Last week my water heater from 1985 was leaking I realized. I think it had been leaking slowly for a while but in my dungeon of a basement it is hard to tell water leaks from one source or another sometimes. So obviously we needed to take care of the water heater. It was 30 years old as I mentioned and horribly rusty. Time for a replacement which I figured would be somewhere between $750 and $900 and a job we didn’t want to trust to anyone but professionals because it involves a gas line. The very next day as I was getting ready to leave town I went to throw my last load of laundry into the dryer and couldn’t get that dryer to stay on until finally I couldn’t get it to turn on at all. It had died! Completely!!! It had been having some issues recently and had some cracked pieces due to traveling from the east coast to the west coast and back again but now it was final. My free dryer from my sister I had been using for about a year and a half was inoperable, the weather outdoors was not conducive to drying laundry at 14 degrees and I was leaving town in 6 hours. I prayed over that dryer for it to work to no avail. I rushed to the laundromat with another prayer that I would figure out what to do. A double whammy with two such big expenses.
We have an emergency fund, we have a small savings on top of that and the tax return we were expecting to post that very day was already spoken for with the water heater and some sinking funds we have set up to pay for future needs. We were in good shape to buy a dryer if necessary but there are so many places for the money we do have to go. Our house has some major repair work needed that cannot wait much longer. I had to look at alternatives. I had to think creatively. During my frustration a friend told me that she had purchased a perfectly good dryer on Craig’s List for $25. Not bad. Maybe I could find a deal like that. Dave Ramsey encourages that sort of thing. Some people like their washers and dryers to match. I don’t care about that especially since I do not have a fancy laundry room but some people do. One time I bought a washer/dryer pair simply because I needed a new washer but the sale or deal they had going was too good to skip on buying the pair. After all, my dryer was old and I could get a brand new one for pretty cheap that way but I still had the old one with some life left in it. After asking around nobody claimed a need for it and so I let the delivery people cart it away. I had felt bad about that. I’d have given it to someone for free if they could have used it.
Now there I sat with a little voice telling me not to look “needy” but there was something else telling me to think smart. Thinking smart won. I was not needy but smart. I got brave and decided before I looked on Craig’s List or went to the store to purchase new I would post a wanted ad on an area website that some people from my church put together. People post things all the time to buy, sell or give away. It is only for women who are members of my church and live within a reasonable distance (a tri-stake area). It was worth a shot.
So how would I at least feel smart and not have a “needy” look by posting a “wanted” ad? After all, I really am not “needy” but I do have a need. First of all I would be able to pick up the dryer myself… or at least get my husband to come with me to help lift it into the van. Second of all, I have some money available. I can negotiate a nominal cost for a used dryer. There it was! I’m not looking for free handouts necessarily and this could possibly help someone else out too. I also thought of Dave Ramsey’s class we took 2 years ago. Dave is pretty much a hero in my book. Of course we are the ones who did the hard work but he is the one who talked us through what we needed to do and taught us so much. Following all of his other advice has gotten us successfully to the state of financial peace we are presently feeling so why not put into practice another idea of bargaining and negotiating. It couldn’t hurt to give it a try. Finally, thinking of 2 major expenses hitting us at once I decided to put myself out there. I didn’t get out of debt in under two years with out learning a few things and without a little courage.
Have you heard the story of what I call the parable of the orange? It is a story originally found in Roger Fisher and William Ury’s book called Getting to Yes. It goes like this:
There were once two elderly ladies who had one orange between them which they were negotiating for. After a lengthy
discussion these two ladies could not come up with a solution except to split the difference, so they cut the orange in half, each taking one half.
One lady proceeded to peel the orange and use the peel for baking a cake, while the other peeled her half and ate the fruit.
Dave Ramsey explains the story this way:
If the two had spent time, through good communication, finding out what the other’s needs were for the orange, they both could have had the whole orange, and neither would have been the lesser. The point of the story is that if you bring creativity and communication to your purchases, you can make excellent buys and help people in the process. The bottom line of the win-win deal is that, with a little bit of communication, both parties can walk away with 100% of what they want. It doesn’t have to be 50/50. Both parties can have it all.
With this story in mind I posted my want ad on this site over facebook and within an hour had someone responding to me with an extra dryer they were wanting to part with. They said they didn’t know a lot about the dryer. It had been left by the previous owners but they already had a dryer given to them by her parents neighbors. I asked a few questions and found that it was said to look in good condition. I asked how much they would like to sell it for once we looked it over. She told me it would be free. That was a price I could not argue with and it was certainly worth taking a chance for on a somewhat unknown used dryer.
So obviously a deal was to be had for me. What about the other party involved? What does she and her family get? Well, she didn't share with me her reason for giving me her dryer for the cost of the drive out there (and it was a bit of a drive). So I imagine for one thing she gained some space in their garage. Also they don’t have to pay someone $50 or more to cart the old appliance away. Or they don’t have to use their time to cart it away for scrap metal after finding a place that recycles appliances. If the dryer didn’t work well (remember it had been left with the house) then the giver wouldn’t feel too responsible since there was no charge. Perhaps they find a contented feeling knowing that their extra resources went to help someone else. Perhaps they have been helped in the past and are simply paying it back… or paying a good deed forward.
We all have ways that we can help others and some of those ways don’t necessarily involve cash. No matter who you are or where you’re at in life you have something you can give. Recently my kids and I stopped at a McDonalds in a rather wealthy neighborhood right off the interstate when we were on a trip. Each of the collection boxes for the Ronald McDonald House on the countertop by the cash register held a $100 dollar bill and one held multiple bills like this. My kids were nearly gawking at the sight. I can’t help anyone in that same manner, not because I’m selfish but because I just plain do not have the means to do so. But I do have other ways that I can help others that don’t involve large bills as a part of the solution but which may be just as helpful to someone. I look for ways to help others all the time. Sometimes I’m asked to help and other times I feel prompted to help. Once in a while I can't help out but others can step up. Sometimes I have been the recipient of giving. When I have the opportunity to help others, whether they are aware of my services or whether my services are anonymous it feels absolutely amazing to offer what I can. And I am grateful for other like-minded people who recognize the value of giving. And I’m thankful I’ve learned to look for bargains, to negotiate and to think outside the box to solve the challenges that life throws my way.
You are amazing! Thanks so much for sharing!
ReplyDelete