A Penny Pincher By Any Other Name.....

It has been pointed out to me that I frequently mention the price of something on my posts. I've been told that it's not cool to do that. I don't know why. In most cases I'm not bragging or complaining, just including a piece of information. When I wrote in an earlier post that we bought two end table for $2.50 each and an oak framed mirror for $3 I wasn't bragging, simply including information about what I'll call the financial aspect of antique buying and selling. 

Last week we bought a Queen Anne dining set. It is not what we wanted...we were looking for something like Shaker Oak to blend in with the vintage, semi-rustic theme in our kitchen. The set is virtually flawless; comes with a 20" leaf extending the table to 8 1/2 feet, and a hinged 1/2 inch thick protector covering the entire table top. Our neighbors guessed that we paid $1300 - $1500. Anyway, the Queen Anne upset the decor we had and forced us to re-do two rooms. It now sits where our kitchen set, wall board art and wall lamp used to be.

The kitchen set, wall board art and wall lamp now occupy a room that except for a stationary bike was empty last week. We're going for sort of a bistro look, but who knows how long that will last. It is a warm, relaxing room day and night with a great view of the back yard. 

Back to my talking about prices. I'll admit that I do consider price when making purchases, and also that I take pride in scoring two end tables for $5. What's wrong with that? Back in my college days, probably in a sociology class I remember reading a study about the general traits of children of parents who had grown up during the Great Depression. One of those traits was that they tended to be very frugal. I can understand that. I remember my parents trying to stretch every nickel. And I guess that maybe I haven't forgotten that lesson.

I phoned a plumbing company yesterday because the faucets in two bathrooms recently started to leak. A plumber came this morning. The service charge was $69. The quote to install two customer purchased faucets was $274 each. I nearly regurgitated my breakfast. If I agreed to that deal the cost would be $548 for labor plus another $69 service call plus the price of the faucets. So including two faucets @ $60 each I'm talking $737...to fix two leaking faucets.

I received a customer satisfaction survey from the plumbing company. I replied that we were satisfied with the technician, that he was personable, seemed knowledgeable and answered all of our questions. I added that we were not prepared for the "jaw dropping price quotes", that I had picked out faucets we like at Home Depot, had watched a video on how to replace a leaking faucet, and that I was going to attempt the work my self. I concluded by saying that if I am successful it will be at 1/6 of their quoted cost, but if I run into trouble to standby for a call.

We paid $279 for the  Queen Anne dining set. Sorry, I couldn't resist.