At what are you NOT GRM?

In reply to DrBoost:

Virtual handshake to you for the food-farm stuff! Good work my man!

I don't do electrical work or anything involving engine or transmission internals.

theenico wrote: I still have and use the Lawnboy mower I got for my 11th birthday in 1987. Still starts on the third pull

Have you had to put rings in it yet? Little two stroke is an impressive mower.

I do my own oil changes because it takes less time than commuting and waiting. House stuff is out, as previously mentioned.

As far as the difference between cheap and frugal: I haven't had any better luck or service life out of Harbor Freight vs "Name Brand" recently. Appliances are even worse. I'm on my third ultra-efficient "Good Name Brand" HVAC unit since 2010. Full on top-o-the line Whirlpool and Kitchen Aid appliances have all failed in some way since 2012.

You can't pay more for quality, only style and features. Even if it isn't made in China, seems like it's assembled with Chinese crap components.

Now get off my lawn!

Flight Service wrote:

theenico wrote: I still have and use the Lawnboy mower I got for my 11th birthday in 1987. Still starts on the third pull

Have you had to put rings in it yet? Little two stroke is an impressive mower.

Nope. I put a spark plug in it 10 years ago and I'm on my 6th or 7th pull cord. This mower is a beast.

Frame work scares the E36 M3 out of me, mainly because I'm not experienced, and I've been in a car that's crabwalked really bad before. Other than that, I'm pretty grassroots with cars. Oh, and wasps nests. I'm anaphylactic levels of allergic. I can handle the initial pain, I just can't handle my ear canals and throat tightening up on me.

cmcgregor wrote: I pay someone to come clean my house once a month. Best use of money ever.

Amen!!!!

One of our neighbors has a cleaning business and the 30 bucks is more than worth it just in the saved arguments with my wife over who's turn it is to mop.

Tyler H wrote: As far as the difference between cheap and frugal: I haven't had any better luck or service life out of Harbor Freight vs "Name Brand" recently. Appliances are even worse. I'm on my third ultra-efficient "Good Name Brand" HVAC unit since 2010. Full on top-o-the line Whirlpool and Kitchen Aid appliances have all failed in some way since 2012. You can't pay more for quality, only style and features. Now get off my lawn!

i don't know about that. After our expensive front-loader washing machine took a dump I researched the heck out of the situation and discovered Speed Queen washer and driers. They are commercial grade stuff (every laundromat since the 1940s has them) and are not much more expensive. EVERYTHING but the knob to select the mode is metal. No plastic, SS drum, industrial motor and so on. They are a bit harder to find, but when my kids are getting these as hand-me-downs, I'll be happy.

I have always picked quality over cost when buying anything. Buying once to get something that will last is better than saving some money and having to replace it frequently.

Lately I have been slipping on the vehicle side and having more stuff done than doing it myself. Still a DIY'er on the house stuff though. Last weekend I cut a hole in the 4"block and brick garage wall and installed a new back door.

Wife thought it was a stupid way to spend my 72nd birthday but I had fun and got something done that I had been planning for a year or so.

Toyman01 wrote: Nothing.

X2. I do everything. The only thing might be taking down trees hanging over the house. I might pay to get that done. Tires? Forget paying shops, i bought tire machines

I'm like most of you. Roofs, furnace, electrical.

My first house was a small ranch and it needed a tear off so I costed out all the materials, dumpster, tear off shovels, permit, donuts, pizza, and load of beer for my brothers and friends I found I was $500 away from hiring it out.

Six only polish speaking guys pull up and finished it before I left work at 5:00pm that day. I also hire out hanging gutters.

Trees get big enough that I don't want to cut them down myself. I don't really like chainsaws in the fist place, but combine them with something that is heavy enough to squash you like a bug, and the whole point of the operation is to tip it over and I'm handing over $100 bills.

In practice? I'm pretty frugal. And even when I'm paying someone else to do work, I'm frugal (I'll hire labor, or just hire out parts of a job and do all the finishing touches myself).

Where am I not GRM...

I've owned a Prius. And liked it.
I think the Versa Note is the best looking sub-compact hatch. There. I said it.

I'm GRM about everything that matters to me. If I pay someone to do something, its begrudgingly and only because I don't care enough about it to learn how to do it myself. Not to brag, but today I installed a gas water heater, climbed up onto a roof and dropped down a chimney liner, then went to another job and replaced the inducer fan on a Munchkin boiler. When I got home, I did some welding on the race car, and hung a storm door. Then came inside and cooked dinner while my wife ran the kid to dance class. And now for the clincher. I had a migraine this morning. Let me tell you. Climbing a roof, not being able to see with a full blown migraine is a trip.

Housework for sure. I can do basic painting, trim work, and a few odds and ends. Anything more than that gets professional help. Especially anything involving going into the crawl space. That gives me the heebeejeebees.

Beer. Life's too short to drink cheap beer and I don't have the attention span to make home-brew.

ProDarwin wrote: Where am I not GRM... I think the Versa Note is the best looking sub-compact hatch. There. I said it.

WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU?????

I think there is some confusion in what Grassroots means.

Grassroots is not necessarily equal to cheap.

Grassroots is using the minimum amount of money to maximum effect. It means not throwing money at the problem without intelligent thought about what you get in return. Sometimes that means you don't do the work yourself because that's not the best return on investment.

I have yet to find anything I can't do. That doesn't mean I never pay someone else to do it. My last roof was bought. It was cheaper to pay a contractor, than take the time off to do it myself. Maximum benefit, minimum $$$$.

There are some things I don't have the tools for yet. (tires) The place I get mine done is actually not the cheapest, but they are the best. Maximum benefit for dollars spent.

In all things, minimum $$$$, maximum benefit.

I thought of another: when it comes to structural welding, and welding something that contains fluids. I don't trust myself.

And I'm also in the camp of grassroots being least money, most return. I spend the good money on tools, parts, equipment, appliances, etc when justified.

I'm going to be that guy: I think that the time we spend on this site warps our view of 'grassroots'. It actually has nothing to do with money: Grassroots=the common or ordinary people, especially as contrasted with the leadership or elite of a political party, social organization, etc.; the rank and file.

I get the intent of the question, and I love this groups innovation and frugality, but neither things define grassroots (though they are often part of it).

In the spirit of the intent of the q: as I get older (with three young kids), I find myself buying time (ie:paying others to do things)to be able to do other more enjoyable or important things.

We have 3 dogs and 2 cats. We burned through three vacuums in five years. I bought a Dyson and I don't regret it.

Flowers for the wife. Sure, she'd appreciate a hand-picked bouquet, but she wants a Florist to deliver her special bouquets at work, so everyone can envy her for the wonderful husband she has.

In reply to mazdeuce:

Trees are definitely a good one.

The last big one my dad and I took down ourselves was quite a white knuckle experience - big old dead poplar at the edge of my parents property that borders a relatively busy road. We had a too-short rope with one end tied way too low on the tree and the other tied to the bucket of dad's tractor to try to direct the fall away from the road. Very lucky the tree didn't end up on one of us or in the middle of the road.

The next time dad needed a tree dropped he hired a professional, lesson learned.

mazdeuce wrote: Trees get big enough that I don't want to cut them down myself. I don't really like chainsaws in the fist place, but combine them with something that is heavy enough to squash you like a bug, and the whole point of the operation is to tip it over and I'm handing over $100 bills.

+1. Out in the middle of the woods - no problem. I've amazed myself at how well I can drop a tree in the exact spot I want it. But in my own back-yard, the consequences go up considerably.

Nathan JansenvanDoorn wrote: I'm going to be that guy: I think that the time we spend on this site warps our view of 'grassroots'. It actually has nothing to do with money: Grassroots=the common or ordinary people, especially as contrasted with the leadership or elite of a political party, social organization, etc.; the rank and file. I get the intent of the question, and I love this groups innovation and frugality, but neither things define grassroots (though they are often part of it). In the spirit of the intent of the q: as I get older (with three young kids), I find myself buying time (ie:paying others to do things)to be able to do other more enjoyable or important things.

well, OP did say "GRM" not "grassroots". the GRM way is implied.

I've heard it said that the only real luxury is time. As time goes by I'm getting more guarded about how I spend my time and what I get in return. So daily driver - isn't worth time off the road or my evening/weekend time to deal with (gladly paid for Mrs. Oldtin's 4runner timing belt - I'll do it on her 928 because I want to). Drywall - I don't mind hanging it. Taping and mud - I will gladly pay. Stuff that I don't know how to do or can't do well and am not interested in dealing with the learning curve. Stuff that takes specialty tools that are expensive enough to need a bunch of uses to make it worthwhile (unless I'm interested in doing the work).