Thrifty Thursday - Know your options

Several years ago while my husband and I were still going to school, we bought a small, older home.  Built in 1919, it was...quirky.  I learned how to live with its idiosyncrasies, mainly because we didn't have money to fix anything.  One of the things that was particularly annoying was the oven...only the broiler worked.  Try making bread or cookies or cakes with a broiler  :)  I did.

After a few years, we needed to relocate so we rented the little house.  The first complaint from the renters was the oven.   No surprise there.  WE could live without a working oven but we couldn't expect OTHERS to live without one.  We told them to call a repair person and give us an estimate to fix it.  Well, the report came back...there was a small piece loose which prevented the oven from baking.  The cost?  $5.00.

I still think of those five years, living without a working oven and I shake my head.  I just assumed that it would cost too much to repair so I didn't even pursue it. 

Explore your options.  Sometimes repairing something is the right thing to do.   Sometimes buying new makes more sense.  Sometimes buying second-hand is the answer.  But don't just sit there doing nothing.  Most of the time there a solution to your problem that works with your budget.  You just have to find it.