Would You Stock Up On Small Appliances?
Many people will take advantage of a great sale and stock up on household items. Whether it’s toilet paper, food items, or cleaning supplies if it’s something a person will eventually use it’s common sense to buy more than the normal to save money in the long run. But what about something a little larger? Would you buy multiple small appliances at a great price even if you might not use it for years?
We’ve owned a jet stream oven for probably 15 years. A jet stream oven is a marvelous machine that looks a lot like a food dehydrator. It blows hot air really quickly at food, causing them to cook and crisp. We use ours everyday making french fries, chicken strips and basically anything that would normally go into a deep fat fryer. Up until a few days ago, we were on our 4th jet stream oven.
I use the past tense because I dropped the top, which contains the heating element and motor, on the floor. The next time we tried to use it, there was no heat. Because we literally use the appliance every day, we knew we had to replace it immediately. Searching the internet, we found several retailers that sold it online for about $130. Luckily we found a local fleet store that had it in stock, AND on sale for $93.
Fast forward to finding the display of the appliance at the fleet store, I picked one up and started walking towards the checkout.
Wait, said my wife, I think we should get two.
We discussed the positives and negatives of buying a second jet stream oven:
Positives:
- Over the long run we’d save money as the appliance was on sale
- We’d have a working jet stream for years to come
Negatives:
- We have to shell out the cost of two jet stream ovens right now
- Will the second one still work when the current one broke down, potentially years from now?
We had the money to buy two appliances, but it was the potential for the second one to be non-functional in a few years when we need it that had me concerned. My wife convinced me that the positives outweighed the negatives, and we bought two.
One jet stream oven went into immediate use, the second one now sits on a shelf in our laundry room ready for action whenever it may be called upon. We took advantage of a great price and stocked up on a small appliance. Only time will tell if we made the right choice.
What do you think, Clever Friends? Did we make the right choice? Would you stockpile small appliances?
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Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
I usually stockpile small appliances..like iron, electric lamps for power cut or even toaster…Trust me, It is great to keep small appliances in stock…They are very useful…You did a great job!
I think this was wise. The regular MSRP is not likely to ever come down, so you locked in a good price for something that you will very likely need in the future, when the price will probably never be this low.
On the other hand, though-how nice would it be if everything last longer, wasn’t “disposable???” We have been married almost 11 years, and I think we are on our 4th or 5th toaster oven.
IF its something you use everyday, and you saved some money I don’t see a negative. The money was readily available, and you took the opportunity. What if they stop making it in the future? I personally don’t use small appliances often besides a toaster and coffee maker, and they are about 10 years old.
I make soap using a stick blender. I have a dedicated stick blender for food and one for soap. Stick blenders can burn out pretty easily due to somewhat continuous use during a soaping session. I’ve burned out one, have one in use and two in reserve. One I bought at Ollie’s, a discount store, one at a thrift store. I figure that will last me a couple years at least.