Your Saving Challenge Done Right: When it’s Broke, Fix it

You’ve done the work to determine your budget and set a money-saving challenge, only to get partway through a month or quarter when something vital breaks. Unless you have set aside a healthy emergency fund in anticipation of this type of incident, what you do next will determine your ability to maintain your savings plan.

When something breaks, many people use a credit card or payment plan to purchase a replacement. However, when it comes to technology, appliances, auto, or home repairs, the replacement cost of one item from these categories could instantly derail your personal finances for the year. Though you may not consider yourself a handy person, trying to repair an item could make all the difference for your money-saving challenge and be easier than you think.

Below are a few examples where resourcefulness paid off and helped make saving fun.

Make Broken Tech an Easy Fix

With our dependency on technology for everything from keeping in touch with friends and family to getting work done and making money, no one has time to mess with technical difficulties. However, technology upgrades are not something to take lightly.

From cell phones to iPads, laptops, headphones, and other accessories, one unexpected technology purchase can set your budget back several months. However, with a few good troubleshooting techniques, you could minimize your expenses and prolong the life of your devices for several months or years while maintaining your money savings challenge.

Earlier this year, my laptop battery started draining twice as fast as usual and would turn off unexpectedly. Considering it’s already several years old, I feared it was time for an upgrade. Though having the option to choose a few new features and the enjoyment of a new laptop would be nice, it wasn’t something I had added to my list of budgeted priorities. Since the issue was specific to the battery and had no other performance issues, I decided to do a little research and try out a battery replacement. Thirty dollars and two days later, my laptop was back to tip-top performance. Total savings over $2500.

Washing Machine Repair

It’s hard to imagine, but there was once a time when people purchased major appliances with the idea of keeping them for decades. Now, it seems lucky to have an appliance that lasts ten years before needing to be replaced. Not to mention, the appliance repair business has all but disappeared. It is hard to say how much of this is planned obsolescence and how much is due to changes in how consumers use and care for their appliances.

But two things that never resolve themselves with time are water and electricity issues. Both also present potential safety hazards and high-cost repairs if left unaddressed. This adage proved true once again when my washing machine started accumulating water in the drum between uses.

Thanks to a couple of YouTube videos and research, I was able to determine the most likely source of the issue and order a part through Amazon. Once the part arrived, it only took fifteen minutes to safely disconnect the power, access, and replace the part. Once again, another thirty-dollar purchase and a little research saved me well over $1200 if I had bought a new washer and dryer. Sure, you can purchase just a washer or just a dryer if you want to be really frugal, but who wants a mismatched set?

Reach your Financial Goal with Pre-maintenance

Another common but resolvable water mystery comes from poor refrigerator maintenance. As always, the awesome DIY and home maintenance YouTubers came to the rescue. Like most refrigerators, there is a water dispenser feature that is often thought to be the culprit of any water-leaking issues associated with refrigerators. In this case, the cause was a clogged drain inside the freezer. Though this was a more involved troubleshooting and resolution process, the whole ordeal could have been avoided with better regular maintenance.

Most appliance experts recommend defrosting your fridge once every six to twelve months to prevent buildup in your drain lines. The process can be a little tricker than the other resolutions since you will have to find a place for any frozen and refrigerated foods for the few hours you allow your fridge to sit unplugged. However, when you compare the trade-off with having to replace your appliance more frequently or deal with damaged floors from water damage, It’s a much more manageable and affordable hassle to contend with.

Pro Tip: Plan to defrost your refrigerator around travel. Your fridge and freezer will have less or potentially no food left in them, so you can leave your appliance unplugged and open until you return home. Then, you can repower and refill your appliance more easily.

By following regular maintenance and troubleshooting your issues before buying new you can budget replacement funds and time any purchases around the summer holidays when most home improvement stores run 0% APY financing offers and sales on new major home appliances.

Saving Challenge & Service Fee Increases

When you move, there are always promotional offers running for new services like phone and internet. You get settled in and put your bills on auto-pay, then a year or two goes by, and it’s easy to forget the promotional period has ended if you’re not reviewing your finances regularly.

Pro Tip: When you sign up for any promotional offer, immediately set a calendar reminder for the future. Yes, even if it’s a year or two in advance. It’s always easier to be proactive and prevent charges than it is to recoup them.

Sadly, it’s become a sales game, but fortunately, there are usually always ways to negotiate your bill to retain the same or a very similar rate to what you were receiving through the promotion. Left unchecked, the increasing amount paid in service fees can quickly wipe out the total savings earned previously through the promotion.

Bottom line: Try to Fix it Before you Replace it

Maintain control of your finances and take time to troubleshoot your issues. It’s always better to make a well-thought-out planned purchase than an impulse purchase because you have to. Surprises and unexpected expenses will always spring up, but how severely they impact your budget is entirely dependent on how you manage money and the situation.