How to Use Store Sales, Coupons, and Rebates to Get the Best Deal On Appliances

When we started renovating our home-turned-office-to-our-home we decided early on that we would try to avoid cheap/temporary because in the end it can definitely end up costing more. It isn't always possible, but we like to think of it this way, "Okay, $5 toaster is crap, $50 toaster is amazing but not necessary. $30 toaster is rated/reviewed well." Then (and this is important) we get a coupon and then if we can, we combine that with a sale for the deepest savings. Then we check for rebates, see if floor models are available for purchase, and check for defects that might give us more money off. The stars don't align themselves when it comes to sales, you have to do the work!

1. Research which stores near you are generally cheapest for your appliance, or offer price matching, and then begin researching those stores constantly. Check websites and sale sections in store often; their websites will often show you what is in stock at your particular store.

2. Start early. I started months before needing our fridge because I knew Lowe's/Home Depot would delay my shipment for a long time, so I wouldn't even have to store it. There are certain times of the years particular brands roll out new models and the old ones go on sale. Ask store associates if they know when this happens for their store.

3. Scour clearance sections and look for floor models. 
Don't be afraid of a floor model, especially if your store doesn't even plug their models in. We snagged our fridge as a floor model that had never been plugged in and received an additional discount for it! Sure, it has been touched by a million hands, but so has every other thing we touch while out in public. Disinfect and enjoy the savings.

4. Pay attention to holiday weekend sales.
Labor Day scored us an automatic 10% off of our appliances as this is the standard home improvement store sale. It clears out old inventory for newer models and everything was game. Everything from Martin Luther King Day to President's Day can snag you good deals on appliances. Black Friday is more tech geared but there can be good deals. Again, ask around in your local stores!

5. Look for rebates.
There is a rebate section for all appliance selling stores on their websites. Lowes' had a sweet tiered rebate (rebate section of Lowe's website) going where if we bought two of their appliances we got $100 back, and if we bought 3 we got $200. It took a couple months to get the check but it was easy savings!

6. Look for scratches.
I forgot to mention this but when we bought our floor model, I mentioned the big scratch across the front (it was five inches long and ultimately I don't care about that kind of thing but it was a new fridge...) our salesperson overheard me mention it and took another 10% off for the defect! Which brings me to...

7. Never be afraid to ask for a deal, just be nice!
No one is going to think you're being cheap (and if they do? Who cares!) if you show a bit of indifference and then say, "Are there any deals that could get the price down a little bit? Rebates? Coupons?" A good salesperson is happy to work with you! And that brings me to...

8. Find your sales person. 
There's an episode of King of the Hill where Hank is teaching his son Bobby to have a salesperson for everything, "This is my car-guy, this is my appliance-guy." I actually do that! I will ask questions I know the answers to in order to size up my sales people and see who I can trust with info later on. Do some research, ask some basic questions while browsing to a few different people, then go straight for the one you like the best and make them your person. Look for someone willing to help you and who seems knowledgable and professional, not just friendly. Our sales person when we bought a washing machine recently made sure to personally call and hop on the internet to price match for us.

9. Coupons, man! 
We signed up online with Lowe's a while back and they send us great coupons. Sometimes $10 off of $50 but often $50 off $300 which is obviously helpful with appliances. Sidebar: If we know we're doing a project soon and have a $50 off of $300 but only need $100 in supplies, we might go ahead and buy some things we know we will need and usually do not go on sale (nails, wood, etc.) in order to use it.

10. Is Stainless necessary? 
This is something I didn't realize at the time and am starting to think about more for our next set of appliances, which will hopefully be in 8 million years. Stainless looks clean and polished and industrial, but I really like white. The newer finishes of white look incredibly good and futuristic with the LED lights and modern styles; white isn't what it used to be. It is also quite a bit cheaper, sometimes saving you $200 or more. Black looks nice as well. Our stove is a double-oven (the top is a mini-oven with normal two-rack oven separately beneath it, and there's no broiler) glass top and was FREE from a friend of the family redoing their kitchen. They rarely cooked so it was in pristine condition, but it is white. It doesn't bother me at all and sometimes I wish my other appliances were white to match!

Our Receipt: 

$1,636.00 Whirlpool French Door refrigerator (On sale from $2,036)
- 10% Labor Day Sale on all appliances at Lowe's) 
- 10% additional for 5 inch scratch
- 10% for floor model
- $50 ($50 off $300 Lowe's coupon mailed to us) 
- $66.67 (1/3 of the $200 rebate for buying 3 Whirlpool Gold appliances)
______
= $1,075.97 (roughly, plus taxes)

I made a selection of a fridge, hood-microwave and dishwasher that were all within our budget but were very good quality. It was what we would have purchased without dealing with sales/coupons/rebates. Our three appliances would have been 3 different brands, not as nice, and a side-by-side fridge, which isn't what I wanted at all. In the end, we actually spent less money on my higher end Whirlpool Gold appliances with rebates and discounts than the sensible list.

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Kitchen Progress: 3/4 Finished!

The old family office building, that is now our home, had a kitchenette area that wasn't big enough to convert into a real kitchen. You can see in the photo below that there is an A/C unit and a wall on the right. We just couldn't fit a dishwasher and a fridge in that space, and it would be necessary since that's the side the water is run on and it would otherwise be very expensive. We don't like expensive!

The kitchenette area of the office before demo.

We took out the two walls you see above to make the living room/kitchen one big space. You can see how thick the doorway into the back part of the house is. It is so thick because it is the old exterior wall. Everything behind it was an addition added later, which is why it is carpeted/concrete and the core of the home is wood flooring.

This is the left side (you can see the same wall on the right) after demo. There's an air vent that needed to be moved so we could put cabinets along that wall.

Please note the horrific state of the floors! The darker portion in the back is actually stained and damaged from some tremendously strong glue used to place down some vinyl kitchen flooring. We used what can be described as giant razor blades on broom sticks to scrape up the tile. We didn't think that floor was salvageable but luckily we found a great floor guy! 

My dorky sketch I made in Google Sketchup then colored in Photoshop of what I wanted the kitchen to look like. 

I decided the blue cabinets were too much with our blue monster couches, and opted for all stained. I might paint the back of the island still though! We went with a much lighter granite, too. I also nixed the long modern handles for shiny Martha Stewart boutique looking ones from Home Depot. If you're renovating your own kitchen, hardware is one of those things that creeps up on you when it comes to price. Luckily, it isn't a necessary thing so you can live without them entirely, or buy all upper and then all lower later. We just bought handles for drawers for a while because all together it came out to nearly $200 just for our rather modestly priced hardware.

I can assure you everything isn't this... orange. I guess I forgot to edit this photo! 

I am incredibly pleased with what we have so far. The granite is called Kashmire White (yes, with a K) and we got it for a steal at a local granite place. Home Depot had granite starting at $30 per square foot and we paid half that! More on that later.

You might also notice the change in the cabinet layout above the sink. We did that for symmetry's sake. Here are a few more photos:

You can see the antique hardwood floors in all their beautifully flawed glory. Looove it! I also chose to have two vertical drawer cabinets in the island since I couldn't fit them in anywhere else as I wanted Lazy Susans in the lower corners. I think the drawers also give the island a dresser look, as if it were a piece of furniture; at least that's what I was going for! Now we just have handles, beadboard backsplash, and lighting to accomplish!

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