The Ins And Outs Of DIY

We spent all day Sunday painting our house.   My husband was at the top of the ladder most of the day, and I split my time between scraping old paint off the trim, and taking care of the baby.   He was a trooper, but I think he was very tired of his bouncy chair by the end of the day.

We’re doing all the work on the house ourselves, because we don’t want to pay someone to do something we can do ourselves.   Friends who have had their houses painted have paid several thousand dollars for it, and we’re only spending a couple hundred for supplies.   And we know that we’ll end up with a great finished product.   But when you’re right in the middle of a job like this, it sometimes gets hard to remember what’s so great about being a do-it-yourselfer.   Today we were hot, and tired, and all we could see was how much more house we still have to paint (about half) and how much trim still needs to be scraped, primed, and painted, (nearly all).   But I like reminding myself that this is really only going to last a few weekends (even if it seems like forever right now).   For a few weekends of work, we’re saving ourselves a few thousand dollars.   What can we do with a few thousand dollars?   Fund our HSA next year, or an IRA.   Put money towards our HELOC repayment goal.   Maybe take a great vacation next summer with our little boy.   Maybe use it to pay someone to do something that we’re not able to do ourselves (last summer we paid a tree surgeon to climb around 40 feet off the ground in our maple tree and spend the afternoon pruning it – not something we felt able or willing to do).   When I think of all the ways we could use the savings that we’re getting by painting our own house, it feels so worthwhile.