A solid preventive maintenance program is important to people seeking a life of self reliance. DIY Preventive maintenance helps protect and preserve homes, vehicles, and other big ticket items-- even yourself (think physical and mental health).

What is preventive maintenance?
Essentially, it is caring for your earlier, big investment and thereby maximizing the life and use of things you own.

Why do preventive maintenance?
Ever hear the expression, "You can pay me now or you pay me later . . .?" Preventive maintenance usually involves little dollars compared to the usual big dollars of neglect. I recently replaced my timing belt, water pump and other belts for about $600 parts and labor.  I did this because if the timing belt went, I would be on the side of the road somewhere waiting for a tow truck (not very self reliant) and facing a $3,000 repair bill. Furthermore, as you may had noticed in the aforementioned example, I would rather choose the time and place of a repair.

When should you perform preventive maintenance?
The simple answer is before there is a problem. This is clearly the ideal. Inconvenience can and should be minimized with preventive maintenance. As I just mentioned above, I want to choose the time and place-- I can't stress this idea enough. Many times there is a maintenance schedule that can be followed-- refer to your owner's manual as a starting point.

Who should perform preventive maintenance?
Certainly, you can and should do much of it yourself. Many things are childishly simple and should be tackled by the owner. Some aspects of preventive maintenance may need a trusted resource or provider. However, using a trusted resource does not completely absolve you of any and all preventive maintenance responsibilities.

How do you perform preventive maintenance?
As I mentioned earlier, many maintenance oriented products have schedules. Beyond that, awareness of changes, vigilance, and regular inspection come into play. You need to take care of your investment.

I don't know about you, but I like to pay for things once and use them as long as I can-- that's part of my plan to achieve a more self reliant life. What say you?

Thank you for visiting the Self Reliance Workshop and come back soon for more . . . follow me on Twitter at SelfRelianceWS, DvrcdDadFrglDad, and Surfcasting2Day.

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Related Posts:
DIY: Check the Air Pressure in Your Tires  
Adventures in Auto Repair . . .  
DIY: Always Use the Right Tools 

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DDFD believes that self reliance and self sufficiency are the roads to individual freedom.  He is dedicated to living a quality life through frugality, personal growth and productivity, and defensive entrepreneurship.  He also enjoys cooking from scratch and fishing.