The Stove that Wouldn't Die...

Anyone who knows me very well knows that I am extremely “thrifty.” I think a lot of it comes from growing up with a mother who could, out of necessity, stretch a dollar farther than anyone I know. No one can out save my Mom. Now that I am responsible for a family and try to keep track of our weekly expenses, I am again amazed at all my Mom was able to do with her budget. Never once as a child did I feel deprived or like I was missing out on anything. We seemed to be living as good as or most times better than the people I knew. My siblings and I were all involved in extra-cirriculur activities like dance, sports, music lessons, etc.; every Christmas was magical with the family room being filled to overflowing with gifts; and we always felt like we were dressed in the ‘cool clothes’ during those years when what you were wearing seemed so important. I did not ever feel like I was left wanting.

As I grew older and realized how many financial tricks my Mom had, I was amazed at how she was able to pull it off. It wasn’t easy, but I am so glad for the lessons I learned from her about saving up for big purchases, not just buying them with a credit card. In fact, when it became the norm to reserve hotel rooms with a credit card was the only time I ever saw my Mom with a credit card in her possession. My Mom was all about “lay away,” which stores don’t even offer anymore. There wasn’t any item that came into our home until it was 100% paid for. I grew up with the impression that credit cards were bad, evil, to be avoided; which I’m glad for now as I see all the trouble people my age and younger have ended up in because of credit card debt. I’m so grateful for all of the dollar-stretching techniques Mom taught me by her example. She never sat me down and had this big discussion about how to be thrifty, she only taught me by her actions.

I remember the first trip Scott took with my family while we were still dating. We were going down to stay in Moab and do some hiking in Arches National Park. As usual, we got one hotel room for all six of us on the trip. There was one king bed that Mom and Aunt Karen shared and the rest of us put down our air mattresses and sleeping bags for the night. Because this is how I’d always traveled, I didn’t think much of it. But I could tell by the look on Scott’s face, this was all new to him. He later, much later after we were married, admitted his air mattress went flat as soon as he laid on it and he didn’t get much sleep on the hard floor that night. It was because of this way of penny-pinching traveling that we were able to go on many family trips and see places and do things we wouldn’t have been able to if everyone insisted having their own bed to sleep in. It was a monumental moment when we were on a trip and my brother Colt, then 16 at the time, declared, “This is the first family trip I’ve been on where I’ve got to sleep in a bed!” Although excited, I’m sure not Colt or any of my siblings would have traded any of the trips we went on to be able to have our own bed to sleep in while in a hotel.

The money savings didn’t end with cramming many-a-body into a hotel room either. We always traveled with a cooler and tried to eat as many meals as we could with items we purchased at the local grocery store- cold cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch. I remember the first time my brother and sister-in-law went to Disneyland and my brother refused to buy food from any of the vendors inside the Park. Jeremy insisted they leave the Park and eat for half the price at a local fast-food restaurant. Some traditions will never die…

It is this kind of upbringing that made me think there was no reasonable justification for replacing the original, 1976 Jenn-Air stove that was in our kitchen. It still worked perfectly fine, it just looked old. I told myself I would just keep using it until it finally died. Well, after living in the house for four years and realizing that Jenn-Air would never give up the ghost, I decided I was going to get a new stove. I found my dream stove and was so excited to start being able to use it.


As with any upgrade the to the “farm house,” nothing is ever easy. The stove sat on the rug in the sitting room just off the kitchen for weeks as Scott tried to get the opening just right to put the stove in. finally, after becoming used to our stove in the middle of the floor, it found its way to it’s real home.



We decided to get an over-the-range microwave, too, which was going to require the cupboard above being adjusted. This has led to not only a new cabinet being built for over the microwave, but a new pantry being built where the wall stove and microwave are now, all new doors for the cupboards, and refinishing the butcher block. It will feel like a whole new kitchen!
Here are the before pictures and what we’ve been living in. I look forward to the day when I will be posting the after pictures with everything all fixed up. I think, even as cost-conscience as my Mom is, she agreed that it was time for an update of the 1976 kitchen.