7 YouTube Videos That Can Save You $500
YouTube videos are a source that more and more do-it-yourselfers — and even the not-so-handy — are turning to in order to fix everyday problems with their home, appliances, cars, phones, and computers.
In the past, unless you were handy and had the know-how, you might have to turn to a handyman, visit a mechanic, call a plumber, or pay for the services of an expert to fix what, in many situations, was a relatively simple problem.
For all repair work, follow the safety protocols carefully.
YouTube Videos Provide Quick Solutions At Your Fingertips
Just having a repairman or specialist come out resulted in you paying a chunk of money. With crowd-sourced solutions provided in easy-to-understand videos, answers are right at your fingertips.
Even if you can’t solve the problem completely, at least you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the cause is you’re trying to address. Let’s walk through some examples.
1.) Starting a leaf blower.
Ok, admittedly, I’m not a quick learner when it comes to starting some of the small engine tools in my garage. Case in point: my Stihl leaf blower.
I don’t find the choke mini-diagrams to be very intuitive, and it seems almost every season, I flood the engine my first time trying to start it. That usually leads to a couple more unsuccessful tries. As frustration grows, I turn to YouTube, find a video like the one below, review it, and get the leaf blower going right away.
For this particular issue, I searched on YouTube for “How to start a Stihl leaf blower” and was presented with over a dozen options to choose from. I usually choose one that is shorter in length in hopes I’ll get to the solution quicker.
With the video, I might turn to a neighbor or take the leaf blower to my local hardware store where I purchased it. But, YouTube video watching always does the trick, and I save money, time, (and face).
Estimated Savings: $35.
See 43 Things a 12-Year-Old Should Know.
Starting a Stihl leaf blower video
2.) Solving minor car nuisances.
Do you know how car manufacturers will frequently code into your dashboard a reminder that its time for your car to be serviced?
Ugh! I like to have a clean dashboard. That annoying reminder to me and my car guests doesn’t do much for my internal harmony or help my car’s feng shui. In the past, that might have meant a trip to the dealer or a mechanic to have the maintenance completed or to turn off the notification.
See Pet Peeves and Deal Breakers.
Not anymore! At first sight, I’ll search on YouTube for “How to reset maintenance reminder for Toyota Highlander” and in no time get the solution. I still might have to play the video back a couple of times to implement the instructions correctly, but it usually works like a charm.
Estimated Savings: $50.
Here’s an example.
Resetting maintenance reminder on Toyota Highlander video
3.) Fixing certain dishwasher problems.
Dishwasher repairs can be expensive. Not only that, they frequently come at an incredibly bad time, e.g., the holidays. When you’ve spent $800 on a dishwasher, you’d think many of these issues wouldn’t occur that often. But, sometimes, they do.
For our Bosch dishwasher, we were frequently getting an E24 error. To solve it, I searched for “Bosch dishwasher E24 error.” This problem’s fixed entailed a little bit of work, but the solution saved some money.
Estimated Savings: $300.
Bosch Dishwasher E24 Repair video
4.) Repairing minor car scratches.
Scratches on your car can be costly when taking your vehicle to a body shop or collision center.
Repairing paint scratches on your car is a more complicated procedure than many repair projects, but the payoff can be significant. I’d suggest not trying to take shortcuts on this type of project. And know in advance that this is a more involving project that will take some time.
Estimated Savings: $300 – $800.
Bonus points for the humor attempt on this car repair video — I love the dab gesture!
How to repair scratches on your car video
5.) How to Record your iPhone Screen.
Did you ever want to show your parents how to complete a specific task on their iPhones?
You can call them and try to walk them through it, or alternatively, you can prepare a short video if you know how to record your iPhone screen.
To find this video, I just searched on YouTube for “How to record your iPhone screen.” With any technology like an iPhone, folks will have a gazillion questions. Fortunately for us, many solutions are provided via YouTube videos like the one below.
Estimated Savings: Mostly time savings.
How to record your iPhone screen video
6.) How to change a picture on the wall.
Do you ever have to put more than the required number of holes in the wall to hang a picture to get it exactly where you want it to be?
Well, folks who do that stuff for a living usually have some excellent tips. And many of them have offered up their tips in Youtube videos. Check this one out.
Estimated savings: Maybe not that much dollar-wise, but time savings and knowing it’s done correctly.
Easiest Way to Hang a Picture video
7.) Bulk deleting emails on Gmail.
As we go through our busy days, it’s easy to just let old emails sit and move on to the latest and greatest. Over time, those emails start to add up, and you might be looking at thousands of emails at a certain point.
These emails can slow down your Gmail account, and eventually, you might be faced with the unpleasant task of facing additional charges if you don’t complete some email cleanup.
Estimated Savings: $30 or more.
How to bulk delete emails on Gmail video
Final Thoughts
The great thing about the YouTube library of videos is that someone else has faced the same task and nearly always has created a solution video to help you accomplish it for virtually any task that you can think of.
Following the videos can save you money, time, and embarrassment. And, frequently, you’ll have the confidence that you’re doing it the correct way. Good luck.
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is the co-founder of List Caboodle.
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