Yes, and items seem to be manufactured to exceed their warranty period by only a short time. I assume that an item will last for a year in most cases, or the warranty period if that is longer. For white goods like a fridge or a washing machine I look for statistics and use longevity as part of my purchasing process, so I aim to buy appliances which will last a fairly long time and then save based on that not being the most likely outcome. My fridge can be expected to last 5-7 years, so by year 3 I will have enough saved or room made in lines of credit to afford a replacement. Obviously it is best to have nothing accruing interest so I will tend to pay credit down first but some if the credit cards where I am actually have good terms such as a 36 month interest free period. The utility of money during that time is available for other things and I can reduce my costs in other ways.
Comment on YSK that you can/should budget yearly for long term purchases
cron@feddit.org 10 hours ago
One downside i see with this is that it is often unclear how long an item will last. For example, I bought my dishwasher in 2021. When will they need to be replaced? The last one lasted 24 years, but I’m not going to bet on the new one lasting as long.
rowinxavier@lemmy.world 5 hours ago
deranger@sh.itjust.works 9 hours ago
For that example, it should be in your home maintenance budget. That’s a major appliance.
cron@feddit.org 8 hours ago
Right. Basically, I can assume that at at least one thing in the household breaks each year. This year, it was the microwave oven.
hakase@lemmy.zip 4 hours ago
Nice thing is that used microwaves are all over thrift stores for like $10 a pop. Our coffee maker broke this month and we got the best coffee maker we’ve ever had for $6.