Mike is going out of the car repair business.

Well, last week Mike was working on changing the spark plugs to try and save us $70. Well, he spent $35 on parts and 4 hours trying to get it done. When he got done it didn't work and he realized that he had switched two of them but had no clue how to figure out which ones. We had to take it to the repair shop which cost us $23 to get it fixed. He spent 4 hours working to save $10! He is going to stay out of the car repair business from now on. Some things just aren't worth it.

This is a good point. Realize that you are going to have areas where you can save more and others you won't. We used to be able to save with cloth diapers but the last two years we couldn't.

Mike can do wonders with a computer and has saved us thousands in tech support and website design and proofreading and editing but cars aren't his thing. The point is don't beat yourself up if you have to spend on some things. No, this isn't permission to go out and just start eating out every night because you "don't have the time to cook" so it would save you time. If you are a tightwad don't worry over money spent on things that couldn't be helped or that you don't have the ability to do.
Tawra