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I did something stupid and it cost me $50.

I’m a little embarrassed to share this, but I’m going with the theory that embarrassing things are usually very helpful to share.

And I’m sure I’m not the only frugal person out there who has a very hard time forgiving themselves for wasting money.

Ok.

You know the hot water kettle that I adore?

On Monday, I ruined it.

I was heating up a pot to boil some pasta, and as usual, I put a kettle full of water on because the kettle heats it SO much faster than my stove does.

(I put a little bit of water in the pot on the stove so that I’m not just leaving an empty pot on the stove.)

Anyway, the kettle boiled, but when I checked the pot, it wasn’t very hot yet.   So I set the kettle down on the empty back burner and went back to my decluttering.

Then I got a faint whiff of a plastic-y scent.

I turned around, and lo and behold, I’d turned on the wrong burner initially, which meant my pot was on a cold burner and my plastic-bottomed kettle was on a hot burner.

AUGH.

By the time I noticed it, the bottom of my kettle was a mess of melted plastic.

I took it off the burner, scraped the melted plastic off of the burner with a bench knife, and put the kettle outside on the deck to cool off/solidify.

I hate it when I do things like this.   One split-second dumb decision and my $50 kettle is ruined. <sob>

However, I remembered that I had two gift cards left from Amazon’s 2016 Prime Day promotion (I found them when I was decluttering my office this summer!).

I typed them in and discovered I had $50 in credit. Yay!

I found a Capresso for $47, with free Prime shipping, so it’s on its way to my house.

And I didn’t even have to spend any money out of pocket.

Being my frugal self, though, I still struggled to let go of my frustration with myself.

I tend to focus on what other things I could have used that $50 credit for, and how if I’d just been more careful, I could have my kettle AND my $50 credit.

And then I think about how many batches of yogurt or how many home-cooked meals it takes to save $50, which is never a very helpful path for me to go down at such a time.

So I’m making myself think of the upsides instead:

-I had the Amazon credit.
-A $50 kettle isn’t insanely expensive.
-I had the kettle for 3.5 years, so I did get a lot of use out of it.
(and use it we did! We fired it up multiple times per day.)
-It’s good for me to do something like this once in a while because then I’m more prone to having grace for my kids when they do careless stuff.

I can totally let this go. <deep breath>

P.S. If you want a kettle for yourself (they ARE fabulous!), this is the model I own (owned?) and love.

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susan

Tuesday 23rd of February 2021

The lesson learned is more valuable ! You can take deep breaths all the time; they are live meditations, knowing that this was only an "experience" anyway. And, that you haven't done anything wrong. There is no shame, no blame. An experience learned from. You are perfect just the way you are !! Smile, and then let it all go; it's in the "passed"/ past. You are loved !!

Strino

Saturday 23rd of May 2020

I just did the same thing but forgot it was an electric tea pot. So I think I win the stupid award. Wife confirmed that.

Kristen

Saturday 23rd of May 2020

Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear you did what I did! So frustrating.

crowded_house

Friday 14th of July 2017

Question:

Does the kettle still work with the bottom piece being melted? If so, maybe you could get a new part and replace the bottom.

Possibly you could contact the manufacturer to see how much a new bottom piece would cost. If you are able to replace it for a reasonable price, you would have a nice gift for a friend or relative.

Also, what about Facebook or a local area swap board to see if anyone has the same pot with broken glass, but a good bottom you could use? It does seem a shame to get rid of the pot if it still works but is just tippy. Can you tell I have a hard time not trying to "fix" my mistakes? :)

Kristen

Friday 14th of July 2017

Haha, no...the bottom is so melted, the power connector area doesn't even come close to match up with the base anymore.

I totally get your line of thinking because I do the same thing. But this is too far gone to be salvaged.

I just need to learn from my mistake!

Calee

Friday 14th of July 2017

Ughhh you have no idea how many times I've done this. This is another reason I hate electric stovetops! Our current stove is electric and the burner switches are backwards from literally every other stove I've ever used. I ruined so many things the first few months living here until I made a rule not to put anything on the stovetop that I wasn't currently heating—period. I still turn on the wrong burner from time to time (which is still annoying because it results in cold things that should be hot) but I'm not ruining things anymore.

Kristen

Friday 14th of July 2017

I probably need to institute that rule for myself as well.

Isabelle

Thursday 13th of July 2017

Bah, 50$ is not so bad. I just got myself into trouble in a parking lot, bumping into another car. 500$ given to him to repair his car (not using insurances) and I don't know how much for mine yet to repair my bumper. Oh well, it's life, it happens!

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