Day 5-6, Water Heaters! (93...Free!)

What would a discussion about saving money be without at least a mention of large appliances?? They may be boring, but they're expensive, so they count! ;)

Last week, our water heater went on the fritz...more specifically, at our house the water came:

1. FREEZING COLD

or

2. BOILING HOT...and I mean BOILING. While attempting to do dishes one night, I royally scalded my hand.

Apparently, in water heater-ease, our water heater was desperately trying to say, "My elements are DONE!!" It didn't take too many sinks of burning dishwater and freezing showers to figure that out.

I was immensely grateful that dh was able to look at the water heater instructions and fix it himself. When trying to save $, it helps to have a handy husband. (Handy wives are great too, but I don't happen to be one!)

He also saved money in the tool department; when he realized that he needed a large socket wrench (bigger than any we own), he made two phone calls, lucking out on the second call. He borrowed the wrench, saving himself a trip to town (gas!) and the $10 or so that the tool would have cost. This was new. Usually, he'd be quick to jump in the car and drive to town for any tool he needed. It was awesome watching him slow down, consider the expense, and make an effort to borrow rather than buy. Do you try to borrow instead of buy whenever it's a reasonable option?

Our only out-of-the-ordinary expense came in buying the replacement elements. He drove about 20 miles to buy the replacement, using the trip to make several other stops (to make it worth the gas money.) But once he got home, it was obvious that he'd been given the wrong part...so another 40 mile round trip to get the right one. The clerk's mistake cost about $8 or so in gas. Bummer.

On trip #1, dh stopped to do our MAJOR grocery shopping, bless his heart. We've always made an effort to combine trips, but these days it seems that I don't go out unless I have a significant list of stops to make. We only do a major shopping trip every couple months, and stop at local stores to replenish perishables like milk. This trip was a large expense, but we shouldn't have to do another one until closer to the holidays.