Saved some money today

[Newventurer]

As far as I know the at home sense is a motion sensor, please provide a link showing that there is a microphone in the thermostat.
Nest smoke detector, yes.
Nest camera, yes
Thermostat no microphone as far as any spec sheets I have seen.

Doh, my bad...I have the nest camera as well and that is the culprit. I apologize for the misinformation.

Apparently there is an interface though, through internet connection, that allows voice commands to the thermostat through a smartphone.

 

[aja8888]

That's great! Sounds like you earned almost $93/hour by doing your own brake repair.

Have you decided what to do with the money you saved?

I don't view this DIY "work" as earnings or savings. It's just not spent or paid to a mechanic.

 

[bradaz2488]

Ah, drum brakes...what a joy...NOT. Last ones I changed were on a 1970 Dodge Dart...what a PITA they were.

Speaking of car maintenance, my fabulous Infiniti G37 is right at 100K miles, so I thought it was a good time to get some maintenance knocked out. I priced the following at the stealership and through a mobile mechanic just for an idea:

Oil/Filter
Change/Flush Fluids in: Differential, Power Steering, Brakes.
Replace Spark Plugs
Clean Throttle Body
New Air Filters.

The estimate from the stealership: 1275
The estimate from mobile mechanic: 1080

Well, I thought about it and decided that if I could turn wrenches on AF planes for 6 years and my own plane for 5 years, I could knock this out. So, over the period of a day and a half (yes, I took my sweet time...but hey, I am retired, so I have ALL the time in the world!) I did all that work myself. Total cost: 258.97

Always liked the G37's. Hard to find good RWD cars that are not European ($$)... 100K miles, just broken-in... I have a 2002 Tundra with 104K miles. Thinking doing timing belt & water pump soon. I usually wait for water pump to go bad, but it is a interference engine so if the belt breaks it will damage the valves ($$). Is your G37 a belt or chain drive? If belt you may want to check if the engine is a "interference" engine.

 

[38Chevy454]

I don't view this DIY "work" as earnings or savings. It's just not spent or paid to a mechanic.

I would call it a cost avoidance

 

[pb4uski]

The avoidance of a cash outflow is as good as a cash inflow.

 

[pb4uski]

Great job, face the fear and get the job done. You deserve a shot of that stuff 'Blue Collar Worker' just bought over on another post

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/i-bought-it-because-i-can-87214-2.html#post1894861

Actually, he'll need to do 3 more brake jobs before he will have earned that stuff. $2,500/($750-$100)= 3.84 ~ 4 brake jobs.

 

[athena53]

<snip> I would be concerned if the electric company had access to remotely control my thermostat.

Actually, that's the deal. I got a Honeywell from the same utility 2 years ago in return for agreeing that they could cycle my A/C on and off in 15-minute intervals during peak periods. They'd let me know in advance, it would be a few times per season and I could opt out from a particular session. They estimated the temperature might go up 2 degrees. We never noticed any difference through 2 A/C seasons. This deal is similar except that they give me $25/year- not bad, since they cut down on how much power they have to buy when it's in high demand.

Both the Honeywell and this one are controllable from cell phone apps. I love that- I can turn the heat or A/C way down when I travel and bring it back to normal when I'm a few hours away.

 

[jazz4cash]

Good job.. Drum brakes can be tricky. Those springs and shoe pad adjustment can be a PITA... I get a lot of satisfaction doing my own car maintenance too, not to mention the big $ saved...





Disc brakes are pretty straight forward but I agree, drums, with all the small bits and pieces can be confusing. One trick I use is to take pictures on my cell phone of the brakes before dismantling that I can reference when putting them back together.

I remember when disc brakes were new to domestic cars and they charged extra for disc brake service. When I finally got a car with discs up front I couldn't wait for 4 wheel disc systems. So easy to service.

 

[jazz4cash]

Totally agree... I was surprise to see how much I could get new Rotors/Drums online. They were not original MFG parts, but they were good quality brand name OEM parts that it made more sense to buy new vs having rotors/drums turned at a machine shop... I take the old rotors/drums to recycle drop-off vs ending up in landfill...

I had a tough time finding a shop to turn my rotors since they usually just sell new ones. The shop I found only had one tech that could operate the old fashioned lathe so I had to wait a few days. I think it cost about the same as new but it's for my hobby car that I prefer to keep original. Some of the replacement parts are made to wear out (since no one turns them anymore anyway).

 

[brucethebroker]

Ah, drum brakes...what a joy...NOT. Last ones I changed were on a 1970 Dodge Dart...what a PITA they were.

Speaking of car maintenance, my fabulous Infiniti G37 is right at 100K miles, so I thought it was a good time to get some maintenance knocked out. I priced the following at the stealership and through a mobile mechanic just for an idea:

Oil/Filter
Change/Flush Fluids in: Differential, Power Steering, Brakes.
Replace Spark Plugs
Clean Throttle Body
New Air Filters.

The estimate from the stealership: 1275
The estimate from mobile mechanic: 1080

Well, I thought about it and decided that if I could turn wrenches on AF planes for 6 years and my own plane for 5 years, I could knock this out. So, over the period of a day and a half (yes, I took my sweet time...but hey, I am retired, so I have ALL the time in the world!) I did all that work myself. Total cost: 258.97

Well done!

 

[exnavynuke]

I had a tough time finding a shop to turn my rotors since they usually just sell new ones. The shop I found only had one tech that could operate the old fashioned lathe so I had to wait a few days. I think it cost about the same as new but it's for my hobby car that I prefer to keep original. Some of the replacement parts are made to wear out (since no one turns them anymore anyway).

Rotor turning here is $20/rotor which is about 1/2 the cost of the cheap rotors for my G37.

 

[jazz4cash]

AC Delco rotors for my Fiero are $20 + shipping at Rockauto.

 

[GravitySucks]

The avoidance of a cash outflow is as good as a cash inflow.

Better if you pay income taxes.[emoji3]

 

[stargazer08]

We have saved a ton of money on vehicle maintenance and repairs in the past few years. I have helped hubby change out bearings on our Avalanche. The rear bearings required the removal of the rear axles. It's amazing what two brains and youtube can do. LOL

Hubby just replaced all the brake lines in the same vehicle. He managed to do that without my help. $100 in brake lines vs paying someone $1000+ to do it. Required lifting the truck off the frame! Chevy had used inferior brake lines for several yeaers that literally rusted away. They called it "normal" wear and tare. We had 2 Chevy trucks that this happened to. That is why I traded one of the trucks in on a Ford last year.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Always liked the G37's. Hard to find good RWD cars that are not European ($$)... 100K miles, just broken-in... I have a 2002 Tundra with 104K miles. Thinking doing timing belt & water pump soon. I usually wait for water pump to go bad, but it is a interference engine so if the belt breaks it will damage the valves ($$). Is your G37 a belt or chain drive? If belt you may want to check if the engine is a "interference" engine.

Chain, FTW! And the car was actually built in Japan...which I think is a rarity these days.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Rotor turning here is $20/rotor which is about 1/2 the cost of the cheap rotors for my G37.

I replaced my front pads about 20k miles ago and the rear pads about 10k miles ago and didn't turn the rotors...no issues so far.

 

[street]

Thanks for all the reply's and I kind of forgot about the thread I started. Lol Getting old!

I see many do their own work on their vehicles and that is great. A person cam save a lot of money. As for time it took it was more like 6 hours to do all of them. The front it took about 1.5 hours and brake shoes took the rest of the time. I had one drum that took over 2 hours before I got it broke loose. That time also included all the cleaning and tools to put away etc. I also had to bleed the system since I hit the cylinder and lost some fluid.

I was slow but I had time to do it so it worked well and things to work just fine.

Thanks and good to see so many do their work also.

 

[rayinpenn]

So before my knee surgery I changed 2 faucets out in the kids bathroom. Long story short post operation one side is supposedly leaking. The Mrs emptied the vanity and put clean dry paper towels under the faucet to detect the leak. Report: no leak? The I hear my son was able to create a leak by cupping his hands under the spout when running?

I am in no shape to go crawling around under that sink... annoying that sometimes I feel like the only person in this house with any mechanical ability..

 

[pb4uski]

... annoying that sometimes I feel like the only person in this house with any mechanical ability..

I worry about the next generation... DS seems to have no mechanical ability at all.... DD some and her fiance is good with mechanical ability.

 

[folivier]

The first brake job is usually the worst since the factory usually uses some form of loctite compound on the bolts. I've broken sockets before trying to loosen bolts.

 

[Walt34]

S... annoying that sometimes I feel like the only person in this house with any mechanical ability..

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, DW has absolutely no mechanical ability. But she's cute.

 

[W2R]

So before my knee surgery I changed 2 faucets out in the kids bathroom. Long story short post operation one side is supposedly leaking. The Mrs emptied the vanity and put clean dry paper towels under the faucet to detect the leak. Report: no leak? The I hear my son was able to create a leak by cupping his hands under the spout when running?

I am in no shape to go crawling around under that sink... annoying that sometimes I feel like the only person in this house with any mechanical ability..

Once in a while my house needs maintenance or improvement. Since I would rather play video games and post on the forum than get down on my sore knees and wrestle with stripped screws and such, I call my handyman. He is very happy to get the work, so it is a win-win. Sure, I have to pay him, but if you add up everything I pay him in a year, and divide it by 12 to get the monthly cost, it's insanely cheap. He does great work.

Why not do that? There is absolutely ZERO need for you to get under the sink, or for your relatives to get under the sink, unless you are nearly indigent (and I don't think you are).

 

[Walt34]

Why not do that? There is absolutely ZERO need for you to get under the sink, or for your relatives to get under the sink, unless you are nearly indigent (and I don't think you are).

That's what I do now. Growing up we HAD to take care of our own plumbing, there being no way that we could afford paying anyone to do it.

I hate plumbing stuff, we do not play nice with each other. One of the nice things about the results of working either full time or part time since high school is that I can now afford to hire someone to fix broken stuff even if I know how to do it. So that's what I do.

 

[ulvazell]

I have a 2008 Chevy Colorado and it is my bum around pickup. It has 110,000 and was in need of brake pads and rear brake shoes. Well to get it done they said it would cost about 750 and I believe that included the parts.



Well this morning I decided to go price the pads and shoes and tackle the job myself. I'm no mechanic but can do some of the work if I try. Lol



Well it took me 7 hours to do and of course run into many issues but got it done and they work great. It cost me 100 bucks in parts. Lol

I've done my own brakes for years. The only cost to me is a set of ceramic pads. A few tools, a big C clamp and at the most an hour of my time, and I've saved enough money for my bride and I to have a really nice dinner out...

 

[Sunset]

So before my knee surgery I changed 2 faucets out in the kids bathroom. Long story short post operation one side is supposedly leaking. The Mrs emptied the vanity and put clean dry paper towels under the faucet to detect the leak. Report: no leak? The I hear my son was able to create a leak by cupping his hands under the spout when running?

I am in no shape to go crawling around under that sink... annoying that sometimes I feel like the only person in this house with any mechanical ability..

This sounds like he is splashing water onto the counter top, which is then running under the tap/faucet base.

a thin bead of clear caulking around the base (after cleaning it well) would probably fix this, as would a real cup and a slap to the back of the head