Using Your Resources
To Build Your Own House

But how would a normal person actually go about building his own abode? I want to share with you one way that you can build your own house-even if only on the principle of creating your own shelter and you don’t end up living there. For me, the journey began when I realized I had the resources to build my own house. This is the first step for everyone: for some it is explicit, for others, it happens less directly.

So how, exactly, is it possible to build your own house? There are several basic resources which you need to build your own house: time, energy and money. These may seem obvious, but often a lack, or perceived lack, in one of these categories can cause you to feel that you simply could not build your own house. For some, it is a lack of time. This can be remedied by spending more money, but I wouldn’t recommend that this be the first course of action, as the reality is that most people in our society today get themselves very stuck when they approach problems this way. You can hire someone to paint your house, but when you add this cost to the cost of your mortgage, your car payments, and your insurance, suddenly money seems rather tight. You can work to pay it off, but for how long is the cycle worth it?

Limited resources are an opportunity to determine what really matters to you, and quite possibly, what is draining resources from the valuable things in your life. So today, rather that paying someone to do what you can do yourself, consider saving the expense and spending some time instead of money. You might find that it takes longer than you would expect, but sometimes it is worth it. For example, I was recently researching why my windshield wipers were banging off the side of my windshield while driving. The solution was a simple replacement of a piece which wears out every ten years or so, because of the material of which it is made. To replace this myself will probably cost $30 and maybe as much as an hour of my time. To pay someone to do it would cost upwards of $200 to $400. Sometimes you’ll be surprised at how much time and money you can save by doing it yourself.

The key to successfully managing your basic resources of time, money and energy is recognizing where they can be spent most effectively. Money is the easiest resource to spend, but it takes time and energy to make money. Before you assume that it is easiest to just pay someone to do the job for you, consider what you have to do to make that money. Sometimes it is worth it, but many times you will find there is more to paying the plumber than writing the check. Perhaps you can save time by using more energy to be more efficient; maybe you have extra time and can save money and energy by engaging the task for longer. Maybe you actually do have extra money, and you can really save time and energy by careful expenditure. This applies not just to building houses, but to every task you approach. Are you using your resources most effectively? Take the first step towards building your own place in the is recognizing what your resources are, and determining the best way to use them.

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