George Kamel - 18 DIYs That Save You Money

Episode Date: June 15, 2026

💵 Find extra money with the 14-Day Money Finder!   What’s a DIY that saved you more money than you expected? That’s the question I posed to my Facebook audience—and boy, did you show up. From haircuts to home births, let’s decide if it’s DIY or Don’t Even Try.   Next Steps: • 🎥 Watch my video Frugal Habits That Secretly Drain Your Bank Account! • 💵 Start your free budget today. Download the EveryDollar app! • 💰 Check out Ramsey SmartTax. • 📙 Check out my book, Breaking Free From Broke! • 📈 Are you on track with the Baby Steps? Get a free personalized plan.   Connect With Our Sponsors: • Get up to 20% off Cozy Earth with code GEORGE. • Get 20% off when you join DeleteMe. • Go to Boost Mobile to switch today!  • Go to FAIRWINDS Credit Union for an exclusive account bundle!   Explore More From Ramsey Network: 🎙️ The Ramsey Show 🍸 Smart Money Happy Hour 💸 The Ramsey Show Highlights 🧠 The Dr. John Delony Show 📈 EntreLeadership   Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What's a DIY that saved you more money than you expected? That's not rhetorical, it's the question I posed to my Facebook audience. And boy, oh boy, did those 850,000 boomers show up in force. So today we're going to go through my favorite comments out of 749 and 5 shares, mind you, and evaluate their handy dandiness by playing a little game I like to call DIY or don't even try. Thought that was pretty clever. And something you should try, delete me, who makes this channel possible for viewers like you. Let's get to the comments.

Ryan said, oil changes. I changed my oil for less than $40 and was being charged $110, saving $70 each oil change. All right, I don't know how often people get their oil changed. Is it, is it like two or three times a year? You guys tell me. Three to four times a year, depending on how much you drive, of course. So yeah, 70 bucks each oil changes. That could be upwards of $280 a year you could save.

Big question here, and this is a hot take. I don't think it's worth changing your own oil unless you just, you're a car guy and you just enjoy it. Because here's the thing, you've got to get up under the car, which you need the right tools for. That can be dangerous. Then you got to make sure you don't screw it up because even when I've got an oil change,

they like messed up the threading, and then it costs me to fix what they messed up. And you've got to recycle the oil, and it can make a big mess, and you don't want that in your driveway or your garage. And so I would prefer just to pay for it. I'm not a mechanic. And yes, you can buy the oil slightly cheaper,

and the dealerships will, they'll hang you at the dry with what they charge. But if you find a good, you know, a good shop that'll do it cheaply or one of these fast-loob kind of places that you trust, I'd rather do it there. One man's take. Okay, next up we got Dana. She said, cooking for my 105-pound German Shepherd. Way cheaper than purchasing dog food.

and he loves it, photo for cuteness. Let's inspect this photo. Yeah, it's cute. Also, concerned, is that a beer and a coozy that he's protecting? Drinking a? Can a German Shepherd drink out of a can? That's the question if he could actually like, lift it with his paws and drink it, although this is kind of how Trump looks like when he drinks things, so.

But this is a good one. But this is a good one. 105-pound German Shepherd, that boy can eat. And so I imagine it's going to cost a lot of money to keep that thing well-fed. Otherwise, it's going to get real upset. So cooking, yeah, I mean, I've heard of people cooking for their dogs. I mean, it's simple stuff. Don't get it twisted.

But you can cook, you know, ground chicken, ground beef, vegetables, all that kind of stuff. And if it's a good dog, a good boy will eat it. He's probably, honestly, eating healthier than most people in America. It's a sad truth. That's why he could tear you to shreds. He's got ripped up. Would I do that for my dogs? I thought about it.

But again, I don't need my dogs eating better than I do. All right, I'm not eating a lean cuisine while my dog has grass-fed wagg you. No thanks. Michelle, one L, suspicious, but we'll let it ride. Having my kids move out. Dang! Now, based on the question, what's a DIY that saves you more than expected? I don't know how that's a do-it-yourself, but I guess you can.

kicked your kids out and you didn't delegate it to someone else. But yeah, that will save you a lot of money once your kids move out and you get them off payroll, as they say. People love to say that. Yeah, once the kids are off payroll, Melinda and I, we're going to hit the beach. They all sound like that. Very Ken Coleman vibes. You know what I mean? Too soon? I was talking about their burn rate. They love saying my burn rate with these kids, man. It's private school, man. It's taking me to the cleaners. A lot of isms that I prefer not to use. Ben is up next Learning to snake my own drains

Instead of calling a plumber That took me a second Because that felt like an offensive thing Like go snake your own drain Get out of here But no he literally That's what it's called Officially the plumbing term

Is you snake a drain Which I don't love But because snakes can live in drains You know what I mean Learning snake man instead of calling a plumber That's a good one Because there are some DIY things You know

I've seen the as seen on TV Type products where you can fish it down there and get the clog out. But for most things, I think it's a good start. You can, you know, go to your Lowe's or Home Depot or Amazon and pick something up to attempt to unclog it first before you call a plumber. And this happened to me with a toilet. Had a friend over the house, clog the toilet, couldn't get it unclogged.

I called the plumber. He showed up in literally three minutes in and out. He used a tool. I think it's called an auger. Don't quote me on that. A-U-G-E-R-A-R-A-R. I've always wanted to be at a spelling bee. And then I went and bought the tool

because I paid him $125 for his service fee to come out there for three minutes of his time. Three, you do the math on the hourly rate. It's why the trades are crushing it right now. So I went and bought it and I haven't had to use it yet, but I'm excited for the day. I go, you know what? I'm about to pay myself $125 for unclogging this toilet.

But next up we've got Cat. Library card. Full stop. Putting things on hold online has the same emotional satisfaction as online shopping. Plus, there's books. That should be a library's tagline. Now with more books. Sold me.

I do like that. If you think about the dopamine hit of like adding to cart, putting something on hold online, which truthfully did know you could do. Make sense that libraries now have that kind of technology, but I just never thought like, hey, let me log on to the library website and put George Camels breaking free from broke on hold now available at your public library. I do love this hack, and I love this more because I'm a digital guy.

You download an app like Libby. The Libby app is fantastic, and you can actually get e-books and audiobooks for free through your library, and I know that because my book is on there, and it's generally a lot of people waiting in line. for that book. Big wait. It's like 14 people are waiting for this book. I appreciate you guys, and I love that you're getting it for free, even if it doesn't feed my family. I'm okay with that. I respect it. All right, here's what John had to say, delivering my kids myself instead of taking

my wife to the hospital. I hope you're a medical professional. What are you doing? I mean, was there a dula there, a midwife, something? Like, what if something goes wrong? That'd be real scary. Very risky. Would not recommend at home. which is where this birth happened. I got nothing but respect for the home birth people. It's just something I couldn't do. All right, I need to have a lot of people around to make sure that I don't screw this up.

I'm not a doctor. But yeah, you're thinking, how can a baby be birthed in a tub? Well, they're already in a womb, a uterus, if you will. So they're already, you're like, how are they going to breathe in the water? Don't ask me. I'm not a doctor. And that's why I go to hospitals.

DIY your own shit. children? That's wild, dude. I will say the cost savings, if you're just looking at apples, apples, dollar for dollar, pound for pound, yeah, you will save a whole lot of money if you don't go to a hospital. But you still got, I mean, there's a lot of bills, you know, just the OBGYN, all those bills ramping up to it. But good for you, John. Hope that baby is alive and well. Erica said, built a new home and the builder wanted $8,000 for custom pantry shelves. My husband did it for $750, and it looks professional. Thanks, YouTube. people don't thank YouTube enough.

So you know what? Thanks YouTube for making content like this possible. Could subscribe or else you hate your grandmother. This is a good one. The caveat is, like we saw earlier, are you going to need a divorce attorney if this doesn't go well? Clearly this man is pretty handy to where he even signed up and went, you know what, I'll do it.

And nothing will make a man more likely to do a home project than getting a giant quote going, you know what, I can probably finger it out. Yeah. Appreciate the quote, though. I'm trying to think about pantry shelves. That one feels like if you knew what you were doing, you knew how to find the studs. I think you could do that one on your own.

My wife found a stud. Didn't even use a stud finder. That doesn't come here. Next up in DIY wins. Barbara said, learning to cut my three sons and my husband's hair. Look at that. That's a lot of haircuts, Barb. I mean, you're talking.

I don't know how often they get their haircut. Like, every day you got another person go, Mom, it's time. And let me just say this. When people say I cut my own hair or my wife cuts my hair, we already know. We can tell. Now, rarely, I do meet some guys. They're like, hey, I cut my own hair because it's like a buzz cut or it's pretty much shaved or bald. But this, this can't be done by moi.

And I'm not going to put my wife through that. You know what I mean? Because if she screws up, now I'm mad at her. And it's going to take a long time for that hair to grow back enough to fix. So measure twice, cut once. That's what I say. But yeah, that's a huge hack, because I know how much I spend on haircuts. So I can't imagine four guys getting haircuts for the rest of their lives.

But what are they going to do when they're out of the house, Barb? Now then you're not going to travel with them to be their hairstylist. But a good hack nonetheless. Amanda said Panera Sip Club, $12 a month for coffee every day. Parentheses. Love a parenthetical. Not enough of that on Facebook. I know that brewing at home is probably cheaper,

but I have an hour commute in the morning, so this makes it bearable and darn near free. I appreciate that. Very restrained use of language there, Amanda. I got to say, I have been a part of the Panera sip club. Not to tube my own horn, but I do have $12. And I did find it was worth it if I was going to Panera often enough. And honestly, they had a lot of promos.

I think they still do this kind of stuff, where it's like, hey, it's free for the next 30 days, or hey, for the first three months, it's only $5. And I went, yeah, if I go twice, I've already made my money back. And I do think Panera, while being mediocre hospital food in today's day and age, does have some decent coffee compared to a lot of other fast casual establishments. And they also have those crazy caffeinated drinks that apparently are killing people. Google it, not my words, internet.

But I think the parent of sip club and things like this can be worth it. Because you think $12 a month, if you're going to Starbucks twice and a month, you'll be better off just doing Panera's Sip Club. I think it's a win. Amanda, good for you. For an hour commute. Goodness gracious, that's a lot of time in the car. I mean, do you have a catheter?

Like, how do you not go to the bathroom drinking that much coffee over an hour commute? Don't want to know, Amanda. It's your business. You know what is my business, though? Helping you stop overpaying for stuff, including your phone plan. And that's why I love Boost Mobile, a sponsor of today's video. With Boost Mobile, you'll pay just $25 a month forever. for unlimited wireless.

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still none of my business. Bring your phone, keep your number, and start saving today. Make the switch at boostmobile.com slash Ramsey. $25 forever requires customers to remain active on Boost Unlimited Plan. Now that we've talked business, let's talk leisure.

Or leisure if you're from across the pond. I think that's what they say. Specifically, Athleisure from Cozy Earth, another sponsor of today's video. And good news is, you don't have to be an athlete to wear Athleisure. And I should know. I snagged a pair of their joggers made from viscos from bamboo, and I can confidently say, softest pants I've ever owned. They're perfect for the office, the car, or your local coffee shop.

And I'm pretty much a fan of anything these guys make because it's high quality and built to last. Think grandma's furniture, but way more comfortable and without the plastic slip covers. And right now, you can get up to 20% off by going to Cucson. Hoseyearth.com slash George and use promo code George at checkout. Back to the content. All right, Hannah said we bought a fixer-upper and got a quote for flooring out of curiosity. They quoted us $24,000.

We bought the flooring and installed it ourselves. Total cost was $3,000. Love that. Sometimes curiosity will lead to a lack of curiosity. Once you find out the number, you're like, okay, maybe we learn to love the floors we have, you know? Is that an option? But buying it yourself and installing yourself,

that is a decent hack if you have the time and know-how. Now, flooring, it's painstaking. Like, just like ripping out the current flooring, getting it ready for the new flooring, that is the most time-consuming part on top of then, you know, laying it all down perfectly. Now, some of these new ones, I think, are more DIY-friendly,

where they kind of, like, snap into place. But my brother and I did this one time. My parents went to Australia, and we decided to surprise them because they were coming back from their anniversary trip. What if we had all new flooring instead of our pink, like, shagged carpet? that we had since we were kids.

So we ripped it all out over the course of a weekend, and we ended up needing to call in some help from friends because it was a pain. And I still don't think we installed it right. So if you own that house now, we're sorry for the flooring. Tony said, therapy, L-O-L. I don't need to pay someone with more issue than me to tell me all about my issues.

Go for a walk and breathe. I don't agree with this one. I'm going to wholesale disagree with Tony that you don't need to pay someone with more issues than me. Who says therapists? Yeah, everyone's got their issues, right? But therapists have the right tools, the right ears to help you see something that you can't see and then give you the tools to deal with it.

And yes, you should go for a walk and breathe. I think that's also good advice. I don't think they're mutually exclusive. But Tony wrote this on a walk while breathing. Wouldn't put it past her to breathe. Monica said, buying a big chuck roll from Sam's Club, then slicing it for several pieces of meat. emoji. Way cheaper

than buying them individually. Smirk face. You know what I should do? I should do a whole video where I attempt every single emoji. That's a face. I don't know how I'm going to do Ariel Tramway. If you know, you know. I have heard this. I've seen videos of this at Costco

where you can buy, I think they call it like a log, a roll. It looks fairly disgusting, mind you. Because it's just this much. It's a tube, is what I think that's called at Costco. And it does save a lot of money because it's a good price. You're getting it wholesale. You're getting a whole lot of meat. Therefore, it's cheaper per pound. So if you can slice it up, put it in bags, freeze it, save it for later. You will never have to buy meat for the next six months or a year,

depending on how much you're buying. So I agree with this one. This is a good hack. I haven't dared to try it because then I'm like, whoa, that's a lot. That's a lot. It's a lot of red meat for a little guy. Angela, I knew this was coming. Does breastfeeding count? and she capitalized breastfeeding because I think it deserves capitalization. I'm with Angela on this one. Does breastfeeding count as a DIY that saves you money? Absolutely.

Because the price of formula as a guy with an infant is astounding. And people say, you know, I always tell people like, hey, having a kid, yes, it'll add a little bit to your budget, but it's not going to crush you. But formula is one of the most shocking things outside of diapers when it comes to cost. So breastfeeding, if you can do it,

I know there's a whole spectrum on this. I'm not the foremost expert on should you breastfeed versus formula and how do the kids end up? None of my business. But I do know that if you can breastfeed and you want to do it, it will save you a lot of money. But what it will cost you is time and your physical body. That's a lot. But if you can do this, go for it. And you can even sell the breast milk, which is honestly a great side hustle.

And I know this because I have been on the big. business end of that, having to purchase, said breast milk and pick it up. And I feel like a weirdo showing up at some random stranger's house and I'm like, hi, I'm here for the milk. Thank you. And I walk away with like four bags of breast milk. But that's real life, guys. And husbands, if you've done that, you're a real one. That's how you know she picked the right man because he's willing to show up at a stranger's house to pick up a stranger's breast milk. And that's a sentence I never thought I'd say in this channel. And somehow, that is safe for homeschoolers.

I don't think I've ever said a safer sentence for homeschoolers. Safe for homeschoolers. All right, Emery said, hanging a clothes line outside and one inside. Family of five, sad face. Electric Crazy High in Michigan. Wow. Who's going to tell her family that she's sad, that they exist?

This one, is this worth the DIY for, I mean, I don't know how crazy high electric is. Like, is this $600 a month? if you use the washer dryer. I mean, I guess it's the dryer. You're using the washer part. But the electric to use the dryer, I don't think is that much money. Like, I can check my own bill and show you.

I don't know how they do it, truthfully. It feels like a scam that they know exactly what appliance is using what monthly summary. Boom! All right. This is from four days ago, so this is accurate. $18 total for laundry. That's pretty impressive.

I'll spend $18 bucks to avoid. hanging things on clothes pins. It's my mind work. Are you impressed? And also outside? I mean, I guess you do the undergarments inside. The outer garments can hang on the outside. Because neighbors don't want to see.

Do you have an HOA? Do they allow that? It's a lot for me. But good for you, Emory. You're putting in the work. Hope the kids are helping. Grit. I'm not just saying the word grit.

There's a person out there whose name is grit. and they said, where to start. Hubby does the brake pad replacements, paints the outside of the house, $6,000 in savings, install a deck, $10,000 in savings, me, dash weekly meal planning, baking bread, making Greek yogurt. It adds up. All right, let's start from the top here. First of all, not a fan of anyone using the word hubby in the comment section. I don't think he'd appreciate that.

Don't ever say that again. Hubby does the brake pad replace. Okay, I've heard brake pads are fairly easy to replace. Never done it myself. No interest. but if there's anything that is like a DIY thing on a car, I think brake pads are it. Paints the outside of the house, that is a lot of work.

We're talking tall ladders, depending on how tall your house is, and that does save you a lot of money. Installing the deck, $10,000. Yeah, he's a handy man, and you do the weekly meal planning bake. I mean, this is like little house on the prairie. I love, this is old school. This is very traditional values. You know, the husband's going to do the labor.

The women are going to be baking. the bread, making the yogurt, doing the meal planning. Very trad-wife fives. It's very in right now, grit. All right. Last one from Christine. Dave Ramsey's getting out of debt. Love that. Now, is that possessive? Like Dave Ramsey is getting out of debt? Or is it the DIY hack that saved you money was Dave Ramsey's plan for getting out of debt, which is the debt snowball. And you did that yourself because we're not going to get out of debt for you. Either way, I like it. Dave did get out of debt. out. If you want to know what Christine's talking about, this is the debt snowball method, where you list out all of your debts, smallest to largest balance,

ignore the interest rate for now because we're focusing on momentum and behavior and progress. So you knock out that small debt fast, free up a payment, apply that plus all the extra margin to the next debt, and you keep it going. The snowball gains momentum. And before you know it, you're debt free. And tens of millions of people have now done this plan, including myself. And 18 to 24 months is the average. They become completely consumer debt-free outside of the mortgage. So give it a shot. As far as a total, I'm going to go I liked probably 80% of these. The other 20% it was either like, I don't have that skill set. I'm not willing to put in the time. I would rather delegate it or it's not a good DIY. But it does

make you think, what could you do to save money that you were currently paying someone else to do? Maybe that's a service. Maybe that's a product. Maybe you just aren't going to use the dryer anymore. Pull out the old clothes line. Give that a shot. Whatever it is, just know that you have more control than you think over how much margin you can create.

That's the best lesson I learned from this at least. So if this felt partially helpful, you're right. But if you want something fully helpful, I have linked a free Money Finder challenge in the description that'll help you find extra cash

hiding in your budget. No DIY required. But you do got to find the cash yourself in your budget. And if you want to see the frugal habits that really drain your bank account, watch this video up next or click the link in the description.

That's it for today. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time.