Janeway Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 OK..trying to be debt free. Trying to have enough savings for an emergency, or lay offs or whatever. Here goes... We have two a/c units. We live in the south and it is over 100 degrees here now. They are the originals with the house and the house is 15 yrs old. See where this is going? Yep..they both went out! Cashing out savings, feeling frustrated. Refuse to put this on a credit card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spryte Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 I'm so sorry. That hurts. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: BTDT...and it stunk to high heaven. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Isn't that so frustrating? Our budget isn't usually toast because of consumer spending, though we have been WAY too lax on that he last few years. But major appliance purchases and medical keep pushing our credit cards up into thousands in debt. My goal is that I want to get to the point where those don't sink us because we are living so close to the line each month. So we are on a spending embargo for everything we can control and chipping away at the debt. But yeah, when you're in that mindset every unavoidable expense just feels like a personal insult, doesn't it?! Hugs to you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendy not in HI Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Could it be something small? The day of my daughter's wedding, the AC went out at my parents house (where we were frantically getting ready for the reception.) Yikes! It was hot hot hot in the house. Luckily the reception was outdoors! As the reception was winding down, my husband and his good friend finally had time to go check out the AC. They found that a small, $3.00 fuse had blown. That was it!! We were able to go find a fuse the next day! The AC was up and running in no time. Cheap repair thoughts and cool breezes going your way!! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 You've got sympathy from me...we're in the same boat with old ACs that will be lucky to survive this summer! OK..trying to be debt free. Trying to have enough savings for an emergency, or lay offs or whatever. Here goes... We have two a/c units. We live in the south and it is over 100 degrees here now. They are the originals with the house and the house is 15 yrs old. See where this is going? Yep..they both went out! Cashing out savings, feeling frustrated. Refuse to put this on a credit card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 That really stinks but it is GREAT that you had cash in savings to pay for it!! That's a big hit all at once, and it's super awesome that you avoided debt to pay for it!! That's one of the best things about savings, IMHO. Hopefully your electric bill will go down some with the newer (and presumably more efficient) A/C units, making it a little easier to replenish your savings. Give yourself big pats on your back for managing your finances so you could handle such a big unexpected expense without debt. You done good. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 That really stinks but it is GREAT that you had cash in savings to pay for it!! That's a big hit all at once, and it's super awesome that you avoided debt to pay for it!! That's one of the best things about savings, IMHO. Hopefully your electric bill will go down some with the newer (and presumably more efficient) A/C units, making it a little easier to replenish your savings. Give yourself big pats on your back for managing your finances so you could handle such a big unexpected expense without debt. You done good. The original is 8 seer. The new will be 16 seer. The upstairs a/c has gone out multiple times. The downstairs a/c has only been hanging on by a thread. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purplejackmama Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Blah!!! I so understand! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommyoffive Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Poop! I am so so sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hornblower Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 ok, so maybe useless advice but have you tried vacuuming it? We only have portable AC here and we almost killed one with the amount of fur and dust it had on it. Same with fridges & freezers. Sometimes vacuuming everything helps it keep going for a little bit longer.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 ok, so maybe useless advice but have you tried vacuuming it? We only have portable AC here and we almost killed one with the amount of fur and dust it had on it. Same with fridges & freezers. Sometimes vacuuming everything helps it keep going for a little bit longer.... We already had 3 different repair companies out. It simply has to be replaced. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 It's not destroyed! That's what emergency savings is for. You are doing great by not having to add debt. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 It is great that you have the savings for it. That's what the emergency fund is for. The hardest part is getting it rebuilt so that next time doesn't sneak up on you. Good for you guys! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 (edited) I agree with others that you have been doing the right thing. The point of saving is so that when things like this happen, you have the money. Now, it sounds like you wanted time to build up a nice big cushion, and then were hoping that the cushion could be left alone and then you could build up savings for things like appliances. It sounds like you're really frustrated that before your cushion could be built up you had to use it on an appliance. But at the same time, you are doing the right thing. It has got to feel sooo frustrating that the savings got zeroed out so soon after starting to save, but you didn't have to use credit! You paid in cash! Edited August 5, 2016 by Garga 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Not sure if this is going to be a double post since I just posted here but it doesn't show up... Have you considered a mini-split system instead of a whole house system? May less damage to your account. We live in an area where it climbs to F105 regularly during the summer and the mini-split can keep up okay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamiof5 Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 So sorry!!! One of our units died this summer. Thank goodness a part could be replaced. It was close to $850, but better than replacing it completely. We never go through companies. We go through word of mouth recommendations with folks who do it as a side job...way cheaper! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Not sure if this is going to be a double post since I just posted here but it doesn't show up... Have you considered a mini-split system instead of a whole house system? May less damage to your account. We live in an area where it climbs to F105 regularly during the summer and the mini-split can keep up okay. That might be what we have as we are not replacing the whole thing. We got a good deal. We ended up with less than 10k on the replacement. Found out from two neighbors who recently replaced that they paid over 12k. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyforlatin Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 Not sure if this is going to be a double post since I just posted here but it doesn't show up... Have you considered a mini-split system instead of a whole house system? May less damage to your account. We live in an area where it climbs to F105 regularly during the summer and the mini-split can keep up okay. I would love to have a mini split but prices here are just too much. I just got an estimate for 3 heads - $11000. One head - $5500. I have heard that they work well in the summers. Not sure how warm it is during the winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janeway Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 The upstairs is still not working, and he added an extra thousand to the price at the end. I did not..I held out the contract and said "this is what you agreed to" and then he claimed he needed to also do this, that, and needs to charge an extra fee for paying with a credit card. I pointed out that he knew I was paying with a credit card in the first place. In the end, he did raise it by $200 and I let it go at that. But now, my upstairs is in the 80's. The downstairs is still running and I am running a window unit upstairs. Otherwise, I am sure it would be even hotter. We contacted him and he says that it just takes time to kick in. But the downstairs has kicked in! The upstairs has not. The downstairs is nice and frosty. If I were a drinker....I would not be sober right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted August 5, 2016 Share Posted August 5, 2016 That's annoying. The plus side is the power consumption may be less on the newer ones so you could make up some of the expenditure that way. I hate how every time we start to get on top of finances we end up having to do some kind of major house repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted August 6, 2016 Share Posted August 6, 2016 The upstairs is still not working, and he added an extra thousand to the price at the end. I did not..I held out the contract and said "this is what you agreed to" and then he claimed he needed to also do this, that, and needs to charge an extra fee for paying with a credit card. I pointed out that he knew I was paying with a credit card in the first place. In the end, he did raise it by $200 and I let it go at that. But now, my upstairs is in the 80's. The downstairs is still running and I am running a window unit upstairs. Otherwise, I am sure it would be even hotter. We contacted him and he says that it just takes time to kick in. But the downstairs has kicked in! The upstairs has not. The downstairs is nice and frosty. If I were a drinker....I would not be sober right now. One wonders if he's trying to get you to pay more by forcing you to call him in over the weekend. If you can hold out, call him Monday & tell him it hasn't "kicked in" yet and he needs to get his rear end over there for free. Good job for you sticking to your guns on the extra thousand & just settling for $200 extra. Double stick to your guns on Monday & don't let him double charge you! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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