I know our debt reduction plan is working. I know our attitude about money has changed drastically in the last six months. There are very tangible indicators this is true. Here’s the proof:

We used to own three TV’s, each with an attached DVD player. You realize they served different purposes, of course. The main units were in the living room–for family movies. The second set was in the basement–so we could pop in Seinfeld DVD’s while we exercise. The third was in the master bedroom–so Mike and I could cuddle and watch a movie after the kids had gone to bed.

About a month ago, the DVD player in the living room kicked the bucket. No fanfare or warning. It simply stopped working. What to do? We went down to the basement, disconnected that DVD player, and schlepped it upstairs. Problem solved. And we didn’t spend a dime. Sadly, we weren’t exercising enough to justify the DVD player downstairs.

Then–two weeks later–Murphy’s Law struck again. The once perfectly functioning DVD player from the basement got sick. This time, the death was not so quick. The unit fought a good fight, sometimes working, sometimes not. But eventually it succumbed and died. So, experienced with this situation, we knew immediately what to do. We disconnected the bedroom DVD player and brought it down to the living room. Problem solved again. We were getting good at this. And again, no money spent.

To top off these electronic issues, our dishwasher has been on the fritz for two months. Sometimes it runs, sometimes it stops mid-cycle. I found if I wad up a paper towel and use duct tape, I can jimmy-rig the latch and keep it running. That worked for a week. Then I found applying direct pressure to the door works better. But because I didn’t relish the idea of holding the dishwasher door for 90 minutes, I shoved a kitchen chair against it and placed a five-gallon water jug on top of the chair. Hey, it worked!

Then I got wind of a Maytag dishwasher recall*. Seems my model has a habit of spontaneously bursting into flames because of a crack in the Jet-Dry compartment. The recommendation from Maytag is to immediately stop using the dishwasher, turn off the power at the circuit breaker, and call for further instruction. I learned about this recall three weeks ago. So far, I haven’t called Maytag. Oh, don’t worry, I’ve shut off power to the unit, but TECHNICALLY I haven’t stopped using it. I’ve been washing dishes by hand for three weeks and using the dishwasher as a drying rack. No money spent on a new machine. As an added bonus, I’m saving money not cycling the dishwasher every night.

Pre-debt reduction days, we would have been the proud owners of two new DVD players, and Sears would have installed a new dishwasher. But you know what? We’re functioning quite well with a single DVD player and no dishwasher. Sure, it takes a little extra work to wash dishes by hand, but it’s not the end of the world.

*Public Service Announcement: Select Maytag and Jenn-Air dishwashers are affected in this recall. Click the link for more information if you have either brand of dishwasher in your home.

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