Jul 21 2009
Tough Economy? Make do and make your old appliances work like new!
Recently, it has come to my attention that more and more individuals are going out and buying for themselves and for others as gifts varying types of slow cookers, such as the many different models of Rival crock pot brand of slow cookers. A lot of times that I am in a mall on the weekend, wandering through a chain store downtown, or even simply riding the bus, I observe individuals hauling their newly bought Crock Pots. I cannot help but wonder if this apparent increased volume of CrockPot sales is a biproduct of the recent economic downturn or full blown recession, or just all in my mind because of my own increasing awareness of slow cookers as a viable meal preparation option.
I personally doubt that it is the latter, but nonetheless, this prevailing popularity of the slowcooker on the whole has me wondering about how the supporters of the slow cooker will handle the upkeep of their faithful appliances now that we have entered a time of uncertainty for the economy; that we are now at a time when so many are somewhat unsure of where their own personal economic futures lay - whether they will have a job a few months from now, that I wonder how they will handle the important decision, whenever it should arrive, of what to do when the slow cooker stops cooking? In other words, will home cooks simply contuinue to purchase a new appliance when the current one shows serious signs of its age, or will more and more faithful Crock-Pot users begin to hunt for more budget-minded alternatives such as shopping/hunting around for decently priced Rival Crock Pot replacement parts, or possibly try harder to hit upon second-hand slow cookers available in good shape at sensible prices? Many shrewd shoppers already know that the second hand or used goods market can often serve as a potentially great money-saving alternative to shelling out for a brand new home appliance, an appliance which, when brand new, could conceivably end up costing you much more of your hard earned dollars. Nonetheless nowhere near as many people seem to be aware that many of the likely problem areas of the crockpot can potentially be addressed by the well-timed use of replacement parts. Whether it might be the need for a new knob on the lid of your crockpot, the need for a new crock-pot liner to replace a cracked one, or a broken-off handle that needs replaceing on the side of your slow cooker, your typical household slow-cooker can be maintained and cooking in your kitchen for a long time if you just make the effort to find and buy the relevant replacement parts for it as or if the need should arise. It just seems that individuals have only recently started to become more aware of this reality, but - as the saying goes,’better late than never.’ And really, if you have the choice, you stand to save quite a bit of money by choosing to purchase a replacement part such as a replacement crock pot liner for say $20 to $30, instead of shelling out $50 or more for a completely new crock pot.
Clearly, the current state of the economy can only help to encourage both the practices of buying second-hand and buying replacement parts whenever applicable. Even if the economy should turn itself around sooner rather than later, these two trends are ones that I do not see tapering off anytime soon.
