There Goes the Money!

Last week, I broke down and finally bought that handheld scanner.  Because of my Christmas gift card I only spent $43 "new" dollars on it.

Well that one purchase has opened the flood gates!

Hubs birthday was earlier this month.  After we went window shopping last week for a new gas grill to replace the little one we have beat the life out of and it can't be resuscitated to get through another year of grilling season, he decided to go back out on Saturday and actually buy a grill.
We're calling it his birthday present so I don't have a fit over spending the money.

Hubs did use 3 x $50 Home Improvement Store gift cards I had gotten at Rite-Aid last Fall, so he only spent a little less than $50 in "new" money.   I didn't get a discount on the gift cards but I did get free $10 in +Up Rewards for buying them.....so the gift card +Ups money was "new" money in a way.  Look at it this way--we bought a grill on sale for $170 and got $30 in +Up Rewards to get $30 in free stuff.
And we have a nice new slightly larger shiny grill to destroy.....

Then an appliance went on strike.  Well, really it stopped working a few weeks ago but after having to hand wash all those Easter dinner pots and dishes, Hubs has had enough and wants the dishwasher replaced.

But me, being the frugal and trying to be 'green' even though it's a dishwasher people....c'mon!lol.....I tried to figure out a repair.
Repair=greener.
Repair=cheaper than replacing.

I figured out the door latch/handle was broken.
I ordered a new replacement part.
It came on Saturday.

So on Sunday we commenced to replace the part.  We got all the way through removing the panels to expose the guts of the operation and went to unscrew the broken component.
And it needed a specialized screwdriver.
The size we didn't have.
Ack.
So we put everything back together so we could turn the electricity back on.
But we had to tape the door closed, but not latched since if we had latched the door, we don't get it unlatched without the broken part inside.

What an elegant looking sight!lol

So Hubs picked up the right sized screwdriver Monday evening and we removed the broken part and replaced with the new component.
And then the door closed...yay!
But the handle is not quite the right size.  They redesigned the part and it doesn't work in this model of dishwasher.
We don't know if the computer works too now.  We can turn the dishwasher on and the lights come on and all but nothing happens....meaning no water gushes forth and fills the thing and actually moves around and washes the dishes.
 There might be a reset or something you have to do with the computerize motherboard OR that might also need replacing.  The lights/cycles indicate and the timer counts down but no water, no action.

At any rate, if it needs anything else done it is beyond our skill level and a real repair person will have to be called in.
A repair person will cost $100 just to walk into my kitchen.
I am already out $70+ on the part, shipping and screwdriver.
If he replaces the handle component with another one, that's an hour of work and another part with mark up, so about $230 and Up total.  If it's the computer stuff it will cost much much more....more than a new "low end" dishwasher would cost.

Add in that the repair people aren't returning my calls so IF I can find one who will come, we'll be without a dishwasher for many days to come.
Which will make Hubs start cursing like he did when we tried to repair it ourselves.

Whoever said doing things together draws a married couple closer together is full of horseshit.  Repairing appliances does NOT qualify as a "something to do together" if one of you isn't handy in any way shape or form.....and that non-handy person is male. ;-)

I can go buy a brand new dishwasher for $250.  No cursing, no good money thrown after bad, no buying more tools that Hubs doesn't use and certainly doesn't keep tidy out in the garage.........and free delivery to boot!
Myself?  I can live without a dishwasher....especially if it's just 2 or 3 people eating here.  Once the kids are gone for good and it's just the 2 of us, I probably won't use the dishwasher except for holidays or when company is over.

But those days aren't quite here yet....especially once Daughter comes home for the foreseeable fortune.

We still need to finalize the 4 home improvement projects we had planned to do this year, but if the money keeps up like this, we might need to downsize the scope or turn 4 projects into 3.

Instead of the Year of Saving Money it's turning into the Year of Watching the Money Go Out with The Tide.

2012....you are getting on my bad side ya know!

Make me feel better and tell me about all your recent Unexpected "having to spend money" Life Events.

Sluggy

Mrs. Fix-It & Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?

 From the annals of "It's Always Something"......

Well, the refrigerator has decided to have a nervous breakdown.
It's having "issues".
Too bad I can't medicate it....that would be the easy thing to do.

I noticed the fridge part wasn't very cool the other day and the ice cube trays in the freezer weren't making solid cubes(they were a bit wet).  Then I noticed there was ice build-up on the back wall of the freezer.
I did some internet searching and it sounds like the auto defroster thingy is dead or frozen.  (This also will keep the cool air from flowing into the fridge part.)  So I'm attempting to thaw it out and see if the freezer starts making things cold again.
Oh where, oh where is DJ when I need him SonyaAnn?lol

In the meantime, we've plugged in #1 son's mini-fridge from his dorm room and I've thrown all the frozen foods from the freezer part into the standing freezer in the garage.  Thankfully we have eaten down on the frozen stuff this month!  Even so, the dogs will still be having a FEAST for dinner tonight!!lol

Hubs just wanted me to go buy a new fridge when I told him last night that something was wrong with ours.
He's that way.....just replace things, don't bother fixing them.
I went shopping online to look for a new fridge just in case it comes to that.
We have a small, odd space for our fridge so I have to shop by size basically, then color, then price.
I found 1 fridge that will fit that's black.
It costs $2,300+......
ACK!

Now you know why I am trying to breath life back into the one we have!lol
Plus it's only 5 years old.....

If this fix seems to work, I'll be calling the appliance repair guy.  I'd rather pay him a couple hundred bucks instead of Sears $2,300, ya know?

We are also getting a house guest on Sunday.
#1 son is bringing home a friend from the camp he worked at this summer.  He was a fellow counselor.
He is from Great Britain.  They get a lot of international students working at this camp.....England, Spain, Turkey.....

And this 'chap' has nowhere to go next week.
There is no work at the camp and his flight home isn't for another week, so he's basically homeless as of Saturday.
So #1 son wants to bring him home to stay with us and then Hubs gets to haul the both of them back to the western part of the state the following Saturday, so #1 can move into the dorm and his friend can get his flight home.
So I have a non-working fridge and a stranger coming to stay for a week whom I have to feed.
I have a feeling he'll be getting a lot of take-out meals.
Yes, come to America and stay with a 'typical' American family and eat Pizza, Tacos and Chinese.....typical American food!lol

I'm off to go think of ways I can embarrass my son in front of his friend.....it's a long standing fine family tradition in this house.

If the fridge can't be saved perhaps I can set it up on blocks in the front yard(since we don't have a junk car to do that to).
Or I can walk around in overalls and nothing else and cook him possum and squirrel and other 'critters' for dinner and say "ya'll" a lot....oh wait!, I already do that last thing.

Or go on and on about the tyranny of King George or lambaste English cooking....if you can call it cooking & do my Eliza Doolittle impersonation all week. ;-)
Ah Gaaaaaawwwwn!

Oh, so many choices.....

Sluggy