I currently don’t have a mixer. My hand mixer broke last month. It was my go-to for the last four years when baking. I bought it for ten dollars at Kays Merchandise when we got married, thirteen years ago. By my calculations, I have paid .77 each year to have a hand mixer. Pretty good return, I’d say.
But if you add the fact that we bought a top of the line stand mixer a couple of years later, the rate of return on the investment plummets. I wish I could tell you that I always make good decisions about buying things. The real truth is that I don’t have a good track record with making purchases and still don’t.
I bought that hand mixer knowing that I needed one with the mindset that even though it wasn’t top of the line, it would do the job nicely. I was a graduate student then and we were living on one income and trying to buy a house.
A couple of years later our situation changed. I was out of school and we were both working. We’d bought our first house and were comfortable financially when Shawn bought me a bright red Kitchen Aid stand mixer. It was a grand gesture of love in our second year of marriage and it cost a lot of money.
Mind you, my husband is a GOD send, but the decision to buy me an expensive Kitchen Aid Mixer was not his idea. He was often gently reminded how beautiful it was and how it would look amazing in our red kitchen when we would see the appliance in stores. I somehow had it in my mind, that I NEEDED that stand mixer. Nevermind that I hardly cooked at that early stage in my marriage. Nevermind that I already had a hand mixer that worked just fine.
It seemed like everyone I knew was talking about their Kitchen Aid mixer and I started noticing them in the houses of lots of people I respected. Every store I visited had an array of brightly colored appliances with promises of how easy it would make cooking. The gleaming chrome and vintage style beckoned to me. “We make money now”, I told myself. “A stand mixer is exactly what we need. Right now!”
“Oh, look! You can get a pasta attachment for it and make your own pasta,” I commented. And because he aims to please, I was given a bright red Kitchen Aid Mixer for our anniversary. I probably bought him socks and underwear. I am the WORST.
I don’t particularly enjoy thinking about times when I WANTED gifts that were an absolute luxury, just because that is what everyone else had. But it is real.
Guess what? That dag gum Kitchen Aid mixer looked dynamite on my counter. Did it get used, you ask? Not much. Can you believe that Shawn never enjoyed any homemade pasta as a thank you for his gift? I never used the dough hook thingy to make my own bread or….. Well, I quite honestly can’t think of anything else one would use the dough mixer, but it’s safe to say it collected a lot of dust.
The Kitchen Aid mixer just sat there, looking pretty on the counter. To be honest, in a good year, it was used four times and mostly only for boxed cakes and brownies. I cooked zilch in our early years. Eating out was still affordable and fun at this point when we had no children.
I had that Kitchen Aid for five years and MAYBE used it all of twenty times total. At a purchase price of $250, that means Shawn paid $50 a year just to be able to display it. Just to say that I owned one. What a waste. During our Dave Ramsey debt-free journey, I sold my Kitchen Aid mixer. It just didn’t represent me anymore. I didn’t like how I felt about the purchase and my non-use of it. I sold it to a family member with two daughters who love to bake. I am sure it is getting plenty of use now, and that makes me happier than owning an appliance that I bought just because everyone else had one.
I will buy another mixer, and this time I am going to get it right. I saw a hand mixer at Dollar General the other day for $12.
Love,
Stef