How Cheap Am I?

Ever wonder just how much you are paying for something? This week I decided to go to Mr Lube and get an oil change, something I can write off. This is also a chore that Craig could do...if there were 30 hours in a day and at least 10 of them were sleeping ones..
SO I pulled into the place, got settled with my free paper and water, and listened as my "Service Manager" launched into the speil...welcome....have you been here before....blah blah blah. I was wishing I could jump the menu like when you do telephone banking: just press the number you want and you go right to where you want to be..skip the bilingual junk.
The nice young man disappears for 10 seconds under my hood and returns with my air filter and some sort of valve thingy, which he waves about, pronouncing dirty and awful and they need to be changed..Hmmm. Dirty? Gotta go. Let's check the price list. $50 total. He got to it in 10 seconds, that means I could too....I could do it at home for half price. Then the young man informs me that I may need a new fuel filter, something that they can do quickly while they are under the car in their custom built, comfy little pit. Hmm. Dirty? He didn't even go under to get it. Gotta be a tougher one. Let's check the price list. $74. Does Craig want to crawl under the car and do it himself? Sure. I could do that at home for half price too! Envigorated by the prospect of do it myself, I decline the add ons and smile as I pay and leave.
Sure enough, I changed my own air filter and valve thingy for half the price.
That alone almost justifies buying a Starbucks coffee once a week, don't you think?
And Craig will do the fuel filter for me! And he works a lot cheaper than Mr Lube does. For peanuts, even. And beer!
The thing is....if you can do it, and you want to save money...do it!
And if you are having a hard time.....what's the shame in finding a professional to do it for you? There are some things that you just should not do on your own. Like root canals and open heart surgery.
How cheap am I?
Cheap.
I buy Dollarstore cleaning supplies, I make many of my own things, and I love to shop on the discount rack.....
I will buy one meal for two of my kids at a restaurant and make them split it.
I will go to Costco for supper even though it only serves Heart Attack certified food, because I can feed everyone for $12.
I will buy $4 shoes for my kids 4 times a year on the sale rack rather than one good pair of $45 ones.
But when it comes to important things....if I have to pay, I want to pay once, get it done right, and be happy.
Don't you?
Sometimes, saving money is what keeps my budget going. Sometimes, it's spending it that does. What is keeping you going?