What have you bought recently?

Georgiagranny said:
Did it. Spent money on the trash can for keeping bird seed from the squirrels. When I went back to Amazon to look at it again, there was a little tab to click on for a 20% discount. Sure. 20% is more than nothing, right?

When DD and I did the Walmarting this morning, I used my Kaiser Healthy Food card. It's $150 quarterly and went live this morning. Still have about $70 left on it. It won't last for the entire quarter, but it was nice not to have to pay real money today and have almost half of it left. Next time it's replenished is April 1. Imagine. April 1. After Easter, March 31 this year.
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that was a lovely New Years gift for you...(y)
 

I had been wanting a bench so that I could sit out back in the wooded area and see the mountains. I put it off and put it off and finally today I talked myself into buying something just because I want it. It is my Christmas gift to myself and now I am excited I ordered it.
 
I bought a Maytag dishwasher 2 years ago and it cost 900. It quit working 10 days ago. The repair guy came today and the service call was 120 and it needs a new motor for 400.

He said unfortunately it was a brand new model that year. I never buy the newest models in anything including cars because the kinks haven’t been worked out. Of course I didn’t know. When this one dies I am buying a cheap bottom of the line model.
 
Teacher Terry said:
I bought a Maytag dishwasher
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Maytag used to be a quality brand. I wonder what company makes them now. It seems like 3 or 4 major companies buy up all the others and just keep the name while they manufacture junk. DSS bought a Samsung 2 years ago and the handle fell off. The repair was going to be several hundred $. They bought a different brand.
 
Jules, whirlpool bought them. I read that if the repair is less than half the cost of the dishwasher you should repair it so I used that as my guide.
 
Teacher Terry said:
I bought a Maytag dishwasher 2 years ago and it cost 900. It quit working 10 days ago. The repair guy came today and the service call was 120 and it needs a new motor for 400.

He said unfortunately it was a brand new model that year. I never buy the newest models in anything including cars because the kinks haven’t been worked out. Of course I didn’t know. When this one dies I am buying a cheap bottom of the line model.
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Appliances kicking the bucket after just a couple of years are absolutely infuriating. During a complete kitchen remodel Spring 2017, I instructed my (astonished) contractor that I wasn't buying a new cooktop, double wall oven or DW. The DW was circa 2005 and the other two we bought in 1989.

A couple of minor oven repairs over the years, but the igniter on the cooktop went south many years ago. When still under warranty, the repairman fixed it but advised us igniters die quickly. His recommendation for when it died out of warranty: matches. I keep a BBQ lighter on the back of the cooktop. No big deal and no further repairs. All four burners work perfectly.

I had a workhorse washing machine for over 20 years. When it eventually died of exhaustion, I bought the only kind type available at the time (electronic controls). A piece of garbage that gave trouble within 2 years.

When my in-laws both passed, I took their washer and kicked mine to the curb. Manual controls, no electronics. Purrs like a kitten. My dryer is at least 25 years old. DH handled a couple of minor repairs and last year-ish a repairman jury-rig a new heating element for it (parts no longer being made). As he left he said we were wise to keep old appliances because "they don't make them like they used to." He was deep in his sixties, so he knew whereof he spoke.

I'm hoping all continue to last and figure that the next owners of the house can buy shiny new baubles if they so desire. If I MUST replace any, I'll be on the hunt for manual rather than electronic controls.
 
I'm similar to you @StarSong in that I keep my appliances for as long as they continue to work even if it means tweaking them a little bit. My washing machine is Manual and is at least 12 years old.. and works very well still, altho' it doesn't have half the programs on it that new ones do.

My tumble dryer I've had for over 20 years..it's a simple vented model, 2 heats settings.. and it needed repairs 2 or 3 times over the years.. new belt, etc.. o/h repaired them easily, but now it's literally on it's last legs. It still works fine, but I broke the clasp on the door last year... and so the door won't close to start the tumble without me using a prop to keep it closed.. and so that's what I do. Not ideal.. but while it still works like that I continue...
 
hollydolly said:
but I broke the clasp on the door last year... and so the door won't close to start the tumble without me using a prop to keep it closed.. and so that's what I do. Not ideal.. but while it still works like that I continue...
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I'd do the same, HD, especially if my husband wasn't able to fix things like that. Soon it would become second nature and only seem strange when someone else spotted it. Like the stove lighter... Been doing it so long we don't even think about it.

Remember the days of having older cars and explaining their idiosyncrasies to friends/family who borrowed them? Things like:
OK, so you have to open the driver's side door from the outside, the inside handle broke off.
Before starting it, pump the gas slowly only one time, then take your foot off completely or you'll flood the engine and have to wait ten minutes to try again.

With mandatory valet parking, I'd tell the valet, I'll pay the parking fee and tip you, but please just let me park it - neither of us has time for a ten minute seminar on this car's quirks. Since most valets were young and barely scraping by, and also drove cars with um, unique personalities, they'd nod, smile at our common bond, and point to a spot.

Our generation didn't think twice about work-arounds, just adapted and kept going. Couldn't afford to get everything fixed and didn't need to if we found solutions - even imperfect ones.
 
StarSong said:
Our generation didn't think twice about work-arounds, just adapted and kept going. Couldn't afford to get everything fixed and didn't need to if we found solutions - even imperfect ones.
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Exactly this. DH attempts them all. He goes to the basement to get that ‘part’ he is pretty sure he saved and can do the job. If he needs to buy a part, I wander around the store and look at the new appliances. The prices are high and have expensive warranties. Several hundred dollars for four years. The interiors feel cheap and you can see they‘ve skimped on shelves. Then there’s the delivery fee and probably a fee to take old appliances away.

I dread the day when we have to start the replacement process.
 
hollydolly said:
Worth 10 minutes

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You're right. Well worth the ten minutes. As someone who's spent decades in the apparel industry, I can personally attest to cost cutting because consumers demand to pay the same amount for a shirt or pants that they did 15 years earlier. (In the production department we'd look at the original sample from the design department and the meeting would go something like this: "Let's take the pocket off, use lighter weight fabric, single needle stitch the hems and skip the overlock machine, don't bother with collar stays and ditch the interlining. Ok, we've made our price point."

Undoubtedly, similar conversations take place at electronics and appliance manufacturers.

What he failed to mention is the extraordinary amount of cheap (sometimes coerced or enslaved) labor used to manufacture this cheap, disposable junk in developing nations, and the toll that takes on them and the global environment.

I use (android) cellphones until they stop working - I first turned on my current phone - an inexpensive Pixel that was on sale - in Feb 2021 and it still works perfectly.

Have had to (resentfully) replace TVs that were perfectly good because they weren't "smart" and therefore didn't play nicely with streaming services. Same with a Win 7 computer that aged out but will run business software that is incompatible with Win 10. I just keep it offline and move data between computers using a thumb drive.
 
The new 6-gallon trash can arrived. The seed is in it. The birds are hungry. So far the squirrels aren't out because it's old and rainy. They'll be along any time, though, in spite of the rain and cold.

And Maggiecat is very happy with a new box to climb in and out of. The box is big, but so is Maggiecat. The Hovel is small. The box takes up a lot of space, and I can't get rid of it until Maggiecat gets bored with it. That'll take a couple of days.

I think I'm done ordering stuff online. Considering cancelling Prime. $12.99/month won't break the bank, but it adds up to $155.88/year. That won't break the bank, either, but sheesh! Would I even spend that much in shipping in a year?
 
StarSong said:
You're right. Well worth the ten minutes. As someone who's spent decades in the apparel industry, I can personally attest to cost cutting because consumers demand to pay the same amount for a shirt or pants that they did 15 years earlier. (In the production department we'd look at the original sample from the design department and the meeting would go something like this: "Let's take the pocket off, use lighter weight fabric, single needle stitch the hems and skip the overlock machine, don't bother with collar stays and ditch the interlining. Ok, we've made our price point."

Undoubtedly, similar conversations take place at electronics and appliance manufacturers.

What he failed to mention is the extraordinary amount of cheap (sometimes coerced or enslaved) labor used to manufacture this cheap, disposable junk in developing nations, and the toll that takes on them and the global environment.

I use (android) cellphones until they stop working - I first turned on my current phone - an inexpensive Pixel that was on sale - in Feb 2021 and it still works perfectly.

Have had to (resentfully) replace TVs that were perfectly good because they weren't "smart" and therefore didn't play nicely with streaming services. Same with a Win 7 computer that aged out but will run business software that is incompatible with Win 10. I just keep it offline and move data between computers using a thumb drive.
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same here with TV's, and phones.. I have an albeit Smart TV but I did my homework and got a really good one and to this day 10 years on it's still working as good as any new one. Working in tv production, and also being a technical head ..estranged O/H was very impressed with my choice back then, and it's paid off..

My phone is an Iphone 12 Pro.. aside from my first Iphone which was bought as a gift for me, I have always 'upgraded' to family 's used iphones.. so when O/h would upgrade which he did every other year I would get his old one.. since he's been gone.. I'm now getting DD's old ones.. (paying for them ) so one year ago I upgraded from my Iphone X..(10).. to her 12 pro when she upgraded to the 15...

ETA with regard to his not addressing the subject of cheap labour...this is a topic that's talked about heavily in the UK.. despite the fact that we like everywhere in the western world have cheap and disposable clothing et al made in countries where the wages are low and the working conditions poor.. its still a great concern to many here..
 
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Georgiagranny said:
The new 6-gallon trash can arrived. The seed is in it. The birds are hungry. So far the squirrels aren't out because it's old and rainy. They'll be along any time, though, in spite of the rain and cold.

And Maggiecat is very happy with a new box to climb in and out of. The box is big, but so is Maggiecat. The Hovel is small. The box takes up a lot of space, and I can't get rid of it until Maggiecat gets bored with it. That'll take a couple of days.

I think I'm done ordering stuff online. Considering cancelling Prime. $12.99/month won't break the bank, but it adds up to $155.88/year. That won't break the bank, either, but sheesh! Would I even spend that much in shipping in a year?
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yes not worth it if you're paying for prime just to get free shipping.... but most of us who have prime it's because we get so much more for our moeny...including Prime TV...
 
hollydolly said:
yes not worth it if you're paying for prime just to get free shipping.... but most of us who have prime it's because we get so much more for our moeny...including Prime TV...
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I don’t use it enough to justify the free shipping. I like Prime TV so it makes it worth it. I don’t want to search for $35 worth of things to get what I want now. It could take me a month if I have to find enough things to meet the total.
 
Georgiagranny said:
And Maggiecat is very happy with a new box to climb in and out of. The box is big, but so is Maggiecat. The Hovel is small. The box takes up a lot of space, and I can't get rid of it until Maggiecat gets bored with it. That'll take a couple of days.
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That's fun for me, imagining that.☺️😁
Have you made a few doors in it, for Maggiecat to go in and out? 😄

I hope that container for the bird seed, proves itself to be strong enough to keep the squirrels out of it!
 
I bought a pair of 'firm' Pillows,. I spent ages reading reviews on pillows where people said that the firm pillows were not at all firm.., and so eventually after hours of reading ..I chose a pair where people were happy...

Guess what ?.. these pillows are anything but firm.. I'm really annoyed.. !
 
A new potato peeler. I had a new one that I got to use up some ‘earned’ dollars. What a disaster. Nearly made a deep cut into my finger nail. Paid $13 for an Oxo one to replace my old one. Simplicity is best.
 

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