Our house is 90% painted and floors are underway as we speak so the two biggest projects are almost done! I am so thrilled  . . . but now the hard work begins. All the little projects and moving . . .

But today I wanted to tell you about our appliances . . . we had a pretty strict budget and were definitely going to be doing all the work ourselves in order to make this the house of our dreams. and with that budget I wanted to include all new appliances . . .

I’m a dreamer. but I’m not the only one . . . i’m also a diyer . . .

I researched what I wanted – I say I because Scott doesn’t really care … if it works and I like it he’s cool with the kitchen – and I found that for us we needed a basic, but good dishwasher, side-by-side fridge with an ice/water maker, and I really wanted a nice stove with a delayed start, timer, and convection oven. So we went to Sears because around here that’s pretty much known as the best place to go . . . and on the July 4th sales we could get everything we wanted for $2000!!! amazing . . . not quite . . .

We hadn’t actually closed on the house yet and our mortgage advisor told us it wasn’t a good idea to spend that much money before closing. If you’ve bought a house you know that you’re not fully approved until like a week before and then right before closing – like an hour before – they run your credit again. I was frustrated because without the sales we couldn’t afford what I wanted and I knew we were strong candidates – because we’ve worked to make better decisions in the past year to be that way – so I was finding it hard to believe spending $2000 was going to change that . . .

But I was forced to listen and in the time I had to wait – I stressed about the fact that the kitchen I had fallen in love with wasn’t going to be on sale again – and most importantly, I was also told about sears outlet. I knew of scratch and dent stores and we were open to looking there, but I’ve looked there before with friends and didn’t really have much luck so I wasn’t hopeful . . . but sears outlet isn’t really scratch and dent. Basically it’s the stuff sold at sears that has been returned for whatever reason, or sat on the showroom floor, or was damaged slightly.

From there we were able to get  a fridge, range, and dishwasher – the only thing wrong with any of them is one small dent in the side of the range. you can’t even see it guys . . . and it was almost $300 less than the sales prices.

so here’s 5 tips for shopping for appliances at the outlet stores ::

1. have an open mind – no, not everything there is going to be just a floor model and in pristine condition. some things will have much more wrong with them than a small dent or 1 missing shelf. If the first 2 or 3 things you look at are unacceptable to you just keep looking. Most of it will be decent and all of it is usable.

2. make friends with the sales team – Perfect example – when we first got to the store the fridge I had seen online and already purchased wasn’t really the fridge I had seen online . . . so I started looking for another one on the sales floor. During that time I made friends with one of the delivery guys who was helping load our truck and one of the managers. The best thing they did for me was show me the best they had – I didn’t have to search for it myself. they know what they have and they know exactly where it is so let them show you. These guys are just like the salesmen at any other big name appliance shop – they know their stuff. They also let me replace some plastic shelving for glass shelving, and the manager took $100 off since I thought I was coming to the store just to pick up my items.

3. know what your deal breakers are – is having a dent in the side of your stove a deal breaker? do you really need 4 shelves in the fridge or will 3 do – think about the taller space you’ll have? can you use the power hose/cord from your old appliances instead of purchasing new or in case it doesn’t come with? that way you can go into the store saying these are my deal breakers, but I’m ok with this. For example while I was looking for the fridge I told the manager I needed a completely working side by side stainless steel fridge with most if not all the shelves, but I was ok with it if 1 shelf was missing, i didn’t care where the ice maker was, and it didn’t have to have led lighting. he knew the exact 3 to show me. with our stove I knew I wanted a delayed timer stainless steel and convection oven other than that I was open. he knew the exact one to show me.

4. take a deep breath – they may not have what you want today but their inventory changes consistently so take a deep breath and look again in 3 days. maybe the one you want has 1 small dent like the stove or you show up to the wrong fridge . . . take a deep breath and think about your deal breakers. I knew my deal breakers and the dent is not visible nor will it affect the function so I took a deep breath and took it – the fridge had several deal breakers so I took a deep breath smiled at the manager and asked if I could pick out another . . . you also have 30 days to return it.

do you have any tips for buying appliances? anyone else bought them at an oulet?

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