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Or, as my brother refers to it, "The cheapest SOB that spent more money than everyone else." I fell victim to this one this weekend, actually a couple times lately. I recently bought a house, and in the two weeks I've spent moving in and one weekend consumed with an emergency plumbing repair, the already shaggy back yard got out of control.
I knew I really needed to rent a brush mower. But, it was 3x the cost, and would have required renting a truck and maybe a trailer, so I rented a regular mower (I'm still trying to find the "right" mower for my lawn so I haven't bought one yet.) Front yard was thin enough that it wasn't an issue. Back yard? I spent two hours mowing maybe a fifth of it...about a foot/minute, in 6 inch strips because it was constantly bogging down and dying...What a waste.
I did it again hanging the TV mount in brick...Two hours, Two masonry bits, a couple cuts and a burn on my hand, for four sorry holes...I should have rented or bought the hammer drill...
I don't want to look at the receipt for my bill for sharkbite push fittings for my two plumbing repairs, but my wife is of the opinion she could have had a plumber out there for the same price (she's wrong on that and I did get the water back on for the house in a short period of time.) Next plumbing repair I make I'm buying the $60 crimping tool, use it once and never need to make another plumbing repair on my house again...If I had known that the first repair would dislodge some sediment that would plug the hot water heater intake and necessitate a second repair I would have come out ahead.
My Father in law balked at paying $60 extra for delivery and installation of a new range...He cracked the cooktop and had to pay $200 for a new glass top.
I've done this before in other situations. I'm likely to end up doing it again (hindsight's always 20-20 and I don't give myself credit for the projects that have worked well.) The good thing is that my wife doesn't nag me anymore when I tell her I need to buy/rent a new tool for a job. I made her help me drill the holes for the tv mount and she ended up burning her hand on the hot drill, too, so at least I get more support there...
I don't fall victim to this but I know plenty of folks that defer car maintenance and get bit by it.
So tell me, what are your attempts at frugality that ended up costing you?
My parents were on opposite ends of the spectrum. If my mother would have bought tools, she would have gone with the cheapest junk from China. My father would have spent enormous sums on Snap on. I'm in the middle. I have Craftsman tools. Great price when there is a 50% off sale and they were good tools when they were still made in America. Same with my power tools. I'll pass on the cheap junk at Harbor Freight and I don't need the expensive ones like DeWalt. Ryobi works great for me. To me frugality is more about getting a quality product at the right place at the right time, assuming it isn't a time sensitive purchase.
My parents were on opposite ends of the spectrum. If my mother would have bought tools, she would have gone with the cheapest junk from China. My father would have spent enormous sums on Snap on. I'm in the middle. I have Craftsman tools. Great price when there is a 50% off sale and they were good tools when they were still made in America. Same with my power tools. I'll pass on the cheap junk at Harbor Freight and I don't need the expensive ones like DeWalt. Ryobi works great for me. To me frugality is more about getting a quality product at the right place at the right time, assuming it isn't a time sensitive purchase.
I think that's often where we get burned. If I have time to research, plan, budget and execute everything is golden. As it was, I moved into the house, spent a weekend fixing two plumbing problems, traveled for a week (work) and realized that I needed to do something in a hurry about the lawn. Similarly, when the pipe broke, I had to shut off the water, and that constituted a less-than-livable situation that had to be dealt with immediately.
I do like Harbor Freight for tools that I know will really only have a one or two time use, or will be used in an exceedingly abusive manner, or will be modified...For example, once I needed a wrench to attach to a much longer piece of metal, and rather than wreck a good craftsman wrench, I used a harbor freight one...
Ugh... My tractors, which I have now relegated to "hobbies" to I can live with the money I put in them.
My shopping school of thought was simple: New riding mowers are total junk and still $1000 so I'm buying something old school for a fraction of the money and just maintain them...
We had always had 60s-70s Cub Cadets in the family so that's what I bought. Think I paid the guy like $300 for it with a deck that was rusty, but it ran OK, had the features I wanted, and the transmission was smooth.
Spend the first summer chasing down all sorts of gremlins, including things I just never would have seen coming (both front RIMS are wasted as well as bot spindles... New rims are prices like car wheels at about $100/ea)... Second year the motor pops, but I have enough money in it from the previous year that I decide to just fix it... Don't have enough time to rebuild the motor myself... Buy another motor that is also junk and have that one rebuilt instead... $1000 bill at the machine shop, but the first one lasted 40 years so whatever...
In the middle of this, through a round about series of dealings, I end up with another one of these tractors for about $300... Same story, except I put about $200 into it every year making it a little better every year. Motor is still fine, but is on it's way out. This one has been in my family since about 1990 and has a bazillion hours on it so I know it's about to go. Transaxle has already been replaced with a used unit.
Between the two, I could have probably bought a pretty nice, but lower end, new Kubota at the dealer that I wouldn't have to touch for at least a decade and it would still be worth at least some part of what I paid... The Cubs are both pretty much valueless.
So... yeah.. Now mowing my yard is a bit of hobby (and sometimes is an adventure), which is both good and bad, but it wasn't the most wise way to spend my money. I also don't really like working on a 700lb tractor that stopped dead in its tracks, that I can't push back up to the garage, when it spontaneously breaks down when it's 98F, 100% humidity, and the grass is half cut... I intentionally cut the front yard first for this reason as it's both closer to the garage and the most obvious if it's NOT been cut.
OH... and original tractor never has had that rebuilt motor put back in it and that was like 7 years ago... priorities, I guess... I hope the shop did it right...
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With most other tools, I long ago learned my lesson that if I need it today I'll need it again later so I just go buy it and even using it once I get my money back. My quality of buying is directly proportional to my likely need of it again in the future. My SDS drill is from Harbor Freight. I've used it 2 or 3 times so far...
Ugh... My tractors, which I have now relegated to "hobbies" to I can live with the money I put in them.
My shopping school of thought was simple: New riding mowers are total junk and still $1000 so I'm buying something old school for a fraction of the money and just maintain them...
We had always had 60s-70s Cub Cadets in the family so that's what I bought. Think I paid the guy like $300 for it with a deck that was rusty, but it ran OK, had the features I wanted, and the transmission was smooth.
Spend the first summer chasing down all sorts of gremlins, including things I just never would have seen coming (both front RIMS are wasted as well as bot spindles... New rims are prices like car wheels at about $100/ea)... Second year the motor pops, but I have enough money in it from the previous year that I decide to just fix it... Don't have enough time to rebuild the motor myself... Buy another motor that is also junk and have that one rebuilt instead... $1000 bill at the machine shop, but the first one lasted 40 years so whatever...
In the middle of this, through a round about series of dealings, I end up with another one of these tractors for about $300... Same story, except I put about $200 into it every year making it a little better every year. Motor is still fine, but is on it's way out. This one has been in my family since about 1990 and has a bazillion hours on it so I know it's about to go. Transaxle has already been replaced with a used unit.
Between the two, I could have probably bought a pretty nice, but lower end, new Kubota at the dealer that I wouldn't have to touch for at least a decade and it would still be worth at least some part of what I paid... The Cubs are both pretty much valueless.
So... yeah.. Now mowing my yard is a bit of hobby (and sometimes is an adventure), which is both good and bad, but it wasn't the most wise way to spend my money. I also don't really like working on a 700lb tractor that stopped dead in its tracks, that I can't push back up to the garage, when it spontaneously breaks down when it's 98F, 100% humidity, and the grass is half cut... I intentionally cut the front yard first for this reason as it's both closer to the garage and the most obvious if it's NOT been cut.
OH... and original tractor never has had that rebuilt motor put back in it and that was like 7 years ago... priorities, I guess... I hope the shop did it right...
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With most other tools, I long ago learned my lesson that if I need it today I'll need it again later so I just go buy it and even using it once I get my money back. My quality of buying is directly proportional to my likely need of it again in the future. My SDS drill is from Harbor Freight. I've used it 2 or 3 times so far...
You're making me nervous about my $200 lawn tractor I picked up this week...
I do like Harbor Freight for tools that I know will really only have a one or two time use, or will be used in an exceedingly abusive manner, or will be modified...For example, once I needed a wrench to attach to a much longer piece of metal, and rather than wreck a good craftsman wrench, I used a harbor freight one...
Harbor Freight gets an undeserved bad rap as people seemingly love to trash talk the quality of the tools. You are correct in that if you use a tool only once in an otherwise expensive hired out job (did this with a HF pipe threader on a plumbing job I did myself) and it broke afterwards you are STILL saving a bundle. Oh, and the pipe threader is still going strong. Also, if you tend to lose/misplace tools alot better they not be expensive.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Max_is_here
My shopping school of thought was simple: New riding mowers are total junk and still $1000 so I'm buying something old school for a fraction of the money and just maintain them...
This applies to tools as well, you can get old school table saws, drills, etc. at garage and tag sales, craigslist, etc. Many times they are actually made of metal... The price point is usually low enough or can be negotiated to that point that if something minor is wrong (no fried bearings,etc.) you can fix it and still wind up ahead of the game. And if the tool has no issues you do very well indeed.
I would suggest to anyone here to attend yard sales, etc. at your leisure or one's you happen to pass by (making a dedicated trip or concerted effort can often consume more energy and gas than the gamble of a viable purchase offsets) to pick up quality tools and materials.
I’ve been caught out on the lawn mower too. It was our first time owning a home with a lawn that we needed to mow. Most of our neighbors have a lawn guy, $20-30 a time and it looks great, but that seemed like crazy money to us. We only had experience with electric lawn mowers, being from Europe, but they were so expensive, so we picked a decent looking gas one instead for $200. Husband got a bit lazy over winter, and next time he goes to get the mower out, the gas he left inside it has eaten apart some plastic piece that it needs. $75 repair, and next winter he does the same thing. Instead of having it repaired again, we bought an electric one. But the cordless ones are super expensive so we buy a corded one. It’s a total hassle to use because you’re always checking to make sure the cord isn’t in your way. Nobody wants to go mow the lawn and we start getting warnings from the HOA. So now we own two mowers, and we have a lawn guy.
When I used to buy tennis shoes at Payless Shoe Source because they were cheap but they wore out after 3 months. I did that for years, all throughout my teen years. I might as well have bought a name brand that cost more and have it last longer!!
Years ago, I learned that most things that look easy enough to do by one's self, but, which others charge what seems to be waaaaay to much --- are a deceptive 'trick.'
They are designed to get one to buy what seem to be the right parts and dig-in, only to discover halfway through that special parts, tools and knowledge are required ... and, that to get the job done right, will now cost one the time and money wasted, plus the original cost of repair.
The truly frugal thing to do in most cases that seem like a simple DIY job, is to hire someone else to do the job in the first place.
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The price point is usually low enough or can be negotiated to that point that if something minor is wrong (no fried bearings,etc.) you can fix it and still wind up ahead of the game. And if the tool has no issues you do very well indeed. 
