Do it yourself before paying someone else

My car recently had a minor problem; my passenger side headlight for my VW Jetta blew out. Thankfully it was only the headlight that needed to be replaced. In my younger days when I still lived with my parents and drove their car I would've went to a mechanic to replace the bulb without a second thought, but today in this day were money is hard to come by and automotive labor costs for simple things have become very expensive. So, I did my own research first.

First I would recommend reading your owner's manual. It is essential for any kind of minor maintenance work needed on your car for changing the oil, changing wiper blades to changing headlight bulbs. I got the directions on how to get to the bulb using the owners manual and then I was able to find the brand & type of bulb.

It turned out that the bulb I needed for my car was xenon HID bulb and it normally costs close to $100 per bulb! Yikes imagine trying to get the same bulb and plus the labor charge the dealership or a mechanic would charge just to replace a bulb.

So I relied on Google and I found few automotive part stores that sold the bulbs individually but still close to $100. But, then a thought clicked in my head to try Amazon.com and to my surprise I was able to find a bulb for half the cost that met my needs! To top things off, Amazon.com even gave me free shipping! I am glad I tried to do this on my own rather than going to a shop to get this small problem fixed because it would've cost me over $100 and not to mention time it would take for to just sit there and wait for the mechanics to finish!

So what do you and I gain from doing it ourselves?

• We get to control the cost, the expenses of the do it yourself repair will only be the cost of materials and not labor. Also the cost of the materials are significantly lower since you are not paying for premium.
• We get to the control the quality of work done, yes sometimes we pay a mechanic to fix something on our car but we are given a 12 month warranty but if it breaks again you have to go back to the shop and getting it fixed. That makes me wonder if they did the job the right way the second time. When I do it myself, I know I will triple check if my fix worked, plus you gain trust in yourself knowing that you can do the same type of repair again if it is ever needed.
• Since we control the quality we also control the effectiveness of the repair done. You know what you did and what you didn't do. Why take the chance with the repair shop?
  
• Most important gain from doing it yourself is experience, you are learning as you go and that is key. The more you learn the more skills you acquire which you can utilize as a second job to bring in extra income should the situation arise.