Worth the Cost – Part 2
I really wish I could find the piece I read years ago, before my Five Fat File days. I’ve been looking for it for months. I think it was written by Erma Bombeck, but I don’t remember. It was a humorous piece with a very serious undertone: Life has worth. In essence, it talked about what different occupations get paid, a person’s worth and what we should be paid just because we are alive. I don’t remember the figure, but I think it was about $20 an hour. Anybody ever see it?
I mention this piece because a staple of most frugalites is DIY: do it yourself. From room painting to baking bread to gift baskets to canning to recreating craft fair items, frugal folks from all over work to recreate things cheaper and better, tailored for their needs. But in our quest to live frugally, are we being penny wise and pound foolish, wasting precious hours that don’t necessarily have to be spent for a “savings” that in the end, might not be all that much?
Please don’t take my question the wrong way. I’m definitely a DIY’er. I’m the daughter of hardcore DIY’ers. I’ve painted, wallpapered, roofed, sewed, mudded sheet rock, picked rocks, made cheese, filed tax returns, planted flowers and dozens more things. If it’s doable and saves money, I have probably tried it. I even wash out Ziploc baggies. (Yes, I’m one of those…) BUT! Just because you can do something and save on the upfront cost, that doesn’t make it frugal, i.e. prudent. Before we jump into DIY projects or do other “money saving” things, I think we need to consider the true costs - and those costs will be different for each of us.
Before we start a DIY project we are assuming will be frugal, which could be anything from painting your living room to making laundry soap to changing your own oil, there are some things we need to ask:
• Ability. Is this a prudent thing for me to tackle? Am I capable? Is it worth my time to learn if I don’t know how? Will I use this knowledge more than once? How long will it take me to learn? How hard is “on the job” training going to be? If I do tackle it, will I have the elbow grease required for the job? Is it too big for me to finish alone? Am I going to tear something apart and find twice the project I thought I would? Will I be able to handle that? Do I have someone who can bail me out if I get stuck? Do I have two left thumbs and could potentially loose one if I got near a power tool?
• Time. How long would this take a competent and skilled professional? How long will this project take me to accomplish? Am I being reasonable in my estimates? (With any big project, double the time estimate and add 6 hours. If you finish sooner, woooo whoo!) Will I be taking hours to do something that I could pick up for twice the cost of materials or less? Is there a deadline? Can I make the deadline if I DIY? Where will I find myself cutting corners? Is this something that is worth spending my fictional $20 per hour “breathing salary” when a machine could do it for pennies, in minutes? Would my time and talents be better used doing something else and paying someone to do the job or buying ready made?
• Tools. What tools am I going to have to invest in? How much are they going to cost? Will I use these tools more than once? Can I rent them for a reasonable cost? Find them used? Can I resale them for what I paid? Can I borrow them?
• Supplies. What supplies do I need? Am I going to get half way through the job and realize I miscalculated estimates in one area and it’s really going to cost me a lot more? Am I skimping on quality to get costs to come in cheaper than hiring out? Is quality critical in this application? Will I have to replace prematurely because I choose to use lower grade supplies and have double the cost, or more, in the long run?
• Comparison. Either new or used, how much would the ready made item cost to buy? How long will it take me to find it at a price I think is acceptable? How much would it cost to pay a professional to complete the same project? When can they start vs. when can I start? What is the difference between the buy it or have it done cost vs. DIY cost, including supplies, tools, and total hours spent x $20 per hour?
• Miscellaneous Priceless Factors. How much is the frustration factor worth? (For some, that's THE deciding factor.) Can I fit this thing in to my schedule without slighting or shorting my family or my non-negotiable responsibilities? Will I obsess or be consumed by it until I finish? What is the educational value of the experience? What lessons can I take away from this? What lessons can I share? Is this going to be something I will enjoy? Or will I hate it and drag my feet to finish it?
The 10 million dollar question is: All things considered, (time, talents, tools, availability, priceless experiences, etc.) where is my true savings? DIY or hiring out/ready made? Only you can decide.
Next week I’ll share a couple specific examples from my life and some final thoughts in Part 3. If nothing else, you should be amused.
So what are some DIY projects that you learned weren’t for you? Any that surprised you by being easy or found were a talent? When have you chosen to hire out or buy vs. DIY or making it yourself?
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12 Responses to “Worth the Cost – Part 2”
October 31st, 2007 at 3:21 pm
I have found that gardening and sewing are not big money savers.
When it comes to sewing, it’s generally a labor of love: a secondhand dress is nearly always less expensive than new fabric, even before you consider the time invested. If you’re buying a pattern and material, even a new dress can sometimes be less expensive!
Of course, there are many advantages to sewing and I occasionally do sew. I just don’t consider it to be a money saver.
When it comes to gardening, I think the time invested far outweighs the actual dollar savings – particularly if live in a climate where you have to water frequently (and pay for the water!). This isn’t to say that a frugal person should never garden: it may be worthwhile because of the quality of the produce, the pleasure derived in the work, the character that is built in your children when you put them to work pulling weeds, etc.
That’s just 2 for us. I’m sure there are many others.
October 31st, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Not the money-saver I thought it would be: landscaping. Before I sold my house last year, I tried to give it some curb-appeal. Every day, after work, I made a trip to the hardware store. Shovels, landscape cloth, discount plants, hose, weed killer, fancy gravel, ceramic pots, more gravel, more gravel, more gravel, MORE GRAVEL!! It was heavy, and there’s a limited amount that can fit into a tiny car. I hated everything about the project. I doubt that I’ll ever own a home again, after spending that much time and money on one little project.
October 31st, 2007 at 6:44 pm
These are excellent points and something that I really need to think about. I always appreciated those estimates in Tightwad Gazette where she would break down the costs of using cloth napkins, for example, versus using disposable. There are so many factors that can go into these considerations and I just love having a number to go along with what I am doing. It makes my time feel more valuable to me!
Thanks for an awesome post!
November 1st, 2007 at 6:55 am
We have found that any big project around the house is worth paying someone to do. When I say “big”, I don’t mean painting, wallpapering, flooring, ect… I specifically mean putting a new roof on. LOL
We wanted/desperatly needed a new roof and for years we put it off thinking we do it ourselves. After a couple of years of having no time to do that, we hired someone and it was done in a day!! :0) I took our income tax return, but at least its done and paide for. ;0)
November 1st, 2007 at 8:17 am
Great thoughts. There are some things, though, that I do myself because I simply enjoy doing them. I mean, knitting one pair of socks: $20 for the yarn followed by 20 hours of knitting.
Then again, handknit items are considered luxury items by some, and what I would have to pay someone to knit that pair of socks for me makes it a steal.
My point is, though, if one enjoys the challenge of doing it themselves, even if it takes twice as long, I think it offsets some of the “cost” as compared to a project where you don’t really savor the activity but are trying to save money.
Finding joy in doing things myself – even if it’s just the joy of figuring it out which must be more than getting my hands dirty – often makes up for all of the downsides.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:12 am
Great questions!
November 1st, 2007 at 9:30 am
I am too wimpy to be able to do plumbing. Stupid tiny muscles. And rusted joints.
Sewing with new fabric and patterns costs more than buying used clothes. But sewing with used fabric and learning to make your own patterns is a different story. To me the best things about sewing are being able to maintain clothes longer and being able take clothes that are okay and turn them into clothes that are perfect.
Gardening gives you a different product than you get from the store. Some things, like orange trees and herbs, where you just go outside and harvest some whenever you want it, are totally worth the time, especially if you choose things that grow well in your area. Other things like tomatoes cost a lot to make yourself but taste very different than what’s in stores. There is also something comforting about having food right in your own yard. “Money doesn’t grow on trees, you know” but food does!
I like wrapping gifts using paper bags, ribbons, and flowers from my yard. I like coding my own html.
I like cooking my own food because it’s cheaper and I can use whole grains, nothing hydrogenated, and sneak vegetables into my main dishes. Also, my chocolate desserts are chocolatier. I like decorating cakes – they look bad (well, mediocre) but are personal (and cheap).
I like doing my own financial planning and organizing, tax preparation etc; it motivates me to spend reasonably and to keep proper records for taxes, etc. (I might have thought these things were too hard, but I started small–1040EZ and a savings account–and worked my way up.)
All my jewelry is made by my boyfriend, and he also cuts my hair (a straight trim in the back). He also keeps the computers going, including for music and video.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Great comments!
I agree that sewing can go either $$ way very quickly. For me, I really enjoy it, but it’s also a necessity. I have trouble finding suitable clothes that fit Ariana. It’s actually LESS time consuming for me to sit and sew Ariana 4 dresses than it is to cruise thrift stores digging for them. With the way I find supplies, a sewed dress might cost more than a thrifted dress, but she’ll wear it for more than 2 years. The costs end up balancing out. And believe me, I enjoy sewing a LOT more than I do digging through hodgepodge racks and piles of dresses. (But more about that next week.)
Although my dad and father-in-law wouldn’t hesitate to reshingle a roof, Rich and I would probably pay to have it done. We just don’t have the ladders and some of the other tools needed. Although if we had too, we would.
I also definitely agree with Tana where she mentions the enjoyment factor. I forgot to mention it, so I went back and edited to add it for those who don’t read comments. Thanks for the reminder Tana!
November 1st, 2007 at 12:40 pm
We’re in the process of adding onto our house and doing the majority of the work ourselves, and we have to decide when it’s worth it to hire out a job. We had someone come and do the excavation and concrete because it just wasn’t something we were skilled to do. But my husband has the tools to do all the framing so he’s doing that. He laid the tar paper on the roof himself but we’re probably going to have a friend with roofing experience come and do the shingles. We’ll pay him, but it will be cheaper than getting a roofer to do it.
November 1st, 2007 at 2:58 pm
This is great food for thought!
November 4th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
Sometimes you have to hire an expert just to realize how well you did it yourself.
After a grueling floor refinish in our first home, we hired the job for the second house. Guess what? Our DIY job, though time consuming, was just about as good, for $1000 less.
Maybe we’re just handy, or maybe our low budget only hires the least experienced service people…but we almost always get as good as or better job when we do it ourselves. That alone makes it often worth the effort.
Of course, all Janel’s great questions presume that one has the money to spend on hiring professionals in the first place.
November 9th, 2007 at 9:37 am
I appreciate this post! It hit home hard a few years ago when DH & I decided to paint the living room. Everyone says painting yourself is frugal.
But we had never painted before and had no supplies, not even a stepladder. We shelled out over $400 in supplies. Most of which have not been used because the other painting was done professionally! (Except the stepladder which we use elsewhere in the house.)
We also discovered after tearing down the decades old wallpaper that previous removals had not been done properly. We spent over 24 person hours scraping old glue off the walls. What was meant to be a weekend chore ended up 4 or 5 days–including me taking time off work!
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