“How To Use And Repair Everything”: 40 Skills That Help People Thrive In Tough Times

Same here. I was a janitor for my first jobs. It keeps one humble.

I was a nursing assistant. Minimum wage job, worked all overnight shifts and weekends to get the little bit of extra pay. I LOVED that job. Wiping butt's while maintaining a patient's dignity...I was good at it, appreciated the elderly I worked with, did not get paid enough to sustain life. 😔 Left that job to make more money. Now that I am nearing retirement (2 yrs 1 month, 25 days) I am looking to renew my connection with the old folks. I will be one of them someday and I hope to pay it forward now. The character of a person is determined by how they treat those who can do nothing for them. Quote from Malcolm Forbes. And so very true.

I disagree. 35 years in retail and the poor people are definitely the nastiest.

I'm generally nice to everybody, unless you're an arsehole, and then I can be an arsehole back.

that isn't a poor vs rich thing. that is just an a*****e vs not a*****e. a lot of rich people are nice to service industry people, and a lot of poor people are a******s to service industry people.

People always treat me like I'm a woodland sorceress when I tell them I sew up holes in my clothes

I possess something called "mechanical sympathy". This applies to anything with a mechanism, but particularly to cars. The reason I can drive a 25 and a 65 year old car is because I look after them and don't treat the accelerator like an on/off switch!

I make every thing last as long as possible and repair rather than renew. I hate to see perfectly good, perfectly usable items being thrown away just because whoever owned them got a bored with them. One of my biggest pet hates is our wasteful throwaway society.

Rich people are actually better at this IMO. Not the coke fueled rock stars making news by smashing up a hotel room. I mean the average well off person. Many people are rich in part because they care about money and their stuff. I don't mean bill gates / elon rich. I guess at that level you do what you want. But 'average rich" take care of their things and lower income folks are more likely to treat stuff like it's dollar store throw away. This is based on my personal observation of various income / wealth levels over the years. People differ so YMMV.

Bad at this.

This is why I am so thankful for the childhood I had. It was JUST bad enough to make me realize it wasn't that bad. Yes there was abuse, some foster homes in there. But at the end of it all I turned 18 in a loving home (my uncle). And I can look back and be grateful for what I did have, and take what I didn't as a lesson.

The news the US Supreme Court decided cities can fine homeless people for sleeping outside 😔 I am thankful I have a roof over my head

Or pretend you are grateful so they feel wanted.

Also gratitude 😉

Every minute of every day

this should be at the top

And even what needs are more important than other needs, I find keeping a list helps. I then prioritize everything and once I have money for the next thing on the list I get it. I also have a wants priority list. If all my needs are meet and I've saved up the money for it then I'm not going to deprive myself of the nice things.

I was taught from a very early age the thing of - "I want! vs I need". Bills, food etc first... That DVD or whatever will still be there later but how are you going to watch it if you've no electricity?

So many people seem unable to differentiate luxuries from necessities. I once knew a couple with two kids who claimed they couldn't afford to eat every day. I felt sorry for them until I discovered that somehow they could afford to run a car, had a state of the art tv, had a state of the art stereo system (this was the 1990s), the latest video games console and they could both find the money to smoke 20 cigarettes a day each.

I'm very proud of you.😁Always keep your washer, dryer, dishwasher and air conditioner clean. It'll save you A LOT of money in the long run.

My parents were all set to buy a new dryer. I suggested they check the vent hose before going to the store. They did. And now the dryer 'works' again. They have money. I don't.

When I was 10 our vacuum cleaner died. My Mom literally cried as she was a single parent to 4 children. My attitude was "Hey, if it's already broke I can't hurt it". I dismantled the engine & found there was a pebble in the fan motor, which made the machine turn off as soon as it overheated. I cleaned & oiled everything. That vacuum worked for another five years. I replaced the drum belt on the dryer, too. I can only thank my Grandpa - I loved hanging out in the workshop with him. I knew how to change a flat tire by the time I was 8.

Nice! Was scratching my head how to afford replace the 'broken' washing maching. Turns out it was a cheap 10$ part. Youtube tutorial help was great and wa fixed in 39 mins. Saved me 300$

I've a dishwasher 5 years now and I've never used it, not once. Firstly i don't know how and if i did use it where would all the stuff i store in it go.?

I am a jazz pianist. I wished I had the improvisational skills with food, herbs and spices like I have at the keyboard.

My motto is "work with what you have".It works with food and a lot of other things in life.

Try to plan meals with leftovers. Pot roast - at least two and sometimes 3 meals. Don't stick your nose up at making soup the last meal.

Yes! I would win this tv show

a top skill

Same. Have eaten the same breakfast for about 20 years, and I still wake up almost as happy as my cat, just thinking about it.