I have not had a lot time to blog today or read my normal slew of favorites all because I have been trying to be a super good home owner, for once. The story begins with us moving into our very first house, almost three years ago. We were so proud, so happy, so totally unprepared for all of the expenses that maintaining a house can bring.
So, this year with my tax return I decided to spend a little, just a little, on some overdue maintainence. Since last year our furnace has been humming really loudly. I have been afraid to have anyone come look at it for fear that I will have to give away my first born in order to pay for any type of repair. I found this great coupon to have my airducts cleaned for only $99. Now $99, that is a great deal! I figured I would finally change the furnace filter (which has not been replaced since we moved in- I know, gross) and pay to have the ducts cleaned out. Problem solved. Little did I know that this was only the beginning...
My morning started as usual getting the kids off to school and then taking care of my little one's needs. Then the hard part came, cleaning my house. I don't know what my obession is but I have to have my house clean if a total stranger that I am never going to see again is coming over. I won't clean if my husband or his parents come over, the people that see my house on a regular basis, but total strangers it must be clean for. All so I can keep up the image that I am good housewife to people that probably won't notice or could care less. Anyways, once the house was clean for air duct cleaning strangers I felt at ease, anxiously awaiting for them to arrive in the scheduled "window" of time.
At last they arrive, a really nice man named Oscar(also hubby and first born's name)and his mexican helper guy that does not speak a word of english. Enamored by his pleasant demeanor I start taking him around the whole house showing him where all the ducts are. He then goes to the garage where the dreaded furnace is. Now I should also mention that during this time my 3.5 year old, Benji, is completely trying to become this man's instant new best friend. He even grabs a lifesize big inflatable hammer (confiscated to the garage for a reason) that we got at a fair and proceeds to hit Oscar in the head with it while he is trying his best to explain what is wrong with my furnace.
Well, his original quote to completely clean, sanitize, new lifetime filterize, clean intake duct and provide a special UV light so that I will never have to clean the ducts again is a whopping $1850 plus tax. Now, he must have seen the look on my face, mouth agape, eyes wide open, because he really tried to explain, once again, why this is so beneficial for the health of my family. I of course told him that I was only prepared to pay the initial $99 that I had a coupon for. He tells me that my furnace is in such bad, bad shape and it really needs to be thouroughly cleaned. Apparently it was only operating at 60% efficiency instead of 100%. Just to bring it back to 100% it will cost $850. I call my husband and he pretty much freaks out like I did. I tell guy sorry but I can only do a couple of things and that my max was like $250. Then he drops it down to $750. Still no from me. Then he says "hey you know what, I really like you guys and I would be willing to take $750 plus tax in a few payments with no interest." This time I call hubby and we agree. We are so afraid of our furnace blowing up and then really being in a bind that we decided that this was the best way to go and we will just make sure that we can keep it maintained. So, then guy comes back in after he finished and tells me look, I talked to the office and they said that we can throw in the UV treatment, which is a lifetime package for the rest of my everloving life no matter what house I live in, for only $750 more. I told him again, I am all ready spending more than triple of what I had intended to so this, even though it was a $250 savings, was out of the question. He then runs to his van and comes back with a UV light package and tells me that this one he has is all ready opened and if I dont tell anyone he will give me UV package for only $375 plus tax which he will hold a check for until the end of April. Now his original estimate was $1000, then $750 now its gone down to $375, less than half of the regular price - still with full lifetime warranty and I will never have to clean my ducts again, ever.
Here my story ends with my being a great homeowner that has now just serviced my furnace for the grand total of $1200. I will never have to worry about it again, I hope. So, my $99 coupon turned into $1200 pretty quickly so that is why I have aptly named this post Totally Too Much Money Tuesday.
So, this year with my tax return I decided to spend a little, just a little, on some overdue maintainence. Since last year our furnace has been humming really loudly. I have been afraid to have anyone come look at it for fear that I will have to give away my first born in order to pay for any type of repair. I found this great coupon to have my airducts cleaned for only $99. Now $99, that is a great deal! I figured I would finally change the furnace filter (which has not been replaced since we moved in- I know, gross) and pay to have the ducts cleaned out. Problem solved. Little did I know that this was only the beginning...
My morning started as usual getting the kids off to school and then taking care of my little one's needs. Then the hard part came, cleaning my house. I don't know what my obession is but I have to have my house clean if a total stranger that I am never going to see again is coming over. I won't clean if my husband or his parents come over, the people that see my house on a regular basis, but total strangers it must be clean for. All so I can keep up the image that I am good housewife to people that probably won't notice or could care less. Anyways, once the house was clean for air duct cleaning strangers I felt at ease, anxiously awaiting for them to arrive in the scheduled "window" of time.
At last they arrive, a really nice man named Oscar(also hubby and first born's name)and his mexican helper guy that does not speak a word of english. Enamored by his pleasant demeanor I start taking him around the whole house showing him where all the ducts are. He then goes to the garage where the dreaded furnace is. Now I should also mention that during this time my 3.5 year old, Benji, is completely trying to become this man's instant new best friend. He even grabs a lifesize big inflatable hammer (confiscated to the garage for a reason) that we got at a fair and proceeds to hit Oscar in the head with it while he is trying his best to explain what is wrong with my furnace.
Well, his original quote to completely clean, sanitize, new lifetime filterize, clean intake duct and provide a special UV light so that I will never have to clean the ducts again is a whopping $1850 plus tax. Now, he must have seen the look on my face, mouth agape, eyes wide open, because he really tried to explain, once again, why this is so beneficial for the health of my family. I of course told him that I was only prepared to pay the initial $99 that I had a coupon for. He tells me that my furnace is in such bad, bad shape and it really needs to be thouroughly cleaned. Apparently it was only operating at 60% efficiency instead of 100%. Just to bring it back to 100% it will cost $850. I call my husband and he pretty much freaks out like I did. I tell guy sorry but I can only do a couple of things and that my max was like $250. Then he drops it down to $750. Still no from me. Then he says "hey you know what, I really like you guys and I would be willing to take $750 plus tax in a few payments with no interest." This time I call hubby and we agree. We are so afraid of our furnace blowing up and then really being in a bind that we decided that this was the best way to go and we will just make sure that we can keep it maintained. So, then guy comes back in after he finished and tells me look, I talked to the office and they said that we can throw in the UV treatment, which is a lifetime package for the rest of my everloving life no matter what house I live in, for only $750 more. I told him again, I am all ready spending more than triple of what I had intended to so this, even though it was a $250 savings, was out of the question. He then runs to his van and comes back with a UV light package and tells me that this one he has is all ready opened and if I dont tell anyone he will give me UV package for only $375 plus tax which he will hold a check for until the end of April. Now his original estimate was $1000, then $750 now its gone down to $375, less than half of the regular price - still with full lifetime warranty and I will never have to clean my ducts again, ever.
Here my story ends with my being a great homeowner that has now just serviced my furnace for the grand total of $1200. I will never have to worry about it again, I hope. So, my $99 coupon turned into $1200 pretty quickly so that is why I have aptly named this post Totally Too Much Money Tuesday.
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