Interesting/unusual insourcing?

[Gerard]

Not sure where to put this, as I want to Ask (A) Mustachian(s) to Share Your Badassity about Doing It Yourself:

Are there things that you do or make that almost everybody else outsources? I mean, I know there are lots of people on here making their own beer or sauerkraut, and some pouring their own shower pans, and a few who are grinding their own wheat for flour. But is anyone making their own tomato paste, or couscous? What other things are there that I'm not even thinking of as in-sourceable?

And if you do insource, why? Is it for flavour or quality? A family tradition? The satisfaction of doing it yourself? Allergy issues? Frugality? Or just because you can?

[DeltaBond]

My husband and I fix our own cars to the extent that we bought a mini-lathe to make the metal parts that you either can't buy anymore or are too expensive.  We drive a few 80s vehicles and it has really helped us keep our transportation costs very low.

[teacherman]

My husband and I fix our own cars to the extent that we bought a mini-lathe to make the metal parts that you either can't buy anymore or are too expensive.  We drive a few 80s vehicles and it has really helped us keep our transportation costs very low.

That is frickin' awesome/impressive!

I am replacing a corroded cast iron drain pipe in my basement this evening after I get home from work. Wife wanted to call a plumber--I said hell no! I am not making my own parts though...

[teacherman]

...And I just reread the thread title and see you are asking about "Interesting/unusual" insourcing. Simple plumbing jobs aren't that unusual or interesting. Nevermind. :)

[vhalros]

I do all my own bicycle maintenance, which is not that much, but I do do an overhaul every few years. It would cost about half as much as the bike is worth to get a mechanic to do it, so it saves some money. I also kind of enjoy it.

[Learner]

I don't think it's that unusual, but we make about 100L of apple sauce and apple butter in the fall.  We started doing it to have good quality apple sauce on hand, but based on feedback we got from some friends, we now make sure that we make extra apple butter to give as gifts during Christmas season.  Having control of which varieties of apples makes a huge difference in taste compared to store-bought. 

[seattlecyclone]

I don't think it's that unusual, but we make about 100L of apple sauce and apple butter in the fall.  We started doing it to have good quality apple sauce on hand, but based on feedback we got from some friends, we now make sure that we make extra apple butter to give as gifts during Christmas season.  Having control of which varieties of apples makes a huge difference in taste compared to store-bought. 

We do this too because our house came with an apple tree and we don't want to see the fruit go to waste. It's probably less than 100L, but several gallons for sure.

[Bob W]

Homemade pasta is a great idea.  Buy a used (they rarely are really used) pasta maker at a thrift store for like $15.

Then you can make all sorts of flavored, veggies added pasta.   The savings comes in when you compare a 1lb box of noodles for $1.   You could make 5lbs of homemade for $1.5.  It would be fresh and if you add veggies even a bit healthy.

Flavored pasta typically sells for around $6 a pound.  http://www.deciopasta.com/spinach-basil-garlic-p-35.html

Hell, at that rate you could even make a small business out of it.  Hell fire, the mark up is 2000%!

[ioseftavi]

Fairly minor, but we have made pretty much 100% of our pizzas from scratch for the last 2 years. 

If you have a stand mixer, a pizza peel, and a pizza stone, you can easily produce pizza that is as good or better than anything we can get locally, even in NYC.  It's probably one of the meals we make without fail every week or two.

[caliq]

DH fixes electronics down to the circuit board level, but that's because he's trained in avionics type stuff and already had the skills.  So far I think it's helped once or twice but also led to like 3 or 4 randomly donated XBox 360's laying around my basement...the one he originally bought still works fine (but is never used) so he just doesn't get around to fixing other people's cast-offs.  Someday I hope to sell them but they're getting pretty ancient at this point :/

[Rural]

Specifically making my own tomato paste, as mentioned in the OP, actually, if you'll forgive my not having done it in recent years because I've had a construction zone instead of a garden, that is. It's dead easy, actually. Dehydrate "paste" style tomatoes like Romas (I do this anyway), store them in jars, and whizz in the blender to grind them to powder as needed. Add a little water... Tomato paste!


We made our own house (by "we" I mostly mean my husband, though I swung a hammer, too).

[Gerard]

Dehydrate "paste" style tomatoes like Romas (I do this anyway), store them in jars, and whizz in the blender to grind them to powder as needed. Add a little water... Tomato paste!

Oh, I bet this tastes so much better than paste made the traditional way (cook down juice, dry it out). I'm gonna try this as soon as I move to a tomato-growing climate.

[kendallf]

I took CNC machining, welding, and automotive machining courses at a local junior college just so I could build engines/parts for my race car.  People joked about all of my 'used up junk' so I made a billet intake manifold lid and valve covers that said 'Second Hand Six' (the car was a twin turbo V6 Buick T-Type).

[homehandymum]

DH makes sourdough pizza from scratch every week, using kombucha as the liquid starter, which we also brew ourselves.

Our other stuff is not unusual - just the same ol' stuff that we've done for years (cooking from scratch, repairing clothes, cutting our own hair...)

[Metta]

Homemade pasta is a great idea.  Buy a used (they rarely are really used) pasta maker at a thrift store for like $15.

Then you can make all sorts of flavored, veggies added pasta.   The savings comes in when you compare a 1lb box of noodles for $1.   You could make 5lbs of homemade for $1.5.  It would be fresh and if you add veggies even a bit healthy.

The problem with this plan (from past experience) is that then you eat 5lbs of homemade pasta.  :)