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!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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)

Thanks for an awesome post!