Frugal February #2: Never Pay Someone Else To Do What You Can Do Yourself

I guess you could say that's been DH and my motto for a long, long time: Never pay someone else to do what you can do yourself.  It has saved us thousands of dollars over the years, perhaps even edging towards a six-figure savings by now. 

(I say six-figures because, with DH's background in construction--he grew up helping his dad in the family business--we remodeled one house ourselves without hiring a builder, and did about 85% of the construction on the one at this little place here ourselves.  Not having to hire a contractor: priceless!)

Think about all the possible services you currently pay for.  Which of those could you save money on by doing them yourself? 

I'll give you some examples from the things we do at this little place here.


Changing the oil in the car: simple, and if you know where to dispose of the oil, it's an easy way to save some money.  When our boys got old enough, DH taught them to do this chore so he wouldn't have to.  Now that both sons are out of the home, I keep teasing the daughters that it's their turn to learn.  I know how to do it, I've changed oil myself more than a time or two, but it's something the girls should learn to do too.  It really doesn't take much time, less than half an hour from start to totally cleaned up and put away.  Think about it: if those quick-change oil places can get you in and out in 15 minutes, it's not a horribly time consuming task.

Mowing the lawn.  Unless you are working 80 hours a week, or have a physical disability that keeps you from labor like this, there is no good reason (to a frugal person) to hire someone else to cut your grass.  It's another simple thing that just takes a little effort and time.  Anybody over 40, think back to when you were growing up.  Mowing the lawn was a chore that traditionally fell to the kids.  How complicated can it be then?  Get out there, work up a little sweat, and get some exercise while cutting the grass!

Cooking.  Forget the health benefits of cooking your own food.  Let's just talk about the money savings.  Pizza from scratch to feed six: less than $10 (and that's 'with everything').  Pizza take-out to feed six: $20+, depending on how many toppings you get.  Frozen pizza to feed six: at least $10, and that's the cardboard nasty kind.

Housekeeping.  Ladies, if you are stay-at-home moms/wives and you're looking for ways to save money, there is absolutely no excuse for hiring someone else to clean your house.  Even if you work full time, and your spouse works full time, your house is sitting empty most of the week and should be able to be put back into spic and span shape on the weekend.  And if you have kids over the age of about ten, you should be putting them to work on housekeeping chores.  It's training for their adult lives, so they won't have to pay someone else to do what they could do for themselves either.

Minor auto and home repairs.  These are things that once upon a time everyone knew how to do.  They don't require a college degree or a license from some government entity.  Check out those Time Life books, LOL.  I have a son who dropped and replaced two transmissions before he turned 19, and another who just replaced an intake manifold and seals, air filter, and spark plugs on his car at 18.  When I was 25, we embarked on a major remodel of our house, of which we did not hire any part done; DH and I did it all ourselves with the occasional assistance of friends and relatives--can you say a big pot of home cooked food and a case of beer?  Much, much cheaper (and more fun!) than hiring contractors. We went on, when I was 30, to build from scratch the home we live in at this little place here.  Even DD2, who was only 5 years old at the time, hammered nails and helped construct this house.

Deer processing.  Okay, so this might be a stretch for most of you.  But, if you're interested in homesteading, I'm taking a guess that you might also be a hunter or someday become a hunter. Hunters, it's not hard to process a deer.  If you know someone who does this, ask them if you might assist them next fall during deer season.  I guarantee after helping with just one deer, you'll know enough to process your own.  Jeez, guys, if you can field dress it, you've all ready done the nastiest part.  Processing it from there is not gross, and it's certainly not complicated.  My kids have grown up assisting with butchering out the deer we harvest.  It's a great lesson in biology and anatomy for them (not to mention a useful skill they could make money on in the future).

Hair cuts.  This is not hard.  If you and/or your family members all ready wear your hair in a pretty basic style, you can learn to cut it.  I have absolutely no official or professional training in cosmetology, yet I've been cutting DH's hair (which needs to look professional for his job) for over a decade and a half.  My sons had hair cuts not-by-Mom exactly twice in their lives prior to leaving home.  DS2 just paid for his first cut himself two months into college this past fall, and he told me he wasn't going to "pay $12 after a coupon" for a hair cut ever again.  While home on semester break he had me cut his hair, and plans to live with 'shaggy' hair from about mid-Feb until Spring Break when he can get home again for me to give him another hair cut!  Look up tutorials on YouTube or do an internet search.  Get a book.  Seriously, you can do this.

Taxes:  Whoa!  Taxes?  If you are filing an EZ form, you can definitely do this yourself.  Yes, it takes some time, but if you skip a few TV shows in an evening, you can pretty much have that EZ form wrapped up and sent off to the IRS so they can get you your refund.  And you'll never have to pay an accountant or tax preparer to do it.  You don't even have to buy the tax software.  We don't.  The IRS has everything online, and you can access all the forms and instructions for FREE!!  Even if you aren't filing the EZ form, you can learn to do your taxes.  DH  paid someone else to do his taxes exactly once.  Then he met me, who had two semesters of college-level accounting under her belt.  I was nineteen, and was determined I knew enough to not have to pay someone to prepare my tax forms for me (that was the main reason I chose to study accounting--so I could do my own books & taxes--because I sure never intended to spend 40 years as a professional bean counter).  As we progressed from EZ to regular 1040, and from there to multiple Schedules and other forms, all it took was a bit of studying on the IRS website to figure out how to fill in the 'new' and 'tougher' forms.  I don't even know how much it costs to have someone else file all our forms for taxes each year.  All I know is that money stays in my pocket because DH and I do our taxes ourselves.  The way I see it, accountants and tax preparers have to study the new regulations and changes to the tax code each year to keep current.  That's not an impossible task for me or you. Devote a Saturday afternoon to it.  Or an evening when there's nothing but crap on TV.  A handful of hours studying and reading up on tax stuff, and I'm good to go for another year.