Is Christmas the Best Time to Buy an Aboveground Pool?

The holidays are almost here again, and you may have started thinking about making a certain grand gesture that will make the season truly special: purchasing an aboveground swimming pool. The idea sounds great on paper, but it does have some downsides that you may not have considered. We’ve listed some of the good and bad points about this decision below.

Why It’s A Good Idea to Buy An Aboveground Pool for Christmas

• A pool is one of the most crowd-pleasing Christmas gift ideas out there. Your whole family is sure to enjoy it, so it can serve as one big present to everyone.
• Because everyone can enjoy it, a pool is also a gift that brings families together. Unlike some new toy or gadget, you’re sure to get use out of it for years to come and grow closer while you’re doing it.
• Since Christmas falls on a cold month in most of the world, you won’t be able to get your pool installed until the weather warms up again in the spring. If you buy it at Christmas, however, you’ll have plenty of time to finalize the plans and can count on getting your pool in place as soon as it becomes possible again.

Why It’s May Not Be the Best Time

• You won’t be able to enjoy this purchase right away, which may be disappointing to some people who aren’t used to delayed gratification – especially younger family members.
• Like a pet, a pool is a present that requires a lot of extra time and money beyond just the initial purchase (think about cleaning your pool, emptying and refilling, buying chemicals for sanitization, etc.). If you’re not ready to make that commitment, you shouldn’t let the fact that it’s the holiday season sway you into buying this big-ticket item.

Buying an aboveground pool for Christmas is far from unheard of, but it still requires careful consideration from each new household that it interested in doing it. If it’s something you were planning on getting anyway and that you know you’ll enjoy, the holidays can be the perfect occasion to put those plans into action. If it’s a passing fancy of yours or something you can’t really afford, it might be best to move on from this idea for now.