With the economic slowdown, it is as important as ever to make smart financial choices.  Don’t buy things you don’t need, invest time in shopping around for a good deal, and never buy something brand new if used will do (this is my dad’s favorite saying).

About two weeks ago I had a little mishap in my truck…. basically, I hit a pole.

I called around and stopped by a few body shops and the CHEAPEST quote I got was for $1800. Personally, I thought that was outrageous. Mind you, I did not notify my insurance company so I was to absorb the entire cost out of pocket.

After doing some searching online, I found a website that could send me all the parts needed for the repair, with shipping, for $390.

I am not a mechanic and literally have zero experience doing body work.  However, I tend to be pretty handy and decided to tackle the job myself:

As you can see the bumper support was bent back, so my father and I used a chain and his van to pull the support beam back to the upright position.

We finally got the bumper installed and decided to move onto the fender:

The fender did take some modification and “finessing”, but we finally got it on and installed properly.

Now obviously the fender still needs to be painted, but the quotes I have recieved for this has been around $250 bucks.   This means that the total job cost around $650 bucks, $1,100 less than the body shop wanted…. and the whole ordeal took less than 4 hours to complete.

Just goes to show that a little elbow grease and hardwork can go a long way when saving money.

I have certainly been a lot more active recently, not only rowing but also running. I am no Ted Murphy, but I would consider myself pretty athletic. Anyone can get in good shape by running or cycling….. but not everyone can be a good athlete.

So…. can athleticism be taught, or is it more genetic?

Wish I was like this guy:

One of my resolutions this year was to become more active and get in better shape. Generally speaking i am pretty athletic, I mostly just need to work on my conditioning. A new friend actually introduced me to rowing and today was my first experience: