What skill has saved you the most money?

stuart45

Sand/cement was standard until the 70's when Carlite started getting popular. Was only 2 coats, and angle beads saved using straight edges.
Some new builds are still wet plastered, others dry. There are also one coat plasters. Or if Piers Taylor was the architect, OSB or scrap metal nailed to the walls.

onomatopoeia99

FreeBear said:

onomatopoeia99 said: Painting isn't difficult, nor is preparation, though plastering is a black art.  Tiling is another patience and preparation job more than anything.

Check with your local Adult Education department - You may find them offering cheap/free basic courses for brick laying, carpentry, plastering, & tiling. I bagged the last place on a free course doing plastering, and there is no "black art" to it. Getting the right consistency, slapping it on the wall (and floor), then smoothing off if just technique and timing. It is easy. Confidence and getting a decent finish is down to practice.

Not near me unfortunately - paintng watercolours, languages, willow weaving, soft furnishings, basic ICT, family history etc are the options.

Local technical college does it, one year full time course for school leavers.

MrsStepford

My husband isn't an electrician by trade but his employer paid for him to do high voltage, low voltage and 18th edition so yes he can add more sockets. Before he became a manager, he worked on tools and was gas qualified, so able to install new central heating and new boiler. He also re-plumbed the house. 

Justdontwasteit

No skilled DIY but painting and decorating including the outside of this 3 storey house 3 times, saved £1000s and a really thorough job lasts longer than my neighbours paid for.  As people say, batch cooking, I can do a Bighams/restaurant equivalent for about £2 per portion, nice wine at home, need to spend £60 plus for 2 to eat out better. Refined my eBay lurking and cheeky bid skills to get eg silk duvet, paints, sable brushes about 25% retail price. But a bit of financial planning the main saver. Paid off mortgage half way in, then paid extra into final salary pension, retired at 58, now topping up NICs to max state pension.

Justdontwasteit

Oops forgot colouring my own hair, dust sheet round the sink, then using a half inch paintbrush to do roots first in sections. If you do roots only it takes a third of a £7 box per month, weigh out on digital scales, mix in a soap dish. So say £50 per month times15 years…

DigForVictory

My husband was the DIY expert, now I’m a widow with all the gear & no idea. My sons prize my Google-Fu for making their birthday & Christmas money buy the same thing cheaper on the internet (& cashback!) & we use enough that Costco membership self funds easily but my massive money-making talent is reading & trying MSE ideas. (OK downshifting the rice crispies didn’t work but they’ve no idea what else has!) 

julie777

I must have saved £4000 just from cutting my husband's hair and our 2 sons till they were in their 20s. Also did FIL's.
My husband has carpentry skills (no qualifications) and he has designed and constructed storage cupboards many times over the years, often re-shaping them to fit in a new home. He has also fixed the car, learned to cook from scratch, decorated, cleaned the windows........you name it. I can't put a price on his endless money-saving.

Linda_Masterson

My hobby is sewing. I joined an evening class at 16 and started to make my own clothes. 
Over the years I have saved thousands and thousands of pounds. I’ve made curtains, clothes for my daughters, costumes for school plays, wedding dresses for myself and family. I love making coats for myself and close family, Harris tweed jackets for my husband, and clothes and running repairs for my grandchildren!

ashpole

I guess this one is like many others. During lockdown my wife learnt to cut my hair and continued doing it to save money. Last year she taught me how to do it myself before passing away in October. 

skull

Home grown veg & fruit meant low-cost food, plus surplus frozen, pickled or preserved as jam or fruit crumbles, stews, soups and pies. For many years kept hens in back garden, so eggs with any surplus pickled or swapped for produce we didn't have. Batched cooked and stored in freezer, slow-cooker great help and cheap to run.
 
Hubby does any DIY he can and hates to hire help. Together we installed replacement, sale, kitchen, bathroom (I did the tiling floor and wall) & we do our own painting, never wallpaper. Hubby studied electrical installation at college and fitted our free cooker (from relative who didn't want the one they found in their 'new' house).

Before we had a log burner we cooked on an open fire in colder months, Hubby has access to free firewood. He gets his hair cut by me and whenever possible does our car repairs and maintenance. Going out is a rare treat and then usually to family events as we live in a rural hamlet so going anywhere would cost car fuel, which we have always had to budget for even before recent price rises.

Most of our furniture is pre-loved and was either free from relatives who were updating theirs/downsizing or cheap from online auction sites. Garden fencing installed by us and also painted. Dead trees/tree limbs removed by us working as a team and wood dried for firewood. Tree surgeon in family ensured our safety at all times. Please, don't try anything dangerous by yourselves, do get professional advice. You can replace a tree you can't replace human life.

Front and back garden patios and a step up to lawn installed by Hubby over 30 years ago, still looks great. Minor plumbing done by Hubby who also studied that at college. No central heating, hot water only when we switch immersion heater on, no standby switches left on unless essential. . Log burner keeps us warm in colder weather and if too hot we open lounge door to let warmth go upstairs. If it's really cold, then we use hot water bottles.

When boiling the kettle, we usually only boil what we need but if we do have more water left over than we need, we fill a jug flask and then use that during the day, keeps warm up to 8 hours.

If any draughts from doors we make a snake from either an old trouser leg/pair of tights filled with old tights/socks/scrunched up newspaper and tied at each end.

Haven't bought a national newspaper since 1982 only local weekly one for hatches/matches/dispatches. We pass any magazines around family.

Usual cleansers Bicarbonate of Soda, white vinegar, lemon juice, cola left over from birthdays/Christmas for brass cleaning.

Try to keep treats as treats, not for everyday indulgence. Just because it's available to buy, doesn't mean we need to.

Can't think of any more off hand, not sure what that amounts to, but it must be a fair amount and it's kept the wolf from the door. I'm sure many of you do similar and more to get by. If you are a newbie and not sure where to start, then ask your parent/grandparents they'll be delighted to offer moneysaving tips.