Try a used appliance store?  Sometimes they offer payment plans.
 
As for the odor, you will have one anyway...depends on how many ferrets
you have, and I don't think it is always the poopies ie; Wildthing,
either.  WE ALL SMELL!  Remember this, it is YOUR house, and maybe those
who visit are not around ferrets as much as you and will notice the
(smell?) more so.  What do you take more pride in, the ferrets and your
care for them, or.. approval from someone else on your own housekeeping?
By your post, you seem to be concientious about your housekeeping skills,
so I would just take those remarks with a grain of salt, everyone these
days has an opinion and they certainly like to express them.
 
I apologize, if this seems inappropriate, I just get tired of everyone
elses opinions of how I should be living my life all the time, I have one
who lives with me, for instance, my daughter.  I have also been slammed
at work, a job that I needed to be out of, for "smelling.  You will drive
yourself absolutely insane if you keep on trying to please everyone else,
are you satisfied with your housekeeping, is the home clean, and to your
standards?  Well, step back and let it roll.
 
I personally like the smell of my ferrets, is it ferret smell or poop
smell, if they say ferret, then it is the animal, not the excrement.  I
wouldn't recommend bathing daily either, just to please someone else, at
the expense of the ferret's.  There are plenty of posts I am sure in the
archives regarding what can happen when you over bathe a ferret or any
animal for that matter.
 
sincerely
donna
[Posted in FML issue 4289]