092 Financial Excellence: DIY Project Gone Wrong

Episode 92: DIY Project Gone Wrong & Tax Deductions for Charitable Donations, Jan 10, 2012.
A few months ago I wrote a post about whether the benefits of hiring a professional outweigh the frustrations of trying to do a project yourself. In that post, I mentioned we had skilled friends who knew what they were doing and had the right tools. In today's show I share a personal DIY project that went wrong. Big time. And it cost me a bunch more than it would have to hire a professional.
Oh, and I answer a mailbag question from a listener about tax deductions for charitable donations.
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Show notes:

We have a new sponsor for the podcast. Mozy Pro for Business is a fast, simple way to back up your business so you don't have to worry when your hard drive crashes.
Megen wrote in with a question about whether you can deduct charitable donations if you don't qualify to itemize deductions.
I'm pretty handy around the house and with our cars. But my latest project got out of hand. Today I share what happened.
I probably would have been better off paying a mechanic to do the work for me. I got a quote of $529.90 and at this point I'm probably already $260 in with three days lost.
I've done similar projects before but they were at my dad's house where he had all the necessary tools. I somehow forgot that I didn't have all the tools for the job and I had to go buy some more. Talk about sticker shock! I had no idea that even cheap tools could cost that much.
Have you ever attempted a DIY project that cost you way more than you anticipated? Share your story by leaving a comment.
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