I give several media interviews each month. As the economy changes, so do the questions. Recently, as you can imagine, reporters have been asking me what people can do to save money.
This question gets boring after a while. There are only so many ways a fellow can say, “Spend less than you earn by reducing unnecessary expenses.” 
Lately I’ve been trying to spice up interviews by promoting what I call “traditional skills”.
When I say “traditional skills”, I really mean the do-it-yourself ethic. It seems to me that during the 1990s and early 2000s, as the U.S. moved more toward a service economy, we became so specialized in what we do that we let go of “traditional skills” and began to pay others to do things that we might have done ourselves a decade or two ago.
One example in my own life is changing the oil in our cars. When I was in high school, my father taught me basic automobile maintenance. I could change the oil, I could change filters, and I could even replace my brake pads. I’m by no means a macho auto-shop kind of guy (quite the opposite: I’m an indoor techno-nerd), but I found these sorts of jobs rewarding. Somewhere along the way, I started paying other people to do this stuff for me.
I’m not the only one. Over the past generation, folks seem to have forgotten how to sew, how to garden, and how to perform basic home maintenance.
Obviously there are situations in which it makes sense to pay others to do things. Kris and I are going to pay somebody to repair our gutters, for example. I could do this myself, but I am swamped with work, work that will pay me far more than it would cost to have somebody else repair the gutters. This is a trade I’m willing to make.
In general, however, I think there’s a tremendous money-saving opportunity for people to return to traditional skills, to begin doing some of these tasks themselves again. It pleases me that here in Oregon, at least, there seems to be a surge of interest in this sort of DIY ethic. I am shocked by how many of my friends now grow at least some of their own produce. (And more of them are beginning to raise chickens — and goats!)
But that’s not all. More of our friends are canning now, and knitting, and performing home maintenance. They’re learning to bake bread and to sew and to build their own patios. I think this is wonderful, and I think it’s a great way to save money.
I’ve written about this subject many times in the past at Get Rich Slowly, and am sure to write about it more in the future. I also enjoy covering individual examples of these “traditional skills” in posts like these:
- Easy and cheap home-made bread
- Quick and easy car maintenance: Change your oil and inflate your tires (Or, if you’re a two-wheeled commuter, visit Bicycle Tutor for lessons on how to perform your own maintenance)
- The value of productive hobbies
- Great gifts that you can make yourself
- Frugality in practice: Do-it-yourself home maintenance
- Here at GRS there is a growing library of gardening tips including: An introduction to square-foot gardening, Container gardening in small spaces, How to start your own vegetable garden, and How to start seeds indoors.
Knitting and sewing, auto mechanics and woodworking, hunting and fishing, baking and canning: all of these are making a resurgence among my friends and family. Maybe it’s just the region in which I live, or maybe it’s just a product of entering middle age, but the people I know seem to have a renewed interest in finding ways to do things themselves.
Have you observed something similar where you live, or in your own life? Have you begun to do things yourself that you used to pay others to do? Which things are worth doing on your own? Do you think it would be a good thing for people to begin doing more of these tasks on their own again? Or will this simply weaken the economy?
This article is about DIY, Frugality, Odds and Ends
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I think DIY and going back to basics is driven by a number of things: economy, desire to know where our food is coming from and what we’re eating (for both gardening and cooking), dissatisfaction with quality of products available, personal satisfaction with completing a project, etc.
I don’t think sewing is a money saver any more for making your own clothes, but I do think it can save a lot of money for home decorating like curtains, pillows, etc. I made all my own curtain and they are either traditional curtains with tiebacks or tab curtains with tiebacks. I used sheets that look like white muslin. They turned our beautifully. It’s also great for repairs.
We just ripped up our carpeting in our bedroom and replaced it with hardwood flooring this past weekend. (Granted, my husband lays hardwood floors on the side. So he already had this skill, plus the leftover wood, nails, etc. from previous jobs.) Tomorrow night’s project is replacing our oven’s heating element. In the past, we might have hired someone to do it. But, I ordered the part online and googled the instructions for installing it.
I was baking and cooking almost all our meals long before I found out I need to for the most part because I am gluten free. Most restaurant food just rates okay these days anyway.
Our son has already learned to change the oil in his motorcycle.
I don’t think we have to learn to do everything for ourselves, but why not be more self sufficient when it works for us?
Shirley
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For those who are saying that sewing is not a money saver, I just wanted to add that it doesn’t have to be an expensive activity.
The biggest expense is the machine, but decent machines can be bought for less than $100 new; a good used one can be had for much less than that.
Patterns can be bought for as little as $1 each when on sale at places such as Hancock Fabrics or Joann, etc. Patterns often include more than one garment and can be used many, many times.
Fabric and craft stores also have wonderful sales on fabrics and sewing notions, sometimes as much as 40-50% off regular prices. Most of these stores issue coupons in the newspaper and often take their competitors coupon.
With these sales, I can make a one-of-a-kind garment for less than I can buy a run of the mill item elsewhere.
Another option is to buy pretty skirts in good condition at thrift stores (I sometimes find NEW ones there) and use the fabric in them to make adult tops or children’s clothing.
There is time involved, as with any activity, but if one enjoys sewing, the cost does not have to be prohibitive.
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It’s about time!
When I was a kid, I remember the fathers on the street cutting and fertilizing their own lawns, repairing their own cars, and painting their own houses. Whole families worked on vegetable gardens . . . Mothers cooked, baked, and tended to their own kids.
Now, people look at me like I have three heads when I discuss my DIY projects from the weekend . . . all I know is I save money and I will never be helpless in the event of a real crisis.
This country went nuts somewhere in the last 25 years . . . America was once the land of the rugged individualist—what happened? We got fat and happy. We came to expect everything to come easy.
We used to do-it-ourselves, now we call someone and pay through the nose. As someone on a limited budget that just isn’t practical. Certainly some jobs need to be done by a professional, but many can be handled by an individual willing to take the time to figure it out or with a little assistance from a capable supplier. As an example, do you need a room painted? Do some research on the internet for tips, tricks, and techniques. Ask your local paint store for advice on how to use the paint, brushes, rollers, and tools—pick their brains. Getting a room painted could cost hundreds of dollars where I live or it could be less then fifty bucks for supplies and some elbow grease. This is true of almost everything.
http://divorceddadfrugaldad.com/2008/08/17/what-happened-to-selfsufficiency.aspx
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there has been a pick up in business for me as a result of the diy becoming hip. which is aweomse!
My parents and I are a weird blend of diy. My dad (a doctor) still changes the oil on my car, for example (we have the set up to do it safley and to dispose of it properly). I am much more diy than they are though I think.
Much of it is not just because we can or because it saves money, but because it is a good alterntive- canned fruits with no preservatives, fresh bread, etc.
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I LOVED this post, I can’t believe how much people are complaining. Learning how to change the oil is about 5 minutes or less according to the video that JD posted.
I’d love to learn how to change my oil so I can spend less on maintenance for my car and save the rest for retirement. Thank you JD for posting the traditional skills post.
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