Sunday was a heck of a day for me. If Sunday had happened a few months or a few years ago, it would have been very expensive. I needed to repair or buy a replacement for a piece of children's furniture -- ouch! Prices on that stuff are egregious, because parents always want to give their kids the best. My wife had her heart set on upgrading the hardware on our kitchen cabinets to some fancy shiny stuff that required drilling new holes in the cabinet and drawer faces. Meanwhile I need to get in better shape, maybe take some crossfit courses at a local gym or something.
Old cost: about $200 for the kid's furniture, maybe $400 for a handyman or contractor to do the kitchen upgrade, and $75 for the monthly gym membership. New cost: $15 for the materials I used to repair the furniture, $40 for kitchen materials from the local construction surplus store, and no cost for me to get exercise through the woodworking and then getting an 8 mile bike ride in. The extra time spent in the kitchen let me keep closer tabs on a bbq pork shoulder I had in the slowcooker, which was very delicious after the hard work and exercise.
Saved about $600 relative to my old spending habits, and earned some kudos from the missus plus some valuable skills practice in the process.