Date:         Thu, 14 May 1998 09:32:36 EDT
Reply-To:     GMBulley <GMBulley@AOL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         GMBulley <GMBulley@AOL.COM>
Subject:      DIY, cheaper?:was: Business Product Costs(was Re: Curtain Kits)
Comments: To: jim@OLDVOLKSHOME.COM, Vanagon@VANAGON.COM
Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII

In a message dated 98-05-14 01:35:09 EDT, jim@OLDVOLKSHOME.COM writes:

<< So the bottom line is if you wanna be cheap, quit complaining and do it
 yourself or get the wife/girlfriend/mother to sew 'em up....>>

Just a footnote, part of my short list of soapbox issues:

DIY COSTS MORE.

If your time is worth anything, DIY always costs more in the long run. Only if
you are unemployable is DIY "cheaper" than the alternatives. This argument
doesn't measure the personal joy of futzing and piddling that we all seem to
draw giggles from. I am talking money and time. Dollars, francs, euros; hours,
days, weeks.

With these curtains as an example: you save a few dollars initially on the
materials. Then you have to tie up a wad of your valuable time measuring,
cutting, and sewing, making the rods, fixing your goof-ups, cursing when you
make one that is 10" to short, etc. You could have been camping!

The product you create, invariably is of lesser quality than you could have
purchased if you had shopped around for the best, and not been a cheapskate.
The best stuff I have cobbled together in my DIY world has never measured up
to the best the market can offer, and usualy required more time and $$$ to
repair/replace/maintain. It is the DIY trap. Don't fall in.

When possible, buy the best, most durable product OFF THE SHELF. Pre-designed,
pre-tested, backed by a warrantee, and a name brand company.

If it is a service, find a fantastic mechanic or machinist to do the work, and
pay him/her well. Buy them Christmas gifts. Treat them like royalty. Relax
knowing that they will repair or replace whatever ails your VW, and all you'll
have to do is drive the ol' ballpoint across the "Pay To:" line. No muss. No
fuss.

Use your time to do something you are really good at, make $$$, and play in
the woods with family/friends. Don't be a cheapskate, you'll always pay more
in the long run.

My $1.25 worth...

gmbulley
cary, nc