I'll start (oops, ZiziPB, you slipped in before me!)
It was kind of a rough weekend in the Poundwise household. To make a long story short, it began with an overflowing toilet, the fridge/freezer stopped cooling, and the dishwasher wouldn't drain. But to our satisfaction, everything was working on Sunday night, $0 spent.
Unfortunately, on Monday morning Mr. Poundwise was majorly bummed to find there was no water: we were so tired from a weekend of running back and forth to the garage for tools, that someone left the door open and our pipes froze. He had to leave to catch his train, so I was left to thaw the pipes with a hairdryer and get the kids off to school. The water was running again by the time we left, but when I got back from dropoff, I heard the roar of water in the garage and realized the pipes had split at the main! Misery. I spent the morning googling, and afterward ran out to Home Depot to buy a Sharkbite (~$11). Cut the pipe and installed the Sharkbite as best I could, and was pleased to see that the water had stopped shooting out, though the meter was still leaking a bit on the bottom.
So what was my mistake? Well, apart from leaving the garage door open, I wasn't strong enough to snap the Sharkbite on one end of the pipe, so I was anxious that it would fly off and cause another garage fountain. Also, I couldn't figure out the issue with the dripping meter. However, it wasn't an emergency any more since I could turn the water on at the main when we needed to replenish the toilets, cook, etc. I did more googling and saw a comment that we should call the water company about the meter. Anyway, around 5pm, I called the plumber, who snapped the Sharkbite on for me, told me that I should call the water company about the meter, and left me with a bill for $150 (his after hours rate).
I made this mistake because I was tired and impatient. I knew all I had to do is wait two hours for Mr. Poundwise to come home, and then he could have snapped the Sharkbite on, and persuaded me to wait till morning to call the water company.
The lesson? If it's not an emergency, wait a bit until I am rested and clearheaded to make the decision to call in hired labor.