by Beks
Despite heroic efforts, my husband was unable to save our water heater. While re-routing the pipes, he found a crack in the tank caused by improper initial installation – or something like that. There were a lot of other words mixed in about ‘crappy two-bit plumbers’ so I gleaned what I could. He was surprised it lasted as long as it did with the extent of the damage.
I had long since gone to bed – he stopped appreciating my ‘help’ on plumbing projects years ago – when he crawled in sometime after 1am. He rubbed my arm, told me the water heater wasn’t fixable, and fell asleep.
Telling me I have to dive into my already nearly depleted emergency fund (more on that later) at bedtime is the equivalent to telling a 7 year old there are monsters under the bed – but worse.
I didn’t sleep a wink.
This week should be interesting… Will this be the first time we have more month than money?
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
Bad news. But at least on the positive side you HAVE an emergency fund to deplete. You should feel very proud about that! I don’t care who you are, it seems like our emergency funds are never big enough for the emergencies that get thrown our way.
Sorry about that. I have been following you for a while and am inspired to become debt free myself. Different situation but same goal. I was divorced this summer after 20 years and fortunately didn’t have much debt to begin with, but what we had and I now have, is much harder to “make disappear” on my own. 3800 on a car and 5900 on a joint loan I ended up with and that’s it. it’s just tough to continue to make the large payments I used to on 50% salary.
Keep it up, you inspire me to be done with debt!
matt
I HATE talking about money right before or in bed! I wouldn’t have been able to sleep either. I hope you guys make it through the month. 🙂
That sucks. Our died in January this year. I ended up taking advantage of the energy tax credit and getting a tankless. Since your husband’s a plumber, you’d only have to pay for supplies. But it’s certain 400-500 more for tankless. We ended up getting a unit too large for our house so had we bought the appropriate sized unit, it would have been around $750 from a plumber’s warehouse store.
That seriously sucks. I’m so sorry Beks. I’m dying for a dog sitter update by the way.
i’m sorry to hear that. we recently relocated and decided to put off purchasing a home so we wouldn’t have to budget for home emergencies. home ownership can be so expensive.
Ugh! That really stinks 🙁 But, I’m sure you’ll be back on your feet soon! Especially with your husband’s raise!
Maybe Sears or someone is having a great water heater sale this weekend… In fact, with Veteran’s Day coming up there could be some good deals! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you.
Maybe you should consider a tankless. Yes they are more expensive but there are many tax breaks and you can save more in the long run on your utility bills. Especially if your husband can put it in himself since he is a plumber. I’m sorry to hear your struggles, I know from reading your blog you will prevail through this!
Don’t waste your money on a tankless heater. Get a good/efficient water heater and wrap it with insulation. IT should give you the biggest cost savings. (Our own traditional water heater costs pennnies to use and it is 10 years old!)
Just remember, no matter how small your emergency fund is, it is just that many dollars less that you have to borrow or charge for these kinds of things. It will come back. Heads up!
That’s what your emergency fund is for Beks. don’t be disheartened. Be thankful that you have some Emergency money set aside, and hopefully it will be a long time before Murphy comes to visit again. During his time away, you can rebuild the E-fund.
NEW HOUSE RULE: No Caffeine or Bad News After 4 p.m.
I ran the numbers on tankless vs. not when our last one died and it would just barely pay out if they both lasted the specified time. In other words, it was a wash. I had to hire a plumber (not married to one) and he brought me his usual unit and it was much cheaper than I thought and very efficient. We turned the dial on it all the way down, went away for a week and the water inside was still hot.
Except our friends who picked up a very small tankless for their cottage for $50 on craigslist. Maybe in Cali you could get away with that.
So sorry to hear that! But as someone before me said – you should be proud that there is an emergency fund to deplete. You will build it back up in no time. Plus, isn’t there some energy tax credit? Tax time is just around the corner…
Oh yea, and I will steal that “no bad news after 4 pm rule” and think you should, too. 🙂
Bummer. Well, at least you have an emergency fund. You’ll get through it. This kind of thing pretty much happens to everyone.
I guess he figured since he didn’t sleep, you shouldn’t either. What a guy! 😀
Wondering what model of water heater you went with?