If I was you Dave, I would have taken the plunge, and bought a new set of aids, yonks ago, life is too short to live with frustration!!! If you can afford them, buy them… I don’t worry about costs, I am pretty frugal when it comes to saving though, fortunately, I am good at saving money, and I sometimes amaze myself how much I can save in a relatively short time frame… I set myself a target, and just go for it! Strange as it may seem, once I spend the money, my next target is to replenish the savings, and I feel as if I actually got whatever I spent “for free”, once this is accomplished, well that’s what I tell myself
Cheers Kev 