i agree that if u can fix,install or replace anything for yourself than u should.just make sure u finish.

While I totally agree that learning new skills is a bonus and not spending money on something just becasue it is easier is the responsible way to go, at some point it actually becomes fiscally more responsible to hire the work out to 'an expert'.  In the example of your lock.  it may take you 3 hours to replace the lock because you have to purchase the part, find the tools, read the instructions, go through some trial and error.  Yes you have learned something, but in that 3 hours, you also needed to do laundry, study for school, make dinner, and various other tasks and chores that still need to happen that are things that you can not 'hire' out, or that are not fiscally feasiable to hire out.  You have to take into account the point where your time becomes more valuable than the price of paying someone to do something for you.  

Thanks for such an intersting column.  You always provide me with lots of frugal ways to think about incorporating into my life.

The most important thing is you were proactive and didn't get stranded! As a bonus you saved money.

What you save (if at all) is the difference between what it would cost you in terms of your total time at the rate per hour your time is worth, after factoring in all taxes on your net pay you're paying for it with, and what it would cost using that same post-tax money to pay someone else to do the job for you.  If you can't do it in a cost-effective amount of time based on what you make versus what it would cost to have someone else do it, you're effectively wasting your time and money in the process.  Hence, the lower effective hourly rate that you are worth on the job market, the more likely it is that you'll "save" money by doing it yourself (assuming you don't botch it up, which in many things more complicated than simply changing a car battery, is not at all unlikely).

it doesn't take three hours to replace a lock, to pay out lets say $50 for someone to come in and replace it for you, plus the cost of the lock which is something you would have to buy anyway, lets say another $25, makes it a total of $75, so that means you would think you time is worth more then $75 an hour, when working a $10 per hour job it would take about 10 hours to cover the cost of hiring out, once you take taxes out of your pay check, honestly, i think it would be better to let the laundry wait for awhile

I have agree with all the statements that have been made above but also think about this. Going back to saving $50 on installing the battery. Yes I can install the battery myself and I have do so many times but there has also been times (not many) that I have spend more then the $50 to find the real problem. #1 Alternator going out, #2 bad cables, #3 bad starter, #4 bad belts (not keeping the batter fully charged up)

To Laurie...once you learn something, you don't have to relearn it. Repair the lock for the front door and you're prepared for the lock on the back door or the garage door. Purchasing the part can be done when you run other errands. Laundry just needs to be switched, I doubt many people scrub all their clothes in a basin nowadays.

As for the rest of chores, learning how to manage one's time should go hand in hand with learning how to manage one's money.

Money is time and time is money.

If you want to save time, you will spend money to have someone else do it for you.

If you want to save money, you will have to take the time out of your day to DIY.

Go Donna!  And now that you know how to change a lock, I'll give you a 6-pack & a pizza to replace mine!

changing your own car battery would probally result in wasted time and money for you.  you can ussally go to a qualified repair facility and get the battery installed for the price of the battery alone.  if that is what you actually need.  more times than not i run across this in my business and there is another problem causing the dead battery.  plus when you pay a profesional to install a battery or another part you are paying them for a warranty as well.

wow i wish everone was going to replace their own battery. no don't forget that most new (1996 to cuttent ) car recomend you keep the system alive while you replace the battery . oh come on you know what I mean , you must have another power supply connected so the memory in the average 18 on board computers stay current and the car won't have to go thru a releard time. Also be careful did you realize that the average battery has the same power as a 1/4 stick . Its not that common for one to explode but I've had 3 in my 30 years of doing service work and 1 is 1 too many