What a weird question. I sometimes feel like people on this website are super ultra rich. Like $100k+/year salaries rich. I feel like anything up to say $300-400 I can "comfortably" replace - but more than that and it's starting to eat into my savings, which obviously I don't want to do. Like, my $800 TV is not expensive by most peoples standards, yet if I had to replace it it would be two months of my savings. That's not trivial or comfortable in any way. Maybe I wouldn't buy a $5000 massage chair, but I own a ~$2000 solid oak table and chairs specifically because I want it to last few decades, it's a really solid table. But I couldn't "comfortably" afford to replace it. That's what insurance is for.
You also rarely need to replace TVs, massage chairs, and solid oak tables.
The other aspect is the need to replace. You can live without a TV while you build up savings, you can live without a solid oak table, but you can't live without a vehicle to get to work, or a home to live in.
This is context you might find interesting, I make less than 40k a year. This is a choice that I have made, and I understand that it has implications for the lifestyle I can afford.
Mostly I am just using it as an example of a durable good.
Let’s say it’s going to last ~5 years on average then that’s a little under 20$ per week you can set aside for the next one. For something used regularly providing 20$ a week in value is a minimal hurdle, but that does not mean they can drop the full cost on a whim. Making the extended warranty a more understandable choice.
