Let others take the depreciation hit.

If you don't need to buy new, don't. Let someone else take the depreciation hit on the good, and you can scoop it up (slightly used, or even brand new) without much cost.

We recently purchased a backyard 'Little Tykes" play gym for our son, and others that follow. These things cost an arm and a leg - well over $200. We got it for $20.

It was slightly used, but well taken care of. We don't really care because it's going to sit outside, get pooped on by birds, fade with sunlight, and get scratched up. Why buy it new?

Moral of the story: buy things slightly used or as a 'scratch and dent'. You can often find 'scratch and dent' sections at furniture stores - if it's something that will get scratched and dented while in regular use anyway, then you should be able to save $$ in looking in that section.