So, What Did We Buy?

Posted on November 20, 2007 by Melissa
Filed Under Frugality, Household, Shopping

Elizabeth at Suburban Wife’s Daily Dollar Diary asked me to reveal what appliances we chose in my post yesterday discussing my latest purchases for the house. Thanks, Elizabeth, I think that is a good idea. Here are the appliances we decided to purchase this weekend after considerable thought and research.

Refrigerator

OK, so I wanted a Sub-Zero or a Viking but that just wasn’t gonna happen, except maybe in my dreams. Setting aside those champagne wishes we started seriously looking at the GE Profile 25.5 Cu. Ft. French Door Bottom Freezer model. I liked the layout of the fridge (especially the large deli drawer) and the fact that it had separate compressors for each section. The best price I could find was $2295 which was a little pricey for us. It included things we didn’t particularly feel was necessary like water/ice through the door. But the rest of my appliances are GE Profile so the styling and stainless would match if I got this fridge. Again, matching my other appliances was nice but far from critical.

Samsung Fridge After discovering that Samsung actually made that fridge and that the GE Profile version was only slightly different, we started looking at the Samsung models. We found a fridge with the exact same layout but without the water and ice in the door (it has an icemaker in the freezer). The Samsung 25.8 Cu. Ft. French Door Bottom Mount Freezer was $1594. We decided that the GE labeling/styling and the ice/water in the door were not worth the extra $701 dollars it would take to get them and we went with the cheaper Samsung.

I feel our frugal side triumphed in this purchase. We decided to pass on the features that would have been nice but weren’t requirements. This helped us save a lot of money while still getting a nice stainless steel fridge. The kitchen is so important to me that I’m surprised I was able to pass up the “best” for what simply fit our needs.

Washer/Dryer

Our current washer and dryer still run but we knew we needed to move to larger front-loading models. I have to wash pet beds frequently and the agitator in my current washer makes it very difficult. We wanted to make the jump to front loaders to make my large laundry loads easier.

I went into looking for these appliances with no preconceived notions of what I wanted so I started searching Consumer Reports first. From there I learned what features to look for. Based on the ratings and reviews the LG TROMM Steam washer and dryer seemed like a good set for me. I liked the idea of being able to sanitize cat beds with steam in the wash. The latest model washer runs about $1359 in blue.

I did a bit more investigation and found that the previous version of the TROMM washer was basically the same model except it had a slightly slower max spin speed and it didn’t have the trilingual LCD screen. I didn’t think those things were worth paying the extra money for so I set my sights on the previous version. Now I had to decide color.

LG TROMM Washer I must admit that the shiny red option beckoned to me. It was a sparkly candy apple red and it seemed to make laundry less boring. I was really leaning toward it, despite it costing $200 more. It took Eric to snap me out of the red daze though. Eric said the extra money it would cost to get the red wouldn’t be worth it and after a few weeks those shiny red units would still just be my washer and dryer. He then reminded me that the laundry room was closed off and I would never even see them. I had also read that the cherry color didn’t come with a porcelain top like the white did so that was that. I swallowed my irrational desire for the pretty shiny version and got the previous model in standard white for $1104.99.

As for the dryer we got the matching version in gas. We feel gas is far cheaper than electricity so we want to stick with it even though the gas model is more expensive initially. Also, every appliance we got is Energy Star qualified. That was an important factor. We wanted to make sure everything we purchased was energy efficient and was something that was built to last. Not only is that good for our wallets but it is good for the environment.

Comments

2 Responses to “So, What Did We Buy?”

Elizabeth on November 21st, 2007 1:14 am

Melissa,

Thanks for the detailed post. I know it’s probably a bit unusual, but I just love the process of educating myself in every aspect of a new, big purchase. My very first post on my blog includes the purchase of a new fridge — my first ever new refrigerator! It was an incredibly exciting purchase for me and I did about 4 weeks of research before making my purchase. And I absolutely LOVE my fridge.

I particularly love the layout of the french door fridge and bottom freezer — vastly superior to the side-by-side layout. Personally, I had no interest in stainless steel — as a high-maintenace woman I just don’t have room in my life for high-maintenace appliances ;-) But I know the SS is very, very popular right now. Actually, I simply could not live without a fridge that doesn’t accept magnets — my fridge is my organizer.

I agree thoroughly with Eric on the color of the washer and dryer and applaud you for letting go of your attraction to the shiney red color (which, by the way, would have been very attractive to me as well) and your willingness to settle for white.

I hope you’ll report back about how you like the front-loaders. My washer and dryer are about 13 years old and still going strong. I hope that by the time I need new ones the kids will both be grown and gone and I won’t need anything very big. I have, however, been quite curious about the front loaders — I love the design benefit of having the doors on the front and therefore being able to use the tops as shelf space or for folding.

I assume you’re already piped for a gas dryer in the laundry area. What a nice benefit! We’re not so if I ever wanted to make the switch I’d have to add in the price of adding a gas line to the cost.

Good job on your purchases! I hope your appliances serve you long and well.
Folding Doors(new comment) on October 7th, 2008 6:53 am

I purchased a sony 32″ LCD TV last week, a big purchase for myself. I feel that I am going to get a lot of use out of it if the credit crunch carries on like it is doing :(