[Norma]

One thing we do to be frugal is to fix what we have. My husband is not afraid to try to fix almost anything. Yesterday he fixed my cordless stick vacuum.

It had lost suction and the motor sounded funny. He took it apart and cleaned it. It is better than new. Savings $169 for a new one.

Over the years he has fixed our tv, microwave, lawnmower, furnace, cars, etc.

He doesn’t know how to fix everything but what he can’t figure out he looks up on the internet and YouTube.

[Jude]

My hubby too. He loves being a MacGyver type.

[Cynthia]

You Tube is great! I try to look for a company like HomeDepot because not all the repair vids know what they are doing g.

[Dawn]

I have one of those husbands. Not many of them around. We are blessed!

[Donna]

My husband & I do the same. Lots of looking at the manual & YouTube videos!

[Elizabeth]

YouTube is fantastic for that. My husband used it to change out the backup light on our Fiat 500x.

Car manufacturers don’t want you to know how to do even the simplest things.

They want you to come to the dealership.

[Rhonda]

My guy just fixed our treadmill. It took a couple of hours and about $30 on parts (brushes in the motor).

Beats spending $1000 for a new one!!

[Karen]

It’s awesome to have help but when I was widowed at 50, I stepped up. Very little can’t be done by women! Even older women!

I’m now 74 and still tackle a lot! Youtube and the right tools are your friend!

[Natalia]

Same with my husband. It’s a great skill to have. Definitely saves tons of money in the long run.

[Paula]

Excellent advice! My husband does the same. That saves us so much money. He’ll attempt almost anything.

Nothing lost if he can’t, we call a professional.

[Stacy]

Awesome! Aren’t handy husbands just the best? I sure do like mine!

[Lynn]

No hubby here since 1982, so I repair things myself. At 85, I will admit to not being as good at this as I was in the past. I broke a needle on my serger.

Couldn’t get the new needle in. Decided it needed a good cleaning, so removed three screws.

Couldn’t get it open, nor fit the screws back in! OK. $100 later it was professionally cleaned and has two needles.

He said he would replace needles for me at no cost.

[Barbara]

In my family, I am the one who fixes things. My husband would toss and buy new, but I at least want to try.

I have kept many appliances, fans, lights, electronics, etc.

in good operating condition.

[Helen]

Grew up with a dad who fixed a few things but married a rancher who grew up learning to repair everything possible.

He’s repaired so many things and saved us so many $$$.

Problem now is age and lack of mobility aggravates him since he knows how to do majority of things but having some difficulties.

Life happens.

[Milyssa]

I’m the fixer. Hubby gets frustrated. But I grew up having to fix everything bc we could not afford new anything.

We had to do without if we couldn’t fix it.

I even built a shelving unit and attached it to our desk and made it look like built ins.

[Donna]

I grew up with a father like that and I carry on this trait. It didn’t matter if my husband knew how or not because this was my skillset that was shared with our children as well.

I changed the oil, wiper blades, tires, water pumps, starters, and every other simple to do repairs.

I’m honored that our children taught their children how to change out brake pads, repair power window motors and such.

[Heidi]

I need a handy person! I used to try all things myself, but realized I’m much braver than I am skilled.

[Laura]

I have 2 20+ yr old Oreck vaccums – the “rebuild” kits are about $25 (new brushes, belts) and I keep a seam ripper (think sewing tool) to remove long hair from the roller brush.

Yes, I have to use bags – but those vaccums SUCk like their life depended on it.

[Lisa]

It’s great, congratulations on your fix it guy! Mine fixed the dishwasher, dryer, washer, snowblower, computer as well as the oven panel.

Something to be said for shop class in school and confidence to do it.

[Lanette]

Good for you! My husband can fix some things too but I need to remind it to him many times. Sometimes, it takes a few years to fix it or I just fix things myself.

I can change electric switch or repair water faucet.

[Rachel]

Yep. Same here. My husband thrives on it. We do a lot of them together. Everything from replacing and programming the TCM on a car gifted to us because it didn’t run to soldering replacement capacitors onto a computer board for our dishwashwer and adding a cleanout to replumbing our sink drain.

Even when he can’t fix it due to his physical limitations, his diagnosis is spot on so we know whether to replace or wait to repair.

We buy broken things like a stairlift for $600 knowing he can fix it.

[Author]

Posts