Disposal of a Garbage Disposer

We have been a bit of a spending spree lately. February was good to us, and we were able to make some purchases that we have been putting off for a long time, in addition to eliminating our last remaining credit card debt.

When we finally settled down and stopped our spending, of course something broke. While retrieving dish detergent out of under the sink, I noticed that the box was wet. I was not surprised that the leak was coming from the garbage disposer, but I was surprised to see a 2" crack in the side of the unit out of which water was leaking. So, off I went to research garbage disposers, and continue our spending--albeit reluctantly.

Our old disposer was an Insinkerator Badger 5, which according to a quick Google search is notorious for cracking right after it exits the warranty period. Ours lasted just over three years, while the warranty expires after two.


I finally reluctantly chose to buy a new Insinkerator after doing research. The factors which made me choose a new Insinkerator were noise, quality, and size. The Insinkerator Essential I purchased uses stainless steel components where the old Badger used plastic or galvanized steel. It is much smaller that the competitor's products I could have purchased, and it has insulation and a few other items to reduce the noise output of the unit.

So, this morning I installed my brand new disposer which I ordered from Amazon. It installed with not problems, to the existing plumbing, electrical, and sink flange. Hopefully the experience with this one is better than the last.

I suppose the positive spin I can put on this--and the rest of our "spending spree"--is that I am doing my part to boost up the economy. I know this is contrary to what I said in my last post, but I am spending money that I already have, and buying things that my family actually needs (OK, so I am using a loose interpretation of the work need). Through our past two years of budgeting using You Need A Budget we have reached the point where we can absorb some unexpected spending without adverse consequences, and our financial life has been much less stressful.