I have this Hoover-U5180-900-Cyclonic-Bagless-Upright Vacuum Cleaner that I purchased over two years ago for forty bucks on Amazon. It has worked pretty good and I'm always amazed at how much dog hair it picks up from just one room. I empty the bagless canister a couple times whenever I vacuum because it just seems gross to have all that dust and hair whirling around. Anyway, its been a pretty good vacuum, but the front wheel carriage broke a short while ago, and its a hassle to have to push the thing around, instead of wheel it around.
So I was watching www.slickdeals.net for a deal on vacuum cleaners, but I missed out on a good deal a week ago. So, now I'm going to do the frugal thing. I'm going to just repair the thing by purchasing a wheel carriage part for $3.49 and fix it myself.
A lot of times it is really easy to fix things rather than replace them. Google is your friend. Just google your item and part needed and see what comes up. Usually, for a fraction of the cost of the item it can be repaired.