How We Saved $1,850 This Week…With Sawhorses

When we bought our new house, our Realtor told us the bank that owned the home probably turned into insurance that there was no stove present. Therefore, there was a brand new electric, low-end stove installed. The problem was I love to cook, and have a strong preference for gas. Therefore, we had planned and budgeted to replace the stove as one of our first projects.

Since this was finally our dream home, I was anxiously anticipating finding a high end Viking or Wolf range. We wanted dual ovens, gas of course, and my wife really wanted a convection feature. I really did not need it to be stainless steel, although it would match our other appliances. We budgeted about $2,000 towards the range. Note, I realized $2,000 for a high end Wolf or Viking range would be tough, but I was going to be persistent in my search to find a good used one.

However, we ended up purchasing my wife’s dream instead…a red front loading washer and dryer. It just happened to work out that my sister was in the market for a new washer and dryer for their rental, so we sold her the units from our old house we were originally going to bring along. So over the past month I have mostly been grilling outside to get my gas cooking fix. It is not that there is anything wrong with the electric range currently in the home, besides the fact that it does not even alarm when it is pre-heated, or have a timer. It is a simple basic model. So I put my dream of a nice gas stove to the side for a while.

Well one of the great things about living within a community and surrounding areas is there is lots of newer development. Newer homes means newer things, the perfect match for furnishing newer homes. On my lunch break yesterday, I just so happen to stop at a garage sale. I was not looking for anything in particular at the time; I mostly just like to see if there is anything our boys would enjoy or useful for our home.

When I walked up to the garage, it was like the heavens opened up and shined down on me. Sitting there in the garage was a newer looking black with stainless steel front gas range. So I investigated. It was not a high end Wolf or Viking, but a Frigidaire. However, when I opened up the oven, I noticed it had a convection fan built in the back. The entire unit looked like it had hardly been used. The best part…she had it marked as $150 or best offer. Wait, what?

So I started to ask questions. I found out the couple is getting a divorce and just trying to get rid of everything. They also had a nice dish washer or microhood for really cheap, but we had no need for them. The lady told me she never even used the convection oven feature. They had the manual, gas line, and all kinds of stuff with it. They really took good care of the unit.

Since the sign said best offer, I tried negotiating since I only had so much money in my wallet. She was firm since it was the first day. However, I paid her the $150 so long as she threw in some collapsible sawhorses that were going to be on my Christmas list anyways. Sweet!

So I called home to my wife telling her I just bought a stove…and sawhorses. She was happy and we made a plan for picking them up after work. Later that day when I was telling my wife more information about the stove, she asked so how much was it? I told her, and her comment was “You realize you just saved us $1,850, right?” I guess I never really looked at it from that view point yet. I was too caught up in the moment and glory of my new gas stove.

Awesome, score one for the InACents pocketbook!