Changing my own oil is not worth it. The shop I use changes my oil for less than $20. Subtract the price of oil and a filter from that you have your savings. Not much. Taking into consideration the time it takes to do, to clean up, and to take the oil for disposal, it is not worth it to me.
On another topic, changing your oil every 3,000 miles is completely unnecessary for the vast majority of people. Read your owner's manual(s) and/or scheduled maintenance guide(s) for your vehicle(s) and you'll find different numbers entirely.
Just to illustrate, I pulled out my 2003 Camry scheduled maintenance guide. This is a supplement to my Owner's Manual provided by Toyota. It reads, "Replace the oil and filter and drain and refill the engine oil at specified intervals." It further details: "Depending on your circumstances, you should obtain maintenance for your Toyota every 5,000 to 7,500 miles." It then gives guidelines to determine which interval to use. "Use 5,000 mile intervals if you primarily operate your vehicle under any of the following conditions: Driving on unpaved or dusty roads, towing a trailer or using a car-top carrier, repeated trips of less than five minutes in temperatures below freezing." It goes on to state: "Use 7,500 mile intervals if you primarily operate your vehicle under conditions other than those listed above."
My Owner's Manual for my 2001 Impala states, "Change engine oil and filter as indicated by the GM Oil Life System. The system will show you when to change the oil -- usually between 3,000 miles and 10,000 miles." It goes on to say, "If you drive in a dusty area, be sure to change your oil and filter every 3,000 miles."
I've not read every owner's manual, but the ones I've read clearly indicate much longer intervals for changing oil than the oft promoted (by oil change facilities mainly) every 3,000 miles or 3 months interval. That figure may be fitting if you tow something in the desert but, otherwise, it is almost certainly unnecessary. Don't buy into the bill of goods.
I change my oil every 4,500-5,000 miles and consider that to be rather conservative. By the way, changing the oil in the Impala at this interval means that I change it before the oil life system light comes on. For reference and further information for the curious, we bought the Camry new in 2003 and the Impala with about 25K miles on it in 2003 as well. Each have just under 150K at the present time.
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