Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Buying it Used, Even Under Duress!

I said before that I try to find things used if I absolutely need to buy something. . .

Last year in June, I fell off a 4 ft ladder while trying to remove a light fixture in our bathroom and broke two bones in my foot.  The human body/brain instinctivly tries to protect the head (which was my only thought in that split second before I landed), so my foot ended up in an unnatural position under my body, I think.  I quickly realized that I was going to have a hard time trying to get around on crutches, because they make you hurt pretty bad under the arms from the pressure, as well as being unsafe when you are getting tired from trying to stay standing on one good leg.  What to do?

My husband suggested getting a wheelchair, but should I? A new one was running at a minimum of $200. You could rent one for about $2.00 a day, which comes to $60.00 a month for God knows how long.  Oh yeah, let's check Craigslist!  A quick search while laying in bed turned up a model that looked brand new for $30.00!  A quick call to the seller lined up an appointment for my husband to go pick it up on the way home from work.  It had belonged to a young man who had wrecked his motor cycle but quickly recovered from his injuries. 

I used it for about a month, so that's a savings of $30.00 over the rental fees.  It still looks barely used, and I'm sure we could sell it for the exact same price as we had paid, which will make it free to us.  We are holding on to it for the time being in case my father-in-law who's had knee replacement surgery may need it later as he is getting along in his years.  It is amazing what is out there if you take a little time to look!

1 comment:

  1. If you end up selling it, you could put it for $40 and make a little profit :-)

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