Article - Why I Quit DIY

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JamesR
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Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by JamesR »

Saw this article and it reminded me of y'all :)

https://schoolofdecorating.com/2014/06/why-i-quit-diy/
Last edited by JamesR on Sat May 15, 2021 8:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Sclass
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Sclass »

:lol: That isn’t quite what I’d call inspiration.

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Ego
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Ego »

The perils of turning a hobby into a source of income. Kudos to her for admitting it and altering course.

I often struggle with the opposite. I enjoy selling particular items and find less enjoyment in selling other more profitable stuff, so I buy (for resale) the stuff I would buy myself and don't put much effort in finding the stuff that pays big. But the again, I wake up without an alarm, spring from bed to get going in the morning and look forward to doing what I am doing... so there is that.

ducknald_don
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by ducknald_don »

I've quit DIY as well. Not entirely but stuff I would do in the past like replacing doors or fitting a kitchen just fill me with dread now. I think part of the problem is I will never be as fast or produce the same quality as someone who does it for a living. Furniture is cheap or free second hand so that's out as well.

ertyu
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by ertyu »

imo the title is clickbaity and misleading. it implies she has come to believe that diy isn't worthwhile, and that's not at all what happened. as ego says, her negative experiences are all a result of 1. monetizing it as a hobby and 2. attempting to maximize the money she receives by doing so. A better title would be, the pitfalls of depending on your hobby for a source of income

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Alphaville
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Alphaville »

lol it just means she quit producing the diy section of her ongoing blog enterprise.

but yeah she's got a point that spending too much time in something one hates is not good. one might as well just "get a job" at that point.

i can only manage to diy that for which i have an aptitude and can get good returns.

cooking provides me with a ton of good eating, saves me a lot of money on a major budget item, protects/promotes my health under a variety of conditions. and eating is an ongoing concern until death = worth the investment. plus i have developed many efficiencies through study and skill acquisition, so i am enjoying compounding returns a this point.

bicycle repair is also an ongoing necessity and provides me with transportation and good health (2 major budget items), surprising fun (ah, satisfaction!), significant savings (because labor is the major factor in the cost here) = totally worth it. i've been riding bicycles since i was 4 and now look forward to bicycling into old age so i expect compounding returns on this skill+tool acquisition.

home building and maintenance covers a big budget item, but currently living in apartment rental i can't use it.

building my own computers used to be moderate fun, but installing and maintaining a diy os for professional media results just added obstacles and delays to get to the finished product = antieconomic, switched to computer apple-iances, which eliminated misery and improved my life.

making booze i can do in dry times, but in normal times boxed wine at trader joe's is a better product and use of my energy and attention. still have planned alcoholic fermentation projects but just for fun. quality winemaking is a serious skill though, i have much respect for pros and "am not worthy." :lol:

currently exploring container gardening a bit for learning. also have queued up electronic repair for future consideration (once my bike repair setup is finished because priorities).

diy i didn't know i could do: sheep shearing, i mean cutting my own hair. easy with decent tools! just not in one sitting.... = worth it

currently not interested in: furniture making (one-off), clothes making (lack inclination, aptitude, i wear a uniform so can't see much in terms of returns), soapmaking (i don't use soap), 3d printing (solution in search of a problem), various others.

we talk about "time" as the only factor. e.g. "better use of my time." people respond "you could diy in the time you use to watch tv".

but watching tv is what one does when tired. the real limitation is not "time" (although time is limited as well) but energy, attention, and effortful thinking (system 2) to produce valuable returns.

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Sclass
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Sclass »

Well seriously, if I operated on her level I’d quit too. Look at this stuff. Everything in these photos can be bought. You’re trading off your time against Chinese labor. You’re buying small quantities of cheap materials trying to compete against mega supply chain hogs In Shenzen. It’s the wrong tactics for diy. I’ll lay off the cushions (I made one and posted it up somewhere here) and never looked back. A total waste of time with overpriced craft materials. I have a neighbor like this. She thinks she can add value to her cheap stuff with a paint brush, hot glue gun and a can of cheap acrylic enamel from hobby lobby. Her living room looks like a summer camp project gone wrong.

https://schoolofdecorating.com/home-tour-gallery/

You can keep that stuff. I can see why she cannot make $ on this stuff. We are taking her story out of context.

I’ll stick to DIY plumbing and car fixing. That’s where I can have a bigger economic impact. Pick your battles carefully.

I made this a few years ago. An example of what not to diy. I copied this off a thing that cost about the same price as the materials I used. Unless I just had to have this color it was a complete waste of time and money.

Image

You need to operate higher on the food chain.
Alphaville wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 6:37 am
cooking provides me with a ton of good eating, saves me a lot of money on a major budget item, protects/promotes my health under a variety of conditions.
This is a thing. I was looking for a dine in place on yelp to take my wife out this week now that CA is opening up. The food photos looked bad. If I looked really close the ingredients were cheap. Poor cuts of meat. Average veggies. Unripe fruit. The only things that looked good were the desserts and the drinks.

I noticed the rolls all had this flat spot on the top. My wife said that is because they just took it out of a bag.

The gift of the pandemic has been leveling up on the cooking game. Everyone I know is better now. Wherever you started you’re higher on the food chain.

We’ve just tinkered around with our favorite stuff trying to replicate what we used to eat out. Once we dialed in the taste, the big takeaway was that our favorite restaurants were dumping in tons of salt and sugar. I think we are going to be a lot better off healthwise going forward.

ertyu
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by ertyu »

Sclass wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 10:01 am
I copied this off a thing that cost about the same price as the materials I used.
This is why I'm a fan of repurposing trash finds. This could have been the cut out legs from a couple of pairs of jeans joined all together, stuffed with rags that were thrown out beside the dumpster that I picked up and then washed. If a zipper was needed, it could've been sourced from a thrown out garment or bag or from an otherwise crap piece of clothing on clearance sale day at the second hand clothes store. If you wanted to go a level up, this could've been a thrifted curtain - a stained one as those are usually cheaper, you just need to cut around the stain (or have the stain at the bottom of the finished piece i guess). I agree with you that purchasing the materials new and assembling is barely any better than buying new. Purchasing from a consumer craft store and assembling isn't diy. It's a variant of consumerism.

I also agree with your point that household and vehicle maintenance and repair skills are the best return on your time. Ditto with Alphaville's point about cooking. That, too, is spot on.

basuragomi
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by basuragomi »

Agreed with @Sclass.

In my opinion there are fundamentally two kinds of DIY projects: crap you can't justify buying, and crap you can't buy at all.

Crap you can't justify buying is like the infamous Marie Kondo-branded stick. It's so simple to replicate that it's faster to make than to collect cash and go buy it. I made a shelf from scrap in an hour that would take 2 hours to go to the store and buy.

Crap you can't buy is like custom furniture. You'd be on a waitlist for so long and pay so much it's faster and cheaper to do it yourself, even including cost of tools. I made a folding desk/bookshelf because they just don't exist on the market.

In between is where most commercial offerings sit and these can't really be beat on cost or time by a DIYer. It makes sense from a blogging/marketing standpoint to replicate these items because you need to generate projects with popular appeal, but that pushes you into competition with them if you try and rely on the income from selling those things. I'm guessing the expense:click ratio is higher on many other blogging efforts.

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Ego
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Ego »

Sclass wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 10:01 am
This is a thing. I was looking for a dine in place on yelp to take my wife out this week now that CA is opening up. The food photos looked bad. If I looked really close the ingredients were cheap. Poor cuts of meat. Average veggies. Unripe fruit. The only things that looked good were the desserts and the drinks.
For six months now Uber Eats has been spamming me a $30 off first order code. I have tried to find something to order. We've had a few parties and I figured we could feed it to the guest. I still couldn't find anything I wanted to eat or would feel okay about serving to others that was better than what I could make myself for less than the tip I would pay to the delivery person.

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Sclass
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Sclass »

Yeah funny that Uber eats thing has been coming for months. It says $25 now. I thought it was my imagination but I recall it was $30 last month. I’ve yet to claim it. I live so far off the beaten path the food will be cold by the time it gets here.

I looked out the window this morning. We are having some “cold” weather out here in CA. 50F nights. The HVAC trucks have shown up. It’s like these guys show up every time it gets hot or cold. The plumbing trucks are ubiquitous. Last week my neighbor called the truck with the big rat on the side. She must be having a problem with the rats I evicted from my house again. It’s really funny how the pest controllers set traps for the prior tenants of my place but they never closed the holes. Good business strategy. :lol: Once I closed the golf ball sized holes in our dormers the truck started showing up at the neighbors.

It actually takes more time to find an exterminator, make an appointment, hide all financial paperwork, then have him climb into the crawl space to set traps. I found dozens of traps in our crawl space still set with the bait long gone. The traps were so old the springs had grown weak. They had the custom logo and number for a local pest controller on them. Come to think of it I have stickers on my water heater, AC, garage door, furnace that say “if this breaks call”. It should say “this is the phone number of the incompetent tech who temporarily fixed it last time.”

The plumber DIY is the same. It takes a long time to get three quotes, set up an appointment and then be around as they invade my home. In the bigger picture it’s quicker to go to Home Depot and DIY. Not to mention cheaper.

At the tire shop (the last mechanic I go to since I cannot diy tires) they waste ten minutes of my time inviting me into the shop to see my car on the rack with all these “worn” parts on it that they need to replace for safety reasons. “Your brakes need replacement/flushing/turning, you need power steering flushing, you got a loose left balljoint, you need a transmission flush, you need an alignment, your tie rods are loose, you need new shocks,” the sales manager warns me. “Or your car will catch on fire and blow up and spin out.” (Channeling his best Tommy Boy).

What a freaking waste of my time. When they insist a second time after I brush off their concerns I usually say, “I know it’s hard to imagine, but what if I just changed all that stuff recently? Myself. Unbelievable? Could you imagine the remote possibility I’m a better mechanic than you are? And I’m here because I don’t have a wheel balancing machine? Don’t you think you’d look really dumb right now? Drop my car, cash me out and don’t forget the coupon I brought.”

The last place I took the wife’s car for tires to insisted that my caster was out. I calmly explained to the guy neither he nor I could adjust the caster if we wanted to unless we were to modify the front suspension. It simply doesn’t have the adjustment. “Oh yes it does,” he said. Then I said, “I’ll bet you the set of tires it does not.” He backed off.

I have one of these at home. Best $125 I ever spent. Keeps up sellers out of my pocket.
https://youtu.be/5koH0U3qOvA

No I don’t want to upgrade to V rated tires. No I don’t want a Teflon wax paint treatment. No I don’t want your “safety” inspection. No I don’t want your imaginary alignment adjustments on my wheels. Drop my effing car and swipe my card do not forget the coupon. :lol:

This is the kind of BS the rank and file have to deal with everyday. It is total bs robbery. That’s why I diy.

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Alphaville
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Alphaville »

yup. i get the same coupon (i sometimes ride uber)

also my wife got a gift card for door dash... i think we lost it :lol:

i guess i'd use it if i were incapacitated or terribly stressed out or sick or something... but my pantry is already stocked up with stress/emergency foods so i really can't see the use...

---

@sclass: i used to have an indie mechanic that just charged me by the hour with parts i brought when it was a repair i couldn't handle. price was always agreed upon in advance. good guy--rare shop.

i did get "free inspections" from mainstream shops... precisely for the free diagnostic. "thanks for the to do list, goodbye now" :D

2Birds1Stone
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

We used our $25 Uber Eats credit on 2 1lb bags of whole bean coffee from Starbucks :)

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Sclass
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Sclass »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 4:02 pm
We used our $25 Uber Eats credit on 2 1lb bags of whole bean coffee from Starbucks :)
That is a great idea. I didn’t know you could do that.

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Alphaville
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Re: Article - Why I Quit DIY

Post by Alphaville »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Sun May 16, 2021 4:02 pm
We used our $25 Uber Eats credit on 2 1lb bags of whole bean coffee from Starbucks :)
hahaha! same as @sclass, didnt know, thanks for letting us know.

now i gotta go dig in the email trash... also maybe look for that door dash gift code... ooof...

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