[USER]

What do you DIY instead of paying for to save money? Is it always worth trying to do it yourself?

Many people turn to DIY projects to cut costs, whether it’s home repairs, cooking from scratch, making clothes, or even building furniture.

Some find it rewarding and cost-effective, while others realize that certain tasks take too much time, effort, or even end up costing more in the long run.

Do you have any go-to DIY projects that help you save money? Have you ever tried something that wasn’t worth the hassle?

Share your experiences—what works, what doesn’t, and any tips you’ve learned along the way!”

[Brenda]

Everything except HVAC stuff. I’m fortunate to marry a man that knows how to do things or can figure it out. He has saved us many thousands of dollars over the years.

Right now he is replacing our bathroom sinks, plumbing and countertop. He is the best!

[Rona]

We really try to fix everything we can first. I mean it’s already broken so why not. Our kitchen sink faucet broke I bought the replacement my daughter YouTubed it and replaced it.

The AC wasn’t working got advice from a friend solved the issue.

The outside hose spout broke we fixed it. We will attempt most things around the house and with the cars.

I also feel like it has made my daughter very confident and capable at a young age.

She just gets to the task at hand. She built two bookcases this week. Totally worth it.

[Louise]

My son recently got rear ended.
He brought a second hand tailgate and put it on himself
Saved a lot

[Nancy]

I knocked my electrical side mirror on a tree while backing out of a driveway. It was cracked but not hanging. I YouTubed replacing it.

Bought a mid priced replacement for $50.

It took me 28 minutes to fix. Honda wanted $450. You Tube is a wealth of info.

[Allison]

The only thing that I can do is to unclog a slow moving drain using pure lye.

I wish I had learned to do more because it saves so much money.

[Rebecca]

I make my own
-Cole slaw dressing
-tartar sauce
– Russian salad dressing
-3 bean salad

And other foods from scratch
But there are some foods I buy because I can’t do them better myself.
– make cloth napkins

And various needlework projects
I garden and do some canning in the summer.

I am currently letting my hair grow out, just trimming my bangs as needed.

I will walk or ride my bike instead of driving when I can.
By preference, I rarely wear make-up and any manicures are DIY.

[Lucinda]

I was an “accidental” DIYer this week. A squirrel got into our attic, so we called a wildlife removal guy. Hubby couldn’t find the entry place, and it turns out the squirrel got in through our garage when it was accidentally left open.

It accessed the attic that way.

I happened to see it in the garage, so opened the garage door and managed to chase it out (waving a stick to encourage it to leave). It ran outside and hasn’t returned.

A raccoon (mom and babies safely relocated in the summer) removal cost us $500, so this likely saved us a couple of hundred.

[Tommy]

Mow my own lawn and do my own small engine repairs. I try to repair my own car but if I think it’s beyond my capabilities, then I pay someone else to do it.

I also try to repair things inside the house myself also. Too many things to list.

[Mohammad]

Paint jobs… simple to moderate care repair .. plumbing repair…all gardening chores…

the list is really long…

[Elena]

My husband and I installed a fence around our house, we mow my lawn, clean my gutters, he makes small repairs to our cars, I repair clothes, make Halloween costumes for my kids, knit blankets and I also make Christmas ornaments as a present for my friends and family, we try to do as much as possible ourselves

[Suzanne]

Basically everything except car repairs, neither of us can do those, but anything to do with a house we can do.

I’m also a hairdresser so I take care of everyone’s hair, we cook, we clean, we detail our cars, I do my own nails, a ton of stuff

[Terri]

Most things. I sew and knit. Cook from scratch. Bake our breads. Grow veg and herbs. Make our soap and cleaners.

I do this mostly because I prefer my own cooking, the pleasure of making and growing things and because I believe it is healthier for us and better for the environment

[Penny]

We do almost everything ourselves except framing and anything to do with the electrical box.

The money lost by making mistakes doing everything else is an educational expense.

[Lauren]

Any major repair or renovation that requires advanced schooling or a certain number of hours of training in that field, I leave to the people with that training because it ends up being cheaper in the long run in my experience.

However I have always cut my entire family’s hair, we do minor electrical stuff like changing light fixtures or outlets, regrouting tubs, fixing small plumbing issues, installing dishwashers, stuff like that where you can learn on YouTube how to do it pretty easily and it’s not going to destroy anything.

However, I’d never attempt to finish drywall again because actual drywaller‘s are so much better at it. And anything on my roof is going to be outsourced.

Also, movers, over age 30- hire movers. A back injury is not worth whatever you have to pay professional movers.

[Kristel]

I think about my time and if it’s worth it for the amount saved. Sometimes… like with certain foods… it’s worth it simply because it tastes better.

Sometimes, if I think I’ll use something… I’ll whip up a quick prototype and if I don’t find myself using it, or if that works great as is, then I’ll pass on getting the “real” thing.

I check youtube to see if I can repair something myself first.
So, I guess… yes… I diy quite often.

[Gail]

Cut my husbands hair with an electric hair cutter, and bought a Flowbee for my short hair in 2019. It cost $199 then but paid for my own haircuts within the year.

Only takes me about 20 minutes every 4-5 weeks to do both of our hair.

My Hair was only cut once at a shop since 2019 for a family wedding.

Also bought cloth napkins for meals, bought 18 Giant Tiger bar cloths for wiping up stuff.

This reduced my paper towel usage to a Six pack once a year.

[Holly]

I make all my own meals, wash dishes and do laundry. Do those count? Cuz that’s about it.

[Cindy]

Construction. Gutted and redid our kitchen, replaced windows and doors, laid flooring, drywall, built a shed, shingled the roof, paint., tiles backsplash and floor, bought ready to assemble cabinets.

[Varvara]

I cut my hair, kids’ too. Small repairs around the house but nothing electric or HVAC. Bicycle repairs (though 30 % times I have to say I screw up and have to pay someone to redo), small car things.

I envy people with more car skills, that’s where real savings could be.

[Susan]

Found a macaroni salad recipe I’ve been making for years. Also bathe and trim dog with trimmer that cost half of 1 grooming

[Corrine]

My husband cuts his hair and our sons, yardwork, shoveling snow, raking leaves, cleaning our cars, many home projects, painting, cleaning indoor and outdoor windows

[Lisa]

Most things – vegetable garden & fruit trees on our city lot. Painting. Cleaning. Cooking. Car repair and maintenance. House maintenance and repair.

Emergency plumbing (at least first).

Animal veterinarian care (at least at first). Haircuts. Sew clothes to repair

[Cindy]

My husband and I rebuilt our front load washing machine. It was actually pretty easy other than it took a few days for the bearings to get loose enough to get out.

Saved us a bunch of money.

[Shannon]

Over the years we’ve: remodeled our kitchen step by step. Redid wood floors. Put up fencing. Replaced windows one at a time (but only on the ground floor-my upper floor is too high to do safely ourselves-still saved us money) Installed several kinds of tile.

Replaced our bathroom sink and toilet. Many things.

The thing that I appreciated when we redid our kitchen is that doing it ourselves let us do one thing at a time, we were able to purchase more high end for some things because we didn’t pay for labor, and it was on our timetable.

[Nancy]

Everything we can. My husband was a carpenter by trade, so we are covered there. Both of us were taught a lot by our parent, we were lucky.

We do bartering, I always say surround yourself with people smarted then youself.

Do what you can, learn what you can, but the most important thing is to try.

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