I’m just going to put this out there, I feel its something that isn’t talked about often and can be an influencing factor when making things. Building things yourself will almost certainly cost you more than if you buy the object in the store (if it exists already). On almost every single project I’ve built I’ve gone over budget… not that I’ve had a budget, but if my budget was set it would probably be at or less than the cost of buying something in the store.

• LED Lighting system for my bike = $75 store bought lights
• Solenoid project = less than the professional units, but more than I was planning on spending
• GPS unit = equivalent to a Garmin device
• Multitouch table = less than Microsoft’s Surface, but can I call it completed?
• Wooden toys for my daughter = more than it would cost from a mass factory in China (but minus the lead additives)

The point is, we shouldn’t be choosing to build these projects to save money. Looking back on things, I did think I could do it cheaper by doing it myself. Chances are you will get a less polished result, and more expense trying to fix things that went wrong.

But buying something in a store won’t get you the experience, the inspired creative ideas, or abilities gained out of doing it yourself. And in my case those reasons far outweigh the immediacy of running out to the store and adding an item to your collection.