Thrifty Thursday: Fix-It-Yourself Manual
My husband and I are so proud of ourselves. We fixed the garbage disposal...again.
This time it was an earring clogging up the works. A few months ago, we changed the wax seal on a leaky toilet--probably our most impressive home maintenance feat!
Neither of us are naturally handy, but over the years, we've managed to avoid calling a plumber on a number of occasions, thanks to our Reader's Digest New Fix-It-Yourself Manual (Compare Prices). The book's subtitle How to repair clean, and maintain anything and everything in and around your home pretty much says it all.
My parents gave us this book, which lists for about $35, when we bought our first house more than a decade ago. I would venture to say it has saved us thousands of dollars.
After my husband began working at home too, we've used it more as we look for ways to save money. When something broke, we didn't automatically reach for the phone book to find someone to fix it. With our trusty manual, we started taking a stab at it ourselves first.
Sometimes it takes a few attempts. But a nice thing about being at home is we can step back, maybe do a little (paid) work, and then come back with a fresh perspective. We're not always been successful; sometimes we need a professional. But we haven't done any damage yet either. And we're just so proud of ourselves when we do manage to fix something, it's almost comical.
More Thrifty Thursday Ideas:
- Thrifty Thursday Blog Archive
- Make a Free Candy Bag for Halloween
- Always Ask for a Discount
- Free Breastfeeding Resources
- Save Money By Combining Holiday Gifts
- Visit Your Library Online
- Recession Payback Game from ConAgra Foods
- Special Offers and Coupons from Fisher-Price and Playskool
- Decorate with Neighbors!
- Use a Binder and Free Printable Worksheets to Organize Foster Care Documentation
- Save Money on Baby Clothes
My husband and I would have never survived financially if we had not done our own home and car repairs. My husband doesn’t do much car repair now because cars are so much more sophisticated than they used to be, but he still takes pride in fixing things around the house. He just put our brick mailbox back together after it was struck by some wayward motorist. It would have cost about $300 to get a bricklayer to rebuild it. We could have afforded it, but why not do it yourself?