[btgeekboy]

We weren’t well off either, but my dad was able to get a decent deal when our neighbor upgraded. It was put into my room for lack of space - and the rest is history.

[bombcar]

For sooooo long the upgrade cycle was so short that you could live quite cheaply and comfortably by inserting yourself in the right place in the chain.

In college I’d upgrade every three to six months and sell the old system off to someone for a good percentage of the new hotness.