* Photo credit
All too often it seems these days, things break. If items are still under warranty, like my beloved GHD hair straighteners were when they packed in, then you should be able to get it fixed for free or even a nice shiny new replacement sent out to you.
But what if the warranty has expired on your broken item? Or perhaps it didn’t have a warranty in the first place?
Older cars for example break down frequently and we ship them off to our local car garage and later find ourselves faced with a much higher bill than we’d hoped. Unless you’re in the ‘know’, it’s not that easy to fix your car yourself!
However, there are some items where you can save money by fixing them yourself.
Get crafty (and savvy)
If you’re a dab hand with sewing, you might just be able to repair your old clothes before chucking them out. Even if you’re not a dab hand with sewing, you could sew on new buttons to an old coat to give it a new lease of life, which is what I did with my winter coat recently!
I’ve lost count of the number of pairs of shoes I’ve thrown away because the heels got damaged or the soles have been worn. But I could have taken them to be reheeled or resoled instead of buying new ones each time! These days, I head to my local Cobbler before parting with cash for a new pair.
Brush up on your DIY skills
Some people like DIY and some people don’t. Some people are great at it… and some people aren’t! But either way, it’s well worth learning how to use a screwdriver. It can save you many a penny when hinges on doors come loose, a shelf falls down or even when you need to take furniture apart for shifting. If you can fix your home furnishings or small home maintenance jobs yourself, then you don’t need to worry about paying a handyman to do it for you.
Remember, though, for bigger fixes, it might be a good idea to hire a professional. For example, if you don’t have the tools or the expertise to perform a large-scale home maintenance project, hiring a local contractor like DePalma Roofing could be worth the cost in the long run. With a professional contractor, you can guarantee that the job will be done right the first time and you won’t have to spend time and money on costly mistakes down the road.
Fix electronic items yourself using video tutorials
With mobile phone companies tying us into longer contracts these days, it’s no wonder mobile phones eventually break. Both the hubby and I are tied into a 2 year contract – aside from the tie in period, we got the contract on a good deal because it’s fairly cheap each month and the provider gave us a free Blackberry phone at the start of the contract. Great!
We’re about 18 months into our 2 year contract and gradually our phones are starting to have little niggles. For example the battery in both phones go flat almost instantly without warning.They soon charge up again but we have to charge them each day now. It’s annoying but manageable. 🙂
The hubby had a major problem with the trackpad on his Blackberry a couple of weeks ago. The trackpad had some sort of fault so the screen just kept scrolling around and he couldn’t select anything. So he phoned our provider to see if he could upgrade early for free if we stayed with them. He was told that in order to upgrade early, he’d have to buy the new phone for a mere £136. Our answer was no (although a couple of years ago, we probably would have said yes).
We don’t have insurance on our phones as we couldn’t bring ourselves to pay for it and of course the warranties have now expired. He was about to borrow an old phone from a work colleague to see him through till the end of the contract when he decided to have a go at fixing it himself.
Through the wonderful world of YouTube, he was able to study a video tutorial on how to disassemble the phone and change the trackpad. He ordered the parts he needed through eBay suppliers for just £2.99 and after they arrived, he spent a couple of hours tinkering (and slightly panicking) until his phone was fixed! How very satisfying!
It was the first time the hubby had taken a phone apart, so he was pretty pleased with himself and so was I! It just goes to show that you don’t always need to send off your electronic gadgets off to some expensive refurb place – depending on the problem, you just might be able to save money by fixing things yourself.
There are so many items that break and without thinking, we go out and buy a replacement when in some cases, we could actually have a go at fixing it first. If we can’t fix it ourselves, we could always ask a friend or member of the family with relevant expertise to help. It might just save some cash.
Have you tried to save money by fixing things that are broken?
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Image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net – Do it Yourself by Grant Cochrane
I’ve tried it once, and it ended into a disaster. I wanted to disassemble my glass aquarium using a guitar chord, that most people use to disassemble theirs, but things didn’t went as planned. Fortunately, I didn’t got myself cut by the broken pieces of glass because I put on some gloves.
Well, I ended up buying a new aquarium instead. That’s why I’ve been cautious following most DIY instructions that I found in the web.
Mark Ross recently posted…Why You’re Having Trouble Saving Money And How You Can Fix It
Oh dear! Sorry to hear about your experience Mark. Glad you wore some gloves! Good point – not all DIY tutorials may work out!!
Hey Hayley and thanks for an enjoyable read 🙂
I’m a big fan of doing it yourself when it comes to fixing things…especially computers. I ahve saved more than a few computers by “fiddling around” until i got the dang thing working again.
Back in the day, I would also fix VCR’s when they were acting wonky and eating tapes juts by going inside the machine and seeing what did not look right. I had no idea what I was doing but I somehow would hit on the problem and fix it.
Now-a-days, as stated, YouTube is a wonderful place to go, as is Google! If all else fails, bring it to a professional “fixer” and you’ll still save money 🙂
Now I just have to learn to sew or to learn how to put buttons bac on to pants and I’ll be all set!!
Take care Hayley and my best to all.
Lyle
lyle @ The Joy of Simple recently posted…A Simple And Frugal Roast Chicken Recipe For About $10.00!!
You’re welcome Lyle! I’m glad you enjoyed it. It sounds like you’re a very handy person to know especially taking on the wrath of computers and VCRs (I remember mine eating tapes on several occasions – I used to get them out with a butter knife – I can only imagine the damage I caused!).
You should definitely have a go at sewing – it’s a not only a great skill but also very therapeutic too!
I’m HORRIBLE at DIY projects but have great male friends who ARE good at it. 🙂 So I usually turn to them for help.
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If you know someone who can help, even better! 🙂
Over Christmas, my mom’s dryer stopped working. She had already called the repairman when I told her to cancel, and to let the kid fix it. We looked up some videos on youtube and it seemed like it might just be the belt: a $10 fix (to avoid a $150 service charge). It turns out it was and, a few hours later, we had the new belt and it was running good as new.
DIY gives a great feeling of accomplishment, too…hard to quantify that, but it’s there.
Done by Forty recently posted…Did Americans Really Overpay by $1B at Tax Time?
That’s great DB40! What a great saving and I bet your mom was really pleased. I always feel like I’ve achieved something when I’ve managed to do something myself.
I’m slowly getting used to fixing things. Before I’d buy a new one or throw it away. Now I quite enjoy finding ways to fix things.
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That’s great! 🙂 When I fixed my winter coat (with a set of nice new buttons) rather than buying a new coat, it was very satisfying. It’s surprising how much something like that can be given a makeover just by replacing a small part of it.
I think the hard part is knowing what you can fix and what you might make worse by trying to fix yourself.
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Yes I know what you mean – you could ask yourself how much the item is worth to you and whether you are going to throw it out anyway?
Yeah, there is definitely a line that has to be drawn when you’re attempting DIY… Are you willing to have it go to the trash when you possibly mess it up? Because that is the risk that I take. Sometimes it is worth it, sometimes not.
I’m not very handy, and can get myself in a bit of trouble with that kind of stuff. But then I can’t learn if I don’t try… sigh, the dilemma.
I think if something’s going to get thrown out and a replacement bought, then it’s well worth having a go at fixing it if you think you might be able to to. You might just save yourself the cost of a new item!
My ex had to take his Blackberry apart once to replace the screen (he had broken it). I guess they’re a little bit simpler than other phones to disassemble. Video tutorials are great; I’m glad so many of them exist. In cases like this, sometimes I’m okay with trying to DIY, other times I’m not. I don’t like to mess around with anything too expensive just in case. I always try to have a backup phone handy as well.
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I think video tutorials are really good too – you just need to weigh up whether it’s worth it and whether you believe you can fix it or not! 🙂
Great post – I managed to fix my Samsung Galaxy Ace after I cracked the screen. It looked to cost around £80 to get it fixed professionally, but I managed to find a replacement screen on ebay for £10, and found a youtube video on how to replace the screen. It was surprisingly easy to do (and I am not technologically abled in ANY way!!), there was a ‘What have I done’ moment when I had completely dismantled the phone, but once I put it back together it was working as good as new, I’d definitely recommend trying to fix it yourself! FFxx
We do this more and more each and every year, Hayley. If we don’t know how to fix it, we’ll read up, watch a video, or make do without it, or just manage with it broken. We have saved SO, SO much money this way. Thousands of dollars, I’m quite sure.
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DIY is a great way to save money since the most expensive component of most repairs is the technician’s time.
YouTube is a great source of video tutorials. However, it’s important that you know your limitations. Depending on your comfort level or the tools required, there are some repairs that aren’t worth either your time or the risk.
For example, replacing car cabin air filters is simple. Replacing the thermocouple on your water heater is also easy but since you’re messing with your natural gas line a mistake could be catastrophic.
Saving money is good. But sometimes the cost of your time or your life isn’t worth it.
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Good point Jack! I agree knowing your limitations when attempting DIY is really important otherwise you could end up out of pocket and have wasted time in the process!
I’m not much of a DIY-er. But I agree with you.
For anything that breaks, I do a little bit of research and watch some YouTube videos. If it looks simple enough, I make an honest effort to fix it. Usually, I get a little bit more life out of things this way, and I have time to budget a repair or replacement.
In the best of cases, even a un-handyman like myself can repair something to working order. YouTube and online research can save you bundles!
In other instances, I opt to not even repair it. On my wife’s SUV, her driver side mirror’s motor went out. At the end of the day, we decided that she rarely ever adjusted her side mirror (and if she did, she can still do it manually). I just unplugged the power to the motor. Free and effective, I’d say.
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