A life without white goods?

Last Updated on 10 October 2023 by Colette

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So this might seem a bit of an odd question – but if you were asked which was your favourite white goods appliance, what would you say?  What can’t you live without?!  Recently Beko ran a poll on Twitter asking what appliance you can’t live without with the clear winner being a fridge-freezer.

I’m not sure I can actually choose . . .

I remember when we first moved into our house eight years ago, we had a manky old fridge and separate freezer which Dave had brought with him from his house in Preston.  I gave it such a good bleaching but it was still minging!  Because we’d only really lived in furnished properties before buying our own home, we didn’t have a washing machine, dishwasher or tumble drier and lived on microwave meals for weeks and weeks!  (In particular some sort of microwavable Mr Ben’s risotto I seem to remember – I was SO sick of it by the time we finally got a new cooker sorted!)

I guess over time we just had to prioritise our purchases – I think the washing machine came first as I wasn’t a fan of sitting in the launderette around the corner, feeding the machines with coins while time just drained away!  We picked up our dishwasher second hand thanks to my Dad and bought a tumble drier when Ben was born.  (We actually don’t use the tumble all that often – point proven by the fact it has been in storage at my friends’ house for the last two years whilst our extension was built!)  Since then we had our kitchen rebuilt and refitted and bought a new fridge-freezer and fitted a new hob and oven.  I must admit I still hanker after one of those fancy plumbed in fridges that give out ice and chilled water!

Clearly, when the need has arisen, I’ve managed to survive without almost all of my white goods for a limited period of time but if you told me know that you were taken away my washing machine or fridge freezer indefinitely, you’d have a fight on your hands!

At the end of the day each one adds a certain level of convenience to our lives – from the washing machine meaning we can (just about) keep on top of the washing for a family of five from the comfort of our own home, to the fridge-freezer meaning we don’t need to make daily (expensive) trips to the supermarket or even the dishwasher saving us from standing at the kitchen sink for hours on end scrubbing dishes.  If I had to live without them I suppose I would just manage, I would find ways around it.  Do I want to live without them?  Not on your nelly!