Well. . .I can respect the fact I may have made a wrong decision - I was on the fence about it. It was $60 for the service call/diagnosis and then they applied credit towards the final repair.
So. . .I was in for $60.00 unless I just didn't want to diagnose it and just throw it out or sell it for scrap metal.
I actually think these decisions are more important than the "I buy rice in bulk to save a few pennies" decisions when it comes to frugality. It's more big picture. (IMHO)
Which is why I opened the dicussion up.
I figure the strategy is to "buy some time" - get 2 years out of both the appliances and then sell the set together while it's working in the local "Bargain Box." I figure there's always a market for used appliances and I could sell 12 year old W/D set for $75-200 and then use that for partial payment of a new set.
As it stood, I couldn't sell it at all.
Plus, I hate shopping altogether. Why can't things just last forever?
As far as computers, I actually had my laptop computer's hard drive replaced for $300.00 but I may actually be an exception to the rule because I only use it for word processing, some billing, PowerPoint 2003 presentations, and internet. I bought my Dell in 2001 and here it is - 2007. TOTAL INVESTED: $1250 + $300 repair over 6 years. And other than it being a little heavy, I love my Dell. But yes, I get the Dell flyers and occasionally lust for new one.
(a shelf fell on my Dell Inspiron 2500 and there's a big indentation in the keyboard but it still works, LOL @ myself.)
I know I am getting close to scrapping it though, LOL.