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Are you being too cheap on yourself?

Skilled Do-It-Yourselfers achieve their end results at zero cost so often that it starts to become a habit. A good friend of mine actually has a "zero cost policy" - when a job falls under this category we are only allowed to work on it with materials we already happen to have lying around or that we collect by the side of the road during council cleanup time.

I am not disputing thriftiness. If you are making things to make do on a tight budget, then power to you. Necessity is the mother of invention. However, if making things is your hobby which brings you pleasure, perhaps you should consider spending a little more on it.

A classic example of being too cheap are homebrewers. Early on in the career of every homebrewer, the urge is there to work out exactly how much it is costing to make a bottle of beer. Many people try homebrewing because they are told how much money they will save. But realistically, if you value your time at all, its still probably cheaper to seek out low quality alcohol at a discount liquor barn. If there are reasons for doing this beyond cost, such as personal fulfillment, pride, learning a new craft and so on, then why should they be valued so cheaply that we use low quality ingredients to save a few cents. In fact, in homebrewing and elsewhere, it is relatively easy to make a very high quality product with medium financial outlay that will make you the envy of your friends. For a few extra dollars you can upgrade yourself from making the cheapest beer in town to making the best beer in town.

If you can give your hobby enough cash to get the right tools and supplies you will flourish at it. If you can't afford it, maybe you need a cheaper hobby, or smaller specialisation.

Wishing you a productive weekend...

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