海角大神

I have friends who are either professionally trained or have significant experience in many,聽many聽different fields. Carpentry. Electrical wiring. Plumbing. Home building. Computer repair. Home decor. The list goes on and on.

There are a lot of things I鈥檓 good at, too. I can handle (or at least help with) many home repair tasks. I can cook just about anything. I can rebuild a computer with my eyes closed.

There are other things I鈥檓 not so good at, though. Plumbing scares me. I鈥檝e almost ruined things because of my inadequacy with plumbing. I鈥檓 intimidated by very large scale carpentry projects. I鈥檓 terrible at video editing (though I鈥檓 learning). My landscaping abilities are comical.

My friends, though, have different sets of skills and weaknesses.

If I have a friend that鈥檚 good at something that I鈥檓 bad at, why not ask that friend for help? At the same time, why not invite them to enlist your help for the things you鈥檙e good at?

If you鈥檙e a good friend with this person,聽don鈥檛 be afraid to ask.聽Whenever a friend asks me for help, I鈥檓 usually ready to jump.

Make it clear that you鈥檒l repay them with a skill of your own when they need help聽and live up to that pledge. Even better,聽if a friend is out there looking for help right now, offer your help.

This doesn鈥檛 need to be a quid pro quo. It just needs to be friends helping friends.

Whenever I have friends over to help with things,聽I usually turn it into a social event.聽I鈥檝e had friends over for small construction projects that turned into dinner and a very nice evening. I鈥檝e been over to help friends with projects where the project turned into an all-day affair with two meals and a nice evening out on the deck with friends.

Compared to the cost of hiring someone to help, it鈥檚 far less expensive. It鈥檚 also a lot more enjoyable.

See a friend that needs help with something you can easily do? Offer your help. If you need help with something where your friends are skilled, don鈥檛 be afraid to ask. You鈥檒l both end up ahead.

This post is part of a yearlong series called 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap (Revisited),鈥� in which I鈥檓 revisiting the entries from my book 鈥�365 Ways to Live Cheap,鈥� which is available聽at Amazon聽and at bookstores everywhere.