A testimony from Jen
Up until a year ago I was working full-time at a job that paid pretty well. Our home, cars and budget were based on two good incomes. But after my son was born I struggled as a working mom and finally made the decision to stay home. While I don’t regret it at all, it’s meant some major budget overhauling.
Two months ago we read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey and decided we were committed to becoming debt-free. As is always the case, life decided to hit us with a test to see how dedicated we were to our new plan.
Fixing the Leak
For the last month the spray nozzle on our kitchen sink has been leaking. We’ve had to leave it sit in the sink to avoid water damage to the cabinet underneath.
Over Labor Day weekend we decided to tackle the job of replacing it. We were told it would be a simple do-it-yourself job. We had a small gift certificate to Home Depot so we headed there to get the parts we needed.
To make a long story short, after three trips to the hardware store, and a visit from my dad (a general contractor), we found out we had to replace the entire kitchen faucet. The cheapest kitchen faucets run around $100, and that was NOT in the budget! So I got to work trying to figure out what to do.
How We Saved
- I checked Craigslist and found a two-year-old kitchen faucet for $20. Turns out it belonged to the kindest older couple who had just re-done their kitchen and decided instead of throwing it away they would see if they could help someone out by putting it on Craigslist. What an answer to prayer!
- I crawled under the sink myself (my husband couldn’t fit!) and figured out how to remove the old faucet and put the new one in (which included 2 more trips to the hardware store for replacement pipes and connections).
When all was said and done we spent $28 on the faucet and replacement parts.
What We Gained
The best part of this? Two days earlier we had received an unexpected $57 check in the mail from our mortgage company. A year ago we would have immediately blown that on a night out, but because of our new commitment to remaining debt-free, we tucked it away for a special need. What great confirmation that we are making the right decisions with our money!!
My name is Jen, I am a stay-at-home-mom to a two-year-old son. I have been married for eight years to a wonderful man who supports me in all my endeavors, whether it be rearranging our budget, crazy-coupon-clipping or climbing under the kitchen sink!
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
I think I love this more than all the other stories, because of all the different lessons you learned – from finding something inexpensively to fixing it yourself, and then what you do with unexpected cash. Very neat!
Your story is inspirational! People don’t always think that the little things matter, but for lots of people, the little frugal things really DO matter, they are necessary. As you mentioned, $100 for a faucet is not inexpensive and it would be a challenge for many who live on a tight budget. I love how God blessed you with your faucet purchase from that sweet couple and how you worked hard to repair it. Your story is very encouraging! Thank you for sharing it with us.
I enjoyed your story but it was your Massey Ferguson picture that brought an especially large smile to my face. I learned to drive (at 5 years old) on my dad’s old Ferguson. My 3 year old son is partial to John Deere, but stories from “PaPa” about “Mommy” learning to drive the Ferguson have definately increased my cool mommy points. Such a cute picture, your little boy is so fortunate. And kudos to you for braving the plumbing! I’m sure your cool mommy points went up for that one!
@Mel,
Mel,
Your comment made me smile. I’m sorry to tell you that the Massey Fergusson is not ours. It belongs to friends that let us come out and use it for our family picture. My son LOVES tractors. We don’t live on a farm but he’s developed a fascination with them. Any tractor will do, but he prefers the green or red ones :o). We’re trying to get him out to farms as much as possible to let him drive and ride them. Who knows? Maybe I’m raising the next generation of farmer!
I love this story! It’s so easy to get caught up in whirlwind spending when doing home repair projects. And it’s one of the areas where I’m always the most fearful of the end price. It’s nice to hear a success story about home repair! Thanks for sharing!
I love it! The small things really matter and add up.
Great story! My husband & I started the Dave Ramsey debt free living in January. We now pay cash for everything!!! We paid cash and put in a new drain field for our septic system with our emergency fund! Only a few more months and I will have my car paid off a few years early!
Crystal,
Thank you so much for posting these stories. I really appreciate that you focus on a act of being disciplined and saving for different sized goals. Someone just starting out, so them, saving for a kitchen faucet is a huge deal. To another family buying a house is much nearer in reach. Both can be attainble, however, they take time.
Love your website..thank you for the daily encouragement.
Marisa
Love this story. With God everything is possible!
As a huge fan of Dave Ramsey, I love reading all of these stories. Yes, Murphy might pay a visit and test us, but we don’t have to let him beat us down! Keep being a good steward of God’s money, and He will indeed provide.
Craig’s list is awesome for home remodels. Within the past 2.5 years we have remodeled the majority of the rooms in our house. While we bought new products (sometimes from ebay and sometimes from retail stores) we did sell most of what we were replacing on craigslist list (from cabinets to toilets!). We also hired a lot of struggling plumbers, electricians, etc from Craigs list to help us with stuff we couldn’t do ourself. It was cheaper than calling a company and we knew these people needed the work. Oh, and of course we paid for all of it (including granite counter tops) with cash.
Great story – We serve an awesome, faithful God! I love hearing of all the little confirmations that He sends to let us know when we are on the right track. Thank you for sharing.
Great story! You gained something else – the confidence to tackle a project yourself and a little more knowledge about home plumbing. It’s unfortunate but true that our generation is much more likely to call in a “professional” to make a repair than our parents were – my parents have skill sets that put me to shame.
awesome job! and way to go on fixing it yourself 🙂
Thanks for reminding is to look outside “the box”. And that God provides!
I love this story. I think the ones with the smaller amounts are my favorite because they show how much the heart counts! Great job!
Thanks for sharing the testamant of God’s faithful provisions. Keep trusting Him!
What a great story- I love that you feature big and small purchases!
I love the stories too! So inspirational! The little ones are sometimes even better to read than the big ones, believe it or not. I think a lot of us need to take baby steps and this keeps us motivated that any place is a great place to start and worthy of being celebrated!
I love this story because I think sometimes we are so over whelmed by bigger things that sometimes we don’t think of these small things! Thanks for the great story and reminder! 🙂
Wow do i know what those cost! I am envious and gained knowledge there didn’t even occur to me to check craigslist. I did find one on menards clearanced at 39$ That encouraged me to think further outside the box. THANKs
I really liked this story. Being wise about spending, even on small things, matters.
I love all these I paid cash stories! It keeps me going!
Way to be a blessing to your husband! Feels so good to accomplish tasks like that and stay in the budget!