Sounds like a good idea to me, I don't see why not. Although being new I wouldn't say that I have much say in this conversation but I don't think it could hurt , as far as suggestions go this is a pretty good one. I like to do DIY projects a lot in my day to day life because it is cheaper (saving money) and I feel accomplished!
I think that's a very good idea. Like you, I have seen some DIY projects mentioned throughout the threads and I love DIY suggestions. It makes sense to have a place dedicated for just that purpose. So many of us have to do things ourselves, anyway, in order to be able to afford them. Right now my husband and I are in the midst of tiling our kitchen and dining room floors. No way could pay someone to do it for us, and I have to say it's coming along very well. We are going to love it when it's done.
You are right, it is the way to go nowdays, since almost everything has become very expensive to buy or to have it get done, DIY saves a lot of money and at the same time it does teach us a lot of skills.
You really do learn a lot and most things tend to be easier than you might expect them to be before you try to do them yourself. It just takes time. And that, too, is sometimes a good thing when on a budget because you are more able to pay as you go instead of having to pay someone else a large sum all at once.
I think a do it yourself section would be awesome! Have you suggested it to the powers that be? People shouldn't be scared to DIY.. we all started somewhere and it's a great learning experience. I think it would be a pretty active forum.
You are rright, it is good to start small, then advance to the bigger things, I made a mistake once and started big, I was so discouraged, but I did not give up, I decided to start wwith the small stuff and now am pretty good at what I try, have gained many skills from DIY.
I love DIYs. I don't have many tools, but have been able to borrow what I needed for past projects. Not only do you save money, but you know it's a quality job, and gain experience and skills in the process. I love the feeling of satisfaction and confidence, knowing that I was able to do something myself, rather than paying another to do it.
for many jobs, buying tools is as cheap as renting, and you can use them at your own pace. The only problem can be storage. I bought a wet saw for doing tile for about two day's rental, but I was doing work that meant that I could do tile work for other people. And "asphalt" tiles (known as commercial or linoleum tile these days ) uses a tool that resembles a paper cutter. Dry-wall needs a minimum of tools (unless you are doing a ceiling, in which case you can fake it, but renting a tool makes it much easier). for a ceiling, one or two t-shaped jam-poles works just fine and is easier to manipulate that a dry-wall jack. The jack is only worth-while for a large job, and the jam-pole is ideal if you need to install a smaller piece.
One of my fairly recent DIYs was much appreciated by my kitties. I had 2 cat scratching posts that had seen better days. The sisal was in pieces, and some of it had been torn off, but the wooden bases and posts were still in good shape, so I decided to refurbish them. I borrow a friend's staple gun, and looked around online for the best deal on sisal, which was at Harbor Freight Tools. My friend had plenty of staples, and I didn't need to buy those, so my only purchase was the sisal. I bought and used 2 large rolls. Hint: use gloves, because the sisal can be a bit rough & tear up your hands; note, the thinner the sisal, the easier it will be to work with, but also, the less durable it will be. First, I removed the existing sisal. In one case, the bottom portion was intact, so I left that, and re-stapled the end, then began adding sisal, stapling it onto the post periodically, for stability and durability. The height of your posts and thickness of the existing sisal will be determining factors, unless you choose to remove all of the existing sisal, then you won't need to concern yourself with trying to match up the size. Different sizes wouldn't have made a difference to the cats, but, of course, same size was more aesthetically pleasing to me. When I reached the top of the posts, which are carpeted, I simply tucked the end of the sisal underneath, and stapled it securely. When I was finished, I seasoned each post with catnip, and the cats still love them and use them every day.
Sounds great to me. I think this forum could use a do it yourself or a crafting/lifehacking section. It's a great way to save money, and we can share tips on how to do it safely.
Sounds like a great idea to me too. There are so many useful things you can do yourself to save you tons of money! For Example I just fixed my car myself as it has a leak. Would have cost me well over £50 and I did it for free
Although I didn't do it myself, I recently bought some parts for a car repair, and paid a friend's hubby (he's a mechanic) to install them. I knew they were struggling financially, and this way, I saved a little money, and they made a little extra. I'm all about sharing/helping friends and family out, splitting major purchases, etc., when I can.
We have built a moveable chicken coop housing 12 chickens. When they were older, we place them in their fenced yard. I wish we videoed the process to show you now. My husband designed triangular-shaped coop where doors built on each side. If only we had thought of marketing our contraption, we'd sell them like hot cakes. Here's a sample of DIY step-by-step videos on how toLog In
That sounds really interesting. I think I might be able to have chickens here, if I wanted to...there are horses and cows, and someone nearby has goats and chickens. Maybe at some point I'll do that. I've thought about making/buying a chicken coop type structure for the stray cats, to keep them safe from coyotes and other predators, but for right now, they squeeze into my shed for shelter. I've seen more and more people talking about getting animals such as chickens, goats, etc., so if that's something you're interested in, it might be worth it to make another and video the process, then sell copies of the video, or maybe even printed instructions.
I used to keep milk-goats, and have also had a barn-yard with chickens, ducks, geese. guinea-fowl,turkeys and visiting red-tailed hawks (ate my geese and ducks. The coons and possums also enjoyed my chickens.) I really miss the fresh eggs.
There are many links where you can find about do it yourself. Last christmas I tried making christmas ornaments do it yourself. I was very happy with the result. My family and friends noticed it too. Aside from it is fun to do the stuffs you can also save money.
I think that engaging in do-it-yourself activities can save money indeed, but the most rewarding part is when people realize that you have made it and like what you have done with your own hands. Other great thing is when one can produce exactly what is of our liking, as in example, eating fresh eggs having a farm at home, or when you have limited space and tomatoes grow in a pot in your own kitchen window along with aromatic fine herbs.
"Ain't nothing in the world like home-grown tomatoes" , Yes that's actually a song. aLog In. John Denver borrowed from it with a similar tune.
Hahaha @thomas pendrake, this is a very cool and funny song However there is something of country-style living feel when one grows up vegetables, fruits or even has chickens on the roof, as my Mom did once when I was a kid. She wanted to have fresh eggs and managed to get my dad building a sort of hen-house next to the water thank in the roof, but being in the roof, one day she forgot to close the door and the hens flew away as birds, but probably landing on the floor in the most pure heavy burden style, LOL
Do you know what the rationale of having the chickens on the roof was? If you have any space for a hen-yard, or if you have enough space to just let them range free you get much better eggs, and your feed bill is less.
