I don't hear these often, but the other day, I overheard a coworker telling someone that he took a 401K loan to buy a new washing machine "because those things aren't cheap these days." I know he makes a little over $100K. A washing machine is what, like $600? I hope I misheard, but I don't think I did.
When I looked around last summer, I could find a new one for ~$450 for the basest of base models. Even the super duper high-end, stackable front loaders were only like $1300. I ended up just fixing my 30 year-old Kenmore.
Yep, and if I couldn't cash flow that, I think I'd just buy of Craigslist or use the laundromat for a month or two.
I bought my whiteware from a guy who reconditions whiteware FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. He's not the absolute cheapest but he does offer a warranty and all that stuff, and he only does whiteware and obviously quite well. I think my washing machine was $400 or so. The fridge was $500 and he sourced the particular fridge I wanted - single, white, half and half with the freezer on the bottom. Second hand goods are a great deal if you buy them with a bit of thought.
Or even new things too. I'm pretty shocked at how "high end" everything is this days - or what people think is normal.
We bought a fridge in 2001 (new, Kenmore) because the apartment we moved into didn't have one. So, it was $650 or so.
Fast forward to late 2019, and it finally dies (after we replaced a few things along the way). I go down the rabbit hole of looking things up on line (with very few places in town to LOOK), and even went on Craigslist and FB marketplace - but the fridge was dead and we couldn't really go without one for long. Luckily it died BEFORE I did the Sat grocery shopping, so we made do for 3-4 days with a cooler and my work mini-fridge and our mini-freezer.
We were helped by the fact that in our house, my husband built cabinets around the fridge. So, it's a 30" fridge. That really means you aren't buying a $3k fridge. After stressing about water filters, ice makers, stainless steel, french doors...we ended up with... a (new) 2017 Kenmore. They were getting rid of unsold stock. It's black, it was $350, though we did have to pay for delivery. It is nearly identical to the one we replaced except it's black, the freezer is a tiny bit smaller, and the door shelving is not adjustable, like it was on the old fridge. Even on sale, the cheapest other fridge was $1100.
So now, our 16 yo gas stove is dead/ dying. We paid $399 when we bought it new. The repair guy told us it would be $373 to fix. The igniter is bad in the oven part - that's an electrical part, I think my husband could fix it. The largest of the 4 burners is broken, and as it hooks up to gas inside the oven, that's the expensive part. We paid his fee and declined the fix. We'll probably just live with it for awhile. It's undecided whether we'll replace the whole thing or just the igniter and live without a burner.
But here's the thing: "You've earned a new stove!" You know how much a new stove costs? Well, if you look up highly rates ones, apparently I'm supposed to fork out $2k-$3k. However, the very base model of stove (gas or electric), which honestly would be a lower model than we have, is about $375-450. Lower models are generally FAR more reliable, because fewer things break. If I felt like "upgrading" to a fifth burner, then well, it might be $550-600. I prefer gas but I keep reading that electric is better for the environment. I'd worry about breaking the glass top. Not sure but for now, we do nothing.