financegirl on Jul 10th 2008 DIY, Frugality, Spending
Ah, the great “do-it-yourself or hire someone else to do it?” debate (also known as “time or money?”).
Well, I’m ready to chime in…
I have a notoriously dirty car. Not the kind with all lots of trash in it, just the kind with lots of dog hair, food crumbs and dust. I told a co-worker that I needed to take it to the car wash, vacuum it out and clean the dash/windows, and his response was, “When my car gets that bad, I just take it to the place down the street and have it detailed.”
Me, being a girl who doesn’t even like pumping quarters into the car wash, found this a little ridiculous. Even though car detailing supposedly “only” costs about $20, I can do it myself for $7 or less (I think $7 is expensive for a car wash, but this one has free vacuums and I usually end up paying less than I would if I had to keep pumping quarters in for the wash and vacuum - I’m pretty slow!).
For some reason, I was thinking about this today (maybe it was the sight of all that hair and crumbs around my stick shift?), and something occurred to me. If my co-worker offered me $20 to clean out his car, would I do it? I think I would!
If I would be willing to do the job if someone else paid me to do it, then I shouldn’t hire someone else to do it for me.
Now, onto the question we do not speak of: If someone paid me $2,992 to paint their house, would I do it? If so, should I be hiring someone to paint mine? Of course, another relevant question would be: If someone paid me to paint their house, would I feel qualified to do it?
I’d like to think I’d pass on that “opportunity.”
Photo Credit: Do-It-Yourself by iamPatrick, used under Creative Commons licensing.
financegirl on May 13th 2008 Spending
I knew that stopping the debt snowball to replace our heat pump and hot water heater was necessary, but also dangerous.
You see, once I get started on a home improvement project, I want to keep improving!
Here is my list of things I currently want to do to the house:
- Install a storm door for the front entryway
- Replace the water-damaged storm door that leads out to the deck
- Replace the door leading out to the patio, which doesn’t close right and has rotted in the corner
- Put new knobs and deadbolts on the doors (shiny brass is icky!)
- Tile the floors in the bathrooms and laundry room
- Replace our aging dishwasher, stove and microwave with stainless steel appliances
- Replace our aging washer and dryer with front-loading machines
- Remove the popcorn ceiling texture from the ceilings
- Replace the ceiling fan in our bedroom
- Replace the carpeting
- Get a twin-size bunk bed for my stepson to save floor space in his bedroom and make it easier for his friends to spend the night
Some of these are needs and some are wants, but I don’t want to use our debt snowball payments for any of them. So, it might be a while…
Meanwhile, my husband has this itch to finish the basement (once we’re sure we’ve got the water problem taken care of). I don’t really think this is a good use of our money, but he’d like to at least finish the “office” section of the basement before we have a baby (the current office would be the baby’s room). So, we’re trying to allocate some of our budget toward that without sacrificing our debt repayment.
Conflicting goals are such a pain!
Photo Credit: M. Design Interiors Inc. by decor8, used under Creative Commons licensing
financegirl on May 5th 2008 Uncategorized
Speaking of emergencies, I’m concerned we’re going to have one if we attempt to paint our house ourselves. No, this isn’t our house, but it’s about the same height. Yikes!
We are definitely in over our heads, and we haven’t even started yet. Last night we watched “10 Things You Must Know About Exterior Painting,” and we’re sitting there like, “What? How long do you have to wait to paint after it rains? You’re not supposed to use flat paint? Those little clips do what?”
Yeah. So we are getting some bids this week. I figure it will cost us between $1,000-$1,500 to do it ourselves, so if it costs $3,000 for someone else to do it, it’s probably well worth it.
I have a feeling it’s going to be more than that though…
Photo Credit: Our Scaffolding by nuanc, used under Creative Commons licensing
financegirl on Apr 28th 2008 Uncategorized
If you haven’t heard of Angie’s List, you’re not alone.
Angie’s List is a website where members can access and submit reviews of local companies, contractors and even doctors. I guess you could say it’s kind of like a member-generated Consumer Reports for local services.
While some cities offer free trial memberships as initial reviews are gathered, access to my city’s list is $59 per year or $7.50 per month with a $15 activation fee. I signed up today.
But why pay a fee for advice you can get for free from friends and neighbors?
Well, in my case, we’re looking for a structural engineer to examine some potential foundation problems and don’t know anyone who has had this type of service done. Although a few people are supposed to be getting back to me with leads, I haven’t heard from them yet and am starting to get impatient.
But my $22.50 should pay for itself if the structural engineer I found is as good as the 16 “A” reports he’s received from Angie’s List members. I must say I’m a little disappointed in the sparse reviews in some of the other categories on Angie’s List however. I plan on cancelling before the next month hits my debit card.
Has anyone else used Angie’s List? What are your experiences?
I’ll let you know how the inspection goes.
(This post was included in the Money Hacks Carnival, hosted by Save and Conquer.)
financegirl on Feb 17th 2008 DIY, Frugality, Keeping Up with the Joneses
Our house is almost 10 years old, and as far as we can tell, has never been repainted. I did some touch-up work in the fall, but paint is peeling and things are getting ugly!Now, I’m not sure how much it would cost to hire someone to paint the house, but I’m guessing about a couple grand. So, we’re going to do it ourselves.
We live in a nice upper-middle class neighborhood, and during the two and a half years we’ve lived here, I’ve never seen anyone paint their own house. And all my friends and coworkers think we’re crazy. Oh, and did I mention we have a two story house and my husband is afraid of heights? So I’ll be spending the better part of a week (maybe that’s a little optimistic) on a ladder. Whatever.
We’re taking off 6 days around Memorial Day Weekend, and are planning on having all the prep work done before then so we can start painting right away. And if we don’t finish in those 11 days, we’ll have the whole summer to finish. If we get in too far over our heads, we can hire someone to finish it.
I know sometimes people have all their friends and family over for a “painting party,” but I really don’t want to subject anyone else to this. Plus I’m pretty anal about how things look, and I don’t everyone calling in this favor for the next 10 years. We’ve painted the inside of our house, and I’ve painted lots of houses on summer volunteer trips, so I think we’re up to the task.
I just hope it doesn’t rain.
