[Butterfli M.]

Why does it seem that many people look down on people who do things themselves instead of paying someone to do it for them? For example, washing your own car, doing your own nails, etc. Aren’t these people wiser with their money for doing what they can?

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Name : Butterfli M., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 20, City : McMinnville, State : OR, Country : United States, Occupation : Retail worker, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[JGW]

Doing it yourself can be a good way to be frugal, but that depends on two things:

1) Are you actually capable of doing a good job (be honest), and,

2) Is your time more valuably spent doing something else?

With respect to 1), I cannot even count the number of houses I’ve seen where ‘Do-it-yourselfer’ projects have significantly hurt the value of the house. Unless your craftsmanship is good and you know building practices well, home DIY projects will take money off the value of your house. This is a long way of saying: If you’re going to do it yourself, make damn sure you do it right and don’t cut corners or you won’t be saving yourself any money.

With point 2), you should always ask yourself what the most valuable expenditure of your time is. For instance, if your typical pay rate is $8 an hour and it costs $15 to have someone else wash your car, then do it yourself. On the other hand, if you could spend that hour working to improve your marketability toward getting a higher-paying job, or already get paid more, or could develop a business lead to bring in a big sale, then pay someone else to do the grunt task and focus your energy and efforts on the things that yield bigger gains. That’s what rich people do, and that’s part of the reason they’re rich. It’s not a ‘looking down’ so much as asking the question: is what you’re doing really the most effective use of your time?

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Name : JGW, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Disability : Deaf, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 35, City : Seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Occupation : Architect / Real Estate Developer, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Kevin26334]

Depends on what you’re doing. There’s an old saying: ‘The lawyer who represents himself has a fool for a client.’ In other words, some jobs require a professional. But if it’s just washing your car or doing your nails, I can’t imagine that anyone would look down on you for that. Perhaps those people looking down are merely trying to find a way to make themselves feel superior.

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Name : Kevin26334, Gender : M, Race : Black/African American, Age : 35, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Jason-G28584]

I’m with you on the DIY thing. It’s a little off topic but I lament that the average person is losing a lot of skills. Our society is becoming a lot more streamlined in the way of core skills. My mother is by no means a weak female (my dad was in jail, she raised me alone from the age of 19 for 13 years and still held down a job), but she can cook (and not just meat and potatoes), sew, garden entertain guests etc etc. My stepfather is a little old school and taught me to do minor repairs on cars, and I spent my youth helping him to renovate houses. (in Australia any renovations must be council approved for safety….so even DIYers do good jobs….sometimes better than builders who do crap work then rip you off). I’m proud that I can cook and fix things, and hopefully build larger things, yet I’m still a ‘sensitive’ male. I think it’s terrible that people my age or a little younger (I’m 30), aren’t capable of doing much and have to pay people to do things that would only take 15 minutes if they knew how (changing oil for example). I agree that you can damage your property value or put yourself in danger with DIY (our neighbor sliced his fingers off with a table-saw). But usually most DIYers have the sense to know what their limitations are ( I can change a lightbulb and fix fuses, but I would refuse to mess about with house electrical wires for fear of killing myself). I say be proud to be able to do things and pass those skills on to your children.

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Name : Jason-G28584, Gender : M, City : Kiel, State : NA, Country : Germany, 

[Cindy]

I was raised in a low to lower-middle class (or socioeconomic status as we call it nowadays family (formerly poor farmers). I have been fortunate as an adult in that I have been able obtain a Master’s degree and great job. I think that the first person to respond has a good point. However, I must add that people from my class take great pride in doing things themselves. I have a better work ethic and more skills than many others of my generation because I was raised in a family that took care of things themselves. AND the greatest thing of all is that I know, no matter what happens, the skills I have, the things I learn how to do, can never be taken away from me. So, God forbid, if the money is to dry up, I will survive. I have a couple of rich friends who have been devastated by loss of family money. The funniest part is they don’t even see themselves as rich! Now, they don’t know what to do with themselves and are very depressed and angry. Living life as I have gives me a great feeling of peace and I wouldn’t want to have been raised with money.

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Name : Cindy, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 28, City : Rutland, State : VT, Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Gatorboy]

By some strange coincidence, I just finished grouting my shower so you have some idea of where I stand on the issue. First, I care very little about what other people think about my habits. Second, I like doing things for myself. Third, besides the money, I saved all the hassle of finding someone who does quality work, and having them in the house making a mess.

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Name : Gatorboy, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 55, City : Melbourne, State : FL, Country : United States, Occupation : retired, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Steve27614]

Some people value going out into the community and interacting with others rather than being hermits holed up in their homes, endlessly working on DIY projects. Yes, it costs money to have someone do your nails, but you go to the beauty salon also to talk to people, etc. A lot of people make their living in the service industry, and if everyone adopted the DIY attitude, it would hurt their livelihood. Usually people who are in the service industry are likely to hire others to do something for them. The idea is that when the time comes, they will be hired for their services.

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Name : Steve27614, Gender : M, City : Columbus, State : OH, Country : United States, 

[Daniel]

I have not noticed this much in my life. Both my parents went to college to learn trades. My dad has done a lot of things himself such as changing the car oil, setting up our surround sound speaker wiring, etc. When we put up our second garage, he hired someone to do that for him. I think that what people do or don’t do mostly depends on what they are willing to do, and what they know how to do. My dad didn’t know how to build a garage, or he might have done it himself. He did do the wiring and such, so I guess that helps illustrate that point. As for the money, I don’t really know. I’m pretty sure it’s cheaper and easier to change oil or set up wiring himself, but it can also depend on what type of quality you want.

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Name : Daniel, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 20, City : Fargo, State : ND, Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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