For those who know me well, they understand that I am a bargain shopper! I enjoy a GREAT deal. And while I’m not opposed to off brand things- I really get jazzed when I can purchase/snag a quality product for a very good price. Which leads me to my next delima.
What happens when I need to pay full price for a name brand item? Two things have been/are in our future that we have needed to purchase. A washer/dryer set as our new house didn’t come with them and a vacuum. Now you can look at this two ways. 1) Purchase the cheapest option that will get the job done and know in the near future you maybe be back in the exact same spot, or 2) view these items as an investment, do you research, spend a little (ok, maybe a lot!) more money and know that you will have a quality product that will get the job done and last for a long time.
So, we purchased a washer and a dryer in the past few weeks. We deicded on option #2 and saw them as an investment. We went with the energy efficient machines and got the bigger size for the washer as our family is only getting bigger at this point. I can do three loads in one now! Woot woot! And as it was a chunk from our savings, we saw this as an investment and plan to take these babies with us till they are VERY old!
Now, we have a vacuum that is dying a very slow death. It is actually my parents old vacuum that they bought from a traveling saleman. I remember the day they bought it… I was shocked! I couldn’t believe that they were buying something from a door to door salesman and that they were investing that much money into a vacuum! However, this puppy has served its time well, I think it is 12-15 years old. However, as I am vacuuming, it is getting overheated and just stopping sometimes. And tripping the circuit breaker and I don’t think that is a good idea. So, I’ve been looking at vacuums and WO-MAN are there a TON of options. I don’t understand how a vacuum that costs 49.99 and a vacuum that costs 499.99 can both have a 5 star rating. The problem is that people give the ratings right when they get the vacuum- but who knows how long it will last??? I had a bagless vacuum that I bought several years ago with my first house. It was like 80 bucks or something. It worked great for like 2 months and then it was the biggest headache! It kept getting clogged and leaving chunks all over the house. So I swore I would never buy a cheap vacuum again. But now I’m looking that the reviews and it is overwhelming how many options there are. And they now come with “clears alergens from the air” so I’m trying to figure all of this out. I just want a quality vacuum that has excellent suction to clean the carpet and gets the job done.
Anybody have any suggestions? Are you loving your vacuum cleaner?? Then please tell me what you have and where I can get one! 
We got an Oreck from Jonathan’s parents way back in the day (before we were married, when Jonathan first moved). And you know, it was one they had, so I’m guessing it’s pretty old. Anyways… Other than the fact that it has no extensions (so you can’t do the baseboards and little cracks around the furniture) it’s a pretty good machine. It’s light weight which is good for hauling up and down the stairs. You do have to buy “special” bags from the Oreck store in IC, but they don’t fill up too fast so you can get by on just getting a few. But, since I didn’t buy I’ve no clue the cost. Ha! Hope that helps!
I have a good old Hoover (the “Wind Tunnel” variety, with a bag, not bagless). It’s nearly 10 years old and still going strong, though it doesn’t get much of a workout in our current house considering the only thing I have to vac is the area rugs.
I’m not sure if the current Hoovers are as good, but I would say that checking out Consumer Reports to see what they have to say about vacuums would be a good bet and probably more reliable than just reading online reviews. They usually do stress testing on the products they review as well as surveying consumers who have had the products for a longer time to find out if they have had repair issues, etc. They also usually give you recommended items in at least a couple different price ranges.
I just checked the consumer reports website for you and vacuums were last reviewed in April of this year, but if you don’t want to drag the kids to the library to look at the magazine, you can buy a one month online subscription for about $6.
Good luck finding a great vacuum!
We have a dirt devil I think and its ok, but not great. Mike had it before we were married and it hasn’t died so we use it.
However, my mom used to work for Maytag in Research and Development doing tests on washers/dryers and other appliances. Hoover is part of Maytag and according to my mom, Hoover has the best vacuums. She says that they actually have better suction than the Dysons, even though the Dyson is way more expensive. She says it’s funny that people have gone so Dyson crazy, because the big complaint that Hoover used to get about their vacuums was that they were too expensive. So her recommendation would be to get a nicer Hoover (not one that’s sold at wal-mart, etc.). I’m pretty sure hers is a Wind Tunnel and its self propelled, which is pretty sweet. It also has a signal showing you when the carpet is dirty and when it’s clean.
I defiantly recommend a vacuum with a bag. Our bagless didn’t last us long. It got clogged, dirty, and didn’t do a very good job on the carpet. We couldn’t ever get all the dust and dirt cleaned out of it.
Jamie just bought us a cheep dirt devil. It works well, but like you said, who knows how long it will last. Good luck on the vacuum hunt!
I totally appreciate the bargain hunter in you! I love being able to look around my house and know that this was free, that was $2, that was 75% off, etc.
I’m SO thankful that our wedding party all chipped in to buy us our vacuum cleaner. We adopted a long-haired, black cat a few months after we got married and have light beige carpet. You can imagine the frustration that a cheap vacuum would have been. Our vacuum is also some kind of Hoover, though I can’t remember the model off-hand.
Good luck in your quest!