Five Frugal Things | I did two appliance repairs

The other day I was thinking, “Wow, I’m really thankful that all my appliances have been working well.”

And then two of them needed help within 24 hours.

Good thing I don’t think this was causation, because otherwise I could make quite a strong argument for not being grateful about working appliances.

1. I fixed my dishwasher by myself

Our 2005 Kitchen-Aid dishwasher was leaving some standing water in the bottom of the dishwasher after the cycle completed.

I chatted with my appliance repair guy, and he suggested the drainage problem could possibly be caused by a chopper issue.

Which made sense; I have routinely needed to clean out the chopper area when someone accidentally lets a popcorn seed or some other rock-like item into the dishwasher.

However, usually the dishwasher lets me know about this by making a grinding noise during the cycle, and no such thing had happened.

But I figured this was worth a try before paying for an appliance visit, so I took apart the inside of the dishwasher and my word. There was a LOT of junk down there (including many hard seeds.)

I cleaned it out, wiped out all the accumulated funk, thoroughly cleaned the filter screen, put it back together, and voila! It’s draining perfectly now.

I totally do not mind paying for appliance repairs when I’m in over my head, but I am very delighted I saved myself the cost of a visit this time.

2. I also fixed my kitchen freezer

One night after dinner, I noticed that the fridge (a 2006 Kenmore) was getting a little warm, and that the bottom freezer contents had a thin layer of frost on them.

I recognized the symptoms because this has happened twice before when someone left the freezer door cracked overnight. The first time we called the appliance guy to help, but the second time and this time, we managed to avoid a call!

Anyway, if the door is left cracked open, the coils get all frozen up in the back of the freezer, and while the freezer stays cold, the fridge does not cool properly until you defrost the coils.

(Basically you have to turn off the freezer, take it apart enough to access the coils, use a blow dryer to gently melt all the ice, put it back together, and turn it on again.)

Mr. FG was working late, so I mostly did this one myself, although I did call him up to help for a bit because I could not remember exactly how we got the back panel off. Between the two of us, we did it! 

I’m happy to say that the freezer and fridge are both working fine now. And the offspring have been reminded to please make sure the freezer is completely shut.

One day, maybe we will get one of those fancy models that sounds an alarm when a door is left open, but for now, we’re just going to have to be mindful!

3. I ate all of the leftover gnocchi soup.

It was not my favorite soup ever, but the recipe used a lot of my homemade chicken broth, so I was loath to throw it out.

So, I persevered and ate it for lunch for several days. 

(Recipe was from the New York Times.)

4. I sold a pair of Converse that were the wrong size

I thought I knew my size, because I already had a pair from years ago.

But my former Converse were women’s, not unisex. And an 8.5 unisex (which is 6.5 mens) does not fit like an 8.5 women’s.

So, they were a little too big.

However, they were in brand new condition, so I took nice photos, listed them, and sold them for slightly more than I paid. 

(I paid $23.50 total and sold them for $27 total.)

And now I know I wear 8.5 women’s and 8 in the unisex shoes.

Incidentally, returning things on eBay is often an option, but when you factor in shipping, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s usually better to list the item for sale and then have the new buyer pay shipping.

(In case you were wondering how I’d already posted a picture of me wearing white Converse: I ordered a pair in the appropriate size from eBay as soon as I discovered the first pair was too big.)

5. I didn’t need to buy any supplies to caulk/paint around the windows

My dad came over to change the trim around the old window pair to match the new ones (yay!), and of course, there was spackling/sanding/caulking/painting to do afterward.

I try to carefully store my supplies when I finish a project, and most of the time it pays off.

For instance, when I finish caulking, I wrap a small piece of plastic around the top of the caulk tube and secure it with a rubber band. Then it’s fresh and ready to go next time I need to caulk, even if that’s a year down the road.

So! My previously-used caulk, spackle, and paint were all in good shape for this project.

What frugal things have you been up to lately? Share in the comments!

P.S. A two-appliance repair week seems like a good time to link to my, “You don’t need whiskers to do that.” post.