What is the value of Do It Yourself (DIY)?
 
It appears that in years past DIY was viewed as a positive trait. Today the joke seems to be jack-of-all trades, master of none. Is this a true assessment? Or a slogan created by those without skill? I’m going for the later. First, I see DIY as a key to financial independence, second an opportunity to save time, third the ability to take pride in your workmanship.
 
I’ve heard told people wait one to two hours to get the oil changed in their car. This is crazy. Changing oil is a basic task that almost anyone can complete. Beyond completion it is a task vital to your car, a product you spent a lot of money to purchase. You are in a position to take better personal care of your purchase than the lowly paid college student changing the oil in 100 different cars per day. I have seen cars leave from an oil change without any oil in the engine. The time to complete this task personally should be less than one hour. Count your time to drive to the mechanic, wait for the car, and drive home. It should be much longer than one hour. Now I will grant it saves you from some potentially dirty work and crawling around under you can for a few minutes but really we all could you a little more time moving. Ready to get started on your own car? A good place to start, this or any new task, is to look up on You Tube “how to change oil in a [2015 Camry]” and you immediately get two links to watch, part one and part two, for a total of five minutes. [Insert your car in the above].
 
You have now accomplished saving time and taking pride in your car. I doubt you saved any money on this task, as oil changes are often loss leaders to get you in the door for other repairs. By taking this small step you have build a skill that can translate into real money savings later. How you ask? Many vehicles have alternators that are high mounted on the front of the engine, they often have three bolts, one connection, and one wire held on with a nut. If you can change your oil you can do this alternator. Now you can purchase the alternator at cost rather than list price and change yourself. In this case I would expect an out of pocket cost of $180 compared to $450 if you cannot DIY.
 
DIY is not limited to your car, perhaps the best DIY domain is your household plumbing. In general everything from a leaky toilet, leaky sink, or failed garbage disposal can be repaired with very few hand tools. This week ironically I had my garbage disposal began leaking. The aluminum housing corroded from the inside out creating a hole that is now leaking. My co-workers would have been upset by this, called a plumber the next day, and then taken off work the third day to sit and wait for the plumber. I have never changed a garbage disposal, but am very DIY capable, so I did not see this as a particularly big challenge. I found InSinkErator still produces the same Badger 5 model, I purchased this from Home Depot, and had it installed one hour later. Completing this task required $100, a Phillips screw driver, and two wire nuts. It turns out most garbage disposals attach via a quart turn quick lock on the installed sink drain, saving me from working with the drain itself. My leak is fixed for the cost of a house call before parts and labor; in addition not requiring taking a day off work.
 
Get out there and give you next task a try.
 

What DIY task have you completed recently? Are you considering a task that you find intimidating?
 
Please share.

 

Mr. Big