<prompt> Human: We have a lump sum yearly income, and the budget is that amount fractioned out. We currently have the value of the account set up as out emergency fund which turned out to be a horrible idea when the family pet needed surgery and blew 2 months worth of budget. Instead of readjusting the monthly budget, my family has just considered the surgery to cost the next two unadjusted budgets. Regardless of the terribleness of that scheme, Ive failed to convince them to change it before, and Im not going to try again. The microwave blew at just the same time as all this financial stress went down, because life... and someone taking out his stress on the poor machine. Regardless of those factors, we need a path forward. We have, of course, decided to get a microwave off craigslist and not new, the question is which to buy. MY FILs proposal has been that we take an old microwave from his brother and wait for a free one to show up. However, the microwave is not just old, it is terrible. It is a 750 watt behemoth with no rotating plate. And did I mention that it randomly decides to pop the breaker of the kitchen where our old 1300 watt did fine? Yeah, dont trust it one bit and am concerned it may be far more trouble than its worth. Plus my FIL has already taken to slamming the door on that one because of those issues, so it will not last long and hell grab the first microwave off craigslist, even if it isnt much better. It is literally unusable as far as Im concerned, and hes already complaining about how it did his coffee. Thats how I woke up this morning.I have set up two counterproposals. In my area, there is currently a microwave that I would consider comparable to our old one available for 50, before haggle. If it wasnt for the current tightness of the budget, Id just grab it and go, but even that might be too much for next months adjusted budget. I have also found a passable 10 model that we might even haggle to get for 5 or free. Problem is it is far from a buy it for life brand. My idea is that we get the 10 microwave and it would buy us enough time to fine a good model listed free. My family is loathe to buy anything that will not be staying with us forever, even if I try to tell them that it gives us time to find the best model on craigslist instead of the first one that pops up, and would basically be the cost of that microwave instead.So questions for personalfinance. Given the unusable quality of the current temporary microwave, is this something worth opening the budget up for and if it is, which one of my buying ideas would be best to push for?  <response>: I have no idea whats going on here. If 50 for a microwave off Craigslist is going to destroy your budget for the year, youre in trouble. Get the 10 to tide over the violence from your father in law, then get a new job and get out of this situation because if this is the drama youre dealing with... good luck. 