The Virtue of Scrounge

Last year, the washing machine my wife and I bought thirty years ago died.

My wife really loved that machine. After looking at the price of a new washer (ludicrous), the features (preposterous), and the technology (designed to fail) we went out and found another old washer exactly like hers.

It, too, was 30 years old, and still ran like a champ. And it was delightfully cheap.

I'm a born pack-rat, and a scrounger to the marrow of my bones. I hate to throw away anything that may still be of some use.

Before our old washer went away, I stripped it to bare bones.

Every nut, bolt, and washer that could be reused went into my bolt bins. I kept all the specialized parts I could, just in case I ever needed them at some time in the future.

The future arrived last week .

The door switch on the new old washer gave up the ghost. A replacement switch would have cost $86.84, and could have been included in a $300.00 service call if I so wished.

I didn't wish.

I opened up my box of washer parts and took out the old door switch I had saved. Two screws and three plugs later the defective switch was swapped out, and the washer was back on line.

Every time I recycle something like that, I save the alternative cost. This time it was $100.00 to $300.00, MOL, depending of the course of action I might have chosen.

When times are tough not having to pay is like finding free money, or having a paid-up 100% parts warranty that never expires.

If your bank account is paying 1% interest (High, these days. I know.) you would have to have had $30,000.00 in the bank--and kept it there for a year--to pay for that one overpriced $300.00 service call.

It's nice to earn that kind of "alternative interest" on no monetary investment at all.

The more you scrounge and/or recycle, the less you waste and the more money you save.

That extra money can be the start of your future prosperity. It can also raise your standard of living--and that is now a vitally important issue.

If your lawnmower dies, save every part that you possibly can. What you reuse you don't have to re-buy.

Check out the parts prices on eBay. What you can't use you can probably sell. A small used wheel (for example) is usually worth about $10.00.

A guy recently gave me a dead 15hp outboard motor. He was going to throw it away. I took it home, looked it over, did nothing at all to it except find the minor problem. I then sold it to a very happy buyer for $250.00.

These little nibbles may not seem like much, but over ten, or twenty, or thirty years they can add up to a substantial fortune.

 

Yep, and if things fall apart,you have both the parts and the knowledge to keep things going. I am also a sucker for an organized box full of nuts, bolts, screws, washers, cotter keys, etc. Only thing worse than not having something, is to have it not know where it is. Tractor Supply sells nuts, bolts, etc by the pound, If you have a bolt that is too long, you can always cut it off, so 3 or 4 lengths will cover most of the needs of one size and it may save you at least an hour to go to the store if it is open.

 

Yup

Just have to be careful you don't wind up with an Alaska style village house


one of the nicer places...

 

Glad there are more monkeys then just me that save useful things for a time of need! I love recycling un wanted or un needed stuff, and you would be amazed at the creative uses one can find for stuff folks would have just tossed!

My most epic save was a 1986 Pacific P14 that was no longer in use and just sitting in a Yard full of old Trucks and cast off, no longer used logging equipment! Made a deal on the best truck they had minus the axles, and they even loaded it for me! Drug it home and got it taken apart into smaller chunks so I could un load it off my trailer, and set it all aside for the build! Went to Utah and got 3 used AWD axles, the biggest they made, and hauled those home along with 2 non driven trailer axles and all the parts needed to make it all work on the Pacific. Two years later, I have a brand new truck that you simply cannot buy, nor has any equal, and I paid about the same as a 10 year old worn out Kenworth tractor! Got a smoking deal on a salvageable end dump trailer that needed new axles and suspension, all new rams and hydros and rebuilt that into a monster to go behind the Pacific! That rig makes me good money hauling dirt, rock, firewood, and water, specifically because I can get into and out of places a lesser truck couldn't even dream of! I can pretty much name my price, and folks are more then happy to pay it! Retirement is great!!!!

 

Have a washer that's over ten years old. One of the pumps went out last year. Found out which one it was, went on-line, bought it and replaced it myself. Took about 10 minutes.

A service call would have doubled or tripled the price of the pump plus added another $125 minimum for the call, if the service vehicle just happened to be in the neighborhood.

Not as good as having the parts salvaged from another unit, but still saved money. Most appliance repairs are not difficult or time-consuming.

 

Bought a new maytag washer about 10 years ago after our 30 year old machine started leaking oil into the tub. After 3 years the manufacturer refunded all our money. That's after the repairman came 5 times to fix it. Happy my wife insisted on the extended warranty. Repairman said the new machines were garbage and suggested we pick up an older model. 2 months ago our used machine started acting up. Decided to fix it myself. Took 3 tries and numerous Youtube vids to completely understand and repair it. All the parts were around $75. Next time I see a Kenmore 110 series washer being thrown out i am stripping some of the parts. Not that I need more crap in my garage but damn a washer is important to keep momma happy.

 

our washer has been on it's last legs for a year. It sounds like there's gang busting in the back door. Pretty sure I'm going to have to tear a wall out to get it out. I know it's the bearings. I can fix it. I'm just procrastinating. Maybe it'll blow up and take out the wall. Easy peasy.

 

Being able to fix it yourself is a great skill. This spring my dryer died. Control board error. Thankfully it was during the nice weather, just hung the clothes out in the sun. Ordered the $20 relay on amazon and removed the broken one and soldered in the new one (a great skill to have). Saved me the $275 board replacement or more on service call or new dryer.

Sometimes being able to improvise is helpful too. Shortly after buying my current house, the power supply/step down for the heat pump control fried on me. They don't make the "on board" 120vac to 24vac converters anymore (according to my repair guy) I soldered some wires to the board and he used the stand alone $6 one instead of the $500 new control circuit. Plus the service call only cost me 2 beers (I love living in a small town).

I see plenty of people on Prepper boards that clearly aren't the fix it yourself types and I think that is almost as important, if not more, than some of the other skills people practice/use. One of the benefits of having grown up with parents that were the fix-it types I suppose.

-JediWoodsman

 

Yup, but ability to fix is perishable with age. Ability to diagnose sticks around far past the time that wrenches and crawling under cars goes away. Diagnosis will save a lot of headaches, when you can tell the outfit you call exactly what to bring for the service. (And getting conned becomes a bit less likely.)

KNOW what is in there, even if you can't reach it.

 

I am of the mind that being capable of repairing about anything is one of the ultimate preps.

I do not believe in reverting to a 1800 life style if all hell breaks loose, it won’t work. In the 1800’s rural folks could often just survive and make a small income. But you’ll have that plus no 1800 level infrastructure or resources plus there will be lots of people trying to take what you might have. Your time and muscles are limited and you will absolutely need significant force multipliers to survive and protect what you have or are growing. 1800 technology doesn’t have much in force multipliers. Being capable of preserving, maintaining, repairing, making, converting or reverting to 1960’s or better level technology is the only way to survive significant collapse.

Therefore to that end, having the tools, key parts and repair skills are critical.

I have assortments of nuts and bolts in SAE fine and course threads and metric threads, machine screws, wire terminals, connectors, wire, sheet metal, sheet steel, bar stock. Lots of boxes of assortments of O-rings, metric O-rings, fuses of all sorts and sizes, roll pins, snap rings, clevis pins, cotter pins, set screws, key spare parts for mowers, tiller, tractor, truck, etc. Harbor Freight has all kinds of small parts assortments. Sure they are low quality but a cheap China metric set screw is still far better than none when you lost one and it is all that is keeping something from working. I have most of those. One trip to town can cost me more than the cost of one HF assortment box. They only cost 6-12 bucks and sometimes they have coupons that can be 30-60% off. Plus you tend not fix something in a half-ass way because you didn’t have the right bolts, screws, whatever.

Like UncleMorgan and others, I too hang on to old parts, etc. To save space, I do to some degree try to pull the key parts I might need and trash/recycle the bulky things unlikely to ever need. So, I pull the guts from a washer and scrap the tub, cabinet, etc.

I do most of my own repair work because I can, I save money plus learn and can do the repair the next time with no need for reference manuals or videos. My experience is if special tools are needed, just buy them. With a few exceptions, the cost of any special tools, parts, etc. has always been significantly cheaper than hiring it done. And I end up with three things every single time: a working car/truck/whatever, more tools in my boxes and more skills and knowledge. ​

 

Re: Airtime's post #13. A coworker of mine told me to never miss the opportunity to accumulate unusual tools, even for a one time use. Chances are you (or someone you know) will need it again. And some times only a dedicated tool will do the job.

 

Not many people in this world have the insight to do these things, not many people have the willingness to LEARN.
I have tried several times to provide the means to learn and make money for others and they pass it up like a plague.
People grow up too wealthy and never learn how to improvise or see the value in things unless they are new and everyone else is going that way. (like my chickens) If I introduce a new feed none of them will touch it till one of them become hungry enough.
Of all things even some mechanics are slow on the uptake and though I teach them a better method of doing something fail to implement it on their own and leave it to me. when I go things go back to the old way.
When things get thin and people are scrounging for the means of being able to see again because their glasses are broken or the prescription is changed, they will likely die with the problem because no one cared to learn.
There are so many things that were done in the olden days we should be able to do that do not take special technical handling or sophisticated chemistry.
Do you know that you can lift water from a stream without mechanical assistance? it's called a ram pump. and the technology is over 100 years old. The instructions are on you tube. it is not expensive and it is very practical.
I built one myself self and it works. I lifted water over 30'.
While you may not need this information now, someday in the future it might become handy.

 

Oh man! I know that one. Have 2 sheds full plus an addition in the house full of stuff that we've forgotten the purpose. We really don't even know what's there any more or if it's useful.

Dreading the cleanout. I know damn well it's going to take a month unless we simply haul it all to the dump.

 

Yeah I went through both Jeeps a couple of years ago and changed the ball joints because they're both over 20 years old and the local shop said the ones in my wife's 1998 Cherokee were shot, so they couldn't align it.

Bought the tool set with which to do that. The cost of the tools plus the ball joints was less than half what it cost to pay someone to change them. I used it on my 1997 Wrangler as well. And, I got to keep the tools.

Still have them since they cover a whole bunch of vehicle makes and models. Me thinks that's a tool set worth saving.

 

I know about buying tools to save money. Most of the rolling box is stuff bought for one steenkin' job and wound up saving on others as well. Some have not been used but one time, but saved my wallet enough to cover their bed and board all these years.

 

Yep. And one other thing... tools are just cool, fun to have and easier to rationalize spending money on than say sports memorabilia or antique plates. My wife realizes my mistress resides in the back yard and is happy about that.

Ever notice all the youtube videos of shop tours where guys show off their man caves full of tools. Those get 10s of thousands of views. I’ve seen a few that were crazy over the top.