I was just thinking the exact same thing......
DGM passed away in Jan
MIL & FIL seperated shortly after DGM funeral, and divorced after 32 years, found out MIL was having an affair, she has since pretty much ignored DH and my children. I could care less if she ignores me, but DH & my kids...NOT SO MUCH!

DGM passed away in April (she was 99)
Son broke his ankle in April and missed entire baseball season
Dishwasher needed replaced in May/June?
Washer/Dryer being replaced as I type this.....
And last but surely not least, the stove needs replaced, but since the cooktop still works, and the oven heats, just not to the correct temp on the knob, we're trying to scrimp by with the cooktop and crockpots, rarely using the oven, until it totally konks!!
And for what it's worth...... after much research, reading reviews, shopping everywhere under the sun.... we went with Maytag Bravos. Top loader HE that weighs the clothes to put appropriate amt of water in. I got a great deal on a steam dryer/washer for about $1250 out the door. Had to use 12mos same as cash though, which is ok but I don't REALLY like to do it.
If you're looking to replace just the washer, expect to pay about $500 for a traditional one with a decent size tub and agitator. With a top load HE I paid about $81 more, well worth it in my town, as our water bill is astronomically high. Hoping this will help to bring down the water bill. To break it down I paid approx $581 for the Bravos Washer, and $665 for the Bravos Steam Dryer. The tub size on the washer is 4.7cf which is almost as big as you can get for the money. I got mine at Sears, and they are still offering this deal thru the first week of October, and Oct 3rd is their friends & family night, extra 10% off.... (prices I provided are with the 10% discount already figured) Good luck on your purchase, I went 3 weeks w/o because I wanted to make the right decision. Thank God for DFIL who let me use his front loader while we shopped (which I HATED, BTW, for what it's worth) Happy we got a top loader!
Here's looking forward to 2011, and hoping it's a better year for all of us!!
