Sticking to a budget for toys & purchase paralysis

[Shaun @ Tru6]

When buying for the company or something I actually need, I research, weigh variables and buy decisively. But toys are different.

The subject is wood fired pizza ovens, looking on FBMP for used ones thinking that there will be a ton of people forking over $800+ for a new Ooni Karu 16 inch pizza oven that they used 2-3 times and got bored and it sat in the back yard and they'll sell for $400 or so like the exercycle that becomes a clothes rack. I can only thank TimT for his amazing pizza pics using his Ooni. For a year and a half of looking, that hasn't happened. People are either using them or aren't selling them for less than 75 cents on a dollar.

So I expanded into bigger and better ovens, used, at 30 to 50 cents on a dollar. Budget is $1K for a "professional" home outdoor pizza oven. Found a good used $3K one, as new price, and got him down to $1100 but I would still have to drive to upstate NY which adds $200 to the purchase price so I had to pass. At $1K or less, I would have just gotten it. But it's a toy so stuck to my budget.

Have been regretting it for 2 weeks now.

Fast forward to the last few days. A smaller version of the $3K one, normally $1500, is on sale for $993 and free shipping. it's brand new.

WPPO Karma 25-Inch Wood Fired Pizza Oven with Black Cart - Orange - WKK-01S-WS-Orange

But my dream of a local Ooni Karu 16 inch for $400 finally came up somewhat locally, first one in a year and half within a one hour drive.

So now what do you do? Just get the Ooni, if you can and put the toy money into cars or travel. Or get the brand new bigger oven?

How do you handle budgeting and purchasing for toys?

[id10t]

For spoons I scrimp and save and eventually get enough to get what I want, only to discover that what I want has suddenly disappeared from the vendors, etc. with no chance of replacement. At which point I scramble to find an acceptable substitute before the wife says "honey do you have $100 for ...."

Of course, once I get what I want that kinda guarantees that it will remain available for a long time, and will even likely go on sale in a month or two.

In your position, if the $3k oven for $1k is really better than a brand new Ooni (never mind a relatively dirt cheap one), I might spend the extra $. But then, the $600ish difference in price can pay for a lot of good wood to cook with it too.... and if the Ooni deal had been available a year ago and you had never expanded your search to bigger/better ovens, you would've already bought it and likely been happy.

Get the $400 Ooni, spend the savings on the 911

[Shaun @ Tru6]

That happens to me too Steve.

Car has it's own budget, this winter I'm having the original seats done in navy leather like the dash and rest of the interior has been done and a set of early sport seats in navy with navy Pasha centers so I'll a completely refreshed interior. Restored suspension has been on the shelf for a year. I'm probably doing paint next winter, then it will be perfect.

[jrj3rd]

Own a Karu 16. Have yet to find anything I don't like about it. It also gives you the option to use gas which is great in the winter and if you are making a lot of pizza. I rarely use the wood anymore as the gas is more convenient and nobody can tell the difference when you are cooking pizzas at 800 - 900 degrees.
$600 buys a lot of San Marzano tomatoes, good salumi and fresh mozz.

[Scott Douglas]

I have an easier time spending money on my wife's sewing machines than on my cameras. She has mastered her machines so I have no qualms about upping her game by keeping her current machine wise.
I have only treated myself to a new camera once in the last ten years or so. All the others are used gems I've been able to get by keeping an eye open on B&H Photo. I've never been disappointed in the condition of a camera I've bought from them. Sticking to a budget takes perseverance.

[Dixie]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

When buying for the company or something I actually need, I research, weigh variables and buy decisively. But toys are different.
{snip}
How do you handle budgeting and purchasing for toys?

"Never ask, why? Always ask, why not?" If I can't come up with a good reason not to do something, I do it.

Your entire post was about buying a specific oven. Travel and cars only got a nonspecific sentence. Sounds to me like you don't have a good reason to not buy that oven.
Buy it. Enjoy your life.

[Gogar]

If you're the kind of guy who will buy the Ooni and then "what if" about the Karma forever then save yourself some brain treadmill and throw the extra $600 at it now because the $600 will be forgotten about soon enough. IMO

If you're a bang-buck guy and you will tweak the cheap Ooni to death and get amazing at it then you can look at it that way. Also a fine choice.

Or tweak it to death for $400 and if you get better than the oven - sell it for $400!

[TimT]

I still have and use the original Ooni, which I got through their Kickstarter campaign, its a crude dinosaur compared the the Karu..The oven I have just works well...but I'm struggling to justify upgrading to the Karu...need new toys...

The oven you linked looks impressive for the price...

Some inspiration....

A simple Margherita isn't so simple









To change things up, roasted golden beets, caramelized red onion, goat cheese, and either garlic scape, or ramp pesto



searing off a steak





I got in on the ground floor, before they changed the name...You can buy Oonis in Ace Hardware, Williams-Sonoma, even Bloomingdales now!

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by TimT

I still have and use the original Ooni, which I got through their Kickstarter campaign, its a crude dinosaur compared the the Karu..The oven I have just works well...but I'm struggling to justify upgrading to the Karu...need new toys...

The oven you linked looks impressive for the price...

Some inspiration....

A simple Margherita isn't so simple



That is pretty cool you have an Uuni! Someday it will be a collector's item, not kidding.

Thanks for chiming in Tim, especially since this is all your fault. Uour pizzas look phenomenal as always and the few I made a year and half ago at 500ºF in my home oven were better than most pizzas I've had in Boston, and NYC, both known for great pizza. That said I got into a fight with a local parlor just a few weeks ago but that's another story.

You posted on of my questions about the Ooni, that is can you sear ribeyes. I've been wood grilling (oak over them all summer and think a wood seared in cast iron would also work well and few other things I'd like to put in the oven in addition to a steak. that's one reason for going for a bigger oven, I can do more with it.

What are your thoughts?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Gogar

If you're the kind of guy who will buy the Ooni and then "what if" about the Karma forever then save yourself some brain treadmill and throw the extra $600 at it now because the $600 will be forgotten about soon enough. IMO

If you're a bang-buck guy and you will tweak the cheap Ooni to death and get amazing at it then you can look at it that way. Also a fine choice.

Or tweak it to death for $400 and if you get better than the oven - sell it for $400!

Excellent point that I could buy and sell the Ooni for the same price. But I would miss out on the great deal for the Karma. Others would come along. I have been meaning to call the Karma mfg to ask about the 25 and even how they would rate the Ooni. Honestly, the Ooni would have been fine if I hadn't been able to get a huge Karma for 35 cents on a dollar, which may have been too big. The 25" Karma comes with it's own roller cart which is very attractive.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by jrj3rd

Own a Karu 16. Have yet to find anything I don't like about it. It also gives you the option to use gas which is great in the winter and if you are making a lot of pizza. I rarely use the wood anymore as the gas is more convenient and nobody can tell the difference when you are cooking pizzas at 800 - 900 degrees.
$600 buys a lot of San Marzano tomatoes, good salumi and fresh mozz.

This is great info, thanks for posting. I have this romantic idea that a wood fired pizza will have a little extra smoky flavor, mostly from the very real experience cooking ribeyes over oak on top of lump charcoal. There is definitely a difference but it's being cooked over actually burning oak. The pizza will just have oak next to it.

So there's no difference in pizza flavor cooked with propane flame vs. wood?

Agree on the tomatoes and mozzarella! I subscribe to Pasta Grammar on YT and from the shows, there are some things I would have imported directly from Italy to make phenomenal pizza, cheeses especially.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

"Never ask, why? Always ask, why not?" If I can't come up with a good reason not to do something, I do it.

Your entire post was about buying a specific oven. Travel and cars only got a nonspecific sentence. Sounds to me like you don't have a good reason to not buy that oven.
Buy it. Enjoy your life.

Good advice but I enjoy my life a little too much at times so I'm good there.

Travel and cars are impulse buys. I just do them when they feel right, never been let down.

[TimT]

The way the flame works in the Ooni is like a blast furnace... so yes you can sear a steak, I can't remember the last time I cooked a steak via conventional methods... I sous vide the steak.. and then prep the rest of the meal.. and sear off the steak right before we eat..

If I were to get a Karu...... I'd get the gas option ( must resist temptaion ).. as well...

[jhynesrockmtn]

We've had our Ooni for a few years now. We use it quite regularly. Plus this means I'm doing the cooking that night so I get extra wife points. It's not considered a toy. Problem solved.



Now my impulse Bumblebee purchase and suspension and a bunch of other stuff resto. That took a bit of sweet talking. Selling the motorcycles has helped. I also retired from vintage racing and still have the race car to sell. With the cars, it has to be self funded from selling parts and possibly one of the other cars. One gets sacrificed so the others can live. I just shipped out a 3.2 core and 915 I'd been hoarding for 20 years.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

"Never ask, why? Always ask, why not?" If I can't come up with a good reason not to do something, I do it.

Your entire post was about buying a specific oven. Travel and cars only got a nonspecific sentence. Sounds to me like you don't have a good reason to not buy that oven.
Buy it. Enjoy your life.

All of this

Come on Shaun, you already know all this stuff, fits with the best old guy quote ever

[greglepore]

I have an Ooni but don't use it much - its a gen 2 that I converted to propane with a burner during covid when their's were out of stock . No flavor difference between wood and propane.
Honestly, I like my steel under the broiler better-it gets to 750 no prob, and while pies are more like 3 -4 min rather than 90 sec, I get great results. My issue with my Ooni is the small pie size; a Karu would fix that, but still, have the steel and oven.
For searing steaks I bought one of those china made "salamanders"-a ceramic burner in a stainless box. https://www.amazon.com/BIG-HORN-OUTDOORS-Portable-Stainless. Its great for steaks or burgers. Mine has an issue with the tipover valve that I'll need to address, for now I just whack it and it works. Tipover valves are a pain and I usually bypass them.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

More great first hand experience, thanks, especially about the propane vs. wood though I'd still use wood as much as I could but best example of why propane is a good option is my Dave's Insanity sauce marinated grilled chicken arepas last night. Too tired after a long day to get some charcoal going so I grilled them on a Lodge cast iron stove top plate. That said, wood fired grilled chicken would have been better in the same way my ribeyes are. But if no difference on the Ooni, then cool.

Shockingly moot point now. The Ooni was still available this morning. Just checked it and it's f'ing Pending. I wrote to the seller if the pending buyer doesn't show, let me know and I'll take it. Sigh.

Arepas are fun to make and tasty. Blue cheese dressing wedge and avocado painted with more Dave's, spritzed with fresh lemon were excellent. I can only imagine all the things a pizza oven would allow me to make. Which is perhaps why the Karma is a better buy, just more real estate to play with.

[PorscheGAL]

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

"Never ask, why? Always ask, why not?" If I can't come up with a good reason not to do something, I do it.

Your entire post was about buying a specific oven. Travel and cars only got a nonspecific sentence. Sounds to me like you don't have a good reason to not buy that oven.
Buy it. Enjoy your life.

I'm with Dixie on this.

Life is short. If you have the money, get what you want and enjoy. The one thing I know about you, it that it will be used and enjoyed.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

It's done, the Karma it is.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by PorscheGAL

I'm with Dixie on this.

Life is short. If you have the money, get what you want and enjoy. The one thing I know about you, it that it will be used and enjoyed.

Thanks Stephanie, I completely agree, it will be very well used and enjoyed.

But I disagree a little on life being short. I feel like I've lived 2 or 3 lives by now with several more to go. Every day is a blessing to be made the most of and try my best to honor that. But I do always look both ways when crossing the street for oncoming buses. There's still a lot more to do. I'm sure you are the same.

Anyway, can't wait!