3 questions to ask yourself before you start your next project
I made the mistake of reading the comments on a Mr Money Mustache post about learning to do things yourself (DIY = “Do it yourself”). One of these comments had me rolling on the floor. A woman claimed enthusiastically that her “free hobby” of knitting sweaters for Christmas gifts saves her tons of money. 😂
Anyone who has ever been to a craft store knows that knitting a sweater costs $100+ in yarn alone.
MMM took the high road and didn’t comment back, but the shadow side of me was dying to reply with “ARE YOU KIDDING ME WITH THIS.”
*practices rare self-restraint* 🤐
There’s a difference between learning practical skills and learning skills that you pretend are practical.
One of the Nine Pillars of Financial Independence is that you can reach your financial goals by doing things yourself. Make your own furniture. Do your own cooking. Repair your own clothing. Do your own plumbing repair.
I love these ideas. The problem is that most hardcore DIY-ers spend MORE on doing it themselves than they would if they hired someone.
Go into any major DIY-er’s home, you’ll find a whole room dedicated to some kind of DIY. Whether that’s a craft room full of pricey yarns or a packed garage full of lumber, they’ve got excess everywhere. Paying for the materials costs extra, and paying for that extra bedroom is killing your budget.
That’s fine if you can admit that DIY is your hobby. The problem is when you justify the expenditures with “But I’m saving money!!”
Why even efficient DIY rarely saves money
Back to the sweater example —
Unlike the Mr Money Mustache commenter, writer and knitter Emma Lawsonis refreshingly honest about the cost of making a sweater. Even working for free (because she loves knitting), the materials to knit a sweater cost $268. The time investment? 80.5 hours. That’s 2 WEEKS OF A FULL-TIME JOB. We won’t go into opportunity cost, because people who knit love to do it and find it relaxing.
Ok no, I actually can’t resist talking about opportunity cost. Emma estimates that she could make $2k in that amount of time if she were working for pay at her hourly side hustle.
Emma is also estimating that 80 hour time investment based on her skill level. Let me just say, your average person could NOT knit a sweater in 80 hours.
I spent Thanksgiving 2004 learning to crochet, and I can attest that you spend a lot of hours making misshapen hats and parachute-shaped scarves before they remotely resembled anything wearable. The first hat I made took me 6 hours and was half the size of a human head. It might have fit a doll. Maybe.
Why does DIY cost more than retail?? I’m not even charging for labor!
The cost differential between commercial and homemade goods boils down to 2 things: low cost of materials and low equipment costs.
Materials: Huge factories get major bulk discounts on yarn.
Supplies / equipment: Supplies-per-sweater cost is almost nothing. A DIY knitter needs to buy new needles for nearly every project. On the flip side, factories need one machine to make tens of thousands of sweaters. The machine’s cost — spread over hundreds of thousands of garments — drives the equipment cost down to almost nothing per sweater.
One could say factories are also “not charging for labor,” as textile work is largely mechanized. Employees are paid pennies on the dollar. Even with shipping and import costs, mass-produced garments are a good bargain compared to DIY.
To DIY or not to DIY? 3 simple questions to ask yourself
My friend Greg gave a talk recently on the concept of DDIY: Don’t Do It Yourself. He offers some simple principles to decide whether he will take on a DIY project:
1| Do some math: How much would it cost to outsource this job? How much will it cost to do it myself including supplies?
2 | Do I have room to store the supplies? This is a huge factor for those of us living in small spaces.
3 | Do I WANT to dedicate the hours needed to learn this particular skill, or would I rather be learning something different in that time?
4 | Is the skill reusable enough that learning it even makes sense, or am I just going to need it once and then never again?
I’ve decided to DIY. Now what?
If you decide to go the DIY route, take advantage of cost-saving measures:
Connect with your community: post on NextDoor.com or a local facebook group to crowdsource equipment. You wouldn’t believe how many people have DIY supplies lying around that they’d love for someone else to get use out of.
Go second-hand. Lots of cities have used hardware and lumber supply shops. My city even has a sewing supplies reuse shop including huge pieces of fabric and leather, and a whole rack of yarns that people didn’t end up needing.
Ask around for people who have skills in this area. What are assets that you could offer them in exchange for their help? As a small person, I need help with heavy lifting. I can offer help with things that normally cost $$$ to outsource like house-sitting while people are on vacation.
Use shopping lists. Don’t buy ANYTHING unless you know exactly what you are going to use it for. Buying things I didn’t have a purpose for has been my downfall, turning a beneficial DIY project into a money suck.
What are your DIY vs DDIY criteria?