OK, so life in Pasadena is everything a girl from Cleveland hoped it would be.  But a series of unfortunate events has made things a little more difficult than my husband and I expected when we landed here in 2002.

I think things hit their low this past summer we found ourselves with bad credit, no extra cash and a refrigerator on the blink.  Replacement cost: $800.  Likelihood of finding the $800 under a seat cushion in the living room: zilch.

So I went scrounging on the Internet for ideas.  On Craigslist, I discovered a demolition project in Anaheim where they had the exact model we wanted (retail price: $1100) in a house set to be torn down the following week.  The demolition sale was in four days, but I decided to get there a day early and make a cash offer of $400.  You never know till you ask.

Next challenge: find the $400. 

So I Googled some more found we could get a loan through Car Title Loans in Pasadena. They offered me $3000 in a title loan on my Viper, but all I needed was the $400 (I hoped).   So I set my limit at that, then I filled out the online application (thank God, no crummy stores in scary neighborhoods for me).  The money came by EFT to my checking account the next morning, after which I set off to Anaheim.  We bargained and bickered and I actually got the refrigerator for exactly the $400.  

My husband made fun of me, but car title loan companies for home stuff – especially on a deal like this one – saved me more than $700.  Find me a better deal somewhere else. 

- Paula Q.