surely the wedding vouchers should be used on something you BOTH agree on? Have you asked DH what he'd like to use them for?

A

I say this as a complete gadget hound - many of the more expensive gadgets just have no durability.

I've got some items that have lasted 30years+ and they were moderately priced. I can't think of a high-end electrical item that has been reasonable to service and maintain (I'm not including larger white goods from Miele).

Older well-known heated blenders with reverse gears (euphemism) have proved better value than the updated versions in many ways (less fragile and in constant need of service).

Blenders that need a voltage change from US to UK rarely last nor perform well in my experience. Other people might have a different experience but that's mine.

Even brands can be inconsistent. I like the Sage mini-oven. Somebody gave me the Sage stick blender/processor gadget and it's been difficult to assemble, flaky, and never satisfactory.

Once people have a Vitamix, some of them end up wondering if they would be better off with a cold mill process (to reduce oxidation) and likewise for the blender part. So they start saving for a Norwalk - and so it goes.

I’d second getting a Kitchenaid blender - I’ve had mine for around 12 years now and it’s still going strong - I wouldn’t pay £100s for a Vitamix. If you did that you could afford all three.

Fitness tracker. There are loads of blenders for loads less money. We used to use a hand blender for baby food as you can blend tiny amounts. You'd probably find one for £30. You have a table already so just make do with what you have for now. If you think it's that bad can you paint it a different colour? Save the rest of the money for something that you really want/need in the future.

VITAMIX, I am so jealous you even have the option. Get the watch too, you could easily get a used watch on eBay for cheaper as well, if you splurge on the better blender.

A.

Spending the equivalent of a mortgage payment on a blender, that will end up in the back of a cupboard after a few months, is crazy.

Have you seen how many vitamix are listed on eBay?

What exactly can that blender do that others can’t?

I'd go with A.

No blender is worth that much- it will not change your life as much as the other two items. Get a cheap blender. They really can't be all that different to each other.

Comfort as well as space and cost is worth thinking about. Have you actually sat at the table?
I had an older version (20+ years ago) of the folding table and chairs from John Lewis made from rubberwood. They fitted the space I had well, but I found the chairs really uncomfortable to sit on for any length of time. They were OK for a quick meal, but for sitting at for work or using my sewing machine it was really uncomfortable, even when I added seat cushions and propped a cushion against the seat back bar.
Last year I finally replaced mine with something that was well over twice the price, but I'm glad I did as working from home has been more comfortable that it would have been.

I prefer the table & chairs you already have

Those fold up tables are a complete bloody faff, not very stable & the chairs are definitely more uncomfortable than the ones you have. They're totally unsuitable for toddlers too, whereas your existing ones are fine & great for strapping booster seats to. Completely over priced too!

Vitamix - I think there are better quality blenders for less money & I think you might regret the money you spent on it. However, Sometimes the heart wants what the heart wants! But as DH is happy to use the vouchers on it & you're happy to use your bonus treat money in it then...(but maybe get the cheaper option IF you'd be happy with it).

Watch - get one that does what you need it to do. No idea how much it would cost so no idea if you're paying for functionality or 'pretty' with the one you linked to? But Birthday/Christmas

The chairs that come with that table are awful- I sat on one at a friends and after ten minutes had to ask to move

Table. But not that table.