Never never ever buy anything Samsung! The stuff looks nice but anything I've ever owned from Samsung has died on me. This refrigerator was a gift when we bought the house so we didn't really have a choice. It is only FIVE years old. I called a tech to come look at it and the compressor is dead. I could repair the compressor for $800 dollars but my common sense say why not just buy a new one?
Is this an emergency? Should I dip in to my emergency fund and avoid adding more debt? I think right now I don't mind adding a bit of debt. I don't really see this as a major emergency so for now I think I will put the new refrigerator on my Best Buy credit card.
The issue now is the only refrigerator we like is $2,200 dollars! I really don't want to finance that much so at this point we're not really sure what to do. All I know is I'm tired of eating out so I need to do something soon.
The other issue is what I'm I going to do with the current refrigerator in the kitchen. I know some of the parts are worth some money but without a compressor a refrigerator is basically worthless.
Now someone please tell my why the Kenmore refrigerator we bought in 1991 still runs without any problems? The refrigerator is at our beach cabin and I swear it works way better than this Samsung POS we owned.
HS
13 comments:
I advise avoiding Maytag as well. Mine is only 3 years old, and I've already had to repair the interior twice, and I have a third piece that needs to be replaced sitting on the floor as we speak.
I'm a little bit confused as to why you would put this on your credit card rather than using your the funds in the bank (recognizing that they have been labeled "emergency funds").
Could you not use your emergency funds to buy the fridge, and then rather than monthly repaying your credit card, you can put that same amount to replenish your fund? This should save you 20% interest I would imagine?
You need a working fridge. The question is going to come down to if you will be happy with a less expensive one than the one you want. Probably not. You and Mrs. HS want what you want....and usually go get it.
So go get it. HOWEVER, it is a choice. If you choose to spent $2200 plus interest on it, then you can't say "I don't know how or why this is happening." You do know.
But you may want to really think about it before you do. In a few months, when Baby HS arrives...it is going to change your world. And the extra money you have is going to go to him or her. You need to have a plan on how you are going to handle all of this.
My fridge is circa early 90's...and still running. I hate it, but until it is dead....it stays.
Same thing happened to us, but with a Maytag. We went ahead and splurged on the fridge we wanted, so we would not crave something else later. It worked out - we have the french doors with the freezer on the bottom and an extra drawer in the middle. Ice and water in the door.
My kids LOVE it - it store everything and I do mean everything.
As for your current fridge - whoever you purchase your new fridge from will take your old one. There are certain disposal issues that you should just let them take care of it. I think there is a small fee - $40-$50.
Get a second opinion on repairing the fridge. There are a number of things that could be causing it to not cool besides a bad compressor. In any case, $800 for a new compressor is overpriced.
Another option is to buy a used fridge on Craigslist for $100. Many people are throwing out perfectly good appliances simply because they think they have to have stainless.
I also thought that I'd point out: You're having a kid. Have you seen the kind of fingerprints babies & toddlers leave on stainless appliances? Hope your wife loves cleaning, because you're going to have to do a lot of it everyday in order to keep the appliances looking decent.
If you're going to buy a $2,000 fridge, do some research. Check out consumer reports and see which models are most likely to last so that you are not going through this same situation in a year or two.
Get another opinion on the fridge repair before trashing it. A new compressor/labour should not cost $800.
Another idea is to bring the fridge from the cabin to your house, and save up the money to buy a new fridge over the next year.
Look for a fridge used on kijiji or craigslist.
And lastly, DO NOT replace your fridge with a Frigidaire brand. Ours is also 5 years old and about ready for the dumpster too! I will never get another Frigidaire appliance!!!
I think not having a working fridge constitutes an emergency. My emergency fund is the first place I would go to replace an appliance (if I had to, as a renter it's not actually my responsibility thankfully).
I second the suggestion of getting a fridge secondhand from Craigslist or Kijiji. Sometimes with big appliances people just give them away for FREE because they're moving or don't have space.
$2200 seems too much for a fridge.. imagine it stops working in 5 years too.
Crap. I have a Samsung. But I think all brands are made to fall a part in a VERY short period of time. It's annoying. My parents have a refrigerator that is at least 60 years old! (It's down in their basement and houses sodas!)
You have a the money to buy a new fridge in cash, but instead, because you are OBSESSED with credit cards, you're going to put a fridge - more fridge than you can afford - on a credit card and then take a year or more to pay it off at whatever obscene interest rate Best Buy charges (I bet it's around 20%). Then in 3 months you're going to come back and bitch about the interest you're paying and how you can't get out from under the debt and how you feel lost and hopeless about it.
And in the meanwhile, when the baby arrives, you'll start racking up the charges for all the things he/she HAS to have.
I predict by this time next year you'll have doubled your debt (or more) and still be complaining about how you don't know how to fix this problem.
$2.200 for a freaking fridge???? It better keep my food at the perfectly cooled temperature and change it's own water filter for ice cubes! OMG! Are you serious???
A couple years ago I came home from a vacation to find that my fridge had died while I was away. The loss of a fridge was bad enough but the smell was unbearable.
I went without a fridge for about two weeks (it can be done) while I went out looking for a new one. I also had my mom and family out looking too. My mom found one at a yard sale and managed to talk the people down to $50 or $75 for the fridge. I forget which but it was one of those. My mom is amazing, LOL. It saved me a ton of money.
The fridge is dented, stainless steel (which doesn't go with anything in my kitchen), and smaller than my current girlfriend likes. But it works and it was in my budget.
I know you're looking at what fridge you "want" when you say $2.2k for a new one. But a little leg work might be able to find you one for less. Hopefully one a little more ideal than mine.
Even if it IS $800 to replace the compressor, that is almost 1/3 of the cost of the one you're looking at. Replace the compressor. You have a baby on the way!
YIKES! I keep forgetting about the baby! LOL
HS
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