Investing in a New Appliance

Look.  I don’t care what profession you’re in, how much money you make or how much disposable income your family has, purchasing a new appliance can be a major decision and on its surface; can be a huge financial investment.  First, if you take money out of the equation for a second, your household appliances are probably one of the most touched items in your home.  From opening the refrigerator to make your breakfast in the morning to cleaning your dirty laundry, most people are putting their hands on an appliance more than any other piece of equipment in their home.  Yes, including the TV remote.  Then, factor in some of the emotional aspects of your appliances………. your stove was used to cook the food for your son or daughter’s graduation party or your refrigerator was used to keep cool that perfect dessert you spent hours preparing for that special occasion that left a lasting memory for you and your family……your appliances could be considered priceless.

But enough of that.  How does the math really boil down when you buy an appliance?  Let’s take a refrigerator.  Depending on what you are considering buying, the average cost of a brand new refrigerator can range anywhere from $1,000 to upwards of $10,000.  Fancy taste….fancy price.  But for this, let’s look at what your average person puts in their house and use $2,000.  Granted, things aren’t built like they were 30 years ago but you can pretty much rest assured your refrigerator is going to serve you quite well for atleast 5 years.  Do the math and that translates to 43,800 hours of useful life.  Some simple division puts the cost per hour of your new refrigerator at 4.57 cents per hour.  How much did you spend on that name brand coffee indulgence this morning?  Or how much did that absolute must have football jersey you needed to wear on game day set you back?  When you distill it down, the cost of your refrigerator seems much more palatable and then factor in all the stuff mentioned earlier about the emotional and usefulness aspects of your appliance……this seems to be a very wise and worthwhile investment.  So, what’s the morale of all this?  Don’t sweat the pennies.