When you DIY to save money, you earn an hourly wage. Sometimes that wage is amazing and proves the activity was definitely worth your time. Sometimes the wage is so low it actually cost you more to DIY than it would have to buy it done. It’s an easy formula to figure it out.
1. A = How much it would cost hire or buy it done
2. X=How much time it takes you to do it yourself
3. B=How much the supplies and tools cost you (I don’t count the tools that I already have on hand or would use again in the future.)
4. Y=How much you saved by doing it yourself. A – B = Y
5. X/ Y= your hourly wage
Reader Example:
Rebecca’s husband’s truck needed repair. The garage estimated $1500-1800 for the job.
He spent $226 and 2 hours to do the work himself, including necessary tools.
He saved $1274-1574 by doing the repair himself.
His hourly wage was $509.60-$629.60
If his hourly wage was less than that on his regular job, it was worth it do the repair himself…In this case it definitely was.
That was a pretty extreme (but real) example.
What about little things like making homemade tortillas? You can read about that here.
Are any of you willing to share an hourly wage you earned recently by DIYing?
I appreciate your perspective on various ways to save money. I am inspired by the real life example on DIY truck repair . I am currently redoing my dining room (removing wallpaper, patching up holes, painting, new light fixtures). It is time consuming ,especially removing wallpaper, but there is great satisfaction in knowing “I did that” and saved money along the way.
Yolanda, that sounds like fun (and work!) The cheapest workers I’ve found doing wall-paper removal etc were $25 an hour. But it’s more common to pay $50. You are saving a ton, and you know it’s done right.
From a reader:
HAIR COLOR!! I just picked up my brand for $2.50 a box at Walgreen’s today.
I am afraid making my own tortillas just isn’t in my realm. I picked up a pack at Sam’s for about $2.00 for a pack of 24. It is a different brand than they normally carry. I have never seen it before. Because we are blessed with no allergies in our family, it allows us to eat the store bought kind. Not as healthy as what you make but it allow me to save my sanity in other areas of my weekly routine.
Nicci
I’m not a hundred percent sure what my husband and I would be saving, but my guess is in the thousands. My husband is finishing up our basement (building an extra bedroom, making a separate laundry room and finishing up our third bathroom), all by himself on weekends and when he has time after work. I could just imagine what a contractor would charge us to get all those rooms done. I’ll take time, but worth every penny saved!
Sandra, That’s quite a job! I’m guessing you are saving more than $20,000. We’ve had bids recently.
Thank you for making it easy to figure out the saving scales