When I was in college I loved watching TLC’s “A Baby Story” and “A Wedding Story”. It wasn’t so much that I wanted to get married or have kids (au contraire mon frere). I just loved hearing everyone’s stories. I also love telling stories. Not that I’m good at it. I’m more like the kind of storyteller who needs to find twenty bucks (or forty) at the end of it so that it’s more exciting. But today’s “An Appliance Story” IS exciting. Colby and I have a knack for finding cheap/clearance appliances and deals (remember our story about the $400 fridge?!). Before we get into it, here’s what we started with in our kitchen on move-in day (the old stove is in that island).
When we bought our house, we bought well below our means knowing that we would be spending a decent amount of money on repairs and renovations. Before move-in day, we planned on purchasing new appliances. Our house only came with a refrigerator and a stove. Both are old and the stove is very broken and full of mouse poop. There would be no cookie baking in that oven. Poor folks who took our old range away.
Here’s a similar mouse nest in a cabinet drawer and the reason I still, despite obsessive cleaning, cannot store things in the lower cabinets until they are painted.
There wasn’t even an old washer or dryer (or even hookups) in the house. We desperately wanted to end trips to the local laundromat so during one of those big, holiday appliance sales (which who am I kidding…they have them nearly every weekend) we headed to the local Home Depot to pick out the new washer and dryer.
We had picked out a pair of LG high-efficiency appliances, hired an electrician to wire the dryer outlet, and temporarily set them up in part of Colby’s office. This story may have started at the Home Depot but it wasn’t where these babies came from.
We went to Home Depot on a mission. We had already picked out the washer and dryer after some online research, were very comfortable with their price due to the Memorial Day sale, and were ready to purchase. This was about 6:00 pm on a weekday after work. We spent about 45 minutes in the store trying to find someone to help us buy the appliances. While we waited for folks to come to help us who promised they would be right over, we started Googling around and found the same set of appliances at Best Buy for $50 cheaper…each. AND Best Buy just so happened to be right next door to Home Depot. Off we went.
We walked in, went straight to the appliance section, found the pair, and got help immediately. Naturally, the sales guy pitched us with a deal…sign up for a credit card and receive an extra 10% off instantly plus earn bonus points with the card. Being a sucker for savings like that, especially on a major purchase, I signed up.
Meanwhile, Colby was cruising the sales floor casually looking at the kitchen appliances. While I was signing my life away up for a Best Buy card, Colby pointed out a clearance stainless steel range that looked freakishly similar to the range in our old house, which we loved! After closer inspection, it was a fancier, newer version of our old range, a Frigidaire Gallery stainless steel range. It was a floor model, open box, and was on clearance. Hmmm…we didn’t come in here for a range but we do need one. Pondering ensued. We loved our old appliances so this made sense and it’s a $500-$600 savings for being an open box. Then the sales guy being a sales guy offered an extra 10% off PLUS an additional 10% off if I put the purchase on the new credit card I had just signed up for. Ummm…done!
Jokingly, Colby says “Well, where’s the open box, floor model refrigerator to go with it”. It was sitting there right behind us. Long story short, the same deal was offered, and we took it.
I don’t remember the exact prices, I just remember the total bill which we paid off right away (no interest payments for us!). We ended up buying a high-efficiency washer and dryer, stainless steel range, and stainless steel refrigerator for $2100.
In addition, we also received a $120 rebate from Efficiency Vermont for buying a high-efficiency washer and dryer and also earned $150 in rewards points from Best Buy by using the card and writing reviews for the appliances. A few months later we put those dollars towards the purchase of the Frigidaire Gallery stainless steel dishwasher and completed the kitchen appliance trifecta. The dishwasher was $500. All in all, it ended up costing us $2330 (after the rebate and by using rewards points) for all the appliances in our home. That’s close to the original price of just buying a refrigerator!
Here’s where the story gets more dramatic. Best Buy didn’t have the washer and dryer in stock so they had to order them. We also had them deliver the refrigerator but decided to take the range home that day.
The Best Buy folks helped us load the range into the back of our truck whose contents also included a mailbox post. It was loaded standing up and Colby pushed it up against the cab of the truck. The range was just a little bit taller than the cab and I started to get worried for its safety up the highway, especially since we didn’t have any tie-downs with us. Colby assured me it would be fine and we started heading home.
Let’s just say, the range came crashing down onto the mailbox post about five minutes up the highway and I glared at Colby with “I told you so” written all over my face. Thankfully, the range only endured a handle denting. No broken glass, no broken cooktop, just a dented handle that could be replaced for $50-75.
Even though we’ve had our appliances for months now, we only recently got around to installing them all and rearranging the kitchen a bit. But since this post is already super long, that’s a story for another day.
With Thanksgiving approaching and the panic setting in of hosting nearly 40 folks at our house, we’ve been giving the kitchen a bit of love and attention these last few weeks including building a new, massive, kitchen island to replace the old stove island space that didn’t provide a ton of counter space.
Next up, cabinet hacking, rearranging the appliances, and a kitchen layout attack plan.
What a deal!! And they look great!
Thanks so much!