our latest opportunity to spend money

Keith and I have had our share of laundromats. We've both lived in apartments without owning washing machine and dryer, and we've lived in places where we had them. Right now, Jennifer's house has a washer and dryer, and Keith's apartment does not. A few months ago, we got in the habit of Keith doing laundry each weekend at Jennifer's house.

In the recent weeks, Keith periodically told Jennifer that the washing machine stopped in the middle of the cycle. He opened the lid and closed it again, and it started running correctly. Jennifer didn't have any experience with the machine stopping in the middle of the cycle, so it didn't bother her even though she was curious.

A month ago, MO and PO replaced their washer and dryer, and we talked about getting theirs because they seemed like an upgrade. Turns out, according to MO, they're duds that never performed like they were advertised. So, we abandoned the idea of upgrading.

Then, on Saturday, Keith's load stopped mid-cycle, and Jennifer wanted to witness the event. This time, though, opening and closing the lid changed nothing. We tried other cycles to no avail. We looked up prices for washers online, and we also checked out the cost of repair. Since repair is one-third the price of replacement, we decided new is better. We got the clothes out and took them to the machine at Keith's apartment.

But, Jennifer kept thinking about it. On Sunday, we talked about the possibility of repairing the machine ourselves, and Keith revealed his prior experience with washing machine repair. He was successful! So, we're going to try it. Keith also talked to his dad about washing machine repair, and Keith said the likely problem isn't too hard to fix. The worst that happens is that we go back to funding laundromats for a few weeks (while we're 60 days from getting married!).

So, our first step along the way is to bail out the several gallons of water that are currently in the machine. (Our water bill would go down if we didn't do laundry at home, that's for sure!) Then, we'll test Keith's dad's theory that the water pump is not working. Assuming he's right, which he usually is, we'll remove the bad water pump and find another one for this particular machine. After we install it, we'll test the theory for real. Here's hoping for success!

(If anyone else has experience with these issues, we'd be glad to hear your stories for both encouragement and information.)