I bet that is just how your neighbor's tech set up their cable. We had a tech come out to our house and he couldn't get into the outside cable routing box thing, so rather than try to open it, he just routed around it. He didn't tell us, so when we tried to move our TV to another room we had to smash open the cable box and re route it ourselves.
And the bit in the Blackbeards Rum recipe.............where it says how much ingredients to use, letting the water cool down a bit before adding yeast, and then says to take a hydrometer reading and "adjust as necessary". I assume he meant to adjust the wash as necessary, either by adding more sugar or diluting the wash slightly, whichever is needed, to give you the recommended starting point of a gravity of 9, (which would read as 1.09 on the hydrometer I have here). Looking at that recipe, though, a starting point of 9 or 1.09 will only give you an alcohol content of 10%, which seems right for the 2lb of sugar to the gallon in the recipe. I'd be tempted to put 3lbs to the gallon and boost it up a bit to about 15%. That would be a starting gravity of about 12, (or 1.12, if you have the same type of hydrometer that I have). A good wine yeast will do it in about 5 or 6 days at the right temperature.
My rule of thumb is- don't pay anyone else to do something that I can do myself. I'm a stay at home mom so I'll give all my time to fix something- if I can do it. I'm currently in the middle of teaching myself to photoshop so that I can make my own logo for my website instead of paying a professional to do it. In other words, free is the name of the game with me. If I can't do it, I see if I have any friends or family that will be able to do it for me for free in exchange for a service I can provide them. Only if even with all that, I can't get it fixed, do I bother paying a repairman to come.
Cable TV is bogus and Comcast's OnDemand service is primitive and offers a pathetic selection of viewing options. PC + internet + current-gen gaming console + third-party media server software (if needed) to steam content onto your television is the way to go. It would be a steep up-front cost to pick up the gear, but if you've got that stuff already anyway (and so many of us do), why would you even need a cable TV subscription? Woe to Comcast/xfinity/whatever as more and more people figure out it's not that difficult.
There are four factors that I believe play an significant role in determining whether you should attempt a job yourself, cost, value, time and safety. Cost is the savings that you gain by doing it yourself. Value is the repeatability of something. For example, if this is something that you need to do every 3 months, for the lifetime of the product then the upfront investment of $15 and a weekend may be well worth it. Time is self explanatory. You don't want to be do something that makes your effective $/hour < $1 for example. Safety matters because you really don't want to put yourself in danger. It ultimately becomes not worth it. Another commenter mentioned dealing with electrical. I think this is a great reason to bring in the experts and let them handle the situation.
I have no problem spending way too much time, having to buy specialty tools, breaking a replacement part and having to buy another one, etc.
Consider this recent expedition: my CV axle on my Honda Civic needed replacing. Taking it to the corner auto shop would be ~$200, and probably way more at the dealer. I got the axle for $50 on sale. Now I had most the tools on hand already, but if not the special tools would have set me back almost $100. These things can be tricky, and if you pull the joint out of place you've trashed your new axle. Fortunately for me this did not happen, as I learned by watching it on youtube. But if I had screwed that one up, I'd already be at $200 (50 + 50 + 100). And that $200 doesn't even include your time. So most people would say, "you woulda been better off at the auto repair shop!!!".
I respectfully disagree.
First, I enjoy doing things like this (although I have a hectic schedule myself), but also I learned how to do it myself. If one ever needs replacing again, I've got the skills in hand. Think of it as an investment in yourself. Secondly, it feels good doing something, and when you get done you can say "I did that".
This is amazing, truly amazing. Who cannot fall in love with it. I mean all my friends have it. I have encouraged my relatives to buy it. Above all I push my fat looking bear of a husband on this platform and make him do exercise. It is a great device for the kids to have some indoor games and a great tool for the boring rainy seasons. Keeps them busy and off my mind.
Couldn't agree more! And in keeping with your restaurant theme...we have a program called "What's on the Menu...Financial Education for Families", sponsored by Volunteer USA Foundation and the SunTrust Foundation. The entertaining and educational pilot program is taking place in Florida schools...to nurture children and parents to be more financially-savvy and better prepared to manage money in the future. Check out the family friendly materials at www.volunteerusafoundation.org
My husband and I aren't particularly handy around the house. Since this is our first home we're learning as we go along. That said, if something breaks down we do try to fix it ourselves first if at all possible before calling a repairperson simply to save money. If we truly can't do it ourselves we usually try repairing rather than replacing unless it's totally not worth it (the appliance is already so old and used and the cost of fixing it would be about the same or more than a new one). So, yes, we pretty much base our repair decisions on cost.
When I was young, I used to to attack every project on my own. Home maintenance, car repairs, small electronic devices, and yes I have even replaced a few belts on washers and a couple heater coils on dryers. However, now that I am getting older, I am finding solace in having someone else do these jobs.. not all of them.. just the ones that are a little bit more of a stretch for me.
We got rid of Comcast 4 years ago and went with Direct TV, and love it! You are right Comcast will not work with you at all. As far as the 2 year contract with Direct TV, yes they did explain it quite clearly, then after the 2 years there is never a contract again. Our niece just bought her first home, and called Comcast to see what specials they might have. NOTHING. They told her they don't work that way because they do not make people sign contracts. She called Direct TV, and again they explained clearly there was a 2 year contract and if she dropped out in the time frame it would be a flat fee of $150. She got an amazing new customer deal for 2 years. I decided to call them one day to see what they would give a good customer. The Rep was so nice! We actually started talking about all kinds of things and in the end she took $15 a month off of our bill for one year! Now that is customer service!!
I had a similar occurrence with a top loading wash machine, only twice. It was a small plastic join that spun the machine, that cost $15 to fix. (plus 2-3 hours of swearing and bloody knuckles) The only problem is that the second time I ended up messing the machine up, and we cant do full loads without it getting off balance. I need to get back under the machine to see if I can fix it.
Its best to call a pro if you look at it and can't figure out how it works, or doesn't look like its something you can fix, or it involves something deadly! worse case othewise is you break it even more, which your still stuck calling a pro to fix
If it's anything for which we've bought a maintenance plan, the repairman/woman gets the call right off the bat. In all other situations, my husband has proven time and again that he's an incredibly handy fellow at fixing things. We just had a our washing machine break, and I knew exactly what the problem was - the sensor that knows when the lid's down, to prevent the spin cycle from operating until the lid is closed, was busted. A simple little 50-cent switch, basically. I told him what it was, and bless his heart, he got the switch out, and rigged an override. Since we don't have any kids who might fall in and therefore I'm not as worried about the safety factor, this override works just fine with me - I still put the lid down :)
Don't the new Comcast commercials say they have to give you a $20 statement credit if they miss an appointment? It seemed like from the commercials they were trying to improve their customer service. I guess they're just improving their customer service image and not the actual service.
I do have to say that we're a lot more satisfied with our basic Comcast cable (w/o a box) than we ever were with our more expensive service. We'd get rid of cable but we still want the internet.
Thank you for sharing! This is actually something I started considering about a week ago and I appreciate hearing from someone who cut to the chase. A large tub of Brown Cow or Greek yogurt can cost upwards of $3 here, so it sounds like this is a worthwhile endeavor - and like you, I'm way more interested in frugality and quality. Mostly, we use yogurt on granola and in smoothies.
Man, I'd be happy to be rid of Comcast. Unfortunately, they're not any cheaper than the other options out here (we tried satellite, but could only get service a few days a week). We canceled the cable package to cut expenses, but if we canceled the TV portion entirely, our internet bill would go up - and the internet is what we need to watch Hulu and access Netflix!
I don't think internet should be more than $30, but here the going rate no matter the company is at least $50.
I hire a professional if:
- It's dangerous (complex electrical problems, removing hazardous materials)
- It's highly complex and you're likely to violate building codes by doing it yourself
- It's something that will be done only once in a long time, and it requires specialized or expensive tools (we had a professional install our driveway gate for this reason)
- My hourly wage times the amount of time it takes me to learn about and complete the job is more than a professional's fee. (This sometimes happens, because the professional can do it more quickly.)
- The risk AND cost of having the project fail are both high. (ie. laying expensive marble tile that's ruined by cracking if you don't seat it PERFECTLY level, and building a balcony poorly can result in tragic consequences when someone stands on it.)
I do it myself if:
- It is something that will need to be done one or more times per year (like fixing simple plumbing problems)
- It requires simple tools, or inexpensive specialized ones
- It can be done safely
- If I don't know how to do it, I can learn relatively easily
- I have a personal interest in how it works. Taking apart your home or an appliance can teach you a lot!
(1) I first looks it over to see if its an easy fix. (I just recently fixed a lamp this way.) (2) Then I go to the manual and check online if others have run into and fixed something similar. (3) Next I as around my more handy friends and family for ideas. (4) Finally I decide if hiring a repairman or replacement is most cost efficient. Generally I can fix most things by without ever reaching step 4.
I've put down laminate flooring, steamcleaned carpets & furniture, replaced kitchen faucets, & repaired the toilet.
The first thing I do is google for instructions. If it looks like something I can do, I make the attempt first (knowing full well that calling in a professional *might* be more expensive if I break it). I also evaluate how much a professional is going to charge me to take care of it.
Repairing the toilet is a prime example: I found the instructions to replace the wax seal online, kicked the kids out of the house and followed them to the letter. While the toilet was out, I also replaced the inner works with water-saving stuff. The plumber would've charged me $200 + travel, and all it took was my time.
I am definitely mechanically challanged, but thank goodness, my husband is not. He recently fixed my washer for $25 when it would have been at least $150 for someone to come out.
I bet that is just how your neighbor's tech set up their cable. We had a tech come out to our house and he couldn't get into the outside cable routing box thing, so rather than try to open it, he just routed around it. He didn't tell us, so when we tried to move our TV to another room we had to smash open the cable box and re route it ourselves.
Typo alert! Would you use sachets to keep things smelling "sweat"? Or maybe to KEEP things from smelling sweat(y)?
Fix No. 6!
Great tips, however.
And the bit in the Blackbeards Rum recipe.............where it says how much ingredients to use, letting the water cool down a bit before adding yeast, and then says to take a hydrometer reading and "adjust as necessary". I assume he meant to adjust the wash as necessary, either by adding more sugar or diluting the wash slightly, whichever is needed, to give you the recommended starting point of a gravity of 9, (which would read as 1.09 on the hydrometer I have here). Looking at that recipe, though, a starting point of 9 or 1.09 will only give you an alcohol content of 10%, which seems right for the 2lb of sugar to the gallon in the recipe. I'd be tempted to put 3lbs to the gallon and boost it up a bit to about 15%. That would be a starting gravity of about 12, (or 1.12, if you have the same type of hydrometer that I have). A good wine yeast will do it in about 5 or 6 days at the right temperature.
My rule of thumb is- don't pay anyone else to do something that I can do myself. I'm a stay at home mom so I'll give all my time to fix something- if I can do it. I'm currently in the middle of teaching myself to photoshop so that I can make my own logo for my website instead of paying a professional to do it. In other words, free is the name of the game with me. If I can't do it, I see if I have any friends or family that will be able to do it for me for free in exchange for a service I can provide them. Only if even with all that, I can't get it fixed, do I bother paying a repairman to come.
Cable TV is bogus and Comcast's OnDemand service is primitive and offers a pathetic selection of viewing options. PC + internet + current-gen gaming console + third-party media server software (if needed) to steam content onto your television is the way to go. It would be a steep up-front cost to pick up the gear, but if you've got that stuff already anyway (and so many of us do), why would you even need a cable TV subscription? Woe to Comcast/xfinity/whatever as more and more people figure out it's not that difficult.
There are four factors that I believe play an significant role in determining whether you should attempt a job yourself, cost, value, time and safety. Cost is the savings that you gain by doing it yourself. Value is the repeatability of something. For example, if this is something that you need to do every 3 months, for the lifetime of the product then the upfront investment of $15 and a weekend may be well worth it. Time is self explanatory. You don't want to be do something that makes your effective $/hour < $1 for example. Safety matters because you really don't want to put yourself in danger. It ultimately becomes not worth it. Another commenter mentioned dealing with electrical. I think this is a great reason to bring in the experts and let them handle the situation.
Great post!
I have no problem spending way too much time, having to buy specialty tools, breaking a replacement part and having to buy another one, etc.
Consider this recent expedition: my CV axle on my Honda Civic needed replacing. Taking it to the corner auto shop would be ~$200, and probably way more at the dealer. I got the axle for $50 on sale. Now I had most the tools on hand already, but if not the special tools would have set me back almost $100. These things can be tricky, and if you pull the joint out of place you've trashed your new axle. Fortunately for me this did not happen, as I learned by watching it on youtube. But if I had screwed that one up, I'd already be at $200 (50 + 50 + 100). And that $200 doesn't even include your time. So most people would say, "you woulda been better off at the auto repair shop!!!".
I respectfully disagree.
First, I enjoy doing things like this (although I have a hectic schedule myself), but also I learned how to do it myself. If one ever needs replacing again, I've got the skills in hand. Think of it as an investment in yourself. Secondly, it feels good doing something, and when you get done you can say "I did that".
Liz, thanks for info I will definitely check it out.
This is amazing, truly amazing. Who cannot fall in love with it. I mean all my friends have it. I have encouraged my relatives to buy it. Above all I push my fat looking bear of a husband on this platform and make him do exercise. It is a great device for the kids to have some indoor games and a great tool for the boring rainy seasons. Keeps them busy and off my mind.
Couldn't agree more! And in keeping with your restaurant theme...we have a program called "What's on the Menu...Financial Education for Families", sponsored by Volunteer USA Foundation and the SunTrust Foundation. The entertaining and educational pilot program is taking place in Florida schools...to nurture children and parents to be more financially-savvy and better prepared to manage money in the future. Check out the family friendly materials at www.volunteerusafoundation.org
My husband and I aren't particularly handy around the house. Since this is our first home we're learning as we go along. That said, if something breaks down we do try to fix it ourselves first if at all possible before calling a repairperson simply to save money. If we truly can't do it ourselves we usually try repairing rather than replacing unless it's totally not worth it (the appliance is already so old and used and the cost of fixing it would be about the same or more than a new one). So, yes, we pretty much base our repair decisions on cost.
if i know how, i do it. If not i google it, and if it seems like it'll take more than 2hrs, a professional should be called.
When I was young, I used to to attack every project on my own. Home maintenance, car repairs, small electronic devices, and yes I have even replaced a few belts on washers and a couple heater coils on dryers. However, now that I am getting older, I am finding solace in having someone else do these jobs.. not all of them.. just the ones that are a little bit more of a stretch for me.
We got rid of Comcast 4 years ago and went with Direct TV, and love it! You are right Comcast will not work with you at all. As far as the 2 year contract with Direct TV, yes they did explain it quite clearly, then after the 2 years there is never a contract again. Our niece just bought her first home, and called Comcast to see what specials they might have. NOTHING. They told her they don't work that way because they do not make people sign contracts. She called Direct TV, and again they explained clearly there was a 2 year contract and if she dropped out in the time frame it would be a flat fee of $150. She got an amazing new customer deal for 2 years. I decided to call them one day to see what they would give a good customer. The Rep was so nice! We actually started talking about all kinds of things and in the end she took $15 a month off of our bill for one year! Now that is customer service!!
I had a similar occurrence with a top loading wash machine, only twice. It was a small plastic join that spun the machine, that cost $15 to fix. (plus 2-3 hours of swearing and bloody knuckles) The only problem is that the second time I ended up messing the machine up, and we cant do full loads without it getting off balance. I need to get back under the machine to see if I can fix it.
Its best to call a pro if you look at it and can't figure out how it works, or doesn't look like its something you can fix, or it involves something deadly! worse case othewise is you break it even more, which your still stuck calling a pro to fix
If it's anything for which we've bought a maintenance plan, the repairman/woman gets the call right off the bat. In all other situations, my husband has proven time and again that he's an incredibly handy fellow at fixing things. We just had a our washing machine break, and I knew exactly what the problem was - the sensor that knows when the lid's down, to prevent the spin cycle from operating until the lid is closed, was busted. A simple little 50-cent switch, basically. I told him what it was, and bless his heart, he got the switch out, and rigged an override. Since we don't have any kids who might fall in and therefore I'm not as worried about the safety factor, this override works just fine with me - I still put the lid down :)
Thank you for this post! This is exactly the motivation I needed to call AT&T up and get rid of Comcast once and for all!
Don't the new Comcast commercials say they have to give you a $20 statement credit if they miss an appointment? It seemed like from the commercials they were trying to improve their customer service. I guess they're just improving their customer service image and not the actual service.
I do have to say that we're a lot more satisfied with our basic Comcast cable (w/o a box) than we ever were with our more expensive service. We'd get rid of cable but we still want the internet.
Thank you for sharing! This is actually something I started considering about a week ago and I appreciate hearing from someone who cut to the chase. A large tub of Brown Cow or Greek yogurt can cost upwards of $3 here, so it sounds like this is a worthwhile endeavor - and like you, I'm way more interested in frugality and quality. Mostly, we use yogurt on granola and in smoothies.
Man, I'd be happy to be rid of Comcast. Unfortunately, they're not any cheaper than the other options out here (we tried satellite, but could only get service a few days a week). We canceled the cable package to cut expenses, but if we canceled the TV portion entirely, our internet bill would go up - and the internet is what we need to watch Hulu and access Netflix!
I don't think internet should be more than $30, but here the going rate no matter the company is at least $50.
If I can find a video of someone fixing it on youtube and i can get the tool to fix it from the local tool library, I'll give it a try.
I hire a professional if:
- It's dangerous (complex electrical problems, removing hazardous materials)
- It's highly complex and you're likely to violate building codes by doing it yourself
- It's something that will be done only once in a long time, and it requires specialized or expensive tools (we had a professional install our driveway gate for this reason)
- My hourly wage times the amount of time it takes me to learn about and complete the job is more than a professional's fee. (This sometimes happens, because the professional can do it more quickly.)
- The risk AND cost of having the project fail are both high. (ie. laying expensive marble tile that's ruined by cracking if you don't seat it PERFECTLY level, and building a balcony poorly can result in tragic consequences when someone stands on it.)
I do it myself if:
- It is something that will need to be done one or more times per year (like fixing simple plumbing problems)
- It requires simple tools, or inexpensive specialized ones
- It can be done safely
- If I don't know how to do it, I can learn relatively easily
- I have a personal interest in how it works. Taking apart your home or an appliance can teach you a lot!
(1) I first looks it over to see if its an easy fix. (I just recently fixed a lamp this way.) (2) Then I go to the manual and check online if others have run into and fixed something similar. (3) Next I as around my more handy friends and family for ideas. (4) Finally I decide if hiring a repairman or replacement is most cost efficient. Generally I can fix most things by without ever reaching step 4.
I've put down laminate flooring, steamcleaned carpets & furniture, replaced kitchen faucets, & repaired the toilet.
The first thing I do is google for instructions. If it looks like something I can do, I make the attempt first (knowing full well that calling in a professional *might* be more expensive if I break it). I also evaluate how much a professional is going to charge me to take care of it.
Repairing the toilet is a prime example: I found the instructions to replace the wax seal online, kicked the kids out of the house and followed them to the letter. While the toilet was out, I also replaced the inner works with water-saving stuff. The plumber would've charged me $200 + travel, and all it took was my time.
I am definitely mechanically challanged, but thank goodness, my husband is not. He recently fixed my washer for $25 when it would have been at least $150 for someone to come out.
kg4rmt at arrl dot net