Frugal Mistakes! (sell, sale, best, prices)

[yellowsnow]

OR... My kingdom for a light bulb!

Here's my latest big mistake. Maybe we can trade mistakes so we don't all have to repeat them!

I found a great brushed nickel reading lamp for my bedroom on sale at Lamps Plus. Great deal plus I think I even had a coupon. It's beautiful and looks very expensive. Fast forward 2 years and one of the light bulbs burn out.

After 3 months of looking for a replacement bulb, I have come to the conclusion that I will have to replace the lamp. Every bulb I buy isn't right and they all blow out immediately. I can't find one that is exactly like the original. And there's no sticker on the bottom of the lamp that tells you what to buy. It's one of those small halogen bulbs. I have been carrying the light bulb around with me for ages. Lamps Plus was the first place I checked...they don't have them.

Lesson learned. I will never again buy something that takes non-standard bulbs you can't buy in a regular store. Some bargain!

[KonaKat]

Google the light bulb's number if it has one stamped on it and you may find a place to order them
Try a lamp/lighting specialty store?

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by KonaKat

Google the light bulb's number if it has one stamped on it and you may find a place to order them
Try a lamp/lighting specialty store?

Good ideas but no luck. I've been everywhere! All the bulb says on it is "Made in Italy".

[gardener34]

Never buy: Any item that needs replacement "cartridges" or whatever... the company makes its money on selling the "refills" or "cartridges" NOT on the actual item itself! And then after a couple years, you can't even buy any refills or cartridges because they don't make that item anymore, so you have a nice useless item.

[ChiGuy2.5]

Cheap Clothing. I hate finding a good deal on dress shirt or polo that I wash once and it shrinks enough to fit a child. Or if it doesn't shrink, it looks wrinkly enough to have been stuffed in the bottom drawer for 3 years. I despise cheap clothing like that. I stick with the expensive stuff that is easy care.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

Good ideas but no luck. I've been everywhere! All the bulb says on it is "Made in Italy".

Sounds like you need to take a 'frugal' trip Italy is pretty nice about the time LV gets miserable.

Or come to Portland, OR during Aug and enjoy some cool days at the OR coast. This lady claims to be able to find any light bulb, She has a very crazy and eclectic store.
http://www.sunlanlighting.com/

It may also be reasonable to change the 'innards' to a more conventional bulb. (best to do this via a 'Donor' lamp from Goodwill, etc.)

My latest mistake was yesterday... bought a nice HEAVY Kohler sink and faucet from Habitat ReStore. Before I got out the door I busted the spout when grabbing a $5 item. OUCH, I'm still kick'n myself.

[tijlover]

My brother, an auto mechanic, shocked the beejuz out of me, one time, telling me how much it costs to replace a bulb on one of these cars with those new pin-like headlights.

I never used to have power windows, in any of my cars, but the driver's side window of my 27YO Toyota just gave out, and we're looking at $550 to fix it! Ain't gonna do it! The passenger window konks out, well, then for air, I'll just use the moon roof! That failing, I'll drill holes in the roof!

How many people, when they buy something, get so excited over finding a bargain, they neglect to ask what's it going to cost to fix/replace this or that?

[Ol' Wanderer]

We once bought a $50 printer from BestBuy and patted each other's back for finding a good deal. When the ink cartridge needed to be replaced, we found out that the printer only accepted one model, and it cost $24, for black ink! Colour ink, of course, cost a lot more.

We sold the house and left the printer behind for the new owner.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by tijlover

My brother, an auto mechanic, ... 27YO Toyota ...That failing, I'll drill holes in the roof!

..what's it going to cost to fix/replace this or that?

Keep that 27 YO car, (and brother mechanic, close at hand) the less plastic the better (and keep an eye out for Crank Window replacement (I need some too)

Ironically, I spend much more time transporting my friends to auto dealers to get their NEW cars fixed, that I ever spend working on mine.

Most of my stuff (including cars), has a higher scrap / eBay value than my cost basis. BUT a recession takes all your buyers out, and scrap prices drop like a rock, since everyone is out collecting cans to pay for groceries... BTDT.

[jtur88]

Polaroid cameras were the archetype of this scheme. The cameras were very cheap, but required proprietary Polaroid film, which cost about a buck a picture, even back in the 60s. If I had been Polaroid, I thought at the time, I would drive through town with a truck loaded with cameras, and give one free to everybody who wanted one. And then open up a shop that sells the film.