Bought a new refrigerator today

[Gray's Mommy]

and it was so scary! Our old model (bought in 1984) is dying a slow & painful death and we decided that it would better in the long run to get a new one than to repair one that was so old. We haven't priced applicances in a while so we were totally sticker shocked when we saw the prices at the stores

We ended up at a Sear's Outlet (scratch/dent) store & found a slightly larger cubic foot model for $499. It does have a dent on the front, but a piece of children's art will cover it nicely. While I love that we were able to pay cash, it wiped out our beginning emergency fund.

Back to square one again

[Denvergirlie]

Ahhh.. we have to buy one too, but are going to go the used route. My max is $250, have seen a bunch on craigslist and are going to check out the habitat for humanity store too. But I would love to get a new one and have the "security" of knowing it will last for a longer time.

Alas, I hope you at least enjoy the new frig and let the cost go.

[wildmonkeys]

I have never bought a new fridge until a few months ago, but the house we moved into didn't have a new fridge and we bought a new one. I LOVE IT!!! Hope you will love yours too, really for the amount of days you use it, there are way worse ways to spend money - enjoy!!!

[ArtsyMomma]

Congratulations on your purchase! I hope the new fridge lasts you a really long time! Isn't it nice to pay cash instead of putting it on a credit card? You can start building up your EF again, and maybe you will have some energy savings with the new fridge!

[Gray's Mommy]

We did look on Craig's List first, but didn't find too much that would work in our older home. While I love the "new" factor--our first brand new applicance we have bought--it stinks going back to square one on the EF. I know it was the smart thing to do though.

[Dar]

One nice thing - you'll probably save at least $100 a year in electricity costs with the newer fridge, so in 5 years you'll be even and after that you'll be ahead!

[Usually Curious]

Originally Posted by Denvergirlie

Ahhh.. we have to buy one too, but are going to go the used route. My max is $250, have seen a bunch on craigslist and are going to check out the habitat for humanity store too. But I would love to get a new one and have the "security" of knowing it will last for a longer time.

Alas, I hope you at least enjoy the new frig and let the cost go.

Our CL has very expensive used fridges. There are 20 yo beaters for $150 to $250. I wouldn't even pay for some of them, maybe pick them up for free for the garage.

I know I can buy a brand new one for the same amount people are asking for three yo ones.

Why bother with CL, yk?

[velochic]

Congrats on your new fridge!

I just wanted to mention, hopefully to help out others who may be in your shoes at some point in the future (not being critical, just trying to be helpful)... if something like an appliance is dying a slow death, then that's the cue to start putting money back to replace it. It's not an emergency and that's not what the emergency fund is for. The emergency fund's best use is for unforeseen and sudden expenses. It's best to price first and get an idea of how much you need to save, then slowly save toward it over months or even years. Even if your appliances are not acting up, if they are 15 or 20 years old, you can pretty much expect to need to replace them in the near future.

A lot of people don't consider this in their savings budget plans, but it's a integral part of financial freedom and security.

[wildmonkeys]

I also wanted to let you know that when we replaced our barely working fridge we got $50 from our local electric company for proving we replaced an old fridge with an energy efficient model. I have heard if we let them come and pick it up we can get another $50

It is an appliance cash for clunkers kind of thing...you should see if your local company has the same sort of program going

[Tangled Hill]

Just in case anyone is looking to replace an older appliance with a more efficient, Energy Star rated appliance, the government is offering rebates this year.

[bigteamug]

While spending EF money might not be ideal, waiting for the old fridge to die and not having a $499 fridge (if there aren't as many scratch and dents to choose from) as a option could end up being more expensive, esp if a whole fridge full of food goes bad...condiments that you buy bit by bit are really expensive to replace in one swoop, esp if you can't find a good sale.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by bigteamug

While spending EF money might not be ideal, waiting for the old fridge to die and not having a $499 fridge (if there aren't as many scratch and dents to choose from) as a option could end up being more expensive, esp if a whole fridge full of food goes bad...condiments that you buy bit by bit are really expensive to replace in one swoop, esp if you can't find a good sale.

It's better to have $20 in savings for something you know you have to replace than to just wait and wait and not save during that time. If it's a "slow death", then obviously there was a long period between knowing that it will have to be replaced and actually being replaced. ANY amount you save during that time is beneficial. And if you're trying to save $500 and only have $250 when you find a good scratch-and-dent, then you're $250 ahead of the game. It's just makes financial sense.