We do DIY to just about everything in (and sometimes out of) our house. We have gutted and redone a bathroom, kitchen (including cabinets and sink), 3 bedrooms & a dining room, installed a 1/2 bath in a walk-in closet, painted all these rooms, installed wood floors (salvaged wood) and sanded & refinished them, installed windows, built two new decks (one from the back door and one for the pool), put in a chain link for the backyard and added storage on to our one car detached garage. The only things we do not do are electrical work and heating & air conditioning (first done by brother-in-law who is licensed electrician and the second by a very good friend who is in HVAC field). We have done most of this ourselves out of necessity because the cost to hire someone to do it would have prohibited us from getting a lot of these things done.
Cooking mostly, I make my own hummus and cook in bulk to pack up my own 'tv dinners.' I also do very small sewing projects - no sewing machine limits that for sure, but I have fun with crafty headbands and other small projects.
I also make frequent use of my microwave - from boiling water for tea to cooking vegetables as well. And since I do use it, the timer function allows for the microwave to pull double-duty instead of having a separate timer. That said, I've lived abroad without a microwave and have no problem without one. I'd rather forgo a dishwasher than a microwave - cooks many things faster with not just less energy, but also less heat in my shoebox of a kitchen.
One of my friends, who is a professional organizer, told me this statistic: Americans have 3.2% of the children on planet Earth but buy 40% of the toys!
I can't explain why, but that statistic makes me feel so sad.
I recently upgraded to a newer tablet, and am considering mounting the old one in the kitchen to keep our family calendar more visible and readily updatable...
I create my own canvas art work to display on our walls - Just to give our rented walls some creative personality. We also paint furniture we find at thrift or flea markets.
Hi,
I've only recently found Wise Bread, but it is already one of my personal finance favourite sites! And now you're even organising giveaways, how great!
I do several DIY projects at home. The main ones are simple sewing projects, like embellishing or adapting clothes for my growing kids and darning (mainly socks but occasionally also kids clothes that get holes in them – we have 4 playful dogs...). I also make and can tomato sauce and several sorts of fruit jams and jellies. I've done a few simple plumbing fixture works, although that's mainly my husband's domain... And I've restored and hand-painted a few pieces of old furniture – this is something I'd like to do more often, but as it takes more time, demands a lot of space and makes a bit of a mess, I don't do it as often as I'd like to...
cheers,
Ana G.F.
Absolutely. Many people get degrees in English or Comparative Literature and go on to get good jobs in their field. Living in a college town, I know plenty of them.
My point is simply that it was a lot easier to make a go of it in such a field when you came out of school with your student loan debt in four figures than it is when you come out of school with student loan debt in five or six figures.
I agree with you on MOST of those great deals....except the furniture! You were very fortunate to get that basically new furniture that had been donated by a furniture store and just needed a small repair. Most of the furniture I've seen in thrift shops appear to have lead very interesting lives! If you can run across a situation like you found, that's great, but for the most part....there are 2 things I won't buy at thrift shops...underwear & furniture!
Since becoming a homeowner I’ve learned to do quite a few projects at home. I’ve done a lot of minor drywall repair and tons of painting, installed a new screen door, learned to snake drains and repair toilets, installed a peephole and dead bolt in a solid wood door, put down new vinyl tile in the kitchen, swapped out light switches and fixtures, etc.
Most of my projects have come out pretty well as I try to take the time to learn what I’m doing before just jumping in. One project I wasn’t proud of was my attempted cement repair on a step in the backyard. Trying to get it level and smooth was a lot harder than I anticipated!
Learning to do things for yourself can save a lot of money, but of course you have to know when to call in the professionals too.
Can we stop painting the humanities as a one-way ticket to financial hell? It's not the degree that tanks people, it's more often what they're made of.
My brother has a STEM master's and works barely full time in retail and I've got engineer and architecture friends working as outdoor guides, freelancing web design under the table to supplement unemployment, taking odd jobs, etc. Most of my peers with English degrees (that I met at a competitive school) were very driven and have stable employment, myself included.
You've got to have some hustle on you regardless of your education or you'll struggle to make the best of whatever hand you have to play.
I recently bought a house; the first thing we did was rip out the carpet and install new hardwood floors. Neither of us had done that before, and there were certainly a lot of surprises, but overall we saved thousands so it was worth it. We also ripped out a lowered ceiling and put new sheetrock up on the original one--but we had that done. No way am I installing sheetrock on a ceiling. Sounds like a literal pain in the neck to me!
I don't do very much DIY stuff, but have made/modified a few pieces of clothing. Once I get a bigger place, I'm very much looking forward to modifying my Ikea furniture.
I certainly like the quality vs. quantity argument. Going with the point of managing your money to save for new shoes, or a bag, etc. this will also help you teach yourself to manage your finances in the long run. It comes down to prioritizing our needs vs. our wants. We may want a donut or coffee every day but we also need to pay our hydro bill on time, in full. I think splurging is great, when we think ahead, plan, and execute that plan to make our budget work.
I have painted my entire house (12 rooms, 11 colors -- I do love color!), fixing my dishwasher, and decorating my entire house. I have also learned how to do simple repairs and fixes around the house to save money and time.
My DH is building our new 3-car garage. He started it last summer because the builder said it would take him a few months to get to us (just a couple of months after he'd told us that he had nothing on his plate yet for the summer). The garage isn't sided or attached to the house yet, but my husband and his helpers have saved us thousands of dollars in labor costs so far.
When we moved to our house we painted the walls and installed the wood floors. It was much cheaper than hiring someone.
We do DIY to just about everything in (and sometimes out of) our house. We have gutted and redone a bathroom, kitchen (including cabinets and sink), 3 bedrooms & a dining room, installed a 1/2 bath in a walk-in closet, painted all these rooms, installed wood floors (salvaged wood) and sanded & refinished them, installed windows, built two new decks (one from the back door and one for the pool), put in a chain link for the backyard and added storage on to our one car detached garage. The only things we do not do are electrical work and heating & air conditioning (first done by brother-in-law who is licensed electrician and the second by a very good friend who is in HVAC field). We have done most of this ourselves out of necessity because the cost to hire someone to do it would have prohibited us from getting a lot of these things done.
Cooking mostly, I make my own hummus and cook in bulk to pack up my own 'tv dinners.' I also do very small sewing projects - no sewing machine limits that for sure, but I have fun with crafty headbands and other small projects.
I have taken up canning, making my own pnut butter, & baking own breads. Hoping to start brewing beer soon and would love my own chickens
I also make frequent use of my microwave - from boiling water for tea to cooking vegetables as well. And since I do use it, the timer function allows for the microwave to pull double-duty instead of having a separate timer. That said, I've lived abroad without a microwave and have no problem without one. I'd rather forgo a dishwasher than a microwave - cooks many things faster with not just less energy, but also less heat in my shoebox of a kitchen.
I paint rooms myself, and on occasion I've hung shelves. Apartment dweller, so no really big DIY projects.
One of my friends, who is a professional organizer, told me this statistic: Americans have 3.2% of the children on planet Earth but buy 40% of the toys!
I can't explain why, but that statistic makes me feel so sad.
Anything that I can! Basically, in my family the idea was only to call in a professional if there was no way you could fix something fine on your own.
I live in an apartment now, but my latest DIY was to ask the maintenance guy for some paint so I could do some touch-up painting myself!
And before that I did all the decor for my wedding.
I recently upgraded to a newer tablet, and am considering mounting the old one in the kitchen to keep our family calendar more visible and readily updatable...
I build my own bookcases.
I create my own canvas art work to display on our walls - Just to give our rented walls some creative personality. We also paint furniture we find at thrift or flea markets.
DIY project for me is - car wash,wax and detailing, battery and oil change.
Hi,
I've only recently found Wise Bread, but it is already one of my personal finance favourite sites! And now you're even organising giveaways, how great!
I do several DIY projects at home. The main ones are simple sewing projects, like embellishing or adapting clothes for my growing kids and darning (mainly socks but occasionally also kids clothes that get holes in them – we have 4 playful dogs...). I also make and can tomato sauce and several sorts of fruit jams and jellies. I've done a few simple plumbing fixture works, although that's mainly my husband's domain... And I've restored and hand-painted a few pieces of old furniture – this is something I'd like to do more often, but as it takes more time, demands a lot of space and makes a bit of a mess, I don't do it as often as I'd like to...
cheers,
Ana G.F.
Absolutely. Many people get degrees in English or Comparative Literature and go on to get good jobs in their field. Living in a college town, I know plenty of them.
My point is simply that it was a lot easier to make a go of it in such a field when you came out of school with your student loan debt in four figures than it is when you come out of school with student loan debt in five or six figures.
I agree with you on MOST of those great deals....except the furniture! You were very fortunate to get that basically new furniture that had been donated by a furniture store and just needed a small repair. Most of the furniture I've seen in thrift shops appear to have lead very interesting lives! If you can run across a situation like you found, that's great, but for the most part....there are 2 things I won't buy at thrift shops...underwear & furniture!
Thanks for mentioning the Wealthy Turtle! :)
Hi Ashley!
Since becoming a homeowner I’ve learned to do quite a few projects at home. I’ve done a lot of minor drywall repair and tons of painting, installed a new screen door, learned to snake drains and repair toilets, installed a peephole and dead bolt in a solid wood door, put down new vinyl tile in the kitchen, swapped out light switches and fixtures, etc.
Most of my projects have come out pretty well as I try to take the time to learn what I’m doing before just jumping in. One project I wasn’t proud of was my attempted cement repair on a step in the backyard. Trying to get it level and smooth was a lot harder than I anticipated!
Learning to do things for yourself can save a lot of money, but of course you have to know when to call in the professionals too.
Can we stop painting the humanities as a one-way ticket to financial hell? It's not the degree that tanks people, it's more often what they're made of.
My brother has a STEM master's and works barely full time in retail and I've got engineer and architecture friends working as outdoor guides, freelancing web design under the table to supplement unemployment, taking odd jobs, etc. Most of my peers with English degrees (that I met at a competitive school) were very driven and have stable employment, myself included.
You've got to have some hustle on you regardless of your education or you'll struggle to make the best of whatever hand you have to play.
I recently bought a house; the first thing we did was rip out the carpet and install new hardwood floors. Neither of us had done that before, and there were certainly a lot of surprises, but overall we saved thousands so it was worth it. We also ripped out a lowered ceiling and put new sheetrock up on the original one--but we had that done. No way am I installing sheetrock on a ceiling. Sounds like a literal pain in the neck to me!
I don't do very much DIY stuff, but have made/modified a few pieces of clothing. Once I get a bigger place, I'm very much looking forward to modifying my Ikea furniture.
I certainly like the quality vs. quantity argument. Going with the point of managing your money to save for new shoes, or a bag, etc. this will also help you teach yourself to manage your finances in the long run. It comes down to prioritizing our needs vs. our wants. We may want a donut or coffee every day but we also need to pay our hydro bill on time, in full. I think splurging is great, when we think ahead, plan, and execute that plan to make our budget work.
I have painted my entire house (12 rooms, 11 colors -- I do love color!), fixing my dishwasher, and decorating my entire house. I have also learned how to do simple repairs and fixes around the house to save money and time.
We have no prepared foods in our house, which can be time consuming but is a g
reat way to save money. Cooking from scratch is my biggest DIY project!
My DH is building our new 3-car garage. He started it last summer because the builder said it would take him a few months to get to us (just a couple of months after he'd told us that he had nothing on his plate yet for the summer). The garage isn't sided or attached to the house yet, but my husband and his helpers have saved us thousands of dollars in labor costs so far.
We do pretty much everything around the house ourselves, painting, remodeling, etc. We are definitely DIY people!