Welp, as we show 2022 out the door tonight, I for one am glad to see it go…
Granted I have my health, a roof over my head, and a few pennies in the bank, but 2022 was an EXPENSIVE year on the homeowner front. Thankfully, the kids and grands are doing well!!!
Yeah, I know, if I rented it wouldn’t be my problem, it would be the landlord’s…
But I want to talk more about the escalating costs of damned near everything I’ve purchased. Worst was replacement flooring, originally planned for 2021, but deferred by the WuFlu. Prices came within $600 of DOUBLING in a year, plus availability of product was down by at least 25%.
Then there were the two bathroom remodels (only one by choice). I was very lucky to have the work done by a veteran who charged me considerably less than the ‘market’ rate for that work. The ‘low’ estimate was $9000! And the new vanity I’d picked up was damaged to the point it had to be replaced (thankfully they had another one in stock).
And in the middle of the second bathroom renovation, the @##$@# dishwasher decided to quit! After checking two different reputable repair sites, both of which said just go buy a new one, it’s not ever going to get fixed, I did…
Or at least ordered one, got it delivered for install, and it was busted… So they ordered a replacement… Which never came (went from deliver tomorrow to 2 MONTH backorder). Luckily, Lowes took pity on me and helped me get a new dishwasher out of stock and installed within a couple of days of that fiasco!
Add in issues with the microwave and the clothes dryer, and that pretty much filled out the rest of the year…
And I’ve lost way too many HS classmates and shipmates this year. Not fun.
Here’s hoping 2023 is a better year for ALL of us!
Happy New Year. May 2023 be kinder and less expensive.
Yeah, I had to replace a dishwasher too.
It took forever to find a 5’8″ redhead with 38C’s and green eyes…..
Between needing to replace the HVAC unit in the house and my shoulder surgery that was 40K. Really did a number on my savings. Going to hold off on a few other things until I’ve rebuilt my savings a little.
A mouse chewed the drain boot on my dishwasher causing water to leak all over the floor every time I ran it. Was able to fix for about $30 and a couple hours of my own labor. Well worth it in that case.
Looks like prices may be stabilizing a little. I’m in line for a kitchen renovation and prices went up a bit last year but then stopped going up. Lumber seems to be down a bit so hopefully by the time my guys get here to do it there won’t be any big surprises. Other than the normal surprises you get when you renovate a house that was built in 1909 and appears to have been mostly “homeowner renovated” since then.
Yeah, 2022 pretty much sucked. New heat pump and air handler, an idiot lawn guy that screwed up the yard, higher property taxes, gas prices that are still a lot higher than before slow Joe took office, rampant corruption in our government along with bureaucrats who think we work for them, it’s gotta be better next year.
Happy New Year to all!
Knock wood, we only had minor issues this year.
Of course, the dishwasher and microwave are acting up, and we just happen to be considering new flooring, so 2023 looks to be my turn in the barrel.
Happy New Year! Here’s to hoping it passes quietly.
The problem with buying new appliances is that the newer ones have two fatal flaws…1 is that new rules dictate that they not be effective in their intended use…this is especially true for anything that uses water like washing machines and dishwashers. You end up having to run them twice or three times to get the job done, which eliminates the savings from them being more “efficient”. 2 is that everything is made as cheaply as possible out of the cheapest materials possible by the cheapest (most unskilled) labor possible, which means it’s garbage and won’t last.
My current dishwasher I installed when I remodeled my kitchen about 25 years ago. The front panel is cracked, the covers for the buttons are worn away, you can’t read the dial any more…but it still works as well as the day I bought it. I doubt I’ll be able to find parts for it once it gives up the ghost so I’m dreading the day it quits. I have no expectation of a new one lasting more than 5 years or so…even though they cost four or more times as much.
Maybe I’ll be able to find another old broken one that I can scavenge for parts.
I feel your pain regarding building materials. I remodeled a bathroom during Covid. I did it myself to save the labor costs, but just buying materials was…um…daunting.
A couple of years ago my wife and bought some property in a remote undisclosed location with the intention of building our retirement home on it. We’re still moving forward in the hopes that things take a turn for the better someday, but at current building materials costs, it’s basically just going to end up being a recreational property. There’s no way we can afford to build a house in the current environment even if I do most of the work myself. May just end up with a traditional one room log cabin out there. Oh well…at least we have a place to escape to when the zombies attack. All we can really do is plan for the worst, hope for the best and live our lives to the fullest.
Just about every project I costed out this past year has come in at at least 130% over estimates if not much more. We did a shower remodel and a new dishwasher and both were 5-7 months booked out.
And we just lost Barbara Walters and retired Pope Benedict 16.
I am wondering if the loss of classmates and family follows a Weibull curve – you barely notice a slow ramp-up starting in your late 40s or 50s, but does it start tapering off as we each near our own last days?
Or do the hits just keep coming…
Also wondering if medical care systems will triage best practices away from certain non-protected classes. Just lost a member in our local KofC and another in my own local business network within the past week, and they both seemed to go the same way: very sudden, little detailed information given to family members who brought the man in, and -pop- sorry, the only thing we can do is palliative care / hospice, and watch your man die. Too many parallel paths to be just coincidence?
Take care and carry on.
Best wishes to all.
When you think things couldn’t get any worse…..They do. Watch out for 2023!
But at least we don’t get mean tweets!
What?
Happy New Year!
Amen, brother.
Trying to put a positive spin on things, remember this…
Inflation means the dollars we are paying on our auto loan are worth MUCH less than those we borrowed.
I’m trying to think of anything else positive. Give me a while.
All- Thanks for the comments and it looks like it was a ‘bad’ year for bathrooms and dishwashers…sigh
But you’re right, Gerry, no more mean tweets! Grumble…
Had to replace the range, refrigerator, and over the range microwave. Between that and hubby’s emergency dental work, it was an expensive year…
The bright spots were seeing my family, and meeting you and many others for the first time at LibertyCon.
May 2023 be better for all of us!!
Hopefully, you have EVERYTHING fixed and new now as you look forward to the new year. I received a $20 gift certificate to Home Depot for Christmas and wandered the aisles. Nothing was $20. FJB and the horse he rode in on.
Happy New Year!
Wishing you continued good health and a prosperous new year, Jim. I’ve enjoyed all your post, read all your books, and a few of the ones you recommended. I also enjoyed many of your podcast, too. So keep up the good work in 2023. You are a gem, Mate.
SLee- Thank you, and yes it was great to meet y’all!
LL- Trying to! 🙂 And yes, FJB..
CP- Thank you!
I don’t know exactly what 2023 will bring…none of us do.
What I do know is that the same criminals who ran 2022 are
STILL IN CHARGE and still have an evil agenda. That means
that 2023 will NOT be an improvement on 2022. Odds are almost
100% that things will get worse this year….and the decline
will continue every year as long as the people know in charge
remain in charge. Because that is how they want things to go.
TINVOWOOT.
Our dishwasher required work & new parts, but NOT replacement (thank you, Lord!). Was a tough year in many years, for many folks. 2023 may have some surprises; we can only hope & pray.