Recently, two of my flat’s faucets started dripping. Calling in a plumber to do the job can immediately cost a few hundred dollars (including cost of materials). Drips are oftentimes simple fixes but having a pro do it for you can really cost a lot.

Since I know a bit of basic plumbing, I decided to check out what’s wrong. My faucets were old-school tap so they’re relatively easy to check. I simply switch off the main valve, took out my tools (a wrench, pliers, and screwdriver’s all I needed).

Turns out the faucets simply needed new rubber washers to make a good seal. So I dropped by my local hardware picked up a set of rubber washers and teflon tape and returned home.

I simply disassembled the faucets again, replaced the worn washers, packed the threads with teflon tape, screwed the faucets back on, and the drips were fixed.

A plumber can already charge something for inspection and the total repair and materials will have a premium and a mark up.

You can check out quite a lot of how-to guides (use Google!) over the Internet that would teach you basic how-tos on home repairs anyway. The information’s free and the know-how can save you a lot of money.

1. Count calories. The key to weight loss is to make sure that, at the end of the day, you burn more calories than you consume. For a quick calculation, you can use this calorie calculator. I just logged the calorie count of all the food I consumed for the day, the number of calories I burned through exercise and made sure that I was on track for a loss of 1 lb per week. A good old pen and notebook works. For calorie references, I just checked food labels and the internet.

2. Sort out your grocery list. Many people think that you have to buy the fancy organic (and ridiculously expensive) produce to lose weight. I just switched to fish (protein) and veggies and checked the food labels for low-calorie and low-fat alternatives and my grocery bills remained pretty much the same.

3. Exercise. I never went to a gym. Never bought fancy exercise equipment. Like I said, the most I spent was the $60 I used to buy proper running shoes for stability. And that was it. Knowing that cardio exercises were the first thing I needed to burn fat, I spent 30 minutes a day brisk walking, then jogging. Helped me keep within my recommended calorie levels.

Here are three things that you should do as soon as you start earning that paycheck.

(Re)build an emergency fund. Many would make the mistake of blowing the first salary on petty things – treating friends, splurging. But the first thing that you should really do is to build an emergency fund. The recession has taught us that you should now have at least a year’s worth of living expenses saved and readily on hand. So start saving before you splurge.

Enroll in the 401k. If your employer offers contribution matching, enroll in the program right away and try to contribute the maximum that your budget allows.

Maximize health insurance. Health care can be a huge expense but if your company offers one, then opt in. You oftentimes get a better deal when you get it from your company.

Dating etiquette has already started to factor in the whole gender equality these days so often times, modern daters find themselves in a mucky situation where couples might do that awkward tango of who picks up the check.

Ask Men points out a few key things to avoid such mucky situations like being prepared to pay no matter what whether you’re the guy or girl and talking about the date expectations (going dutch, guy pays, or you pay).

If you’re the girl, then reach for your purse when the check arrives. The guy typically pays up, but offer to pay half. If he doesn’t reach for the check then pay up the whole amount.

My take here is that it’s all about communication. It’s always best to sort out the communication thing between couples. In the long run, that’s what keep relationships alive. So if blocks are created in the first few dates, then imagine how that’d affect things in the long run.

As the clerk was scanning the items, I noticed that a pack of instant coffee was around a dollar higher. I halted the clerk and checked the item before it got bagged and saw that what was registered in the scanner was really a buck higher than the tag.

I immediately had them correct the pricing insisting that they only charge me what’s on the price tag. Apparently, their system had some sort of glitch in the data and the coffee was accidentally priced a buck higher.

Lesson from the incident: Always watch the price scanner. There are some instances when clerks accidentally scan items twice which means you get charged twice as well.