Fool Me Once...

This is a lesson on assessing the situation.

If you haven't guessed, money to spare is something I don't have these days. Without having a roommate currently, the wallet has gotten extremely lean. This is most likely due to my rash decision to pay the HVAC company $600 to "fix" my furnace by ridding it of "harmful" mold.  I use quotes because: 1. I have lived with this furnace for 4 years now and it hadn't been an issue. There's no mold in the house or on the walls that was a sign of anything wrong.  2. I really didn't have the money to pay them the $1200 they were asking for originally so they "lowered" the price. This should have been the real clue here. 3. I could have cleaned out that damn furnace myself with some soapy bleach water.  I am considering this a $600 (tough and expensive) lesson learned.

Fast forward to last Friday.  I realized my car inspection needed to be done prior to driving to West Virginia for a wedding so I headed to Midas - this is where I get my oil changes and the last three car inspections done. This was a 6 hour drive so I really just figured I'd be in an out with my new inspection sticker.  Wishful thinking.  The mechanic came in and told me that I needed to have the bushings on my sway bars replaced as well as the light bulb that lights up my license plate. I was thinking, "Okay. Bushing and a light blub can't possible be more than $150 bucks." 

The mechanic punched in a few things and then asked, "It's not a hybrid, is it?" and I replied, "No." 

"Good." the mechanic said.  "That would have made the price a lot more", he stated. 

I was relieved.  I knew I was good to go then.

"Well, your total is $302 for everything." he stated.

"$302!?  I don't have that kind of money. I'm going out of town right after all of this and that's all the money I have in the bank."

Then he said, "Well, I can throw in a $30 off coupon for you but that's the best I can do."

I told him I didn't have $272 either and that I will just have to worry about that when I got back from the trip.

The mechanic then stated that I have 15 days to fix the issues and gave me the estimate.

I left the building and got into my car, seeing the white inspection sticker pasted to the windshield. with the large rejection symbol on it.  I opened up the envelop with the estimate and saw the price breakdown.  $19.99 for labor to install a friggin' lightbulb????? You've got to be kidding me.   $172 for the labor of installing the new bushings.  I drove off that morning and continued my trip. I knew there had to be a better way.

I returned from my trip Sunday night determined to find a mechanic with better prices.  Located right next door to Midas  was Merchant Tire.  It is literally about 60 feet from Midas.  I walked in and told the woman what I needed done to pass inspection.  She also asked me if it were a hybrid.  She then stated that it would be $165 to replace the bushings and another $10 to replace the light bulb.

"Are you kidding me?" I said with excitement.  I told her how they were trying to charge me $300 for the same thing. 

She shook her head and said, "It's just bushings and a bulb. It shouldn't be that pricey."

I quickly informed her that she just won a new customer.

The lesson I learned from the situation with the furnace is to always wait to make a decision.  Businesses are always hoping to make something seem like an emergency when in fact, it isn't. An emergency is a flat tire that needs to be fixed. A brake system that isn't working properly.  A furnace that isn't working.

After shelling out $600 for something that I probably could have waited on, I vowed to never be fooled into thinking that everything is an urgent matter.  Everything can be sorted out if you remain calm and give consideration to what really needs to happen.

This lesson has most definitely been learned. And $125 remains in my bank account!

Educated. Empower. Economize.