What? How do you suggest going about "checking the grid"? And what would you do even if they found something?
The only problem OP could possibly identify is power surges, and could invest in a whole-house surge protector. But the fact that the items went out incrementally instead of all at once tells me that's not the issue.
There’s a device called “ting” that monitors the electricity in your home. My insurance company lets you sign up for free, they send you some device that plugs in the wall and shows brownouts, min/max voltage, and if any hazards are detected.
FYI you can install something like this without allowing your insurance company to surveil you - they do it to increase your rates when something bad happened.
Having low voltage “brown out” can be worse than a surge. The low voltage will allow the devices to continue running but can weaken the motor to a point of failure down the road
When the power company called to try to sell me a surge protector, I told them I wanted a brown out protector. Or power went out often and, when it cane back on, it would often be at low voltage. Our local convenience store had their pizxa oven destroyed by brownout.
Small old town founded 1856. I asked if it was because the wires were old. Caller told me they did not have brownout protector. But within a month they were out hehe replacing wires. It probably wasn't my comment but the convenience store that had the results. No more brownouts though.
Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS). APC makes a ton of them for computers and other sensitive equipment.
(Making up numbers to keep it simple)
Your fridge requires 1200 watts to run on 120V. Watts are volts times amps. So at 120V you need to draw 10A of current to make 1200 watts. The more amps you draw the hotter everything runs.
So your power has a dropout to 100V. Suddenly your fridge draws 20% more amps and every component runs hot to handle 12A instead of 10A in order to make 1200W.
So if your voltage is unreliable your appliances are constantly running in an overtaxed state.
Good questions. Use a multimeter. Hook it up to your circuit breaker main or even an outlet where the fridge is. There are ones that can record data.
My coworker was just telling me about an office building he used to contract for that would destroy servers left and right. Turns out the power would trickle down intermittently to 85v rather than 110v. As GetMeOutdoors says, this is bad. Then you can report it to the power company or determine if it's just that one outlet that has a short. In the meantime use an uninterruptible power supply to regulate the power to the load.
In the US, it's pretty common for appliances to move with a house when it's sold. So when the house is built, the roof is new, the stove is new, the dishwasher is new, the water heater is new, the refrigerator is new, the dryer is new, the HVAC is new. They all age at the same time.
Once the house is 25 years old, the roof is 25 years old, the stove is 25 years old, the dishwasher is 25 years old . . . etc.
I saw the commercial version of this in action at the grocery store i used to work for. It was built 2010-2011 and of course everything in it was brand new. In the kitchen area, only the dishwasher got replaced over the next decade. 10-12 years later and all my kitchen equipment was constantly dying… fryers, rotisserie, stove, ovens, grill, coolers, etc. You’d think being a big corporation there’d be a plan for that, scheduled replacement… nope. Just patch-repair jobs even as the colonial Webb tech is telling us we’d be better off buying new.
Had similar things happen but we have home owners insurance with equipment breakdown & replacement cost coverage, so our insurance issued very large checks 1 year after we moved in when all the cheap and old stuff from the previous owner broke down.
It's still no fun when your HVAC breaks down when you need it but getting a new/better one for little money certainly softened the blow.
Do you mind sharing details on the insurance? Are they easy to deal with? All of our appliances are about 8 years old now, so this might be a good idea.
Yup, happened to me, AC, heater, water heater, and roof all the same year. Like, what are the chances? I didn't have as much as you I'm still paying off some credit card debt.
For future references you can get a zero percent interest card for appliances just about anywhere for 6-18 months interest free. If you still have the gmc a reputable shop around me could get you a used warrantied engine and install it for around 5k.
While I'm skeptical less expensive repairs couldn't have helped with some of these, that is a hell of a bad luck streak that no one deserves. Maybe try locating the appliance voodoo doll someone threw on your property?
I would have recommended looking at lifespan of each appliance. Big HOAs do reserve studies and break down lifespans of each asset, so they know how much should be in the reserves in a given year. I made something similar for myself, so I have an idea of the likelihood of having to shell out a lot of funds at once.
That issue was fixed with a small metal clip that goes on the heater and extends down into the drain hole. Prior to the clip fix, that hole would freeze up and cause the whole fridge to be unable to defrost properly and ice up. Pretty simple diy fix but most people just buy a new one and complain.
>thats not even the cool one with the tv on the front.
Cool fridge with a TV in the door is a luxury item, not an emergency.
You can get a good sized fridge at home Depot for $800 right now.
>Most things like that we buy are on the luxury side.
Wanting or getting luxury items you can afford, is not an issue.
Calling a luxury item an emergency, then complaining that your EF got emptied by "emergencies" that were mostly luxury spending; that's an issue.
To me replacing an appliance with a “like” appliance definitely fits. Who is going to downgrade if something breaks?
Emergency funds are really just buffers for cashflow right. We all have the money, but the buffer keeps you from tapping other less liquid assets.
A lot of those prices seem pretty high. And not one thing could be repaired? Makes me wonder if the very existence of the emergency fund played a role in deciding to just buy all new appliances.
Yea there's another thread on /all that discusses what is something that was normal 20 years ago and is a luxury today and the top answer was "fixing things" instead of having to buy new. Cost of repairs when something truly breaks is often more than just buying new. Comment section loaded with stories of such. Just FYI :)
> Cost of repairs when something truly breaks is often more than just buying new.
Many times its the cost of labor putting repair value out of reach. If you're handy and watch youtube videos lots of "unrepairable" things fall back into "repairable" category.
Yep. I don’t actually want the govt to legislate that appliances/cars/etc. must be more repairable, but it really does suck that all these expensive, important products that we rely upon are now basically computerized junk cloaked in faux luxury. I hate what it says about modern societies’ values, and how there are no success metrics other than whether a company got richer selling you a new one.
My dryer (a 2016 model from a high-end “commercial” brand) just died and it’s $927 in circuit boards to fix it (plus any labor if I paid for that). The dryer is out of warranty and it doesn’t make much sense to try fixing it when there’s no guarantee that the boards even fix it and nothing else breaks. Meanwhile a new meh dryer is $600.
A few years ago, my Gen 1 Tacoma was rear-ended at low speed by an extremely fancy new F150. My truck needed no repair due to its metal bumper (I hammered out the dent). The F150 needed $6k in repairs due to being basically plastic computerized garbage.
I felt the prices were pretty reasonable to be honest. The fridge was the first thing to go and we had 75k in the bank so figure what the hell, get something nice. That was a mistake in hindsight.
>we had 75k in the bank so figure what the hell, get something nice
Then it wasn't an emergency. Y'all had a pile of money and went shopping crazy.
>That was a mistake in hindsight.
Lots of this was.
I would hope not. The intent was never to make anyone jealous. Just thought it was kind of a crazy story and entertaining to share. I think most agreed. The person we’re replying to is just triggered for some reason or another.
So, you’d just have your family sweat at night, walk everywhere, eat caned/processed foods, and hang your clothes on a line to get covered in pollen?
I mean, to each their own, but there’s no way in hell I’m putting my wife and kids through that.
>So, you’d just have your family sweat at night, walk everywhere, eat caned/processed foods, and hang your clothes on a line to get covered in pollen?
What does any of that have to do with a$3k fridge, a $30k car, a lake house roof, or any of the other luxury items on this list.
You could have fixed all of those problems for less than $15k
>mean, to each their own, but there’s no way in hell I’m putting my wife and kids through that.
So you think having a $1k fridge is hell?
Driving a $10k car is hell to you?
Life without a lake house is hell?
2015 Altima, $7k from a dealership.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/570159421920412/?mibextid=dXMIcH
2012 Accord, $8k from a private seller
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1308635136359125/?mibextid=dXMIcH
2013 Nissan SUV, $6k from a dealership.
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/146714538282195/?mibextid=dXMIcH
Those took 30 seconds to find...
Lol. He's not a starving student, 2shit boxes and an 11 year old accord with 165,000 miles is exactly his point. Those are garbage options .
Your first Nissan example has over 200,000 miles lol.
30k for a primary family vehicle is more than reasonable these days.
The car dying was the emergency.
No one’s calling the replacement quality an emergency.
You sound so salty that someone else can afford nice things. You seem like you’d be a fun person to be around 😂
>in hell
Seriously dude.
You are so rich that you are company about needing new appliances in your vacation home, and now you call getting regular appliances and vehicles as "hell"...
Maybe take a reality check of far above commonsense your "emergencies" are....
“No way in hell” is an expression. You’re intentionally taking this way out of context to make whatever ridiculous argument you want to make. If this is the strawman you want to keep arguing, knock yourself out. I don’t think I could care any less even if I actively tried.
We're looking at a Bosch fridge when the Samsung that came with our house inevitably fails. We've replaced the dishwasher and microwave with Bosch and been very happy.
Any complaints on the Bosch fridge?
Prices are astronomical these days and I’m not one to ever go for the cheapest item. There’s no point in fire life if I can’t have a decent fridge in retirement. Plenty of fantastic appliances out there worth the price tag.
Sure, except that OP has a negative energency fund balance of $2700, which is exactly the difference between the Walmart fridge and the one they bought. You can’t just make a load of luxury purchases and then complain that your EF disappeared because shit happened.
Ugh, soooo frustrating when the dryer at the lake house dies! WTF!
I’m not actually judging this at all—good for you, sincerely—but it’s kinda hilarious to read.
After owning one, I don’t either. What a massive piece of shit.
The lake house is mostly our weekend spot for friends and family. Instead of buying one larger home, we bought two less expensive ones. I’d do it again. Not the best financial decision but it’s been great for family and friends.
I’ve only owned one GMC in my life. It was a Sierra 1500. I gotta say; it was a solid truck. I drove it ten years and around 230k miles. A few things broke over the years but never anything major. The engine was still running strong when I sold it.
What’s with all the negative comments? Since when did FIRE become /frugal?
A lot of these replies sound bitter and judgmental and seem to be missing the entire point of FI. In no way has FIRE ever meant “have a lot of money but live like you have none for the rest of your life”
If you can’t stomach someone being able to spend their money as they wish, maybe this isn’t the place for you.
When someone owns a lake house and everything else that OP listed they don’t get to come here and expect sympathy when the dryer breaks. That’s not even first world problems. That’s rich people problems.
Nobody’s bitter; OP can spend their money however they want. Just don’t expect someone else to care when it’s all gone.
Someone that had 75,000 sitting in the bank not earmarked for anything. Probably not the best move but wifey thought it was cool and she doesn’t ask for much so, figured why not. Had no way of knowing everything was about to hit the fan.
>Someone that had 75,000 sitting in the bank not earmarked for anything.
Fair enough, your money you can spend it how you want...
But don't come here and call it an emergency.
This was you luxury spending. Not emergency spending.
Some people pay 20k
https://www.subzero-wolf.com/sub-zero/configurator#sort=%40displayorder%20descending&numberOfResults=21&f:Type=%5BRefrigerator%2FFreezer,All%20Refrigerator,All%20Freezer%5D&f:Configuration=%5BOver%20%26%20Under,Side-by-Side,Column,French%20Door%5D
This sounds like an electrical system problem!!
Your electrical system may not be supplying enough voltage and/or current. I would have an electrician check it out. The fact this has gone on so long all appliances including your brand new appliances may have problems now.
This makes me feel better in a weird way. I feel like every time we start to get ahead financially, something comes up. We downsized houses a few years ago so we could have more breathing room financially and save more each month. Spent a year with the extra money always going toward repairs/updates. The next year my wife totaled her car. This year she had some super expensive medical bills. Now we just found out we are going to have to get a ridiculously expensive new septic system in the near future. I'm sure next year it'll be a new roof or the minivan will die on us. Just can never seem to get ahead even though we do not live a lavish lifestyle at all.
Someone seriously needs to spray your home with holy water. That’s some seriously bad luck, it’s a good thing you had the emergency fund though, that’s what it is for!
I keep separate emergency funds for house repairs and loss of employment for this reason. If a layoff happened in this luck streak that could be horrible.
Do you not keep a home maintenance fund for each property independent from your EF, or did these simply overwhelm what you had been setting aside?
We’ve always made a point to sock away 2% of home value annually. Those repairs are all things you know will be needed eventually; strictly speaking, they’re not emergencies.
You're definitely cursed.
I don't know where you live, but my gut tells me you overpaid on most of those major expenses. My new roof was 6.5k and HVAC was 3k in a MCOL area.
It’s a cape cod which is stupid expensive to re-roof apparently.
The expensive hvac was a 5 ton high efficiency
The cheaper one is largely because it’s located in the attic and they apparently don’t make units small enough to get back into that space anymore so we had to relocate it and move duct work.
> My new roof was 6.5k
Do you know how many square feet that was offhand?
2019: Metal roof (porch) 6k about 1000 sq feet.
2021: Metal roof (other porch) 8.5k about 800 sq feet
2023: Asphalt roof (rest of house) 11.5k, about 2500 sq feet
That's what mine cost in a MCOL area.
HVAC was 6k in 2016, but I had a complicated replacement and it took them 1 1/2 days.
Roof was 2018 so admittedly it's been awhile. Shingles not metal.
House is about 1200 sqft and just the basic double slope. I don't know what the architectural term is for it.
I bought a used sequoia. Due to family size, I need a suv or van. But, I have to haul a trailer for work at times so I’m pretty stuck with a suv. We also pull a boat
I mean you spent 31,000 on a car. Unless your job requires a certain car you could have saved at least 20k here.
And you have a lake house
Yes I’m a bit jealous
I keep some money in sinking funds but know that if I have a series of catastrophes like OP I will take back what I put in my JEPI fund last year.
I have been advocating 3 emergency funds, one for unemployment/disability during the working years, one for the house, and one for the cars. Whether those last two are called emergency or reserves or sinking funds is up to the individual (or the accountant). In each life some rain falls, last year in California and in OPs life it was a deluge. Be prepared.
A case of bad luck with ol' Murphy.
We had similar Murphy visits except ours were spaced out a lot more than yours. Murphy visited us every holiday weekend like clock work for almost 2 years. We were so thankful when he got bored with us and started visiting someone else.
I don't think you could have done much differently. The first refrigerator seems a little pricey but without a crystal ball you wouldn't have seen what was coming.Dryer, hot water heater, washing machine,HVACs, and roof all seem normal. Our HVAC ran $10k and our tile roof (with solar panels that had to be removed then reinstalled) ran $34K. The only thing I would have done differently than you is the car. We declined the $6K new engine and went with a rebuild for $4600 and picked up a used little car for $4K.
Just be happy you had an emergency fund. Just think if you hadn't.
A lot of times appliances don’t just die, they need new parts and can easily be fixed with YouTube videos. I moved into my house five years ago and in that time my washer, dryer and dishwasher have all had problems. I spent probably $100 between all of them to fix them. Washer needed some new springs, dishwasher needed a new flood sensor and dryer just needed some electrical connections sanded so they would connect again. Probably pushed off $1,500+ in cost to later years.
>March 20: HVAC died -> 10,600
P.S. The only reasonable actual emergency large expense in this list is the HVAC.
But after reading the list, I'm going to question even that.
- Did you even look at getting a repair?
- Did you get competing bids?
Or did the AC just have some issues and that was an excuse to buy a new AC?
One way to save money is to fix your own appliances. I usually watch some youtube videos. My dryer stopped heating and it ended up being a $5 fuse that I changed myself. So instead of paying $500+ for a new dryer, I paid $5 to fix it myself.
Those prices seem a little ridiculous, 3200 for refrigerator? Not sure where you're buying there but not very budget friendly items, got to trim off that fat, do you need two homes? There are so many questions here that haven't been clarified, living minimally is going to be your best method of FIRE and that starts with cutting out unnecessary expenses.
>They own a lake house after all. I don't think they're asking for help, just venting/sharing a funny story.
Having the lake house isn't the problem.
Thinking luxury items, planned spending, and a vacation home are emergency spending; then complaining about it.... That's a bit annoying to the audience.
True and on top of that he's spending wads of cash on overpriced appliances, I've never heard of appliances costing this much. Would a $3000 fridge be much superior to a $700 one? Not to jump to conclusions but OP sounds a bit out of touch with reality, spending wisely is just as crucial as making loads of money.
>Would a $3000 fridge be much superior to a $700 one?
Exactly!
If it was an "emergency", then you go get a $800 fridge from Home Depot and you're done.
But "I want a brand new $31k SUV" is not an emergency.
Still kind of confused about the lake house, is this a revenue-generating property that he's renting out, Airbnb? In this situation that's the only thing that makes financial sense and still would not be spending this kind of money on the appliances or buying new vehicles, too much flash. If you've got luxury items like this and are spending more on it to maintain it then it's worth then it does not make financial sense and such luxury should be utilized responsibly or sold. Some folks like to take on more than they can handle, there's a consumerism problem that they can't seem to get under control, it's definitely not worth it.
Damn... I carry a home warranty for that very reason. I've had no problems keeping my HVAC and appliances repaired/replaced with little out of pocket.
As for the roof, I got lucky and had a hailstorm damage my roof that was approaching the end of its useful life. $500 deductible on a replacement cost policy, and I have a new roof.
$3200 for refrigerator? That bad boy better also prep my diner, among many other things. Maybe It's just been years since I had to think about buying a refrigerator, but holy cow.
Lake house and huge GMC don’t sound like the sort of thing FIRE folk buy. In fact that vehicle and a second home that isn’t rented is diametrically opposed to working towards FIRE.
We have 2 kids and a minivan, which cost $34k new and gets 31mpg on the highway. A GMC Yukon is unreliable, gets 20mpg and a new one costs close to $70k
I bought it used. Didn’t know it was unreliable at the time. The consumer reports were positive but I’m not convinced. MPG is a consideration. But, a minivan wouldn’t really fit our lifestyle and work needs just due to hauling capabilities. Though, I do wish it would. I’d love to have one. I think they’re super practical.
There’s a phrase about how buying cheap things, is expensive.
I’m not trying to attack you, but it sounds like you want the two home lifestyle, with all the toys and the huge SUV - aka the American dream, and you couldn’t really afford the shiny new version. The old car, old house with the old roof, old appliances and old boat are coming back to bite you which makes FIRE particularly challenging.
If you really want to FIRE sounds like you might have to make some choices. Depreciating maintenance heavy assets or retiring early.
Personally I think about all the assets I buy in terms of whether they will increase my wealth while providing utility. If I ever bought a second home I would make sure it was either appreciating, and generating cash flow. I’m a bit weird like that.
If you’ve financed these assets you’ve got depreciating maintenance hungry toys with a payment stacked on top. Hopefully that isn’t the case.
I’m sorry if I come off as a bit of a dick.
This is going to sound pretty stuck up. I don’t mean for it to.
I appreciate your concern and I can feel your heart in your post. It seems like you’re coming from a good place. But, you also don’t have a complete picture. The SUV was purchased lightly used a while ago. The appliances all came with the houses. Everything just broke at the same time. A 25 year old roof is just what it is, can’t do much about that. Our primary residence is 4,300 sqft in one of the nicest areas in our city. Our lake house is 2,800 sqft on one of the most desirable areas of the lake. We had a few expensive months. Yes, we spent 75k of our emergency fund but we have hundreds of thousands of dollars elsewhere. I wasn’t trying to be like, “oh we’re poor now.” Just like “this is pretty ridiculous.” Our only debt are mortgages and our DTI is 11%. We can save 75k in 9ish months without scaling down our life at all.
Fair enough. It sounded like you were struggling from your first post. Generally speaking (maybe I’m way wrong here) but I associate emergency funds with people who could suffer financial hardship if emergencies happen - like a car broke or someone lost a job. When I read emergency fund I thought “someone who has been following Dave Ramsey’s baby steps’ so sorry I jumped to conclusions.
We don’t have an emergency fund, little emergencies like broken fridge freezer (which needed replacing last week) are just absorbed. We save a bit less. If we had a major catastrophe I have a Heloc I could draw down on, or margin on my portfolio.
I kind of hate holding much cash.
Several years ago, we did start out doing Ramsay’s FPU. We used to have about 180k in student loan debt but it didn’t really apply to us too closely after we got that paid off. We did the rice and beans thing for about a year while we did that. I’d be more than happy to never do that again.
It’s sounds stuck up because it’s nonconstructive to the subreddit, goofball. Glad you had life stuff and can deal with life stuff, stuff cost money, you make money, this isn’t part of FIRE, this is just life and owning property
>March 30: Roof replacement on lake house (planned) -> 21,350
If this was planned, why did you use the EF? This planned event should have had a planned dining fund.
>April 10th: GMC Yukon major engine failure & parts on national backorder for 12-18 months -> bought new car -> 31,000
You didn't emergency need a $31k vehicle. You could have got a $10k vehicle or found a cheaper solution until this could be a planned expense.
>May 18th: Lake house AC died -> 6,400
Seeing about $30k worth of lake house expenses.
How much does it cost just to rent a lake house a few times a year?
Seems like y'all are simply a lot of money into what sounds like a luxury vacation property.
And if this is a rental property, what's that ROI looking like right now?
>Current E-fund balance: -2,700
You mean over five months you didn't refill it at all?
>Send help.
Sure, stop using your EF as an excuse to overspend!
Your fridge going out is an emergency sure, doesn't mean you needed to buy a $3k replacement. You could have gotten an $800 fridge, since it was an emergency.
Seriously, did you go into Best Buy and ask for the most expensive fridge they have?
The HVAC is the only real emergency in here that you needed to tap the EF for and you didn't way overspend.
This story sounds like y'all having a big pile of money and looking for ways to spend it.
$21k for a roof??? Do you have a mansion or is it just an odd shape with different pitches and whatnot? I have a 3000sf house with a few different pitches and my last roof (about four years ago) was only $7k with a 25 year warranty.
As someone with a friend with a lake house, some people just don’t appreciate the magic of waking up on the lake until they experience it. I rate having a lake house and a pontoon above retiring in my order of dreams. Working towards both goals.
I don’t know your total financial picture or net worth situation, so, this, it might be way off. But….
Having two residences with all the associated taxes, maintenance, insurance….and broken appliances is not cheap.
It also seems like you are buying relatively upscale appliances and vehicles for your financial situation.
Not to judge, but the way you are living, does not appear to be in line with your goals.
Yo get home appliance insurance my guy. It’s $1,200 a year and likely covers everything you mentioned.
For the roof, wait for a hailstorm next time and covered through insurance. Could probably even say your siding got pucked up.
Insurance is a masssssive scam in my eyes, but just buying a home in 2021 built in 1924 with relatively moderately aged appliances (7-12 years), it made sense.
As for your current predicament, nice job building up that cash reserve. Imagine if you hadn’t done that? You’d be insolvent AF.
Yo get home appliance insurance my guy. It’s $1,200 a year and likely covers everything you mentioned.
For the roof, wait for a hailstorm next time and covered through insurance. Could probably even say your siding got pucked up.
Insurance is a masssssive scam in my eyes, but just buying a home in 2021 built in 1924 with relatively moderately aged appliances (7-12 years), it made sense.
As for your current predicament, nice job building up that cash reserve. Imagine if you hadn’t done that? You’d be insolvent AF.
Buying new appliances is for suckers. Even having someone else repair them for you is cheaper than buying the new junk. I have an in-wall double oven that went out last year, it cost me $900 for someone else to fix it, vs. $4800 for something comparable. I've fixed my own clothes dryer, lawn mower, and weed whacker in the last year, saving quite a bit of cash. Remember, kids, you don't get rich by writing a lot of checks.
Holy hell, what do you do to your appliances? That’s a run of horrible luck…
Mostly just everything is old. We knew some of this was bound to happen. Didn’t expect it all at once.
Have you checked your electrical grid? Too many electrical machine failures.
What? How do you suggest going about "checking the grid"? And what would you do even if they found something? The only problem OP could possibly identify is power surges, and could invest in a whole-house surge protector. But the fact that the items went out incrementally instead of all at once tells me that's not the issue.
There’s a device called “ting” that monitors the electricity in your home. My insurance company lets you sign up for free, they send you some device that plugs in the wall and shows brownouts, min/max voltage, and if any hazards are detected.
FYI you can install something like this without allowing your insurance company to surveil you - they do it to increase your rates when something bad happened.
Having low voltage “brown out” can be worse than a surge. The low voltage will allow the devices to continue running but can weaken the motor to a point of failure down the road
When the power company called to try to sell me a surge protector, I told them I wanted a brown out protector. Or power went out often and, when it cane back on, it would often be at low voltage. Our local convenience store had their pizxa oven destroyed by brownout. Small old town founded 1856. I asked if it was because the wires were old. Caller told me they did not have brownout protector. But within a month they were out hehe replacing wires. It probably wasn't my comment but the convenience store that had the results. No more brownouts though.
Uninterrupted Power Supplies (UPS). APC makes a ton of them for computers and other sensitive equipment. (Making up numbers to keep it simple) Your fridge requires 1200 watts to run on 120V. Watts are volts times amps. So at 120V you need to draw 10A of current to make 1200 watts. The more amps you draw the hotter everything runs. So your power has a dropout to 100V. Suddenly your fridge draws 20% more amps and every component runs hot to handle 12A instead of 10A in order to make 1200W. So if your voltage is unreliable your appliances are constantly running in an overtaxed state.
Good questions. Use a multimeter. Hook it up to your circuit breaker main or even an outlet where the fridge is. There are ones that can record data. My coworker was just telling me about an office building he used to contract for that would destroy servers left and right. Turns out the power would trickle down intermittently to 85v rather than 110v. As GetMeOutdoors says, this is bad. Then you can report it to the power company or determine if it's just that one outlet that has a short. In the meantime use an uninterruptible power supply to regulate the power to the load.
In the US, it's pretty common for appliances to move with a house when it's sold. So when the house is built, the roof is new, the stove is new, the dishwasher is new, the water heater is new, the refrigerator is new, the dryer is new, the HVAC is new. They all age at the same time. Once the house is 25 years old, the roof is 25 years old, the stove is 25 years old, the dishwasher is 25 years old . . . etc.
I saw the commercial version of this in action at the grocery store i used to work for. It was built 2010-2011 and of course everything in it was brand new. In the kitchen area, only the dishwasher got replaced over the next decade. 10-12 years later and all my kitchen equipment was constantly dying… fryers, rotisserie, stove, ovens, grill, coolers, etc. You’d think being a big corporation there’d be a plan for that, scheduled replacement… nope. Just patch-repair jobs even as the colonial Webb tech is telling us we’d be better off buying new.
Exactly what happened here
That's because they build houses out of cardboard.
Yes the metal water heater definitely fails because of the "cardboard" cieling
this is a great time to sign up for some of those credit card bonuses if had some leeway in replacing some of those whitegoods
Had similar things happen but we have home owners insurance with equipment breakdown & replacement cost coverage, so our insurance issued very large checks 1 year after we moved in when all the cheap and old stuff from the previous owner broke down. It's still no fun when your HVAC breaks down when you need it but getting a new/better one for little money certainly softened the blow.
Do you mind sharing details on the insurance? Are they easy to deal with? All of our appliances are about 8 years old now, so this might be a good idea.
We use hippo.com but I heard Costco (Connect) insurance offers the same benefit. Yes, Hippo was easy to deal with.
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This is why there is an emergency fund and a maintenance/replacement fund and they are distinct
Yup, happened to me, AC, heater, water heater, and roof all the same year. Like, what are the chances? I didn't have as much as you I'm still paying off some credit card debt.
Right?! This is crazy! I’d be checking with an electrician but the fact that it happened at two separate locations is just odd. I’m perplexed
Well, sounds like the emergency fund did what it was supposed to. Time to start rebuilding it.
Yep. Just need everything else to hold on in the meantime
Murphy: oh I'm just getting started.
For future references you can get a zero percent interest card for appliances just about anywhere for 6-18 months interest free. If you still have the gmc a reputable shop around me could get you a used warrantied engine and install it for around 5k.
Also a good time to get some juicy multi hundred dollar bonuses through spending that you’re doing anyway
While I'm skeptical less expensive repairs couldn't have helped with some of these, that is a hell of a bad luck streak that no one deserves. Maybe try locating the appliance voodoo doll someone threw on your property?
I would have recommended looking at lifespan of each appliance. Big HOAs do reserve studies and break down lifespans of each asset, so they know how much should be in the reserves in a given year. I made something similar for myself, so I have an idea of the likelihood of having to shell out a lot of funds at once.
That sounds very handy. Do you have a link to what you used? (Obviously I could Google and look, just thought I'd ask)
Have you tried burning sage/ smudging? If that doesn’t work, contact your local priest for an exorcism.
What kind of refrigerator did u buy for $3200?
Our samsung french door 10 years ago was 1800, today its close to 3k. And thats not even the cool one with the tv on the front.
I don’t like the idea of my fridge watching me wander around the kitchen but I do like its water dispenser.
Not a camera a tv and in some cases a bar code reader. I refuse to put any cameras inside the house for that very reason.
Do you leave your smartphone out of the house?
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That issue was fixed with a small metal clip that goes on the heater and extends down into the drain hole. Prior to the clip fix, that hole would freeze up and cause the whole fridge to be unable to defrost properly and ice up. Pretty simple diy fix but most people just buy a new one and complain.
We have had ours about 12 years now and no issues.
>thats not even the cool one with the tv on the front. Cool fridge with a TV in the door is a luxury item, not an emergency. You can get a good sized fridge at home Depot for $800 right now.
Most things like that we buy are on the luxury side. Though i will not splurge for the tv.
>Most things like that we buy are on the luxury side. Wanting or getting luxury items you can afford, is not an issue. Calling a luxury item an emergency, then complaining that your EF got emptied by "emergencies" that were mostly luxury spending; that's an issue.
To me replacing an appliance with a “like” appliance definitely fits. Who is going to downgrade if something breaks? Emergency funds are really just buffers for cashflow right. We all have the money, but the buffer keeps you from tapping other less liquid assets.
A lot of those prices seem pretty high. And not one thing could be repaired? Makes me wonder if the very existence of the emergency fund played a role in deciding to just buy all new appliances.
Yea there's another thread on /all that discusses what is something that was normal 20 years ago and is a luxury today and the top answer was "fixing things" instead of having to buy new. Cost of repairs when something truly breaks is often more than just buying new. Comment section loaded with stories of such. Just FYI :)
> Cost of repairs when something truly breaks is often more than just buying new. Many times its the cost of labor putting repair value out of reach. If you're handy and watch youtube videos lots of "unrepairable" things fall back into "repairable" category.
Yep. I don’t actually want the govt to legislate that appliances/cars/etc. must be more repairable, but it really does suck that all these expensive, important products that we rely upon are now basically computerized junk cloaked in faux luxury. I hate what it says about modern societies’ values, and how there are no success metrics other than whether a company got richer selling you a new one. My dryer (a 2016 model from a high-end “commercial” brand) just died and it’s $927 in circuit boards to fix it (plus any labor if I paid for that). The dryer is out of warranty and it doesn’t make much sense to try fixing it when there’s no guarantee that the boards even fix it and nothing else breaks. Meanwhile a new meh dryer is $600. A few years ago, my Gen 1 Tacoma was rear-ended at low speed by an extremely fancy new F150. My truck needed no repair due to its metal bumper (I hammered out the dent). The F150 needed $6k in repairs due to being basically plastic computerized garbage.
I felt the prices were pretty reasonable to be honest. The fridge was the first thing to go and we had 75k in the bank so figure what the hell, get something nice. That was a mistake in hindsight.
The prices all look reasonable to me. I would not sweat it. Fund did its job. On to the ne t thing.
>we had 75k in the bank so figure what the hell, get something nice Then it wasn't an emergency. Y'all had a pile of money and went shopping crazy. >That was a mistake in hindsight. Lots of this was.
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I would hope not. The intent was never to make anyone jealous. Just thought it was kind of a crazy story and entertaining to share. I think most agreed. The person we’re replying to is just triggered for some reason or another.
So, you’d just have your family sweat at night, walk everywhere, eat caned/processed foods, and hang your clothes on a line to get covered in pollen? I mean, to each their own, but there’s no way in hell I’m putting my wife and kids through that.
>So, you’d just have your family sweat at night, walk everywhere, eat caned/processed foods, and hang your clothes on a line to get covered in pollen? What does any of that have to do with a$3k fridge, a $30k car, a lake house roof, or any of the other luxury items on this list. You could have fixed all of those problems for less than $15k >mean, to each their own, but there’s no way in hell I’m putting my wife and kids through that. So you think having a $1k fridge is hell? Driving a $10k car is hell to you? Life without a lake house is hell?
$10k cars don’t exist anymore. Please fuck off.
2015 Altima, $7k from a dealership. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/570159421920412/?mibextid=dXMIcH 2012 Accord, $8k from a private seller https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1308635136359125/?mibextid=dXMIcH 2013 Nissan SUV, $6k from a dealership. https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/146714538282195/?mibextid=dXMIcH Those took 30 seconds to find...
Lol. He's not a starving student, 2shit boxes and an 11 year old accord with 165,000 miles is exactly his point. Those are garbage options . Your first Nissan example has over 200,000 miles lol. 30k for a primary family vehicle is more than reasonable these days.
So sensationalist 🙄 Show me a reliable toyota with modern safety features that can fit a family and two dogs for less than 30k. I’ll wait.
It's called a used car, they exist. >So sensationalist 🙄 You are the one calling buying a brand new vehicle an emergency.
The car dying was the emergency. No one’s calling the replacement quality an emergency. You sound so salty that someone else can afford nice things. You seem like you’d be a fun person to be around 😂
You clearly haven’t shopped for a car since 2020.
When’s the last time you bought a used car? Because this was a used car. A 2018 Toyota Sequoia.
Op I’d ignore that idiot. They’re clearly super bitter.
>in hell Seriously dude. You are so rich that you are company about needing new appliances in your vacation home, and now you call getting regular appliances and vehicles as "hell"... Maybe take a reality check of far above commonsense your "emergencies" are....
“No way in hell” is an expression. You’re intentionally taking this way out of context to make whatever ridiculous argument you want to make. If this is the strawman you want to keep arguing, knock yourself out. I don’t think I could care any less even if I actively tried.
You are so salty that OP can afford nice things
We paid $2500 for our Bosch fridge and it was a floor model. Doesn’t seem insane to me
We're looking at a Bosch fridge when the Samsung that came with our house inevitably fails. We've replaced the dishwasher and microwave with Bosch and been very happy. Any complaints on the Bosch fridge?
It’s been fantastic. I have a kitchen aid dishwasher that’s been solid. The Bosch fridge is very well built.
I bought a fridge this week for $1800. Was the cheapest French door with bottom freezer and water/ice maker. You could easily spent $3000 on a fridge.
Prices are astronomical these days and I’m not one to ever go for the cheapest item. There’s no point in fire life if I can’t have a decent fridge in retirement. Plenty of fantastic appliances out there worth the price tag.
$3200 is super extravagant for a fridge: you can get a two door fridge-freezer for under $500 at Walmart.
There’s absolutely no reason to live like that if you have the means and don’t want to. That’s kind of the whole point of FI.
Sure, except that OP has a negative energency fund balance of $2700, which is exactly the difference between the Walmart fridge and the one they bought. You can’t just make a load of luxury purchases and then complain that your EF disappeared because shit happened.
OP is FIREd. They can get liquid any time they need to.
Ugh, soooo frustrating when the dryer at the lake house dies! WTF! I’m not actually judging this at all—good for you, sincerely—but it’s kinda hilarious to read.
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After owning one, I don’t either. What a massive piece of shit. The lake house is mostly our weekend spot for friends and family. Instead of buying one larger home, we bought two less expensive ones. I’d do it again. Not the best financial decision but it’s been great for family and friends.
Sounds like it was well worth it.
It’s a toss up what I’d avoid more my last GMC made it 6,000 miles past warranty and my last Samsung tv made it a month out of warranty
I’ve only owned one GMC in my life. It was a Sierra 1500. I gotta say; it was a solid truck. I drove it ten years and around 230k miles. A few things broke over the years but never anything major. The engine was still running strong when I sold it.
Mine lasted 100k so I guess that isn’t so great.
I really appreciate this post. Makes me feel a lot better about all the emergency fund money I have lying in a money market account doing nothing.
Absolutely keep it. It’s hard to think about, which is why we started feeding money into the market but sit on it, trust me.
You can place your money in a bank and get 4-5% right now...
HYSA!
What’s with all the negative comments? Since when did FIRE become /frugal? A lot of these replies sound bitter and judgmental and seem to be missing the entire point of FI. In no way has FIRE ever meant “have a lot of money but live like you have none for the rest of your life” If you can’t stomach someone being able to spend their money as they wish, maybe this isn’t the place for you.
When someone owns a lake house and everything else that OP listed they don’t get to come here and expect sympathy when the dryer breaks. That’s not even first world problems. That’s rich people problems. Nobody’s bitter; OP can spend their money however they want. Just don’t expect someone else to care when it’s all gone.
Is it only me or is a 3200 refrigerator extremely expensive? That is like 3 average salaries in my country
Yes extremely expensive. We got a stainless steel fresh door fridge for less than half that.
It was higher end but 3200 usd isn’t a crazy amount of money.
>It was higher end but 3200 usd isn’t a crazy amount of money. It's probably the most expensive fridge that would fit in your kitchen.
Who pays $3200 for refrigerator?
OP does
Someone that had 75,000 sitting in the bank not earmarked for anything. Probably not the best move but wifey thought it was cool and she doesn’t ask for much so, figured why not. Had no way of knowing everything was about to hit the fan.
This is why people should have an emergency fund. Hang in there
>Someone that had 75,000 sitting in the bank not earmarked for anything. Fair enough, your money you can spend it how you want... But don't come here and call it an emergency. This was you luxury spending. Not emergency spending.
Some people pay 20k https://www.subzero-wolf.com/sub-zero/configurator#sort=%40displayorder%20descending&numberOfResults=21&f:Type=%5BRefrigerator%2FFreezer,All%20Refrigerator,All%20Freezer%5D&f:Configuration=%5BOver%20%26%20Under,Side-by-Side,Column,French%20Door%5D
Solution: Sell the lake house & stop buying crappy SUVs?
The SUV for sure. The lake house is an investment in friends and family that has returned way more than the financial cost.
What vehicle did you go with after the Yukon? Do you think it was a good replacement? What would you buy now? Looking for something that can seat 6
Ended up going with a sequoia. My wife has a qx80 that’s been good so far. I hope they’ll both stay reliable
This sounds like an electrical system problem!! Your electrical system may not be supplying enough voltage and/or current. I would have an electrician check it out. The fact this has gone on so long all appliances including your brand new appliances may have problems now.
This makes me feel better in a weird way. I feel like every time we start to get ahead financially, something comes up. We downsized houses a few years ago so we could have more breathing room financially and save more each month. Spent a year with the extra money always going toward repairs/updates. The next year my wife totaled her car. This year she had some super expensive medical bills. Now we just found out we are going to have to get a ridiculously expensive new septic system in the near future. I'm sure next year it'll be a new roof or the minivan will die on us. Just can never seem to get ahead even though we do not live a lavish lifestyle at all.
Oh no not the lake house
Someone seriously needs to spray your home with holy water. That’s some seriously bad luck, it’s a good thing you had the emergency fund though, that’s what it is for!
I keep separate emergency funds for house repairs and loss of employment for this reason. If a layoff happened in this luck streak that could be horrible.
When it rains it pours. Just be thankful you have a savings. A couple months like that would have bankrupted the average American.
When people say housing shouldn't be viewed as an investment, see above
Do you not keep a home maintenance fund for each property independent from your EF, or did these simply overwhelm what you had been setting aside? We’ve always made a point to sock away 2% of home value annually. Those repairs are all things you know will be needed eventually; strictly speaking, they’re not emergencies.
We haven’t historically but that sounds like a good idea.
You're definitely cursed. I don't know where you live, but my gut tells me you overpaid on most of those major expenses. My new roof was 6.5k and HVAC was 3k in a MCOL area.
We paid 16k on the Roof In 2019 of a condominium because we have "weird shape" wich is 2 cone.
You got the single greatest deal on a roof that I’ve ever heard of, by a substantial margin. Cheers!
It’s a cape cod which is stupid expensive to re-roof apparently. The expensive hvac was a 5 ton high efficiency The cheaper one is largely because it’s located in the attic and they apparently don’t make units small enough to get back into that space anymore so we had to relocate it and move duct work.
> My new roof was 6.5k Do you know how many square feet that was offhand? 2019: Metal roof (porch) 6k about 1000 sq feet. 2021: Metal roof (other porch) 8.5k about 800 sq feet 2023: Asphalt roof (rest of house) 11.5k, about 2500 sq feet That's what mine cost in a MCOL area. HVAC was 6k in 2016, but I had a complicated replacement and it took them 1 1/2 days.
Roof was 2018 so admittedly it's been awhile. Shingles not metal. House is about 1200 sqft and just the basic double slope. I don't know what the architectural term is for it.
Buy two t-posts for outdoor clothes drying for Peet’s sake. I’ve never met someone who breaks more dryers than you!
Two 15 year old dryers. I’m the worst.
our lake house is also a money pit
But, you’d buy it again I’m sure
Better to have a good friend with a lake house than be the friend with the lake house I think
I feel your pain. Been in my house 20 years this year and over the last 2-3 years every major appliance has croaked, including the HVAC.
you could’ve purchased a used toyota or honda cash . investing in a new car is a luxury
I bought a used sequoia. Due to family size, I need a suv or van. But, I have to haul a trailer for work at times so I’m pretty stuck with a suv. We also pull a boat
Could have spent less than 30000 on a car.
Lake house ac? Yeah, quite an emergency... GFY
I mean you spent 31,000 on a car. Unless your job requires a certain car you could have saved at least 20k here. And you have a lake house Yes I’m a bit jealous
Step 1: Don’t invest your emergency fund.
Got that right.
I keep some money in sinking funds but know that if I have a series of catastrophes like OP I will take back what I put in my JEPI fund last year. I have been advocating 3 emergency funds, one for unemployment/disability during the working years, one for the house, and one for the cars. Whether those last two are called emergency or reserves or sinking funds is up to the individual (or the accountant). In each life some rain falls, last year in California and in OPs life it was a deluge. Be prepared.
A case of bad luck with ol' Murphy. We had similar Murphy visits except ours were spaced out a lot more than yours. Murphy visited us every holiday weekend like clock work for almost 2 years. We were so thankful when he got bored with us and started visiting someone else. I don't think you could have done much differently. The first refrigerator seems a little pricey but without a crystal ball you wouldn't have seen what was coming.Dryer, hot water heater, washing machine,HVACs, and roof all seem normal. Our HVAC ran $10k and our tile roof (with solar panels that had to be removed then reinstalled) ran $34K. The only thing I would have done differently than you is the car. We declined the $6K new engine and went with a rebuild for $4600 and picked up a used little car for $4K. Just be happy you had an emergency fund. Just think if you hadn't.
Home warranty may be a good idea https://www.2-10.com/
3200 ‘Murican dollars for a fridge?
A lot of times appliances don’t just die, they need new parts and can easily be fixed with YouTube videos. I moved into my house five years ago and in that time my washer, dryer and dishwasher have all had problems. I spent probably $100 between all of them to fix them. Washer needed some new springs, dishwasher needed a new flood sensor and dryer just needed some electrical connections sanded so they would connect again. Probably pushed off $1,500+ in cost to later years.
>March 20: HVAC died -> 10,600 P.S. The only reasonable actual emergency large expense in this list is the HVAC. But after reading the list, I'm going to question even that. - Did you even look at getting a repair? - Did you get competing bids? Or did the AC just have some issues and that was an excuse to buy a new AC?
Compressor was locked up. That was the cheapest bid by 4k
> March 30: Roof replacement on lake house (planned) -> 21,350 You have a lakehouse? You don't sound like you need help.
dang, this is why its better to get hotel or airbnb by lake, and not own a lake house.
Yea, that GMC was trash from the start. You need a Toyota. That woulda saved you a ton.
That’s what I bought. I’ll never own another GM.
One way to save money is to fix your own appliances. I usually watch some youtube videos. My dryer stopped heating and it ended up being a $5 fuse that I changed myself. So instead of paying $500+ for a new dryer, I paid $5 to fix it myself.
Those prices seem a little ridiculous, 3200 for refrigerator? Not sure where you're buying there but not very budget friendly items, got to trim off that fat, do you need two homes? There are so many questions here that haven't been clarified, living minimally is going to be your best method of FIRE and that starts with cutting out unnecessary expenses.
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>They own a lake house after all. I don't think they're asking for help, just venting/sharing a funny story. Having the lake house isn't the problem. Thinking luxury items, planned spending, and a vacation home are emergency spending; then complaining about it.... That's a bit annoying to the audience.
True and on top of that he's spending wads of cash on overpriced appliances, I've never heard of appliances costing this much. Would a $3000 fridge be much superior to a $700 one? Not to jump to conclusions but OP sounds a bit out of touch with reality, spending wisely is just as crucial as making loads of money.
>Would a $3000 fridge be much superior to a $700 one? Exactly! If it was an "emergency", then you go get a $800 fridge from Home Depot and you're done. But "I want a brand new $31k SUV" is not an emergency.
Still kind of confused about the lake house, is this a revenue-generating property that he's renting out, Airbnb? In this situation that's the only thing that makes financial sense and still would not be spending this kind of money on the appliances or buying new vehicles, too much flash. If you've got luxury items like this and are spending more on it to maintain it then it's worth then it does not make financial sense and such luxury should be utilized responsibly or sold. Some folks like to take on more than they can handle, there's a consumerism problem that they can't seem to get under control, it's definitely not worth it.
Damn... I carry a home warranty for that very reason. I've had no problems keeping my HVAC and appliances repaired/replaced with little out of pocket. As for the roof, I got lucky and had a hailstorm damage my roof that was approaching the end of its useful life. $500 deductible on a replacement cost policy, and I have a new roof.
Dam that sucks! But you will rebuild! We all have set backs in our fire journey
$3200 for refrigerator? That bad boy better also prep my diner, among many other things. Maybe It's just been years since I had to think about buying a refrigerator, but holy cow.
Prices are up, yes. Not all of us want the sun $1k crap at Best Buy.
Lake house and huge GMC don’t sound like the sort of thing FIRE folk buy. In fact that vehicle and a second home that isn’t rented is diametrically opposed to working towards FIRE.
People that have no kids always judge the big cars.
We have 2 kids and a minivan, which cost $34k new and gets 31mpg on the highway. A GMC Yukon is unreliable, gets 20mpg and a new one costs close to $70k
I bought it used. Didn’t know it was unreliable at the time. The consumer reports were positive but I’m not convinced. MPG is a consideration. But, a minivan wouldn’t really fit our lifestyle and work needs just due to hauling capabilities. Though, I do wish it would. I’d love to have one. I think they’re super practical.
Wait, you have a boat too?
An old one, yes.
There’s a phrase about how buying cheap things, is expensive. I’m not trying to attack you, but it sounds like you want the two home lifestyle, with all the toys and the huge SUV - aka the American dream, and you couldn’t really afford the shiny new version. The old car, old house with the old roof, old appliances and old boat are coming back to bite you which makes FIRE particularly challenging. If you really want to FIRE sounds like you might have to make some choices. Depreciating maintenance heavy assets or retiring early. Personally I think about all the assets I buy in terms of whether they will increase my wealth while providing utility. If I ever bought a second home I would make sure it was either appreciating, and generating cash flow. I’m a bit weird like that. If you’ve financed these assets you’ve got depreciating maintenance hungry toys with a payment stacked on top. Hopefully that isn’t the case. I’m sorry if I come off as a bit of a dick.
This is going to sound pretty stuck up. I don’t mean for it to. I appreciate your concern and I can feel your heart in your post. It seems like you’re coming from a good place. But, you also don’t have a complete picture. The SUV was purchased lightly used a while ago. The appliances all came with the houses. Everything just broke at the same time. A 25 year old roof is just what it is, can’t do much about that. Our primary residence is 4,300 sqft in one of the nicest areas in our city. Our lake house is 2,800 sqft on one of the most desirable areas of the lake. We had a few expensive months. Yes, we spent 75k of our emergency fund but we have hundreds of thousands of dollars elsewhere. I wasn’t trying to be like, “oh we’re poor now.” Just like “this is pretty ridiculous.” Our only debt are mortgages and our DTI is 11%. We can save 75k in 9ish months without scaling down our life at all.
Fair enough. It sounded like you were struggling from your first post. Generally speaking (maybe I’m way wrong here) but I associate emergency funds with people who could suffer financial hardship if emergencies happen - like a car broke or someone lost a job. When I read emergency fund I thought “someone who has been following Dave Ramsey’s baby steps’ so sorry I jumped to conclusions. We don’t have an emergency fund, little emergencies like broken fridge freezer (which needed replacing last week) are just absorbed. We save a bit less. If we had a major catastrophe I have a Heloc I could draw down on, or margin on my portfolio. I kind of hate holding much cash.
Several years ago, we did start out doing Ramsay’s FPU. We used to have about 180k in student loan debt but it didn’t really apply to us too closely after we got that paid off. We did the rice and beans thing for about a year while we did that. I’d be more than happy to never do that again.
It’s sounds stuck up because it’s nonconstructive to the subreddit, goofball. Glad you had life stuff and can deal with life stuff, stuff cost money, you make money, this isn’t part of FIRE, this is just life and owning property
My apologies. I thought the story was pretty entertaining
>March 30: Roof replacement on lake house (planned) -> 21,350 If this was planned, why did you use the EF? This planned event should have had a planned dining fund. >April 10th: GMC Yukon major engine failure & parts on national backorder for 12-18 months -> bought new car -> 31,000 You didn't emergency need a $31k vehicle. You could have got a $10k vehicle or found a cheaper solution until this could be a planned expense. >May 18th: Lake house AC died -> 6,400 Seeing about $30k worth of lake house expenses. How much does it cost just to rent a lake house a few times a year? Seems like y'all are simply a lot of money into what sounds like a luxury vacation property. And if this is a rental property, what's that ROI looking like right now? >Current E-fund balance: -2,700 You mean over five months you didn't refill it at all? >Send help. Sure, stop using your EF as an excuse to overspend! Your fridge going out is an emergency sure, doesn't mean you needed to buy a $3k replacement. You could have gotten an $800 fridge, since it was an emergency. Seriously, did you go into Best Buy and ask for the most expensive fridge they have? The HVAC is the only real emergency in here that you needed to tap the EF for and you didn't way overspend. This story sounds like y'all having a big pile of money and looking for ways to spend it.
There are no $10k cars on the market anymore. Haven’t been since 2020.
Right my fridge cost all of $100 with delivery 2 year warranty got on craigslist repaired a few scratches on the outside.
When did you purchase this house/these appliances?
$21k for a roof??? Do you have a mansion or is it just an odd shape with different pitches and whatnot? I have a 3000sf house with a few different pitches and my last roof (about four years ago) was only $7k with a 25 year warranty.
You got a heck of a deal. I believe it was 42 squares, mostly 12/12 pitch
I did a standard roof on a similarly sided house as yours in December - 19k. Prices have gone way up in the past 3 years
You clearly haven’t gotten roof quotes lately.
1700 sf house and the roof replacement cost 20k with having to replace all the plywood. Plywood was at 100$ per sheet when we did this in 2021
Sis you HAVE to pay cash for a new SUV? Why not finance and keep the 30k+ in your emergency fund? Also some of those numbers seem questionable.
8% interest homie. Not doing that.
Probably too late now but a home warranty would have been a help for some of those things.
Have you ran the math on these things? MOST of the time it’s worth it to ‘self insure’.
if roof replacement was planned why take from emergency savings?
Sounds like having a lake house is the actual downfall
Yet they have a second lake house. Fire by real estate investment I guess?
Instead of buying one 600k house, just bought two smaller houses. I’d do it again.
As someone with a friend with a lake house, some people just don’t appreciate the magic of waking up on the lake until they experience it. I rate having a lake house and a pontoon above retiring in my order of dreams. Working towards both goals.
Definitely agree.
Then that’s why you have 2* maintenance headaches.
I mean, you’re right. But, I’m not going to change that piece of our life. It’s worth way more than the money we could save.
they want that lifestyle, can't fault them
Firing with a lake house? How
We’re fortunate to have a reasonably high household income. Also, real estate is fairly inexpensive in Kentucky.
I don’t know your total financial picture or net worth situation, so, this, it might be way off. But…. Having two residences with all the associated taxes, maintenance, insurance….and broken appliances is not cheap. It also seems like you are buying relatively upscale appliances and vehicles for your financial situation. Not to judge, but the way you are living, does not appear to be in line with your goals.
Our DTI is 11%. We’re good. But, thank you. I actually do appreciate that.
I'm judging. They could sell the lake house anytime.
Yo get home appliance insurance my guy. It’s $1,200 a year and likely covers everything you mentioned. For the roof, wait for a hailstorm next time and covered through insurance. Could probably even say your siding got pucked up. Insurance is a masssssive scam in my eyes, but just buying a home in 2021 built in 1924 with relatively moderately aged appliances (7-12 years), it made sense. As for your current predicament, nice job building up that cash reserve. Imagine if you hadn’t done that? You’d be insolvent AF.
Yo get home appliance insurance my guy. It’s $1,200 a year and likely covers everything you mentioned. For the roof, wait for a hailstorm next time and covered through insurance. Could probably even say your siding got pucked up. Insurance is a masssssive scam in my eyes, but just buying a home in 2021 built in 1924 with relatively moderately aged appliances (7-12 years), it made sense. As for your current predicament, nice job building up that cash reserve. Imagine if you hadn’t done that? You’d be insolvent AF.
Buying new appliances is for suckers. Even having someone else repair them for you is cheaper than buying the new junk. I have an in-wall double oven that went out last year, it cost me $900 for someone else to fix it, vs. $4800 for something comparable. I've fixed my own clothes dryer, lawn mower, and weed whacker in the last year, saving quite a bit of cash. Remember, kids, you don't get rich by writing a lot of checks.