I get what you’re saying, and if I knew then what I knew now, I’d buy a lot more hand-me-downs, but the stroller is a bad example. We used a stroller every day, at least a half hour if not an hour a day, for almost the first three years of our daughter’s life. We started out with a Graco set (with a matching infant car seat), but quickly saw the value in a Peg Perego. We also got a good umbrella stroller (a MacLaren), because we needed something that was easily foldable yet durable. Total cost of both at the time – maybe around $350? Worth twice that much in my opinion.

This may sound like a picky point, but it’s not. At some point, you get a lot of value out of certain items, and it isn’t worth skimping. I’d cite an infinite amount of toys and games that never got used more than once or twice (or in some cases, never were used at all) as much bigger wastes than a stroller.

Let me guess – you pretty much drive everywhere so the stroller is not used that much?