Invest In A Set Of Basic Tools
By Jeffrey Strain, July 19th, 2006 | 5 Comments »
One of the best investments that you can make is to get a set of basic tools for around the home. I spent a good 4 hours yesterday helping my father put in a new fence in their yard. Esimates from others to put it in were from $3000 – $5000, but we managed to get the job done for about $400 in materials (and a lot of sweat).
He recently purchased a new home and has a lot of odd jobs that need to be done and I have been helping (free labor, can’t beat that 
) I am certainly not the handy-man type, but even I can do most basic repairs (I did put a screw-driver through my hand one time – and have the scar to prove it – while putting up a door, but that’s another story and really wasn’t my fault). Being able to do basic repairs can save you money in two ways:
The easiest (and least expensive in the long run) is to purchase a basic home tool set prepackaged. These can be purchased from virtually any hardware store or home improvement store for less than $100. While these prepackaged sets will differ to some degree, they will basically have the same tools:
While there may be some other tools in the set, these are usually the basics. Some other tools I have and I would recommend in addition:
These should get you by on most basic home repair projects. As you get better and more comfortable, you can add tools that you find that you need more often. While a basic repair book may be worth purchasing, you can also find everything you need on the Internet and many home improvement stores have free pamphlets on how to do basic home repairs.
Getting a basic tool set will be an investment that pays for itself many times over during their life and well worth the the initial monetary outlay…
Wow, major trackback spam. Thanks for the tips, though!
Wow, major trackback spam
Yep…filters usually catch most of it , but they certainly didn’t today. All deleted.
I just love my new cordless drill, I try to find reasons to use it now, even if I could do it by hand…hehehe!
I work at Home Depot and right now we’re having a “nationwide clearance event,” which basically means we’re putting just about everything that would be on clearance anyway out on tables so everyone can see it. There are a lot of tools (at my store at least) that are being sold below our cost just to make space and get people in the store. Just look for yellow price stickers.
May also add that it’s not necessarily a bad thing to buy the occassional specialty tool when need arises? I got a plumber’s snake ($30) to fix a clogged drain. Wouldn’t have gotten it on its own, but it paid for itself in one use – plus I have it for the future.