Always a fun thing to do, right, buying new appliances? Not so! One of the problems with that here is, as I have mentioned before, the distance between the stores.
When we first started looking for appliances, we went to the trustworthy, local Sam’s Club, and found a refrigerator we liked. Several days later, we went to Home Depot, and saw another refrigerator we liked. Then, the following week, we went to Costco, and saw both of the same ones as in the previous two stores, but for $1,000 – $3000MN more, each. Same thing went for the washer/dryer, and the stove.
Way back in 2007, when we bought all of our appliances, we spent weeks researching, on line, multiple different brands, styles, and features, of refrigerators, washers and dryers, and stoves. After several weeks, we chose the ones we wanted, ordered them, (online, of course), and they were all delivered to the house; easy peasy. We clapped our hands, job well done! Not so now, however. Actually seeing them, hands on, in the stores, is almost too overwhelming for me. What if I say I want this one, but when we get it home, it is nothing like what I thought it was going to be? (Commonly referred to as Buyers Remorse). And ordering them from the US is, well, you guessed it, cost prohibitive.
Refrigerators- french doors, freezer on the bottom? Single door, freezer on the top? Black, white, or SS? LG, Samsung, Daewoo, Mabe? Yikes!
Stove- the stove that is in the apartment (a Mabe, 6 burner) is coming over here because their oven has not worked in ages, and ours does not have a broiler. Must have a broiler!!! We will, more than likely, end up with a countertop broiler of some sort. It is hard to find ovens with broilers here.
Washer and dryer- stacked, or side by side? Black, white, or SS? Simple dials, or computerized? Same brands for makers.
So, on it goes. I am fairly sure we are buying something soon, however- probably the stove first, then the fridge, then the washer and dryer. Probably a similar 6 burner gas stove by Mabe, then a SS LG French door, freezer on the bottom, (‘cuz we cannot find a single door with f-o-t-b), then, the washer and dryer, probably white, and Maytag, or Whirlpool. They will have dials, and they will be top loading because here, if the computer portion of your appliance goes caput, it is very hard to find someone to work on it. We are definitely not getting front loading!! It used to take about 45 minutes to one hour to wash our clothes, and another 2-3 hours to dry the darn things. No more. Now we want badda bing, badda boom. We will probably buy everything at Home Depot because of their fast delivery, guarantees, and it consolidates everything in one place.
Lastly, the running total looks to be about$61,000MN, or $3000, for 4 brand new appliances. Not bad, huh?!? **Update- we bought all four appliances for $50,250MN!! Most of them went on sale this week, starting yesterday, when we bought them. Arriving at the apartment tomorrow sometime. Now they just need to be lugged up two flights of steps.