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It was an hour till dinner time when I tried turning on the stove. POOF! The oven turned off, then on and it wouldn’t shut off.
“Has it been on all day? It’s warm. What are we supposed to do?” I asked my handy father.
“Turn off the gas.”
Thirty minutes later we were still dealing with the stove.
“How long ago did you guys buy the stove?”
“I can’t even remember,” he responded.
A few minutes later, we began discussing possible solutions. Do we get it fixed? Do we buy a new one? Can we afford a new one?
All this ran through my mind and it gave me a headache. The stench of gas didn’t help either.
Repairing the stove was not an option as it was too old and way too costly.
Since I cook and bake at home a lot, I wanted a high quality stand alone range. I did a bunch of research online before settling on an $800 budget and specific qualifications. I spent an entire day going to five different stores to negotiate prices and compare models.
I did not consider buying from an outlet, but here are Bargain Babe’s tips to shopping at an appliance outlet.
I settled on Home Depot. They have free delivery and haul away. Sears was trying to charge me $65 for delivery. HA!
The General Electric range I picked has everything I need. Five burners including a grill and oven. It’s also stainless steel — a plus, but not a requirement.
I paid $732.11. The original price was $848, but it was on sale for $748. A 10% discount I managed to snag brought down the price to $673. I saved a whooping $174.80!
My new stove will be delivered tomorrow. In the mean time, Bobbi’s post about alternative cooking methods has been handy.
What appliance has given you a tough time?
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Welcome to Bargain Babe! I’m Mara, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am an obsessive bargain hunter and penny pincher, and I am determined to live a full life without EVER paying full price. 
I’ve been having problems with my stove for a long time. It’s an old Magic Chef that was in the house when we bought it in 1977! I hate to part with it, because it has an upper oven attached above the range that is so handy for keeping cooked foods warm, or for warming plates when you’re having guests to dinner. I’m mulling calling a company to give me an estimate on repair costs, or to let me know whether they’re even feasible. I have been checking the ads for possibilities. Now I just need to get on the ball and start investigating! I’ve gotten way too lazy in my retirement years!
Also, I don’t like my fridge, but there’s nothing really wrong with it that would justify putting out money to replace it.
@EllieD I found Consumer Reports and Good Housekeeping useful when I did my research on ranges.
As for the fridge, the DWP was giving out free fridges to those that qualified. Don’t know if they’re still doing it, but it wouldn’t hurt to check it out.
I got my new wall oven/microwave combo at Best Buy. It retailed for around $1200, but was marked down to $650 as a floor model. We had had it for 11 months when it quit working. I called Whirlpool service and they came to fix it. The part was backordered and after several weeks they called to say they were going to replace it for free with this years model AND I would get another 12 month warranty!! I always shop for floor models, but will only buy with a steep discount.
@Greta Wow, you take the cake! That’s an awesome deal.
@EllieD: I had the same question as you a few years ago. We have an old Tappan stove with top and bottom ovens, and new was just prohibitively expensive. We eventually found a decent (local!) restoration company which charged us less than $400 for the whole thing. It’s definitely worth investigating.
@Iggy ~ What area do you live in? There is a company in the San Fernando Valley that does work on old appliances, and it’s been in business for many years. I can’t think of the name of it off-hand, but I did save one of their ads for future reference.
@Yazmin ~ I’ll check with both the agencies you mentioned. As for the DWP ~ What are the stipulations regarding free fridges? I do know you can get a certain rebate for energy star appliances, but haven’t heard anything about free fridges.
@EllieD I think the fridge had to be older than 15 years. I don’t remember if there was any other requirements. My aunt requested one since hers was an older model. She received an energy star fridge.
Yazmin, I need a stove pronto. I’m looking at GE. What model is yours. I know they have several GE with five burners. Thank you.
@Kay I just received mine today! It’s a GE 30″ Free-Standing Gas Range JGB282SETSS. So far I love it.
@Yazmin ~ I know the fridge is at least 15 years old, as my husband and I bought it together at Sears. I probably have the sales receipt somewhere in my clutter. Thanks for the info. I’ll contact DWP to find out whether the offer still holds.
And I’ll check out your stove model, as it sounds like something I’d like. I do a lot of cooking (not so much baking).