Saving on cars and large appliances

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Emptynester
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Saving on cars and large appliances

Postby Emptynester » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:41 pm

Harriet wrote:
I think my biggest contribution to the general thrift of my household came from a flyer I saw a couple decades ago that worked out the math between buying a new car after the usual 7-year average that a person kept a car (then, at least), or holding on to a car until it was 10 or more, having the average in repair costs. I wonder if anyone else here saw that flyer - I think it made the rounds as much as could be expected, back before internet? It worked on the premise of, "What if you were offered a great job and all you had to do to earn your paycheck was drive the unattractive company car - wouldn't you love a job like that and here's how much it would pay you." The bottom line became amazing, as year over year the pretend family saved/"made" a bundle repairing the "company car" instead of buying.

I remember being fascinated by the math of it, and it somehow stopped me from admiring new cars! Since then, I've demanded 100,000 miles and 10 years out of every car I've owned. Right now the three 100,000-pluses in my driveway (when we're both home) are a reasonable-looking '95, a seriously unattractive '96 (which I bought in '97, with cash, for dd28's college years and won't sell - '96 was the year Ford's paint jobs famously peeled) and a nice-looking '97 (bought used from a co-worker at the paper years ago) that has the same body style as the next 3 model years, so is hard to peg for age. I complain about the repair shop sometimes (and they do know me there). Still - no car-payment book - priceless.


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Re: Saving on cars and large appliances

Postby Emptynester » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:49 pm

Sadie wrote:Thrifty! Been doing it for years. Let's see. Drive older paid for cars. DH and Dsons have done a lot of repair maintenance for themselves. Oldest DSon is a mechanic and owns his own business so get breaks on parts.

We have a wood stove, DH and Dsons cut and split wood. We usually have wood given to us if DH and Dsons will go get it.

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Re: Saving on cars and large appliances

Postby Emptynester » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:54 pm

Sunny wrote: Our first freezer was a Montgomery Ward, brought here from PA. when we moved. It was 36 years old, never had a repair on it when we finally had to replaced it last year. It was a manual defrost. The new one is frost free which does save a lot of time and effort..

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Re: Saving on cars and large appliances

Postby Emptynester » Thu Oct 09, 2008 9:58 pm

Cowinkie wrote:
As for being thrifty...I drive a car till the wheels fall off. I treat myself by having it completely detailed once a year, along with monthly car washes. I do like most of y'all do, and every time I use my debt card for groceries, I always allow for an extra $20 bucks or so. Then I stick it in my "stash" spot. I paid for my entire plane fare, hotel stay and spending money for my reunion and vacation this summer that way and still had some left over. Didn't hurt a bit :D


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Re: Saving on cars and large appliances

Postby Emptynester » Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:00 pm

Kathryn-in-Canada wrote:Lilac: I've only ever owned frost free freezers. The one I'm currently using is about 5 year old. The other one, which I used up until ds moved out, is 23 years old. Both are running fine.

When I needed a larger freezer, instead of buying a bigger one, I chose to buy another small one (mine are both 8 cubic feet.) I could foresee me needing less freezer space once the kids moved away from home so it made no sense to buy a big one. When ds moves out to his own apartment, he'll take the extra one (he lives off frozen food so will need it!) When dd moved into the townhouse with dsil, his grandmother gave them a small one so she doesn't need mine.

You will find a new freezer will use less electricity. My new one is more efficient than my older one. Apparently, the blown in insulation slides down the sides after a while, leading to more frost on the sides near the top.


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