After a wonderful bout with the flu, holiday traveling, house guests and clearance goodness to take away my attention from Dad on a Dime, I should be able to update more frequently and get back into the swing of frugality!

A couple of years ago Dadcenter ran a story from another do-it-yourselfer who spelled out eloquently when to do it yourself and when to pony up and have a professional do it. I have a great example of this choice.

The cold snap we had last month timed perfectly with one of the garage door springs snapping. I couldn’t get the garage door up to get the cars out without help. It took three of us to roll it up far enough to wedge a 2×4 in and get the cars out. After we lowered it back down, I was able to go price parts to fix this thing. The two springs came to around $80. Thankfully I didn’t have the exact weight for the door, and didn’t buy the springs then.

I called around after I returned home and received two quotes. The one I picked was straight forward, $180 for a two spring replacement. I said “sign me up for the next opening.”

The guy came out the next day and it took him less than an hour to get both springs replaced, tension added, the door lubed and bill paid. I watched him do the work and I was duly impressed. I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I would have spent hours cursing and bleeding trying to get the torque right on the springs. The temp right then was sixteen below zero, and it was chilly in the garage.

I made the right choice in hiring it out. Yes, I could have done it myself, but it would have taken a lot longer and been much more frustrating. For $100 or less someone who does it daily was able to get in and get my door working. That was money well spent.

Peace,
Tony

We went to Goodwill last week just looking and came home with a stack of kids games for super cheap. All the pieces are in the games including the instructions! Most of the games retail for $10-15 each, and we got them ofr $2 or $3. Not a bad savings.

The best part was finding a National Geographic star projector thing behind a stack of other games. We looked it up when we got home and found out the thing we payed $2.99 for retails for $30! Nice score! There is a little bulb in the middle of the globe and it projects the constellations on the ceiling. The kids absolutely love it!

Its fun to go during this time because the store is flush with the year end donations. There are some really good deals to be had if I keep myself realistic. It is easy to go crazy or pay too much for something.

Looking for a deal, check out the local secondhand shop.

Peace,
Tony

I absolutely love shopping at the beginning of new retail seasons. Yeah I said it, I love shopping during retail switches. Why?

Clearances!

Our local Target has racks of clothes marked down 75% off original price. I was able to get a hoodie and a long sleeve shirt for less than $6. My $30 heavy bath robe was $7.50! It is very warm and “snuggly”. It helps that I don’t really care what the things look like, but there are still some decent stuff out there.

Last week they had Christmas wrapping paper, cards, labels, decorations and the like at 90% off. Thinking ahead, we scored enough to cover ourselves for next year. It is the way to go. Find your local retailer and look for those clearance racks.

Peace,
Tony