Craigslist Bragging Spot

I don't use Craigslist for a ton of things, generally because it's super annoying, and people are crazy, but I have had good luck with exercise equipment.  About four years ago, I bought a treadmill for about $100 and then proceeded to just wear the damn thing out.  I realized recently that the belt is just slowly crumbling away and likely to completely snap very soon.  So I started shopping.

I emailed about five people on Craigslist who were selling treadmills for as much as I wanted to pay, and none of them wrote back to me.  Then I started looking into buying a new one.  The biggest problem with Craigslist for large items like a treadmill is that I don't have a vehicle large enough to transport it.  I'd have to try to borrow one from someone and/or rent a truck, which takes more planning and time.  If I buy a new one, I figured, I might pay a little more, but I can get free shipping.

I started to get bummed out looking at prices for new, kind of crappy treadmills online.  Turns out that the amount of money I want to pay doesn't really get you much in treadmill-land, and I struggled to come up with a new plan.

Thankfully, I was on Craigslist one day as a new ad for a treadmill was posted, and I emailed the guy right away.  After some back and forth, he even agreed to deliver the machine for an extra $25.  So my new treadmill arrived last week and I forked over some hard-earned cash after hauling it into the basement and doing a quick walk on it to make sure that it worked.

Then I tried to run on it.

Turns out that the reason I probably got such a deal on it is because the belt was slipping.  I could barely walk at a brisk pace on this thing, let alone run, and I started to feel even sadder than before.  I hoped that it was just dusty from sitting in storage, but after cleaning it off, no luck.

So I did what any modern gal would do--I took to the internet to try to find a solution and it came in the form of this video:

After ransacking the basement and our apartment trying to find the appropriately sized allen wrench (seriously, how can we have a house full of IKEA furniture and only two sizes of allen wrench?), I FIXED MY TREADMILL!

I now have a functional, gym-quality treadmill of my very own!  I was so excited, I ran on it far longer than I should and now my legs are sore--but I don't care.

I was so, so bummed when I thought I spent $125 on a crap treadmill, but now I think I got such a good deal because the guy just wanted to unload it!  I'm damn near euphoric, and it took about 20 minutes total to fix (once I found the appropriate tools).  Double bonus, the city will haul away my old, broken down treadmill for free.