[...] Via Get Rich Slowly. [...]

We use our tools, including our table saw, repeatedly. By doing so, we save money every time versus hiring someone to do the work for us, and we know the work will be done to our satisfaction. Anything beyond our capability, we do hire out, but we shop around and screen carefully, and limit the scope of the work to -only- that we cannot do ourselves.

It costs about $40 for a batch of 5 gallons, which is about 53 x 12oz bottles, or about 8 six packs. Typical microbrews and imports around here are $6-8 for good beers, for a savings of $12 to $30 per batch. I enjoy homebrew more than purchased because of the work I put into it.

I’ve been kicking around a post about setting up a home shop at various budget levels, from finding cheap hand tools at garage sales to picking out decent power tools. As a long-time home-owner, I have every tool on that list. They remain unused 99.9999999% of the time. Not exactly a wise use of money.

As my friends and I have begun to realize that it’s stupid for us each to own a table saw, we’ve begun to keep mental lists of who owns what power tools. I know that Andrew, for example, just spent $500 on a whizbang compund miter saw. He knows that I have a table saw. We know that Paul has a planer and joiner.

Anyhow — this is just a lot of words to say: yeah, you’re right.

Given that the project actually described requires well over $500 worth of tools, it’s not clear to me how much can be saved. I can purchase reasonably nice bookshelves for $80, five of which hold my fairly large book collection.

I might be missing something, but it seems to me that one can only justify owning (for example) a table saw:

a) as a luxury for a woodworking hobby, which is perfectly valid, but we’re now out of money saving territory

b) to furnish an entire house and then some, which most just aren’t going to do

I’m skeptical as to whether these tools pay for themselves for most people.