I’m so excited to share our first post of our brand new review series: Adulting 101! Read more about our Adulting 101 series here, but essentially I will be sharing my experiences, tips, and free printables to help with all the challenges we face in our twenties from buying homes, getting married, saving money and more!
This year, we moved quite suddenly across the country for my husband’s job. There was so much to do, including buying major appliances. We had been renting a little one-bedroom apartment in LA and were now going to be able to purchase our first home! While we were so excited, we were also stressed because we were juggling so much when moving. We had a google doc to-do list that was at least two pages long.
Appliances are huge purchases, so we didn’t want to just go in and buy the first ones we saw, but I felt completely lost on where to begin. I didn’t know the first thing about appliances. So, after work I would spend hours scouring Consumer Reports, customer reviews, and articles, trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. It paid off because we got great deals on appliances that we love, but it was a ton of work! So, I am hoping that I can save you some of the hassles by sharing the top 11 appliance buying tips that I wish I would have known:
1. Where to shop:
I recommend Lowe’s and Best Buy based on our experience. We went to all the stores in our area: Best Buy, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Fry’s to check out their appliances. There are a few factors you should look at when deciding where to buy:
- Customer service and helpful staff: In our experience, the Best Buy staff was the most knowledgeable and helpful. They aren’t even on commission, but they still spent a ton of time answering our questions and teaching us all about the pros and cons of each type.
- Return policy: When I asked, Lowe’s and Best Buy stated we could return the appliance as long as it was within the stated return timeframe without a problem. Home Depot did not make it nearly as easy. Make sure you verify this is still the case before you buy.
- Price matching: You want to make sure that you buy from a store that will match the lowest price of a local competitor AND will adjust the price if it drops right after you buy. For example, if you buy today and then it goes on sale for $300 less the next week, you will want to make sure you would get that $300 back. It gives you peace of mind in making the purchase since appliance prices tend to change pretty frequently.
Read details of the price match policies for Best Buy and Lowe’s here. Lowe’s price match policy is especially good because if a competitor is selling the appliance for less (even if just by a couple dollars) they will beat their competitor’s price by 10%! More on how we took advantage of this for big savings below.
2. When to buy: you can’t always hold off on buying appliances if you’re moving or your refrigerator breaks down. But if you can, here are a few tips:
- Check if your state has tax-free weekends here. Not paying sales tax really adds up on big purchases like appliance shopping.
- Wait for a holiday weekend sale. Appliances almost always go on sale during certain times of the year like Memorial Day weekend.
3. Should I buy on Craigslist? First of all, let me say that I am totally pro-Craigslist. I have made numerous purchases that I love from Craigslist. However, I opted not to buy our appliances on Craigslist because of the risk. I wanted peace of mind that this was a brand new product that shouldn’t be breaking down within a week. There are much more options to discuss with the retailer to get your money back if you buy it new, but if you buy from Craiglist you have to take on that risk.
4. Consumer Reports was a very good resource to start with in order to narrow our list down to our top contenders. You can purchase a subscription for just one month for just $6.95 or $35/year. However, I will say that CR tends to really get into the minutia like refrigerators’ temperature control down to the degree, so don’t put TOO much stock in one product being 5 or 10 points higher than another in their grading.
5. After you have narrowed your appliance options down to a handful of options, I recommend checking out customer reviews, but with a big caveat: you WILL be able to find a terrible review even on the best product. The reality is that customers tend to review products more if they have a bad experience so look at the trends, not the worst individual review. To do so, look at multiple sites and put more stock in sites that have a lot of reviews.
6. Look for new movers’ discounts. You may be able to get a coupon from signing up for a special moving program with the retailer. But the most common place you will get new mover coupons is from the post office when you file for a change of address. I know we got a coupon for 10% off at Lowe’s.
7. Don’t pay for delivery. This is a huge purchase and any vendor should be giving you free shipping. Check with the store, and if they don’t offer free shipping, reconsider where you are buying your appliance.
8. Should I open a store credit card for the discount? In most cases, my opinion is no. But make sure you purchase with a credit card so that you get cash back or rewards on such a big purchase. Also, buying something on a credit card gives you extra purchase protections, so it’s always a good idea for big purchases like appliances.
9. Buy online for extra savings using Raise and Ebates. Just make sure that return policies don’t vary if you buy online. Using these two vendors can add up to incredible savings! Raise sells discounted gift cards from top retailers. If you get 10% off of $1000 worth of gift cards to use on your appliance purchase, that’s a $100 discount!
Then, on top of that, you can use EBates to get additional cash back with the click of a button! You can even get a chrome extension that makes it even easier. It’s seriously so simple, you’d be silly not to use it! So don’t put it off – sign up today and install the chrome extension.
10. While we chose not to buy our major appliances from Craiglist, I do recommend you post your old appliance on Craigslist. Even if you only get $50, you can consider that a $50 discount on your new appliance.
11. Make sure you measure before buying! This is very important because there is nothing worse than going through the hassle of getting it delivered only to find out it won’t fit. So, make sure you triple check the measurements of both the space it’s going and the front door for delivery purposes.
Now, let me share specifics from our refrigerator buying experience:
- Figure out if you need a counter depth refrigerator. We actually originally bought a standard size refrigerator (~34-36″ depth). We measured everything and thought it would be just fine, but when they delivered it, it stuck out like a sore thumb. I didn’t want to walk by it every day and be bothered by it, so we returned it, and I am so glad we did! We got a counter depth model (~26-28″ depth), which does have less storage but looks so much better in the space.
- Types: French Door, Side-by-Side, or Top-Freezer
- We went and checked out all the different types and I fell in love with the look of the French Door stainless steel models. This seems to be the most popular type these days too.
- Pros: gorgeous, love having the refrigerator on top since you open much more often than the freezer, plenty of wide storage space for platters for entertaining, leftovers, etc.
- Cons: have to open both doors to the refrigerator (this doesn’t bug me but I have heard the complaint from others), harder to see what all is in the freezer because they are baskets and everything piles on top of each other.
- Verdict: I’m very happy with our French Door model since none of the cons are huge drawbacks in my mind.
- We went and checked out all the different types and I fell in love with the look of the French Door stainless steel models. This seems to be the most popular type these days too.
- Here is the model we bought: Kitchen Aid KRFC300ESS
- Another model that we were considering: LG LFC24770ST. This model was also very well reviewed and I liked it when testing it out, but we went with the Kitchen Aid because we decided on a counter-depth model. There will be fewer options with counter-depth, but it was definitely worth it for the fit in our space.
- As a real life example of what I shared above, let me share how we saved big on our refrigerator: I checked all the competitors and got a price match based on the lowest price, then used Raise gift cards and finally signed up for Ebates for a total savings of about $260!
- To prevent fingerprints and keep your stainless steel appliance looking its best, I really like these stainless steel cleaning wipes. At first, I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong cause they left it looking streaky and then I read the instructions more closely (duh!) and found out I needed to buff it with a cloth after. I did that and it looks amazing! Lesson learned.
- How long should last? ~13 years. I know it’s a big purchase, especially when it’s the first time you’ve had to buy a major appliance like this. That’s how I felt. But it helped when I thought about the fact that it is an investment that will hopefully last over a decade.
Now, for the washer & dryer:
- Front or top loader? This is the ultimate debate. It’s like the Jess vs. Dean controversy of washing machines. The opinions are very mixed and people can be very impassioned about their stance. I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide which was better since everything was so conflicting. Save yourself the hassle because you really can’t go wrong between an HE top vs. front loading washer. Here’s a quick summary:
- Front loading washers:
- More water & energy efficient (not nearly as significant as it once was now that HE top loaders are available)
- Slightly gentler on clothes
- Front loading washers:
- Top loading washers:
- Easier access since you don’t have to bend down to reach in
- Slightly larger capacity
- Tend to be less expensive
- Front loaders got a bad wrap about 6-7 years ago because they were having issues with mildew in the gaskets, which has since been fixed by manufacturers. We haven’t had any problems with ours. You just need to keep the door ajar you run it to allow it to dry out, and many models have a cleaning cycle you can run periodically for additional cleaning.
- Gas vs. electric dryer? Electric. Here is why:
- Figure out which hookups you have in your laundry room. You many only have one or the other, which makes the decision very easy. We had both, so we had to decide which to buy. Read how to tell here.
- The claim is that gas dryers save money because they are more energy efficient and dry clothes faster. The savings is about $0.15/load so if you do 8-10 loads per month, that is only about a $1.50 savings per month! Not worth it.
- Plus, the additional risk is if you were to move, your new house might not have a gas hookup (electric only is more common in new houses) so you would have to buy a new dryer.
- What we bought: Samsung WF42H5200AW & DV42H5000EW. I found a really great deal on this well-rated Samsung pair: in price checking, I found there was one store cheaper than Lowe’s by like $2. I thought to myself, “No way Lowe’s will give me 10% off to beat a price that is just a couple dollars cheaper but doesn’t hurt to ask”. So, I called and they did! Plus I used Raise & Ebates for a total savings of over $300!
I know this is a lot of info, so sign up for our newsletter to receive a free printable that summarizes the tips above in a handy checklist, helps you keep track of your favorites, and get the best deal possible! Happy appliance shopping!
