What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
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harrington
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What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by harrington »

Mine is lawn-care and landscaping.....
JBTX
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by JBTX »

Ive thought about lawn care, but always did it myself, partly due to money, partly due to exercise.

I am not a DIY guy in general though, so I often pay for stuff to be done that i could do with a little bit of time, research and effort.

For a while we had a maid service, but we put them on hold while I'm not working. We may use them again when I'm working.

The question to me isn't whether you can do them yourself, but is it an efficient allocation of your time and resources to do it yourself. For a person in a successful and demanding career, outsourcing these things probably makes sense from a purely financial standpoint.
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jfn111
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by jfn111 »

This year we hired a lawn care service for the first time. This isn't for mowing, just for weed killing and fertilization. I must admit they did a better job then I did so we'll probably contract again for next year.
stan1
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by stan1 »

Some previous inputs here:
viewtopic.php?t=212255
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by jebmke »

Cooking. We eat out on average about once a week.
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euroswiss
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by euroswiss »

car detailing - I do it about once every two or three year..... :mrgreen:
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dougger5
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by dougger5 »

Letting them change my car cabin air filter.

It's fairly easy, but that one strut with the damper cylinder that lets the glove box down gently - it's a bit fiddly to get that re-attached correctly.
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ram
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by ram »

Me: Lawn care, landscaping, staining the deck.
My wife: House cleaning including bathrooms, vegetable and fruit cutting, clean up after cooking, washing, laundry folding, ironing.
This frees up time for her for cooking, gardening and growing vegetables and for me for bogleheading. :happy
Ram
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by jebmke »

ram wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:54 pm Me: Lawn care, landscaping, staining the deck.
My wife: House cleaning including bathrooms, vegetable and fruit cutting, clean up after cooking, washing, laundry folding, ironing.
This frees up time for her for cooking, gardening and growing vegetables and for me for bogleheading. :happy
So your wife does the cooking but someone comes in and cleans up? How does that work?
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F150HD
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by F150HD »

I could swear I read an exact thread on this a few months ago.
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Toons
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Toons »

Changing oil in autos. :happy
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ram
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by ram »

jebmke wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:01 pm
ram wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:54 pm Me: Lawn care, landscaping, staining the deck.
My wife: House cleaning including bathrooms, vegetable and fruit cutting, clean up after cooking, washing, laundry folding, ironing.
This frees up time for her for cooking, gardening and growing vegetables and for me for bogleheading. :happy
So your wife does the cooking but someone comes in and cleans up? How does that work?
About 3 times a week the maid will come for about 3- 4 hrs. My wife works as a hospitalist physician meaning she works some evening shifts, night shifts and weekend shifts. She then has many weekdays off. The maid will come and chop vegetables and brown the onions etc while my wife watches TV. Then my wife will cook. While she is cooking the maid cleans the house, washes the clothes etc. When my wife is done cooking the maid cleans up the kitchen and leaves. My wife knows her work schedule three months in advance and books the maid accordingly.
Ram
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celia
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by celia »

ram wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:13 pm
jebmke wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:01 pm
ram wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:54 pm Me: Lawn care, landscaping, staining the deck.
My wife: House cleaning including bathrooms, vegetable and fruit cutting, clean up after cooking, washing, laundry folding, ironing.
This frees up time for her for cooking, gardening and growing vegetables and for me for bogleheading. :happy
So your wife does the cooking but someone comes in and cleans up? How does that work?
About 3 times a week the maid will come for about 3- 4 hrs. My wife works as a hospitalist physician meaning she works some evening shifts, night shifts and weekend shifts. She then has many weekdays off. The maid will come and chop vegetables and brown the onions etc while my wife watches TV. Then my wife will cook. While she is cooking the maid cleans the house, washes the clothes etc. When my wife is done cooking the maid cleans up the kitchen and leaves. My wife knows her work schedule three months in advance and books the maid accordingly.
Ram, just curious. What are you doing during this time?
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ram
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by ram »

celia wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:19 pm
ram wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:13 pm
jebmke wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:01 pm
ram wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:54 pm Me: Lawn care, landscaping, staining the deck.
My wife: House cleaning including bathrooms, vegetable and fruit cutting, clean up after cooking, washing, laundry folding, ironing.
This frees up time for her for cooking, gardening and growing vegetables and for me for bogleheading. :happy
So your wife does the cooking but someone comes in and cleans up? How does that work?
About 3 times a week the maid will come for about 3- 4 hrs. My wife works as a hospitalist physician meaning she works some evening shifts, night shifts and weekend shifts. She then has many weekdays off. The maid will come and chop vegetables and brown the onions etc while my wife watches TV. Then my wife will cook. While she is cooking the maid cleans the house, washes the clothes etc. When my wife is done cooking the maid cleans up the kitchen and leaves. My wife knows her work schedule three months in advance and books the maid accordingly.
Ram, just curious. What are you doing during this time?
This is mostly on weekdays between 8 to 5 so I am at work. Some days when I come back from work the maid is still around. I watch the recorded evening news while walking on the treadmill. Good home cooked healthy dinner is then ready.
Ram
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blueblock
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by blueblock »

Lawn and yard care plus occasional arborist
Housekeeping services
Personal trainer 3 x per week
Bringing in/putting out the lake pier annually
Snow removal
Handyman services (e.g. from minor repairs to a bathroom remodel)
Doggie beauty parlor
Oil changes
FraggleRock
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lazy

Post by FraggleRock »

Window “washing”.
Inside, outside, screens vacuumed.
Twice a year.
Same 2 guys for 15 years.
HIinvestor
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by HIinvestor »

We have a CPA who does our taxes tho we COULD do it ourselves. We also eat out quite often (tho we both could cook) and use a mechanic, even for oil changes tho H could do it. We use a plumber for plumbing repairs tho H knows how to do those. We use a bookkeeper for our nonprofit tho I could probably learn to do that.

We could hire more help but are happy as is.
3dream3
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by 3dream3 »

Lawn care, trimming of bushes and mulching. Also, pretty much all maintenance fluid changes for the cars (oil, transmission, rear differential and radiator flush) and tire rotations... and car washes too. I remember when I was younger barely scraping by and I did all of this maintenance work. As my income grew... I found that it was just convenient for me to pay someone to get dirty and then to dispose of the liquids.
Slacker
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Slacker »

Car maintenance. In my younger years, I used to do quite a bit of my own work on my cars (tearing down transmissions, replacing CV Joints, rebuilding the cylinder head, and of course normal maintenance). Now I don't want to mess with potentially toxic fluids from engines anymore and it hurts my back to lean over the engine bay turning a wrench for long periods of time.

Cooked meals. We go out to eat about twice a week. Really it is stuff like Pho that just feels like it takes a long time and a lot of preparation to make at home and we also like to go out for breakfast - I eat oatmeal with fruit and a couple eggs everyday, but sometimes I want to have biscuits and gravy with bacon or eggs benedict and I don't feel like making biscuits or hollandaise from scratch (and my spouse can't stand the smell of bacon cooked in the house).

Pool Service. It is included in the rent. We agreed to a longer lease if they included pool service.

Dog nail trimming. I nicked the quick once and made the puppy cry. I'd rather just pay to have it done now so I don't have to deal with hurting the dog again.
TresBelle65
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by TresBelle65 »

I could easily do most of it, but I choose not to....eat meals others have prepared for me, have my oil changed by someone else, hair cuts, and house cleaning....can't massage myself hahaha...so I go to a spa
Osprey
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Osprey »

Have someone cut the lawn and plow driveway in winter. Have a wonderful local store that sells prepared foods and each weekend we pick up 2 meals for 2 week nights.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by peppers »

Toons wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 5:12 pm Changing oil in autos. :happy

Same here. The ol' sciatica seems to flair up every 3000 - 4000 miles. :wink:
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A440
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by A440 »

Roofing and Tree/Stump removal.
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chemix42
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by chemix42 »

We've been paying for house cleaning for a few years, snow removal for two years, and will be hiring a lawn care service next summer. We certainly could do all of those, but paying for those services frees up time for things we'd rather do, or for other things that save us money. I.e. there is some landscaping work we've been wanting to do for a few years, but it seems like every time I have the time and right weather to do anything in the lawn, it needs to be mowed. Having someone else take care of mowing while I'm at work means we'll have more time to do our landscape projects we've been putting off.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by bertilak »

dougger5 wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:49 pm Letting them change my car cabin air filter.
There is some sort of scam in the "change cabin air filter" business.

Several years back I had my car in for service and while in the waiting room the service manager came out with a dirty filter to show me and recommended it be changed. I asked how much and he said it was $X for the filter and $Y for labor. It seemed to me they were already committed to the labor even if I said no! The filter didn't look that bad to me so I said no, put back the old one but bang it on the curb first.

I took a look at the set-up later and the remove-and-replace procedure was about as easy as getting sun glasses out and back into the glove box. There was a little door in the back of the glove box. Open little door. Remove old filter. Put in new (or curb-banged) filter. Close little door.

EDIT: Today, things are different. Changing cabin air filter is part of the fixed-price regular maintenance. It doesn't make sense to say "Do the 10,000 mile maintenance but skip the cabin air filter."
Last edited by bertilak on Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:48 am, edited 2 times in total.
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theplayer11
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by theplayer11 »

painting...
With the internet and youtube, there are so many projects that can be done by the homeowner. The problem is knowing just enough to think you can do something...but realize about half way through you had no business trying to do it yourself.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by bertilak »

Taxes. Used to do them myself.
  • Then I took over my parents'
    Then my Brother's
    Then my Uncle's.
Enough is enough!

Now I'm down to just mine but that's STILL enough!
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by mouses »

As I have gotten old and creaky, I have hired out more stuff. Usually it is stuff I can't do myself, but one wonderful thing was finding a garden company that weeds and tidies up plants. If I were younger and could do it myself, I would still have them do it. That leaves the fun of gardening but not the hard work.

This seems to be pretty specialized. Your average landscaping company is not going to do weeding.
foamypirate
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by foamypirate »

I'm still in my young, masochistic phase, so I pretty much do everything myself, if I can help it. :oops: That includes plumbing, electrical, remodel (added a study), lawn care, fence replacement, shed building, car maintenance/repair/detailing, home window cleaning, pressure washing the house (this one sucks), tree removal (this also sucks), etc. I'm finding some of these to be harder on the body than even just a year or two ago, however, so I figure it won't be too long before I start paying to have some of this stuff done.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Candor »

I really dislike cleaning up all the leaves in my yard this time of year so I splurge and pay a few hundred to have it done for me. The rest of the jobs around the house I dislike I can muster up the energy to do myself for now.
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Doom&Gloom
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Doom&Gloom »

bertilak wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:24 am
dougger5 wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:49 pm Letting them change my car cabin air filter.
There is some sort of scam in the "change cabin air filter" business.

Several years back I had my car in for service and while in the waiting room the service manager came out with a dirty filter to show me and recommended it be changed. I asked how much and he said it was $X for the filter and $Y for labor. It seemed to me they were already committed to the labor even if I said no! The filter didn't look that bad to me so I said no, put back the old one but bang it on the curb first.

I took a look at the set-up later and the remove-and-replace procedure was about as easy as getting sun glasses out and back into the glove box. There was a little door in the back of the glove box. Open little door. Remove old filter. Put in new (or curb-banged) filter. Close little door.

EDIT: Today, things are different. Changing cabin air filter is part of the fixed-price regular maintenance. It doesn't make sense to say "Do the 10,000 mile maintenance but skip the cabin air filter."
Of the vehicles with cabin air filters that my family has owned, about half have been a snap to change. The other half have been a PITA, but I have not quite reached the point to pay someone else to do it--but I am very close.

I never tell a service dept to do a xx,000 mile maintenance. I tell them exactly what service I want done; that is far easier on the checkbook. Even while in warranty, most of those items don't need to be done to maintain one's warranty--at least IMO. I hand-pick the ones I deem necessary and the ones necessary to keep the warranty intact (if applicable).

I also don't change the oil in my own vehicles or do much of anything else that will produce a great deal of back discomfort.

One thing I have decided never to do again myself (except in a dire emergency) is to change my own tire. I have changed a bunch in past years, but I am past the point of wanting ever to do that again. I haven't had to cross that bridge yet, but when the time comes I plan to balk.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by White Coat Investor »

Boat maintenance/winterizing. It's my vice.
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Riverman
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Riverman »

Way too much.

Spend close to $10k a year on cleaning and lawn care.
dbr
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by dbr »

I can't think of anything I pay for that I could easily do myself. OK snow shoveling and lawn care I could do myself but hate both enough to qualify as not able. More than that the people who do it do it so fast and efficiently with large machinery that it seems nuts not to have them do it. They also clean the gutters.
AlohaJoe
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by AlohaJoe »

I buy baked bread ... I can easily bake bread myself; I don't need to pay a baker to do it for me.
I buy chicken that is already cut into pieces ... I can easily cut up a whole chicken; I don't need to pay a butcher to cut it for me.
Hm....this is going to be a long list....
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MichaelRpdx
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by MichaelRpdx »

Restaurant meals.
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lazydavid
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by lazydavid »

Lawn care. I did it for several years, then "took a year off" when my son was born to save time, since I wasn't getting any sleep as it was.

Right around his 8th birthday I finally admitted the truth and sold my lawnmower and weedwacker.

Ironically enough, I pad a plumber to replace my sump pumps this spring, and then I installed a prepackaged unit for my parents last weekend.
tim1999
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by tim1999 »

Shoe shines.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Yooper »

theplayer11 wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:30 am painting...
With the internet and youtube, there are so many projects that can be done by the homeowner. The problem is knowing just enough to think you can do something...but realize about half way through you had no business trying to do it yourself.
Too funny! But too true... After watching some youtube videos on drywall mudding I thought, "Pfft, I can have this done and be upstairs in time for dinner." Lesson well learned (and I'm reminded every time I walk into the room I did), that while it's true anyone can do anything - - not everyone can do it well. Some things are best left to the experts, even if it costs more than you think it's worth.
BV3273
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by BV3273 »

Same as you OP. Tried it, but I have bad allergies. Not worth it for me.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by tetractys »

Oil changes. Still do other minor things, like air filters or lights because the labor is less time than going to a shop. — Tet
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lthenderson
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by lthenderson »

Oil changes for our vehicles and mowing the lawn.

The oil changes I stopped doing just because the city passed an ordinance about changing oil in your driveway and it was becoming harder for me to dispose of the oil. Also, I had a couple vehicles where the oil filters were about impossible to get to without running the car up on ramps and crawling underneath which never felt real safe to me.

I stopped mowing my lawn when we moved this last time to a 2 acre lot with about 60 feet elevation difference between the high and low points. In order to get it mowed, I was going to have to invest in a $4 to 5K lawnmower and build an outbuilding to store it. For what I pay to have it mowed by someone else, it will take me another 20 years to recoup that money I would have had to spend.
Miakis
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by Miakis »

I outsource everything I can.

Cleaning.
Grocery Shopping.
Lawn Care.
Home repairs/painting/etc.
Car maintenance.
Cooking (eat out fairly often).

I would kind of prefer to outsource minor repairs, but it seems more of a nuisance to hire someone for something like toilet repairs than to just do it myself. Or things like changing lightbulbs in annoying light fixtures. I just suck it up and do it. Occasionally, my spouse helps with the lightbulbs. :wink:
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

I oursource cleaning, lawn care, home repairs, car maintenance, cooking (we eat out often, but I cook when we're at home), tax preparation. I sort-of outsource bill paying, since it's mostly on autopilot, but I'm not sure that counts. The one thing I'd LOVE to outsource is dealing with health insurance companies and medical billing, but that doesn't appear to be a viable option.

My wife does . . . uh, not that much other than make a great living (I'm not counting dealing with kids, which we don't oursource).
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
runner3081
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by runner3081 »

$3 car washes.

That is about it.

We clean our own house, do yard work, pool/spa maintenance, etc.

Based on our neighborhood and space/HOA, oil change is not "easily" done.
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dougger5
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by dougger5 »

Doom&Gloom wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2017 9:06 pm
bertilak wrote: Sun Oct 22, 2017 7:24 am
dougger5 wrote: Sat Oct 21, 2017 4:49 pm Letting them change my car cabin air filter.
There is some sort of scam in the "change cabin air filter" business.

Several years back I had my car in for service and while in the waiting room the service manager came out with a dirty filter to show me and recommended it be changed. I asked how much and he said it was $X for the filter and $Y for labor. It seemed to me they were already committed to the labor even if I said no! The filter didn't look that bad to me so I said no, put back the old one but bang it on the curb first.

I took a look at the set-up later and the remove-and-replace procedure was about as easy as getting sun glasses out and back into the glove box. There was a little door in the back of the glove box. Open little door. Remove old filter. Put in new (or curb-banged) filter. Close little door.

EDIT: Today, things are different. Changing cabin air filter is part of the fixed-price regular maintenance. It doesn't make sense to say "Do the 10,000 mile maintenance but skip the cabin air filter."
Of the vehicles with cabin air filters that my family has owned, about half have been a snap to change. The other half have been a PITA, but I have not quite reached the point to pay someone else to do it--but I am very close.

I never tell a service dept to do a xx,000 mile maintenance. I tell them exactly what service I want done; that is far easier on the checkbook. Even while in warranty, most of those items don't need to be done to maintain one's warranty--at least IMO. I hand-pick the ones I deem necessary and the ones necessary to keep the warranty intact (if applicable).

I also don't change the oil in my own vehicles or do much of anything else that will produce a great deal of back discomfort.

One thing I have decided never to do again myself (except in a dire emergency) is to change my own tire. I have changed a bunch in past years, but I am past the point of wanting ever to do that again. I haven't had to cross that bridge yet, but when the time comes I plan to balk.
Oil change / filter replacement is about the one thing I do do myself. I have a Subaru Crosstrek, and I've replaced the drain plug with a Fumoto Valve. I stick a hose on that, open the valve, and drain 'er out. The filter on this vehicle is mounted upside-down right on top of the engine, so real easy to get to. In fact that's probably the major factor for my electing to go through the whole drain plug changeout.

Oh, and a sturdy pair of ramps.
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by iamlucky13 »

I'm struggling to think of anything to list unless I were going to take it as far as, like another poster, buying bread from the store when I can pretty easily bake it myself and even enjoy doing so occasionally. Or having my timing belt changed because I was over 10,000 miles overdue and still hadn't found the spare time to fit the work in myself.

Perhaps taxes, but the few times I've worked them out on my own, then sent all my documentation in to my accountant, the return he sends back to me to sign always differs on a couple details, so I guess I'm not easily able to do that myself.

I sometimes consider hiring out more tasks, but I keep a pretty close eye on our budget. I don't have to increase the inflation figure or decrease the anticipated average annual raise or market return rates on my spreadsheet very far before it starts telling me there is a credible risk I might need to choose between helping pay for the kids' college or retiring by 67.

Jack Bogle recently made some arguments about what sort of future market returns can be considered reasonable to plan for that, if true, would basically guarantee we keep working into our 70's.
David Scubadiver
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by David Scubadiver »

Yard work
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neilpilot
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by neilpilot »

dougger5 wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:26 pm

Oil change / filter replacement is about the one thing I do do myself. I have a Subaru Crosstrek, and I've replaced the drain plug with a Fumoto Valve. I stick a hose on that, open the valve, and drain 'er out. The filter on this vehicle is mounted upside-down right on top of the engine, so real easy to get to. In fact that's probably the major factor for my electing to go through the whole drain plug changeout.

Oh, and a sturdy pair of ramps.
I avoid ramps and drain plug removal. I use a Mityvac to evacuate the used oil out the top thru the dip stick tube. The once I use costs only about $40, and it's going strong for 14 years and counting.

Both of my currently vehicles, which I bought new in 2003 and 2008, are now at about 135k miles and have never had their drain plug removed. Since they also have top mounted filters, an oil change is really easy on my back. I only use my ramps if I need to do some other underside maintenance.
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dougger5
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Re: What service do you pay for that you could easily do yourself?

Post by dougger5 »

neilpilot wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2017 7:33 pm
dougger5 wrote: Mon Oct 23, 2017 5:26 pm

Oil change / filter replacement is about the one thing I do do myself. I have a Subaru Crosstrek, and I've replaced the drain plug with a Fumoto Valve. I stick a hose on that, open the valve, and drain 'er out. The filter on this vehicle is mounted upside-down right on top of the engine, so real easy to get to. In fact that's probably the major factor for my electing to go through the whole drain plug changeout.

Oh, and a sturdy pair of ramps.
I avoid ramps and drain plug removal. I use a Mityvac to evacuate the used oil out the top thru the dip stick tube. The once I use costs only about $40, and it's going strong for 14 years and counting.

Both of my currently vehicles, which I bought new in 2003 and 2008, are now at about 135k miles and have never had their drain plug removed. Since they also have top mounted filters, an oil change is really easy on my back. I only use my ramps if I need to do some other underside maintenance.
Ah, but I only removed my drain plug but once :wink:
"I've been ionized, but I'm okay now." -Buckaroo Banzai
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