Best Deals Sites Online – Hot Coupon World
The best deals site reviews we started yesterday took a look at Slickdeals. Today’s deal site review will cover the savings available to you at Hot Coupon World.
Hot Coupon World
(Thanks to Christy from Art of the Coupon who shares her money saving expertise with us in this series of posts.)
Hot Coupon World caters to a different type of customer than Slickdeals and FatWallet. Although they do have sections that discuss freebies and general deals, I think of Hot Coupon World almost as the “Housewives Haven” because its strength is far-and-away its classic couponing information.
In addition to detailed lists of the best deals at almost every grocery store in every area, Hot Coupon World has databases of all available coupons, resources for trading coupons, and programs where advanced couponers can mentor newbies. Hot Coupon World has too many forums for me to list them all, but their most useful forums are:
Drug Stores: This forum contains almost the same information as the Slickdeals.net drugstore forum. The only difference is, there is less discussion and sometimes hidden deals are missed here.
Grocery Stores: This is Hot Coupon World’s most useful forum because it has information that can’t be found elsewhere. The grocery ads from almost every single grocery store you can think of are listed here, along with coupon match-ups to the weekly ad, and discussions of special in-store promotions and other great deals.
National Chain Stores: This forum discusses deals at Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart and other “big box” stores. Again, a lot of the information here is replicated on Slickdeals, but it is organized as a separate section here. There are also other stores that aren’t covered in as much detail on Slickdeals, such as Bed Bath & Beyond, Children’s Place, and a whole list of other stores that can be found at almost any local mall.
They also have other forums, dedicated to saving money on Pet food, baby products, prescriptions, or at office supply stores.
Navigating Hot Coupon World
Hot Coupon world breaks their forums up into the most detailed list of subcategories. In some ways, this makes it easier to get to exactly what you want. On the other hand, it gives you a lot to look at in the beginning.
- You can subscribe to threads via email, or to have them listed on your member page when you sign on
- You can Search within forums, or the site as a whole for particular keywords
- You can subscribe to different forums via RSS to be notified when a new discussion is posted
- A Quick Links option allows you to view all new posts or to view your subscribed threads
- There doesn’t seem to be a Deal Alerts feature here
Who Should Use Hot Coupon World?
Hot Coupon World is a great place to find deals at your local grocery store, especially if you are in a smaller grocery market. If you have a young child or a pet and need diaper deals or good prices on pet food, this site can help you find these particular deals easily and quickly. Their coupon database is also invaluable to help you find a particular coupon from the newspaper or online.
If you are interested in learning how to coupon at your local stores then this is a great place for you. They have a mentor service, and lots of articles on how to coupon effectively and how to store your stockpile. Their trading forums are great for people who want to trade coupons- much better and more organized than anything at Slickdeals or FatWallet.
This is not the place to find deals on televisions, or general products, nor is it the place to find freebies. Although they do offer these services they are more limited than Fat Wallet or Hot Deals, and you can’t elect to be notified whenever a product that piques your interest comes up.
Best Deals Sites Online – SlickDeals
The best deals sites are the ones that can save you the most money with the least amount of hassle. There are whole communities online dedicated to finding the best deal on everything from toothpaste to televisions! Most of these communities are valuable because of their members- people find a deal and list it for others to take advantage.
Deal sites like these contain a wealth of information, and great bargains on almost anything you could ever want to buy, plus some things you never even imagined needing to own. A savvy shopper could spend all day trying to keep up with all the different deals posted on these sites, but for those that don’t have the time to browse them all, it is helpful to have an overview of the best features of each.
Over the coming days we’ll take a look at what Christy considers to be the Big Three (SlickDeals, Hot Coupon World, and FatWallet) along with some tips about navigating the sites, and the strengths and weaknesses of each. (Thanks to Christy from Art of the Coupon who shares her money saving expertise with us in this series of posts)
Slickdeals.net
Slickdeals offers a wide range of deals, submitted by individual contributors to the site. The site itself is divided into 5 main deal forums, in addition to some discussion forums that I rarely stray into. The types of deals offered are separated into different forums including:
Hot Deals: In this forum, posts cover a vast array of products ranging from Ipod Covers and computers to fine china, linens, towels, furniture, clothing and big screen TV’s. Any time a contributor finds a deal on a product that he or she thinks might be of interest to the community, that member starts a thread in the Hot Deals forum.
Deals can be for a specific product- for example, today a member posted an Xbox 360 available for $199.99 at an online game website- or for a more general group of products- like a post highlighting a website offering 10% off pet meds at a certain site or an extra 15% off a department store online sale.
Thread titles are fairly detailed- they usually include the product, the price or discount and any other information the poster deems relevant, like whether the deal is online or in store (Brick & Mortar, abbreviated B&M) only – so you can browse through at a glance to see if there is something of interest.
Freebies: This forum features all sorts of opportunities to get things for free. Common posts offer links to sites giving away product samples, no cost MP3 downloads, or advertising free local events. There are also subforums that offer free magazine subscriptions, or links to surveys you can complete to earn cash or prizes
Coupons: This forum lists coupons and discounts for use both online and off. There is a master list of printable coupons for things like food, pet products, or health and beauty products that you buy at your local grocery store.
There are also over 400 posts listing different coupons and codes for use at almost any store that you can imagine from Staples and Office Max to Dell and Home Depot. Some of these coupons are printable, but others are just discount codes for you to type in when you check out online.
Contests and Sweepstakes: This forum features a list of different contests and sweepstakes you can enter to win various prizes. Thread titles usually list the prize(s) and the date the contest ends.
Drugstore/ Grocery B&M Deals and Discussion: This forum focuses on deals you have to go to your local store to get. The forum doesn’t cover every local grocery store, but instead focuses on the Big Box stores that almost everyone has in their towns. The weekly ads for Walgreens, Rite-Aid, and CVS are posted weeks in advance, along with coupon matchups so you can plan ahead. There are also threads for Target, Wal-Mart, and K-mart.
Navigating Slickdeals: Navigating the site is easy and intuitive, and there a number of different features set up to assist a viewer in finding deals that interest them.
There is a Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down system that lets a browser know at a glance which deals are hits and which are misses.
When you open a particular posted topic, you can see comments from other viewers- perhaps free shipping codes to make the deal a little sweeter, or comments from disgruntled past users of a particular product or website who warn other Slickdealers that a deal might not be as good as it seems.
You can set up Deal Alerts to send an email when a topic is posted with a particular word or set of words, within a particular forum For example, if you are interested in surveys offering Amazon gift cards, you could set up a deal alert to email you every time someone posts in the Surveys sub-forum with Amazon in the title.
You can subscribe to posts (threads) you are interested in by using the “Thread Tools” option within the post. Subscribed threads are listed in your User Control Panel (User CP) so when you sign in you can see a master list of any of your subscribed threads that have been updated with new comments from other users.
You can also use Stickies to stick topics of interest to the top of the forum, so when you open that forum you can access those posts quickly
The Search feature is very intuitive and easy to use. You can specify whether you want the searched keyword to appear anywhere in the discussion, or in the post title only. You can also limit your search to a certain forum or date.
You can also subscribe to specific forums via RSS so that new posts in a particular forum are sent to your feed reader, just like new blog posts are for blogs you subscribe to.
Who Should Use Slickdeals?
The Freebies and Hotdeals sections on Slickdeals and FatWallet are almost interchangeable because there are a lot of people who use both sites. When a good deal is posted on one of the two sites, someone almost immediately posts the exact same deal on the other.
So, if you are interested only in Freebies and Hotdeals, you could choose between the two depending on which site you prefer to look at. The Coupons and Drug Store forums on Slickdeals offer similar information to Hot Coupon World. Again, when an ad is posted on one of these sites, it will usually show up on the other shortly after. The discussion in these forums on Slickdeals tends to have more useful information than Hot Coupon World, but the discussion can get long and you may have to read through a lot of pointless posts to find relevant information.
If you have time on your hands and want to make sure you don’t miss one single hidden drug store deal- then you should stick with these forums at Slickdeals. If you just want a summary of the advertised deals and not a lot of chat, you may prefer Hot Coupon World.
Taxes Are A Necessary Evil In Life
Thanks to Grant Baldwin for this guest post. The author of Reality Check, a book about helping students transition into the real world, Grant is launching a new website, BrokePiggy.com, that answers questions from teenagers about personal finance, savings, and all things money.
The only thing I miss about earning an income as a teenager was that I knew I would ALWAYS get a refund! I’m sure it was the same way for you.
So because of that, I would have to say there was a brief time in my life where I actually liked the tax system (I stress “brief”). I knew I would end up with a “bonus check” at the end of the year, so what’s not to like?
But then I started looking at my check stub a little closer and discovered Uncle Sam was getting a big cut of my money. And that I don’t like!
- Teach Them What They’re Paying For – We all hate to pay taxes, but deep down we all know it’s just a way of life. Rather than gripe and complain about it, teach your teen what they’re funding. Their taxes are helping fund the school they go to, the police and fire protection they have, and the roads they drive on. We may take all of the above for granted but the fact is that’s part of what we’re paying for. We just tend to focus on the negative.
- Teach Them The Process – While you don’t need your student to necessarily become a junior CPA, it is healthy for them to understand the process. Assuming they have an earned income and need to file taxes, help them with that process. Whether you use good ole fashioned pencil and paper or you use some type of software program, let them learn how to file their own taxes.
- Teach Them To Have Integrity – I don’t know what the statistics are for people who knowingly cheat on their taxes, but I would be willing to bet it’s far too high. As we’ve already established, nobody likes to pay taxes, but it is the law, so we need to do it right. Use filing your taxes as a teachable moment to talk about integrity and doing the right thing even when no one is watching. The money someone saves by cheating on their taxes pales in comparison to what they give up with their integrity.
This post is part of a series “12 Things Every Teenager Needs To Know About Money (And How To Teach Them)“, you can visit the sites below for the rest of the series:
- Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees @ Bargaineering.com
- Two Words: Compound Interest @ PoorerThanYou.com
- Delay Gratification To Succeed @ GatherLittleByLittle.com
- Living On A Budget Isn’t An Option @ TotalCandor.com
- Credit Cards Will Steal Your Lunch Money @ PTMoney.com
- Should You Earn A College Degree@ TheDigeratiLife.com
- Spend Money Based On Needs Not Wants @ MoneyNing.com
- There Is More Free Money Than You Realize For College @ FreeFromBroke.com
- Living On Your Own Isn’t Cheap @ Studenomics.com
- Taxes Are A Necessary Evil In Life @ MoneySmartLife.com
- Do What You Love, Love What You Do @ GenXFinance.com
- Don’t Be A Tightwad: Give Generously @ CashMoneyLife.com
Personal Finance Questions Answered Via Text Message?
Providing the easiest way to access information while on the go, that’s the mission of a company named Cha Cha. You can text or call in with your questions and they’ll give you an answer, here’s how they describe it.
“We’ll instantly route your question to the most knowledgeable person on that topic in our Guide community. Your answer is then returned to your phone as a text message within a few minutes.”
I think it’s a neat idea but I couldn’t find anything about the credentials of the people answering your questions so I don’t know that I’d ask anything complex or complicated. Below are some of the finance related questions and answers that have come through the site in the last day or so. Not surprisingly there are a lot of questions about tax deadlines, but what happens if they tell you the deadline is 4/16? I don’t think the IRS will care if you explain that Cha Cha told you the wrong filing date.
Maybe it’s not the best service to use for critical matters but for small things like movie times or even brief directions it could be kind of neat.
Tax Questions
When is the deadline to file taxes
April 15 is the deadline to get your taxes filed. The IRS website has lots of useful information on getting your taxes filed.
How do I file an income tax extension
To file an extension you must file Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File U.S. Income Tax Return
When is the postmark deadline for 2008 Federal taxes
They must be postmarked on April 15, unless you ask for an extension!
What day are taxes due this year
Tax filings are due to be filed by midnight on April 15th. You can file for an extension, but any money owed must be paid by then.
What is the current price of a US stamp
A U.S first calls stamp is currently 42 cents. First-Class Mail International postal rates varies start at $0.72
What state doesn’t have income tax
The states that do not charge state income tax are Alaska, Nevada, South Dakota, Washington, Texas, Wyoming, and Florida
Credit Questions
How long does it take to apply and be approved for a credit card
There is no set time for application and approval/denial dates for credit cards. A company can choose to never reply
What is the lowest possible credit score
he lowest score is a 300, and the highest is 850.
What is the highest credit score
he highest credit score one can achieve is the magical FICO number of 850
The highest-possible FICO score is 850, but even people with the best credit don ‘t usually exceed 825
What does it mean to have gone bankrupt
A debtor that, upon voluntary petition or one invoked by the debtor’s creditors, is judged legally insolvent.
What does it mean if your credit card account is in “default”
In finance, default occurs when a debtor has not met his or her legal obligations according to the debt contract; has not
How do you get credit if you just turned 18
You start your credit record by opening a checking at your local bank. Then you apply for low limit credit cards. Thanks.
Does a bill go to a collections agencygo straight to your credit report
In most cases your debt is reported to a credit agency every 30 days, so the collection agency will report it monthly.
Currency Questions
How much money was printed today
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces 38 million notes a day with a face value of approximately $541 million.
How many dollars equal a euro
1 Euro = 1.25 U.S. dollars. The value of the U.S. dollar against the Euro has gone up- now is a good time to buy!
Stimulus Check Questions
When will the stimulus checks be coming
One thing not in the new stimulus are rebate checks, unless your only income is Social Security. It will be a tax credit instead.
Will there be a stimulus check in 2009
It doesn’t look like there will be a stimulus check that everyone gets, it will be tax reductions & credits instead
Taking Control of Your Life By Finding Balance
How do you know when you’ve saved enough money and can afford to spend a little? How do you know when you’ve worked too hard and need to spend some time involved in life outside of work?
If you can’t find answers to these questions you might feel as though you’ve lost control of your life and how you’re spending all your time. Jim Wang (Bargaineering) and JD Roth (Get Rich Slowly) discussed this topic last week on their show, the Personal Finance Hour, and brought up some good points on how you can help find balance in your life.
Dreaming Big but Measuring Small
One of the reasons that I tend to work too hard or spend so miserly is that I’m pretty focused on my goals. I want to save as much money as possible so that our family has enough for our needs now and decades into the future. I also want to excel at the work I do so my skillsets can become more valuable, ensuring job security and higher income.
The problem with these goals in terms of finding balance is that they’re too general. Without specifics, it’s hard to say when I’ve achieved them or to know what progress I’ve made towards the goal in a given amount of time. With general goals, I know if I just keeping working at it I’ll eventually get there. Of course the problem I run into is, how do I know when can I take a break from working and saving?
One of Jim’s suggestions was to set milestones so you don’t feel like you have to accomplish your savings goal all at once. For example let’s say I had decided to save $500 a month in an emergency fund, and one night I had to decide between working a few hours and playing with our son. If I could look at savings for the month and see we were almost there or making good progress it would be easier for me to close down the computer and have some dad/son time. Without a specific goal and tracking of that goal I would probably feel the pressure to keep working to earn as much as possible that night.
Creating Boundaries
My favorite suggestion from JD was to set boundaries for yourself. In his case, he’s been working from home and his work has been spilling over into his time with his wife. He’s setting a boundary between work and family by renting office space close to home. When he walks the short distance from office to home, he’ll leave his work behind and switch his brain into family mode.
Of course not everyone can afford to rent a separate office but even having a separate office in your house can make a big difference; this is the approach that I take. Of course my wife thinks I spend too much time in my study but when I’m out of my office it’s easier to put work behind me and free up my brain for family time.
Spending Time Wisely
I think another key to finding balance is spending your time wisely. If you can be efficient at working or saving then you can accomplish more in less time, leaving more time to do other things; such as working out, spending time with your friends or family, etc.
Of course there is no easy solution to spending your time wisely. I think putting systems in place to help you make decisions and get your work done quickly can make a big difference. Prioritizing what you have to do can ensure you’re getting the most bang for your working buck. Lastly, trial and error can help you find better formulas. I really liked a tidbit I recently read from Perry Marshall that said something to the effect of, if you can learn from your mistakes, you can fail your way to success.
With a new baby set to arrive any day now, I’m going to be struggling with finding balance over the next few weeks. When I hit a rough spot, I’ll have to refer back to these suggestions and get focused. What methods do you use to find balance in your life?
Tax Deductions – Last Minute Tax Saving Tips
Tax returns are due on April 15th, many people have already filed their taxes but millions of others will be shuffling tax forms, digging out receipts, and searching for last minute tax deductions this weekend.
A recent CBS article lists some ways you can still reduce your taxes due before tax day such as deducting any job search expenses or making an IRA contribution. One thing I wasn’t aware of is the recovery rebate credit, here’s what the article had to say:
“If you did NOT receive the maximum credit of $600 ($1,200 if married filing jointly) plus $300 for each qualifying child, then you MAY be eligible for an additional credit equal to the difference between what you received last year and the maximum credit allowed. So, if you had another child in 2008 or had a reduction in your 2008 income, then make sure to calculate your Recovery Rebate Credit — you could be eligible for more money back.“
Here’s a summary of some more tips for filing your taxes:
- How to file for a Tax Extension
- Alternative Minimum Tax
- Personal Tax Exemptions
- First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit
- Tax Preparation Services
- Federal Tax Brackets
- Common Tax Forms
- Free eFile
- TurboTax Review
If your taxes are done, congratulations! If you’re still working on them, good luck!
Gather Little by Little – Blogging Based on Beliefs
We are living in uncertain economic times, but never fear, you have the best personal finance bloggers at your fingertips to help put things in perspective! Today’s spotlight takes a look at the site Gather Little By Little and the author’s take on personal finance.
I’ve gotten to know the author, sometimes known as Glblguy or Gibble, recently through his blog design business, Empty Cabin Media. I worked with him on a project unrelated to personal finance and was impressed with his quality of work and his demeanor. I think his writing over at Gather Little By Little reflects his personality and certainly his strong religious beliefs.
As it mentions on his about page, Glblguy was influenced by his beliefs to start a blog to help others going through financial trouble, because he went through a financially challenging time earlier in his life. The blog definitely has Christian influences, but his information and guidance is geared toward anyone, whether religious or not religious. The site name is based on Proverbs 13:11, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow”.
What You Will Find On The Blog:
- Articles focused on managing your finances and growing wealth
- How-to articles teaching you options on how to get control of your finances.
- Personal insights
Thanks to Glblguy for sharing his personal finance perspective on Gather Little by Little and as I mentioned above, if you’re looking for any blog design work I was impressed by the results from his company Empty Cabin Media.
Around the Personal Finance Community:
Thanks to the following carnivals for featuring our articles:
- Personal Finance – Green Panda
- Personal Finance – Four Pillars
- Money Hacks
- Young Finance
- Recession Obsession
- Family Life
- Tax Carnival
- Wealth, Money, & Life
Filing for a Tax Extension is Easy
If you need to file a tax extension, you can fill out form 4868 from the IRS website to apply for a 6 month extension on filing your taxes. Remember, the extension allows you more time to file your tax return but it doesn’t extend the date that your taxes are due.
You still need to mail in a payment for your taxes by April 15th or the IRS will charge you late fees and penalties. So how can you pay if you don’t know how much you owe? Well you’ll have to estimate how much you owe but remember if you underestimate you may have to pay fees on the unpaid amount. All of the programs in our best tax software list can help with filing an extension.
Here are some other tax tips that TurboTax put together for the last minute tax filer:
The 11 most overlooked deductions looks at things like reinvested dividends, state sales taxes, and the child care credit.
As you scurry to get your taxes ready, here’s a tax preparation checklist that helps you gather and organize your documents for income, tax deductions, and deductible expenses.
TurboTax and Kiplinger offer some comparisons on when it makes sense for you to itemize.
Here are some tax law changes to be aware of; things like the first-time homebuyers tax credit, income limits for deductible IRAs & Roth IRAs, tax-free parking for employees, and exemptions for the alternative minimum tax.
Eight Ways to Beat Bad Customer Service
You can’t hide from bad customer service; it can happen to anyone, anywhere, at anytime. You can however, launch a pre-emptive strike against crummy customer service and nip hours of impending doom in the bud.
Bad Customer Service is Expensive
Bad customer service can not only ruin your day, it can waste your valuable time and also cost you a lot of money. I’ve had bad customer experiences dealing with many different types of companies but some of the biggest time wasters and potential money losers have dealt with health care and insurance matters.
I won’t punish you by sharing my infuriatingly insane experience with extreme incompetence dealing with ADP FlexDirect “customer service”. I’ll also spare you my latest tale of broken promises and frustrating phone marathons to verify health insurance coverage for our soon to arrive baby.
Eight Steps to Beat Bad Customer Service
Instead, I’ll give you a playbook for beating bad customer before it has a chance to beat you down. I don’t know about you but I’m getting really tired of having to make sure a company does their job. Unfortunately, if we don’t stay on the offensive, sooner or later a company will fail us and we’ll be the one wasting time and money.
The first step to beating bad customer service is to assume ineptitude. Every customer service department you talk to should be considered inept until proven competent. (Important Note: This doesn’t mean using hostility or rudeness; simply think of them as a 2 year old that you have to walk through everything). Once you’re in that mindset follow these steps to beat bad customer service:
1) Ask the name of person you’re speaking with
The primary reason for this step is so you have a point of reference when you have call back and follow up. A secondary benefit is that if you refer to the person by their name you’ll stick out somewhat from the other dozens of people that work with that night and it might help you get what you need.
2) Get a ticket/issue number
Once you’ve explained your question or problem, immediately ask for a ticket or issue number. If you don’t do this (and sometimes even if you do) you’ll end up re-explaining the issue to someone else the next time you call back.
3) Ask if they’re adding call notes
Just because they open a support ticket doesn’t mean they’ll put your details in it. Ask them if they’re recording the details of your conversation. Specifically request any facts that you want noted.
4) Write down date/time of conversation and details
When you call back into customer service they may ask when you last called, who you spoke with, and what your issue number is. Keep a written record of your conversation so that you have these details handy for the inevitable follow up.
5) Ask for detailed action steps
Like any abusive relationship, we think this time it will be different, that they can change and won’t leave us with broken promises yet again. We naively hope our customer service agent will take care of our issue or get back to us when the reality is they have a long list of other customers to address that will push our needs into the eternal to-do pile.
Instead, get specifics and get commitments:
- Who are they going to call?
- What form are they going to fill out?
- What are they going to mail?
- When they will do it by?
- What’s the turn around time?
- Will you get a return phone call?
- Will you get status emails?
- Will you get a letter in the mail?
Once you have all the information, recap your issue and how they’re going to solve it for you.
6) Get their phone number
As you can probably tell, I’m little pessimistic that your customer service department will take care of you or follow up. Assuming they won’t, you’ll need to call them back. Get a direct phone number or extension so you avoid the phone tree and re-explaining your issue. Plus if you repeatedly contact the same person your chances of actually seeing progress on your issue increase.
7) Set yourself a call back reminder
Life is busy. You may not notice right away if they don’t take care of you or fail to follow up when they said they would. Setup an alert in your email program, or on your phone, or on your calendar to call them back by a certain date to let them have it follow up if no progress has been made.
8) Get angry
When parents are angry, kids react. When teachers are angry, students react. When bosses get angry, employees react. If you are angry, chances are your customer service department will react. There’s a reason the old saying “squeaky wheel gets the grease” is an old saying. It’s been true for a long time.
Perhaps I’m too nice. Despite repeated call backs and multiple screw ups I keep a level voice and restrain myself from hurling a pent-up flood of obscenities at the person on the phone. I let them know I’m not happy but I’m certainly not the loudest squeaky wheel.
As I navigate the phone tree I get ready to yell and scream but when they answer it always seems counter-productive to lose it on the phone. It sure would feel good but it probably wouldn’t get me any closer to my goal. Instead I calmly let them know I’m pissed, appalled, and wasting my time and ask to talk to their boss.
Where Does Bad Customer Service Come From?
I don’t know that the blame lies with the people handling the calls. My suspicion is that the companies they represent don’t have the right customer service quality processes in place and aren’t sufficiently incentivizing reps to take care of customers. The people on the other end of the phone are just showing up for a job like you and I do every day.
They do their best but they’re paid by the hour and there’s only so much work you can do in 8 hours time. This is why getting angry can be effective, it can help raise you up in the queue, or move you to a shorter queue.
I just wish the decision makers at some of these companies would read Seth Godin’s comments on customer service and answering the phone. Until that time, stick with these eight steps to beat bad customer service.
When Should You Do it Yourself?
My dad is by far the best do it yourself-er that I know. Not only is he good at fixing things (home repairs, car repairs, fixing lawnmowers, bikes, etc) he’s also good at figuring out do it yourself systems and solutions.
For example, he started his own one-man medical practice a few years ago and assembled the hardware, software, and processes for his own office automation systems that allow him and my mom to run a “digital practice” with no staff and low overhead.
He’s taught me everything I know about DIY, which is why I wasn’t surprised to see his email response to my recent post on getting things done by hiring others. Here’s what he had to say:
“A couple of my reflections, from a dyed-in-the-wool DIYer. I think you are right about finding a professional. Some jobs are difficult and if you don’t know anything about it, you’ll not only spend a lot of time learning how to do it but you may make expensive errors and end up having to pay more to have it re-done than it would have cost originally. And of course there are jobs which are dirty, messy, and physically painful or dangerous and are better done by someone else.
But sometimes, you come on a challenge that you would LIKE to know more about: maybe it comes up often, or maybe you learn a new skill that you can use in other areas of your life.
Or maybe it will save you a lot of frustration down the line to know more about a function/repair and the time spent up front will pay off in spades down the line when you can handle that or similar problems more quickly and easily.
Finally, there is just the challenge of overcoming adversity. Whether it’s a hard problem to solve (maybe where parts are not available so a novel fix is called for) or maybe just a tough diagnosis, there is value is overcoming tough problems. My two cents worth.”
What’s the Cost of Do It Yourself?
I think a big part of the decision to outsource tasks depends on what your goals are in life. Our time in this world is finite so we have to spend it wisely. For example, if one of your goals is to become a home repairs guru then tackle your leaky roof yourself.
But if one of your primary goals is to create a global charitable foundation or to start your own software company, the time you spend working on the roof is time you’re taking away from accomplishing your big goals. So the cost of doing it yourself is an opportunity cost for your life goals.
Of course if the task builds skills and knowledge that you can apply to your goals the opportunity cost isn’t as high but for me it’s hard to find applicable skills in a task like mowing the grass or painting a fence.
Goals vs. Reality
Of course practicality and reality play a major role as well. The leaky roof is going to cause water damage every time it rains so if you don’t have the money to pay someone to fix your roof you’ll either have to borrow the money or do it yourself.
Especially in tough economic times, many people will choose to go with the lowest cost method and figure things out themselves. However, the bad economy potentially presents an opportunity for outsourcing. With so many unemployed people looking for work, or even employed people looking for side jobs, chances are you can hire someone to help you out for reasonable rates.
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I'm Ben Edwards and I've been addicted to personal finance since I was 12 years old.
That passion for money has paid off for my family - so in 2006 I founded Money Smart Life to help you afford the life that you want. Read My Story...
