<p>So, I agreed to work an extra shift at the hospital tomorrow on Sunday.
Not my favorite day to get up at 5am by choice.
But, I calculated that our family could use a few extra dollars.</p>
<p>Well, …yes I’m still working tomorrow and I guess they’ll still pay me but those few EXTRA dollars are now already spent…
the gosh darn washing machine is leaking all over the basement floor. What a mess.</p>
<p>Hoped it was just a leaky hose but not so.
DH and I had a good laugh at least trying to guess the age of the washer.
He said maybe 8 yrs, I was sure it was 12 ish.
Turns out to be 22! Wow, time goes by when you’re having fun doing laundry.
Make our decision to not repair pretty easy.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I did have fun researching and comparison shopping online for a basic, inexpensive, top loading semi efficient replacement washer.
Within 2 hrs, I’d conferred with DH, placed order for free delivery Wed which will include installation and removal of the leaky old thing.</p>
<p>I do remember when we would have wasted an entire day traipsing to 6 different stores to make sure we got a ‘deal’. The internet is a thing of beauty.</p>
<p>Not as exciting as yours! I will always remember how old our washer is - we bought it a few months before our oldest son was born. So it’s over 18 years old at this point. I hope we get another 4 years out of it! Our dryer went out last year.</p>
<p>The only problem with the internet is that it makes it way too easy to buy things!</p>
<p>I have such an old washer that I actually now WISH it would die so I could justify a new one (but it’s still working strong, and I am way to frugal to swap it out just because I’d like it to have more modern features). </p>
<p>If misery likes company, I can tell you that our furnace permanently died last week-- prematurely at the ripe old age of 12! Soooo expensive to replace too! We were not expecting THAT bill. </p>
<p>Thank god the weather was warm so we had time to shop around-- our first quote was literally TWO TIMES more expensive than our last quote (despite the same furnace and number of hours labor included in the price).</p>
<p>MaineL-
Funny how we ‘date’ things by our kids’ lifelines, huh? Our ‘new’ bathroom upstairs is now 23 years old. We overlooked many cosmetic ‘imperfections’ in our old home when we bought it. BUT when son was born 23 years ago, we gutted the disgusting BR…no way I was going to let my newborn baby boy sit in that awful tub!</p>
<p>Starbright- my condolences on your furnace. THAT is a big expense. Not worth repairing at 12 years??? Our last gas furnace died after 30 yrs plus and now our ‘new’ one must be 20ish. Wow, something else for me to start obsessing over…</p>
<p>Our furnace died along the way and completely kicked the bucket at the ripe old age of yes, 9…we have a 60x28 house, 2 stories. The guy who pronounced it dead said he’d never seen that crappy of a furnace in the tiniest trailer, let alone trying to heat 3,400 SF (which it never did). Our builder had said high efficiency furnaces were never worth the extra money. Oh, back in the day when we believe contractors…he, he, he, never again.</p>
<p>So I sympathize with furnace replacers. Hopefully anyone else gets a more efficient one like we did. It’s so nice to have heat at BOTH ends of the house! 40% reduction in the LP bill doesn’t hurt either.</p>
<p>Same story, different money pit… took the dog in for shots and heartworm blood test today, and the vet found a tumor. They operate on Monday. There goes a good chunk of my tax refund… and now my last pet is sick (the guinea pig died last week). :(</p>
<p>And I thought my day was going downhill… I pulled a muscle in my back (I can believe that pets are the major cause of accidents at home), then I analyzed a reagent our chemists bought last week only to discover that its NMR did not match the structure stated on the bottle (grrrrr, chemicals from China!). Then DH dragged me to a video store to look at a 3D TV. So my Saturday was completely wasted on unproductive stuff.</p>
<p>Well, I LOVE our new basic white, top loading washer.
It’s quiet, water saving and does small load quickly!
I guess you get used to whatever old appliance you have…the new ones ARE nice.</p>
<p>But, of course, the ‘free’ installation didn’t include installation in our old house.
The feeds were fine but the drain hose didn’t reach our existing drain and the installers of course wouldn’t/couldn’t clamp an extension to make it reach.</p>
<p>Kinda fortunate though since the galvanized pipe was such clogged and leaky. Now we have new PVC drains for washer and also kitchen. A ‘few hundred’ dollars, the plumber says…</p>
<p>Yea, the only way I can figure out how long we’ve lived in this house is knowing we bought around when I was pregnant with D & moved in when S was 4 years old. Oh my! At least I can remember those little things (no one else in our family does).</p>
<p>I think my day was a little better than yours! But…don’t they have that big tax credit if you get an energy star washing machine? Did you order one of those, and if not is it too late to change it? May as well get some back at tax time, if you can!</p>
I will always remember how old our washer is - we bought it a few months before our oldest son was born. So it’s over 18 years old at this point. I hope we get another 4 years out of it! Our dryer went out last year.</p>