We're buying used (or making do)

We've had several big ticket items break down recently.  Luckily we've been able to make do with what we have, which will give us time to come up with a plan to repair/replace these items.  Here's what we've got so far...

Upstairs computer-the motherboard is out on it.  This is our business (financial) and personal computer.  The downstairs computer (which I'm on now) is in the daycare and is used for kids games primarily.  A few months ago, we got it hooked up to the internet so I can check mail, update my blog and frequent my favorite forums during naptime.  I'm very thankful for that.  Anyway, a family member of one of Hubby's co-workers has the computer and is attempting to retrieve the contents of the hard drive (please pray that is successful, otherwise I have a lot of work to redo and I've lost all of the pictures I've taken in the past 5 years!).  We are looking into buying a rebuilt laptop and having him put everything from our hard drive on it.  Total cost looks like it would be $250-much less than buying either a new motherboard for our current computer or buying a new laptop outright.

Dryer-a bearing is going out and it has this horrible squall (really HORRIBLE).  I was going to buy an umbrella clothesline, but discovered in my desperation that hanging clothes on my chain-link fence works really well.  So, this last time I bought a clothespin bag from Amazon paid with gift cards from Swagbucks.  I have switched my laundry routine to 1-2 loads per day instead of 10 once a week.  I put the load in the washer when I go to bed and hang it out when I get up in the morning.  By the time the daycare kids go out to play, I can pull it off the line and "fluff" it a bit while we're outside and don't have to listen to the dryer noise.  As for the dryer, Hubby says that he's going to lube up the bearing in hopes that will extend its life and if not, we'll buy the extra my parents have for $50.

Dishwasher-for several days last week, the control panel of the dishwasher didn't work at all.  I handwashed all of the dishes and used the dishwasher as a giant drying rack.  It stunk!  Then last Friday, one of the daycare kids ran into it (the reason why is unknown) and now it works again!  Woo-hoo!  (And the kid is fine.)   Those few days led us to the conclusion that this is the one appliance that we cannot do without for very long.  With all the from scratch cooking I do, for the number of people I cook for, I typically run 3-4 full loads through it every day.  We have talked with several sales people and have found that if we are buying a new dishwasher, there are two routes we could go.  First, buy a commercial grade dishwasher for about $1000-wow, that's a lot of money.  Second (and the more financially appealing), buy a solid bare bones $200 model and run it until it dies and get 2-3 years out of it.  The mid-range models aren't built any stronger than the cheaper ones, they just have more luxury items.  Armed with this information, we will be looking on Craigslist and our local Freecycle to see if anyone is getting rid of theirs.  If our plan is to run it until it dies, we might as well go for a good used unit for less money.  Another factor is that in the near future, I plan to scale back my daycare business significantly, so I won't be using as many dishes, and couldn't justify the smoney spent on a commercial grade appliance.

Crockpot-I busted the handle off of my crockpot lid.  Who does that anyway?  I had decided to use a meat fork to pry the lid up and lift it off with using a potholder, negating my need to buy a new crockpot.  However, when I was complaining to one of my friends about all the stuff that had broken recently, she informed me that she had 6 crockpots and sent her husband over the next day to deliver one of her spares.  So now I have a new crockpot! :)  Thanks, Sherry!

Crisis averted (on many fronts).  We are allotting money in our budget over the next couple of months to cover the cost of a new to us computer and dishwasher.  Hopefully Mr. Murphy and his law will leave us alone for a while!

Week 26: Do we really need new?

Holy cow!  The year is half over!  It's hard to believe that we've changed so much in 6 months (and overwhelming that there's still so much I can do).  The changes are getting more difficult to make.  There are a couple big ones that are looming in the background.  I'm holding out because of the fall-out from my family.  Hubby and the kids are pretty easy going about most of the changes I make/have made, but there are a few things that I think will make them flip (no refined sugar specifically).  Before I do that, I need to have several recipes at my disposal that use natural sweeteners so they can still get a "fix."

Anyway, a change still needs to be made for this week.  Over the weekend, I was doing the budget for July and was trying to come up with money for school clothes for the girls.  They attend a parochial school and uniforms are required.  It just so happens that the last week of school this past year, someone left a neon green crayon in their pants pocket and now all of the school pants/shorts have green streaks all over them.  New pants are definitely in order, as I'm sure that green stripes do not adhere to the dress code.  Since this is the month that we have to pay for at least half of the school fees, coming up with extra money is difficult.  I worked $100 for clothes into the budget (at the expense of dishwasher and computer replacement $) and still wondered how I was going to be able to get 4-5 pair of pants for each of the girls to start school in.  And don't forget supplies, which even with sales, run about $30 each.

God provides.  Sometimes I forget. :)  I just read the reminder in the church bulletin for the uniform exchange sale that will coincide with school registration.  It hit me... Why do the girls need NEW clothes?  They don't.  They need nice clothes, without stains or holes.  That doesn't mean new from the store.  So, I will be going through the big tote of school clothes this week and sorting out what doesn't fit (for my contribution to the sale) and making a list of what the girls need for next year-quantity and sizes.  I will be heading to the uniform sale hoping to get most of what we need.  If I don't find everything on my list, I'll call up some of my friends from other parishes to see if they have a sale that I could attend.

Buying used clothes in good condition will help me stretch that $100 I have budgeted.  Maybe I will have enough left over to buy a few school supplies as well.

I hope to budget another $50-$100 for clothing in August as well.  With that, I hope to hit up enough fall garage sales to pick up all of the winter clothing and outerwear the kids will need.  Little man is in serious need of snowpants and boots.  Both girls need a couple pair of jeans that fit and maybe a nice outfit for Christmas.  Even Mama could use a few new tops and maybe a winter outfit for church.

I think it's funny how I've changed over the years.  Once upon a time, I was the person who would say, "GARAGE SALE!!! Gross!  I don't want someone else's junk."  Now, not so much.  I would rather go to a garage sale first to see if I could find what I need so I'm not purchasing new goods that use valuable resources to make, transport and sell them.  If the garage sale route doesn't work, I will call friends of mine that are the same size to see if they have anything that they want to sell or maybe swap for items that I have.  There's also ebay, freecycle or criagslist to check out.  Really, with all of the options for quality used items, there's very few reasons to buy anything new.  Well, maybe Christmas presents for my nephews... but I will pick those up on clearance!  LOL