Save Money by Fixing Things Yourself

Written by nickel - 14 Comments

After a weekend spent working around the house, I was reminded of the value of being able to make simple fixes yourself. I’m a reasonably handy guy, and I take a certain amount of pride in being able to fix simple plumbing, electrical, etc. problems myself.

Beyond the satisfaction that comes from maintaining my own house, there are a number of financial rewards associated with doing this.

1. Doing it yourself means that you don’t have to pay someone else to do it. Given how much electricians, plumbers, etc. charge per hour, your savings can be substantial.

2. Depending on how you’re paid, hiring someone else to repair things instead of doing can cost you a decent chunk of money in terms of lost wages. Given that most professional tradesmen work business hours, someone will have to be available to meet them, explain the problem, and then babysit them while they finish the job.

3. Often times people put off minor problems off until they become major problems, primarily in the interest of saving money in the short term. But guess what? Major problems can cost disproportionately more to fix than minor problems. If you knew how to make basic repairs, you’d be able to head a lot of these things off before they get out of hand.

4. Finally, depending on the sort of problem that you’re experiencing, the fix itself can result in direct savings. For example, we had a couple of leaky toilets. The fix was dead easy — it took a grand total of about 2 minutes to replace the “flapper” in each toilet (ignoring the time required to buy the replacement parts). And yet, from here on out we’ll be saving money on our water bill. It might not be a lot, but everything counts.

The good news is that, if you don’t know how to do any of this stuff, salvation can almost certainly be found online. While I typically just end up Googling to find what I need, there are also some nice one-stop repositories of do-it-yourself, such as eHow.com, DoItYourself.com, and Instructables.com that can serve as good general resources.

(Note that Instructables tends to feature more cool hacks and fewer simple fixes, but it’s still worth a look. Thanks Tyler!)

Published on March 17th, 2008 - 14 Comments
Filed under: House & Home
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Comments (scroll down to add your own):

Another great site to learn how to do things is http://www.instructables.com/

Very fun and neat site!
Comment by Tyler — Mar 17th 2008 @ 8:29 am
Tyler: Ahhh, yes. I totally forgot that one. While Instrucables tends more toward the “hacks” end of things, I’ll add it. Thanks!

Comment by nickel — Mar 17th 2008 @ 8:32 am
As far as saving money by doing it myself goes, I always have to add in the cost of gas for six trips to Lowe’s for the right parts.
Comment by FMF — Mar 17th 2008 @ 8:51 am
I don’t think of myself as being very handy, but it is a good idea to be able to do a few minor things. And aside from how-to websites, there are a lot of people who are willing to give some guidance if we just ask them.
Comment by Fiscal Musings — Mar 17th 2008 @ 9:04 am
I recently solved the mystery or a slow-draining toilet in our house. Turned out my son decided to flush a toy helicopter, and its blades snagged the toilet\’s exit into the main drain line (had it gone any further I might have had a real mess!). Total cost - $2.86 for a new wax ring to reseat the toilet. Who knows how much a plumber would have charged for that discovery!
Comment by Frugal Dad — Mar 17th 2008 @ 9:26 am
Since I bought my condo, I’ve become pretty handy around the house. It’s amazing what you can learn to fix if you’re a cheap male and your ego is on the line.
Comment by Kyle — Mar 17th 2008 @ 10:17 am
One other benefit is that you avoid taxes. If you hire someone, you have to pay them, usually from your income, on which you have to pay taxes. And they have to charge you more because THEY have to pay taxes on what you pay them.
Comment by Anne — Mar 17th 2008 @ 8:03 pm
I’m surprised there is no disclaimer here… fixing your own electrical problems can definitely kill you. I recently witnessed a careless do-it-yourselfer who put a saws-all through a 240v electric line. Luckily the sawblade contacted his heating duct and shorted out before it could kill him.

Take care, friends, take care…
Comment by MITBeta @ Don't Feed The Alligators — Mar 17th 2008 @ 9:29 pm
I agree with nickel except for the disclaimer that you should know your limits. Do your research first if it is something you arent familiar with doing. Ill admit that I have “wasted” money on having plumbers and such fix easy things but at the time it was above my level of expertise. If you have a good service guy, they might show you a thing or two so next time you know what to look for and possibly not have to call them again
Comment by Jeremy — Mar 18th 2008 @ 12:09 am
Jeremy: Of course, I would always recommend that you respect your limitations. This is why I included the word “simple” when talking about the types of fixes that I tackle. Beyond that, one person’s simple is not always the same as another person’s simple. For me, simple electrical fixes are installing a ceiling fan or swapping out a light fixture, and not running additional wire for new circuits, installing additional receptacles, etc. For those sorts of things, an electrician is well worth the money. But everyone’s limitations will vary.

Comment by nickel — Mar 18th 2008 @ 8:11 am
I agree that doing some DIY is a great way to save money. Unfortunately I am not at all handy and nor is my husband. I usually end up asking my Dad to do jobs for me and he doesn’t mind. Treating him to a lunch out is a lot cheaper than paying a handyman to do the work for me!
Comment by rachel @ master your card — Mar 18th 2008 @ 8:44 am
Most of my repairs are on the small side. I can patch a wall and fix some small things. But most of my repairs are just stop gaps. For instance our wood fence needed some repairs last summer. Some pieces were rotted and just fell off. A new fence would cost somewhere around $3000. But I went to Home Depot and bought what I needed and made the repairs for about $30. Basically it was a stop gap measure to get another year or two out of the fence. A year has passed and the repairs have held, but I have a feeling the full replacement will come within the next year. But I figure the interest I will make on not spending the $3000 a year ago more than pays for the $30 in repairs - so it was a good investment. Sometimes those small, stopgap repairs are just small money makers - but every bit counts.
Comment by KC — Mar 19th 2008 @ 2:42 pm
I think there are so other good points that can be said about being handy and DIY fixer.

I just graduated college, and it’s surprising to me that most young people have never learned to fix things themselves. I am the only one I know who actually owns a drill and a toolbox.

Here’s some of my personal reasons being able to fix things is a necessity:

1) Favors:
I always been called upon to help install things for friends shelf, tv mount, wireless network. Although I never ask for money, it’s always good to have helped out friends, because they will be more apt to help you in the future. Even if you get a few beers out of it, you still benefit.

2) Safety
I have always made sure to teach my sister’s and girlfriends how to change a flat tire. It’s pretty simple to do, but most people don’t know where to begin.

I wouldn’t want them stranded somewhere at night. If I wasn’t around to help fix the flat, I would hope they would pull in a well-lit area, pop on the doughnut or replacement tire and drive to safety.
Comment by Wes Lewis — Mar 20th 2008 @ 3:09 pm
I thought of another point to my list above, because it pertains to something that happened last night.

3) Saving the Day!

I was out with some friends last night and we were going to see a movie and get some dinner. One of the girls we were with broke her heel. Thankfully, I had 5 minute epoxy in my glovebox. Her heel was fixed and we all had a great night.
Comment by Wes Lewis — Mar 21st 2008 @ 5:51 pm