When we bought our 40 year old mobile home back in last January (2017), I don’t think we really knew what we were getting into.
I mean, there’s a difference between knowing, and knowing, right?
And it ended up costing us more to renovate than we were hoping when we started doing things like replacing our plans to drywall the ceiling with more expensive Armstrong Easy Ups.
And though we had the chance to buy a whole set of cabinets on Craigslist that would have fit nearly just right, Gabriel, wise man that he is, pointed out that I’d been dreaming of a nice kitchen for our entire marriage, and wouldn’t be very happy with that just okay set, and even less happy with the beige formica counter tops they came with.
He was right, so we threw down another $1,500 on cabinets we really loved.
But one place we did save a lot of money on was kitchen appliances.
I actually spent a few weeks perusing Craigslist in three different cities, and yard sale ads, and found lots of possibilities, but nothing I could say was really a great deal, and it wasn’t because I was picky either – my main criteria was that I didn’t want white.
Then one day, I found an ad that seemed way to good to be true.
A full suite of kitchen appliances – stove, microwave, refrigerator, and dishwasher – all for $400?
This is exactly why I hate craigslist – so many scammers these days.
But I emailed anyway, because I just couldn’t help myself, and here’s what happened:
A large apartment complex in the city replaces all appliances about every three years, and when they do that, the guys who are responsible for changing them out list the old ones on Craigslist for some extra cash.
They don’t have a lot invested in these things, plus they’re pretty basic appliances, so they price them to sell.
All the appliances are full sized except the refrigerator, which is “apartment sized” – smaller than ideal, but for the price, I can use it for a while and get my dream refrigerator down the road if I want to.
And they all match, which is cool.
So yes, we got every single one of our kitchen appliances for $400!
We did end up hitting a snag – but it had nothing to do with the appliances themselves.
During installation of our cabinets, the measurement instructions got messed up, and we ended up with a set over the stove that was too long to accommodate the microwave.
I was reaaaaallly unhappy about that, but basically the only way to fix it was to take the entire set of upper cabinets down and start over, so the microwave went into storage – for now – until we decide what to do with it.
Gabe suggested that we hang the microwave in the pantry, I suggested that we find a smaller one and see if that will fit.
But for now, we’re getting along without it, and I’m not too mad that I don’t have a means to give into my microwave brownie addiction, so it’s not the worst thing.
Regardless, I’m enjoying a matching set of not-white kitchen appliances that work really well, and didn’t break the bank.
Best. Craigslist. Find. Ever.
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L. bryant says
So glad your dreams are coming true. From experience I have had 3 over the stove microwaves in the last 20 years. One was a traditional microwave. The other 2 have been convection/microwaves and I have really enjoyed them. If I could rearrange my own kitchen I would set up a place for the microwave that is not over the stove. It just gets too busy and things, fall, spill, spatter and burn. If your microwave works I would put it on a cart and set it up where it is convenient and make certain that you don’t have it on the same electrical circuit a as the refrigerator, dishwasher, etc. It will prevent the fuses from tripping. Plus the cost of an over the stove unit is considerable more.
Frugal Llisa says
Fantastic! You just need to know where to look and sometimes you need to improvise a bit. I recently got a really cheap brand-new 1100 watt microwave at
Target. (And we used a coupon and the Target card to get more of a discount!) The microwave was half the price of other similar models. When we got home we found out why: The control panel labels that showed which buttons to push were almost invisible. Couldn’t see the lettering and therefore were not able to know which button to push when we needed to cook something. We solved the problem by bringing in a small gooseneck desk lamp (it was in the garage awaiting the next garage sale). We set it up on the counter and pointed the light toward the control panel, and it illuminates the lettering just fine. We switch on the lamp when we’re about to zap something. Easy fix! This remedy saved us more than $80 over the cost of another microwave. The rest of the appliance works well.