My Secret Weapon

I have a secret weapon in the financial independence game. A frugality hack so potent, it probably saves me thousands of dollars every year. It is not some skill that I developed over years of studying or training. It is not some side hustle that makes me thousands. It’s simply the do it yourself attitude. I have saved more money by tackling projects on my own instead of hiring a professional.

Sure. I know you are wondering where I get the expertise. I’m wondering the same thing. Growing up I was nowhere near proficient with my hands. Fixing things was never a skill that I learned as a child.

Yet somehow it works.

Let’s take the toilet as an example.

Flushing Problems

Our first floor toilet was having continual problems. For the last few months, after flushing, the water would run for like 10 minutes, and take forever for the flushing mechanism to reset. Then, one morning, I went to flush and…nothing.

I pulled up the top of the toilet and found that the chain had completely unattached from the worn plunger. Aha! A chance for me to pull out my secret weapon. I knew how to fix this problem. So I got on the phone with Toto and ordered the replacement plunger and chain.

I could do this. Sure beats spending hundreds of dollars for a plumber!

Mr. Fixit

Two days later the piece arrived. I gingerly removed the old plunger and placed the new. But something was wrong. Even with the new mechanism the tank would no longer fill with water. I checked the inflow valve on the wall to make sure it was open.

Nothing

I knew what the problem was. In order to use my secret weapon, I needed not only brawn but also brains. The filter mechanism was clogged with silt from our one hundred year old pipes. I quickly pulled up a you tube video on how to clean the filter of the fill valve.

Darn these Toto toilets are complicated!

Hitting The Wall

An hour later I hit the wall. I had come to a complete stand still at step one. The equipment was too calcified, and I couldn’t even get the cap off the fill valve to start the process. My secret weapon had failed me. A few hours into the process I had made no progress, and was still sitting atop of a nonfunctional toilet.

Dejectedly, I got on the phone and called the plumber. We all were getting tired of running up the stairs every time someone in the kitchen had to use the bathroom.

I wasted hours of my time, and still would end up paying exorbitant fees to a plumber.

Resolution

My fourteen year old son bopped into the kitchen to get something to eat.

Hey Dad, can you give me fifty bucks to buy that thing? (that useless thing that is a complete waste of money.)

I frowned and he quickly recovered by making a deal that I couldn’t refuse. He tells me that he will fix the toilet, and all I have to do is pay him half the cost for the plumber who is scheduled to come the next day. About fifty bucks.

He walks into the bathroom with a bucket, some gloves, and his browser on his phone set to You Tube and disappears for a while.

An hour later when he returns, the toilet is completely fixed and running perfectly.

And I am out fifty bucks. A far smaller amount than I would have had to pay the plumber.

Final Thoughts

You see, my children are my secret weapon. They are far smarter, faster, and more agile than I. I could be bitter at the fact that a fourteen year old bested my failure in a number of minutes. But hey, I saved at least fifty bucks!

Who says I’m not frugal?