I Am Saving Up. Here Is What Is Winning.

Every month I put money aside. The research is preparation for when the money is there.

I have been doing this for fifteen months now. Fifteen envelopes. Fifteen transfers to the savings account I named “Grill Fund” like a teenager naming a band. It makes me smile every time I see it.

This post is not a review. It is not a comparison. It is not sponsored content with affiliate links dressed up as honesty. This is the journal entry I wrote the night I set the rules for the decision. I am publishing it because maybe you are doing the same thing: saving, wondering, waiting, and you need to see someone else go through it.

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The Fear of Buying Wrong

Let me be honest about something embarrassing.

I have been researching grills for two years. Not exaggerating. Two years of YouTube videos. Two years of Reddit threads. Two years of reading Amazon reviews sorted by “Most Recent” because I do not trust the top ones.

Why?

Because I am afraid of getting it wrong.

When you do not have much disposable income, every purchase feels permanent. A bad $20 gadget stings for a day. A bad $500 grill stings for years. I cannot afford to buy the wrong thing and then buy the right thing later. I get one shot. One grill. It has to be the one.

So I researched. And researched. And researched some more.

I know the smoke chamber dimensions of twelve different grills. I know which controllers have known firmware bugs. I know which brands made quiet revisions to their auger assemblies in 2025 and which ones did not. I know more about pellet grills than I know about most of my coworkers.

But knowing is not deciding.

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The Spreadsheet

About eight months ago, I started a spreadsheet.

It began simple. Three columns: Brand, Model, Price. I added a fourth column: “Why?” One sentence on why this grill made the list. Then I added a fifth: “Why Not?” The dealbreaker.

It grew. Columns multiplied.

Column	What I Tracked
Price	MSRP, street price, sale frequency
Build	Gauge of steel, weld quality reputation, paint durability
Controller	PID vs. standard, WiFi reliability, app scores
Cooking Space	Main grate sq in, secondary rack sq in, fit for my needs
Temp Range	Low smoke to high sear, actual tested range
Hopper	Capacity, pellet consumption estimates
Warranty	Years, what is covered, hassle factor of claims
Owner Sentiment	Reddit/Twitter/Facebook group consensus vibe

I scored each grill on a 1-5 scale in every category. Weighted the ones that mattered to me: build quality at 30%, temp stability at 25%, warranty at 15%, the rest split among the others.

I built a weighted decision matrix like I was choosing enterprise software.

And then I stared at the numbers.

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The Question That Changed Everything

Here is the thing about spreadsheets. They can tell you which option scores highest. They cannot tell you which one feels right.

The top of my spreadsheet was a grill I will not name. Decent scores. Solid reputation. Great value. Everything a rational buyer would choose.

But every time I pictured myself using it, I felt nothing.

No excitement. No anticipation. Just a mild, logical satisfaction. The feeling of making a sensible choice. That is how you pick a refrigerator. That is not how you pick something you will stand next to on a Saturday afternoon, drinking a beer, watching smoke curl around a brisket for ten hours.

So I threw out the spreadsheet.

Well, no. I did not throw it out. I looked at it again. I looked at the runner-up. The one that scored close but not first. The one I kept finding excuses to scroll back to.

And I asked myself a different question: Which one would I be sad I did not buy?

That changed everything.

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What Is Winning Right Now

No announcement today. The envelopes are not full yet, and I set a rule for myself: the decision gets made the week the Grill Fund hits its goal. Not before.

But the shortlist is down to two, and the top of it has not moved in months.

The Pit Boss 850. $497. 849 square inches. A flip-up flame broiler for searing that almost nothing else under $500 offers. It showed up in 12 of the 14 budget threads I mined. It has no WiFi, and owners report temperature swings of 15 to 20 degrees on windy days. I know both flaws by heart, and it is still winning.

The Z Grills 7002B. $379. A PID controller at a price where PID should not exist. WiFi included. The catch is 450 degrees max, so no real searing. If my cooking turns out to be more brisket than steak, this one takes the whole race.

So that is where the money is pointed. Two grills, one envelope, and a rule: no decision until the fund is full.

What I know for sure: I am buying with my own money. Not sponsored. Not free. Mine.

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This Is What It Feels Like

Setting the rules felt like a weight lifting.

For two years, I carried this research project in the back of my mind. Every time I saw a sale, I questioned my choice. Every time someone posted a negative review, I started over.

I do not miss that feeling.

The grill has not even arrived and I already feel different. I am not chasing new options anymore. I am planning. I am imagining my first cook. I am picturing the pork butt I will put on at 10 PM and pull off at 10 AM.

Saving up for something changes your relationship with it. When you have to wait, when you have to work for it, when you hand over cash you set aside yourself. It means more.

It is not just a grill. It is fifteen months of discipline sitting in my backyard.

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The Checklist: How to Decide When You’re Stuck

This is the system I am using to decide. You can use it too.

Here is the checklist I wish I had two years ago:

• Set a savings goal first, before you choose the grill. Let your budget narrow the field.
• Build a spreadsheet but do not let it decide. Use it to eliminate, not to select.
• Talk to long-term owners, not first-week reviewers. The five-year experience is different from the five-star review.
• Ask yourself: “Which one would I regret not buying?”
• Sleep on the decision. One week minimum. If you keep coming back to the same grill, stop fighting it.
• Accept that there is no perfect choice. Every grill has compromises. Pick the compromises you can live with.
• When you decide, stop researching. Delete the bookmarks. Close the tabs. You made your peace.

I am still a few months out from firing mine up for the first time. The shopping is over. I am just saving.

And when the last envelope fills up, I will drive to the store. Load one of these two into my truck. Take it home.

And after two years of research, cook something.

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Dreamer’s note: I wrote this post from my personal journal, fifteen months into saving. I still do not own a grill. The 850 showed up in 12 of the 14 budget threads I mined, and the 7002B is the only PID controller in that set at $379. Your budget and priorities may be different, and that is the whole point. If you own either one, tell me what I am missing.