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Don’t lose potential savings when tackling projects yourself

May 18, 2009

I just read an article in the New York Times that made me laugh.

The article is about do-it-yourselfers who actually ended up costing themselves more money than they tried to save by tackling projects at home. Some of the people tried home repair, while others tried home beauty treatments or auto work.

Why I really laughed is that I made myself victim to this very thing about 10 years ago.

One evening I decided to save some money by lightening my hair myself. I already have dark blonde hair, but I wanted it lighter for the summer. I knew better, yet I ignored my inner voice that was telling me, “This is not a good idea. You should never color your own hair. Call and make an appointment with a professional.”

My attempt at subtle highlights resulted in a shock of bleach blonde hair that, with my short hair cut, I thought looked like the hair on Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s creation from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.”

My family assured me it wasn’t as bad as all that, but I wore a hat the next day until I could get an emergency appointment with my very amused stylist.

The end result?

It cost me about four times as much to have my hair color corrected back to its original color and properly highlighted. And you can’t put a price tag on my embarrassment and bruised ego.

There are many, many competent do-it-yourselfers out there. My family is full of them. I’m incredibly lucky that we rarely have to pay a professional to do anything at our house. But not everyone is good at home repairs or hair coloring. Not everyone has the proper tools to work on a car or tackle a major plumbing problem.

If you, or someone you know, are skilled at a certain project, it’s a great way to save money.

However, if you are tackling a big project and don’t know what you’re doing, it might be more cost effective to hire a professional. If you are going to have to buy special tools, will they eat up any potential savings? Likewise, if it’s a potentially dangerous project (Think replacing a roof or working with electricity), you might be further ahead to hire a professional. If you are injured, hospital bills and time off of work — depending on the severity of the injury — could end up costing you a bundle.

If you are going to tackle a home project, make sure you read all instructions. At least talk to someone who knows what they’re doing. Take the proper safety precautions.

Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Have you ever had a project go haywire and cost more to fix than you saved? Please share your comments and suggestions.

Written by admin · Filed Under Misc. 

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