Arrrrrrrrrrggggggghhhhh! Falling Off The Wagon.

A cute little story to start today.

I was on the phone last night with my sister who has returned from her  summer holiday just spent with her husband and 3 yo son.

On the flight on the way home they were playing "I Spy" with my nephew and the following exchange took place.

Nephew "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with G!"

After a few minutes of incorrect guesses...

Nephew "Would you like a clue mommy?"

Mummy "Yes , please"

Nephew "It wears glasses and it lives with my Grandma"

The answer.... Grandpa... who was safely at home in Staffordshire.

***

I love these stories of kids and their logic and yesterday as I was thinking about our telephone exchange, I thought how much I wanted to go back to being a kid.

The reason?

As I mentioned at the end of yesterdays post, my washing machine has broken.

It sounds as if it is trying to take off, the whole kitchen rattles when it is on and the last straw ..... all my whites are now brown in places, rust coloured tie dye is not a good look on bed linen, towels and most especially knickers.

Completely depressed about it yesterday.

The call out fee for a washing machine repair man is £25 plus parts.

I bought this Hotpoint machine second hand (2yo) for £60 10 years ago from an old lady moving into sheltered housing. In exchange for 10 years service it has washed my clothes, bedding, pillows, etc without a murmur or a call out from the repair man EVER.

I was really mulling over the repair / replace issue again yesterday. But I just do not believe it is worth looking at a repair as I am fairly certain it now has multiple issues.

So time to buy a new washing machine after the 2 new tyres, the shower repair, the new hob, the new front door etc etc.

I called a local business for a quote on a similar machine. For £170 I could get a reconditioned machine with 6M warranty or for £250 I could get a new machine with 2 yrs warranty and they would remove my old machine, and deliver / install the new machine on Friday.

Before you start shouting "You can buy a new machine for £170 you silly cow!", I know, but installation / delivery / removal of the old machine is extra and I am buying from a small local privately owned business where they remember my name surely that is worth paying a little extra? I feel comfortable dealing with them and not some corporation.

My new machine is being delivered on Friday.

Now for the kicker, I had to use the damn credit card. First time in 4 years I had used it, and last night I had to dig them out from the cupboard then look up the pin number, then ring up and check they were actually actioned as they were still attached to the paperwork they were sent on.

So a massive fail, but if I had used my savings then I would have absolutely nothing left.

As we know I have 2 credit cards. CC1 has a balance of £0 and CC2 has a balance of £200.71.

CC1 has an APR of 24.9% and CC2 has an APR of 15.9%, so I should probably choose CC2 to use then, right?

Wrong! As CC2 is currently on a 0% balance transfer deal my new purchase of £250 would go under the existing balance of £200.71 and continue to attract interest of 15.9% until I was able to pay off the £200.71.

CC1 will offer me interest free purchases for 52 days by which time I should have the majority cleared, keep your fingers crossed about commission this month kids!

I am fed up about falling of the wagon (please don't hate me, but I want this blog to be honest at all times) and using my credit card after 4 years abstinence, but I need a reliable machine especially with renting the flat out shortly.

So there it is, at least I thought about how to buy it as wisely as I could.

To return to my original point, I want to be a kid again when all your money was spent on toys and sweets. Credit meant borrowing £1 from your mum to buy an umbrella hat, and most importantly if you put a muddy top in the washing basket 2 days later it turned up laundered / ironed and on your bed for you to put away.

Magic!

Not so frugally yours
Abigail
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