Image via Wikipedia
Having the right type of tools matters with any type of project, whether it’s tackling a business systems issue, paying off a huge mountain of student loan debt, or changing out a toilet seat.
Changing a toilet seat is simple enough, except when the plastic lug nuts holding it in place are first frozen, and then stripped by attempts to take them off with a pair of pliers.
In that case, this eezy-peezy honey-do project turns into a serious time commitment.
But, I’m grateful to have a Dremel rotary tool to cut off both bolts and nuts.
Taking the nuts off would have been a heck of a chore with hammer and chisel, an alternate method I briefly considered.
Similarly, Google Finance, Morningstar and Scottrade stock analysis tools and research makes even a noob investor like me make decisions that years ago would have taken serious research for a trained professional.
I’m grateful that I’ve become a part of an ecological system of personal finance bloggers, where expert opinion is freely offered and shared. Case in point, my friend Mich @ Beating the Index, who shares his stock trades and insightful analysis: Why I Bought The New Open Range Energy
I’m grateful for redundancies in resources. That I have both a cordless mini-Dremel, and a heavier-duty plug-in kind. The battery on the cordless was dead, so it’s make do with an extension cord and the heavier Dremel.
In investing, redundancies can be translated into diversification of assets. Your stocks are in the dumper, but your real estate is holding steady.
I’m grateful for having had safety training at work. I was wearing safety glasses as I was cutting through one of the bolts. A steel shaving flew off and quite audibly pinged! off my protected left eye. Trip to the ER averted.
People of a mind to keep personal finance budgets have access to all kinds of modern software tools, from Excel spreadsheets to online services like Mint.com.
I’m thankful we live in a country where electricity is taken for granted. Doing this with manual tools in an environment of frequent blackouts would have taken much much longer.
Finally, I’m grateful that after the job is done, I can go off for a coffee break. The black liquid in the coffee pot has been cooking since 4 a.m. It’s reached such a perfect sludge-like consistency, that after the first sip or two, you know you’ve had enough coffee for today.
Back to work.
Great call out. It is so important to have the right tools in anything, including finance. I would also call out having someone to turn to for advice.
Good point, Robert. In the case of this little honey-do, the free advice came from Mrs. 101. It was in the form of an ultimatum.
I agree. I have my fiancee to consult! There is nothing like a consulting someone for great advice!
The right tools are so important. Whether taking the back off a Swiss watch, removing a sprocket from a fixed gear bicycle, or balancing risk in your portfolio. A s,all investment in the right equipment really pays dividends in time, replacement parts and results.
I bike sprocket I think I could do, a Swiss watch not so much…:-)
I agree. Tools and skills are everything. You can be confident you will succeed when you have what you need instead of making mistakes.
Hi Miss T – I think the hammer and chisel approach might have not ended well.
I wish I had a rotary tool now that just ripped shit off.
To be honest, I just do most of my calcs by hand even though I have a spreadsheet going out 40 years. It calms me. LOL
I was asked the other day at work by a young gun why I use notepad lists instead of Outlook tasks. Same reason, it calms me. A nice mug of lemon tea, sorting and prioritizing…
Interesting take… enjoyed it. Tools… sure… but how about having the right coffee afterwards to help make it all feel like it was worthwhile (even if it was an ultimatum).
Well, it was a gentle ultimatum.
[...] Coffee Break: Having The Right Tools (101 Centavos) [...]
It’s interesting, I got into blogging because I thought I had something to share with a certain niche. Since that time, I have learned an incalculable amount and now write for a much wider range. I agree that by interacting with a whole universe of bloggers, we can’t help but get better tools for our financial life.
Hi MUM – same here. The topics I write about these days are somewhat different than last year’s.
You speak the truth – I went to replace a toilet seat with a stripped bolt and no tool to cut the plastic. I got one side off, then using a combination of vise grips and pulling on the seat itself I got it off – way harder than it needed to be.
There’s a lesson in my story, somewhere, haha.
PK – I lost my temper at one point, and almost yanked the seat off. I luckily came to my senses, mostly by thinking about a busted toilet…
Having the right tools definitely helps make a more informed decision and helps make any job easier
Nice article.
Thank you, WoF, and thanks for stopping by…
Right tools are important. But teaching us how to use those tools is priceless. Otherwise no matter what we have on our hands, if we don’t know how to use those tools, we won’t be able to achieve a lot. Loved your post!
True enough… a compressed air nail gun is a wonderful thing, a nail through a kneecap much less so.
[...] Coffee Break: Having The Right Tools [...]
That’s such a refreshing perspective: 1) we should be more grateful for the simple things, such as having coffee breaks and living in a country where electricity is taken for granted and 2) using the right tools at the right time in the right way is key.
@ Roshawn – no matter how tedious the job is, it could be worse…. it could be raining.
I’m glad we live in a time where we pretty much have the same investment tools a professional investor has access to! I wonder what the future is going to be like!
I learned this lesson the hard way renovating my house. Once I finally did go and get the right tools for the job, it all became a whole lot easier! I think this goes for just about everything in life.
[...] Centavos presents Having The Right Tools posted at 101 Centavos, saying, “Having the right tools is important when it comes to any [...]
Having the right tools certainly does make a difference. Glad you took safety into consideration too. That could have been scary!
Hi Jackie – It would have been unpleasant at best, and a trip to the ER at worst. Makes my eye water thinking back on it.
[...] Centavos presents Having The Right Tools posted at 101 Centavos, saying, “Having the right tools is important when it comes to any [...]
[...] at 101 Centavos presents Having the Right Tools, saying “Having the right tools is important when it comes to any major project. Whether [...]
[...] presents Having the Right Tools posted at 101 Centavos. Having the right tools is important when it comes to any major project. [...]