Back to Basics: Make things last

Resoling your shoes.  Patching a pair of jeans.  Repairing a clothes dryer.  Doing regular maintenance on your vehicle.

Making things go a little further.  Making do a little longer.  Making things last.

Dr. Thomas Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, found that economically-productive households were more likely to "extend the lifecycle" on possessions like shoes, suits, furniture, etc., than non-economically-productive households.  My mother-in-law's father, who ran a dairy farm, was fond of saying that if you bought something cheap, you bought it three times after all was said and done.  Earl Proulx co-wrote an entire book on extending the life of just about everything.

It used to be easier to make things last because things were made to last.  A few years ago I went to a birthday party for the daughter of one of my colleagues.  One of the gifts was the game Hungry Hungry Hippos.  I was pretty excited at the prospect of playing this game with her because I remember begging for that game for Christmas when I was little.  Well, I was very disappointed with the remade version.  It was cheap, the marbles were plastic and flew all over the place (unlike the glass marbles in the original), and it broke that day.  It was a piece of junk!  If you scroll down to Claude Bouchard Jr.'s one-star review of this game on the Amazon page, it says it better than I can.  As of now, everyone who read the review and voted on it found it helpful!  His parting shot:

Forget this rubbish, you're better off getting an original. Thank goodness for eBay, second-hand stores, and flea markets. Happy hunting!

With this, here are a few general tips for making things last:

• Part of making things last is buying quality to begin with.  Well-made furniture lasts for generations and is a joy to use and look at.  Cheap furniture falls apart, wracks out your back, and is an eyesore.  The bottom-of-the-line item is usually cheaper than the top-of-the-line item, but you pay for quality and length of service.
• Stuff that lasts might even be cheaper.  We bought a smoothie maker new, and it lasted for less than a year.  Our replacement?  An old Hamilton Beach blender that we picked up for $5 at the Salvation Army.  It's been going on two years now with maybe three or four smoothies a week.  (Granted, we don't stick ice in it, but that's OK.)  The older stuff was built to last!  What's more, buying used is my favorite way to save money.
• Read the fantastic manual!  If the manual is any good it will probably have maintenance instructions in it.  If it's an expensive item, it will probably have lots of maintenance instructions in it.  Following the maintenance instructions will make things last longer.
• Repair things yourself when you know what you're doing.  (Or you're pretty sure you can figure out what you're doing.)  Repairing things without good knowledge of what's going on can be dangerous, or fatal.  Or, at the very least, you'll really break what you were trying to fix.
• Repair things when it makes sense to repair it.  I know, this goes counter to "making things last" if you decide not to repair something, but sometimes things just get so bad that it's not worth it to make it last any longer.
• Have someone else repair it if it can use it, and if you don't want to do it yourself.  It could be either too time-consuming to repair, or too tricky, but if it saves money in the long run, it's a good thing to pay someone to repair your item.
• Don't be afraid to use bubble gum and duct tape if the item is truly on its last legs and you're just trying to squeeze another month out of it so that you can shop around for a new one.  Because, after all, if the women don't find you handsome they should at least find you handy.