Do you want to buy some big expensive tool? How can you justify it to yourself? But more importantly how do you justify it to your spouse?
As I stand and look at my shop full of toys/tools I cant help but reflect and think how lucky I am. Acquiring all these tools has been a life long journey. Realistically I have spent decades gathering all these toys, but I did not go into full tool acquisition hyperdrive until after I married my amazing wife and we bought our first home. It was not until then that I had the space for all of my tools. There are many projects that come with buying your first home. And most home improvement projects can be expensive, especially if you have to pay someone else to do them for you. But you can save thousands of dollars by doing many of these projects yourself. Which brings me to my first method.
#1 DIY Project Savings:
For this method you will have to do a bit of research. How much time you will have to dedicate to research will depend mostly on how large the project is. Regardless of the magnitude of the project you will still need to determine how much it would cost to either buy or pay someone else to complete the same project vs. doing the project yourself. For example, if you plan to remodel your kitchen you would need to get quotes from a number of contractors and then compare it to the cost of materials for you to do it yourself. If you are just starting on your tool acquisition journey I wouldn’t recommend starting with a kitchen remodel. I would suggest picking a project that wont require you to have every tool. Instead choose something smaller such as outdoor furniture. Making your own outdoor furniture can provide pretty big savings. There is also a very flexible and wide range of tools you’ll “need” depending on exactly how you want to make it. For the most basic design you will at least need a miter saw, drill, as well as a Jig saw. By stepping up your game you might also need a table saw, band saw, and router (with or without the router table).
If you are making a something as more of a passion project not because it will save you money but because woodworking is something that you love, the DIY project savings is probably not a very helpful option. The next method is available to anyone who is passionate about woodworking.
#2 Daily sacrifices:
There is almost always something you can sacrifice on a daily basis that can help you save money. Anything from carpooling to and from work, to quitting smoking. Whatever you can sacrifice, the key to this method is simply tracking how much money you can save with that sacrifice. Tracking your savings over time will let you know the exact moment you have hit your goal and can finally go buy that new tool you have been drooling over for months or even years. When looking at my checking account transactions it was an obvious choice for me what I could sacrifice. On a normal work day I will spend money on Breakfast, Lunch as well as Coffee. I am usually so busy that I end up eating breakfast and lunch at my desk while I work. And in the mid afternoon I need a little boost of caffeine, so I get a coffee to help me finish out the day. With a little planning I can remove these daily expenses. I found that on average I can save $17 every day if I refrain from all 3 food expenses. That will surely add up to quite a bit of money in a short time span. Being somewhat of a spreadsheet nerd, I created an excel spreadsheet to allow me to map my total cost savings. Feel free to use the “Daily Sacrifice Tracker” spreadsheet at the link listed below.
Daily Sacrifice Tracker
This last method will require you to go all in. By day, I work 9-5 in an office and by night, I own and operate Foley Woodworking LLC. which brings me to my last method for justifying the purchase of expensive tools.
#3 Start a small business or just sell some stuff:
I have a small business that I own and operate to allow me to accomplish a few things. Firstly it allows me to keep my business and personal expenses separate. It also allows me to benefit from running the business from my home. The benefits are being able to write off a percentage the expenses of utilities on my taxes and have a clear definition of what is available for tool acquisition. I make all large tool purchases through the business using the revenue from sales. This method is obviously hard for any spouse to argue with. But if starting a small business seems tedious or you are simply not interested in going all in with running a small business, don’t be discouraged there are still very simple options available to you. In the past couple of years selling stuff has never been easier. You don’t even need to know how to manage a store online. All you really need to know. is how to take a few pictures with your phone and upload them to places such as Facebook Marketplace or Letgo. If you include a brief description and a price, you are off to the races. If there is something like outdoor furniture you are able to make and sell for a profit, just take a few quality pictures, give it a fair price, add a mediocre description, and you wont be disappointed how fast you get responses.
I hope you find these suggested methods helpful. If you have any other useful methods or ideas to help justify the expense of purchasing power tools please let me know in the comments.