This is Edelman Financial Engine's everyday wealth, with award-winning journalist Soledad O'Brien,

personal finance expert Jean Chatsky,

and Edelman Financial Engine's wealth planner Rose Nyeung.

What is the strategy then?

If you're talking about something?

I mean obviously a dishwasher is not going to be over $10,000, but let's pick something that's

really big, like that's gonna cost you $10,000.

What should you be considering if you're thinking about making this really big purchase?

Well, I really hope you do have a good emergency fund.

If you live in an older home or drive an older car, you kind of have to start doing an inventory to see how much you should really have in your emergency fund. If you are going to go into debt, please have a

plan to get out of it. If you have to finance some of those big ticket items, ask yourself yourself does my income allow me to pay down this debt with the

least amount of interest and if so shop around for the terms of that loan as we've mentioned before.

Don't just go with the first entity that offers you a good rate.

All right, let's make the price tag even bigger than that $10,000.

My husband and I now we are embarking on a renovation at our

house at the Jersey Shore. It's not an enormous renovation, but it does involve putting in an elevator. Many of the

houses at the Jersey Shore particularly after Sandy are raised and that means a

lot of stairs and my mother in her 80s is starting to have trouble with the stairs. We're putting in an

elevator. So we called an architect and the architect sat down with us and said,

okay I can start on plans for you in six months. I know that's the tip of the

iceberg. I know if the architect can't start for six months, the contractor probably can't start

for another six months, and by the the way the fact that they're in such

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