After months of research I finally decided on a particular big-ticket tool. But just as I was about to buy it, the price jumped up. Rats.

Have you ever driven past a gas station when the prices were in a low period and thought you’d better fill up, but figured you’d take care of some errands first? I’m betting you have.

That’s exactly what happened with a major tool purchase I was about to make. If I had bought it right when I made my official decision to get it all would have been fine. But I delayed the purchase to get some stuff off my plate first so I could devote full attention to bringing a new machine into the shop and getting it set up. The delay wasn’t long – only about a week – but boy do I regret it.

When it came time to get out my checkbook I was stunned to see that the machine went up about $85. And it wasn’t just at one supplier, either; every source that carries it has raised the price by a similar amount. Now, since I was already overextending my wallet a bit on the old price, that 85 bucks was a deal-breaker.

So I’m back to square one and, needless to say, disappointed. As you might expect the second-choice machine from all my research has bumped up, but since there were some things about it I didn’t like I’m now pretty much comparison shopping all over again with a fresh eye.

I suppose there’s a tortoise-and-hare sort of lesson to be learned here about putting things off. On the other hand, when making a major purchase an additional round of research is rarely a bad thing.

A.J.