I think people are born and raised into different circumstances. Some may have a lot of money or assets at your age and so they never needed to learn those skills. They also may never need them. I would just be greatful you have those skills incase you end up in a bad situation you will know how to stretch your money further.

I know how to do most of that stuff (I can change spark plugs, serpentine belts, tires, blower resistors, charge my ac, sew, etc) but I don't have working arms anymore so I pay others.

In the winter, I get quite a number of people asking where I got my hat. They find it hard to believe that a guy can use yarn, and make something awesome.

I miss basic skills like spelling out words.

They used to teach a lot of that stuff in high school.

Spark plugs?

How old is your car?

Cooking is a basic life skill. In my profile, I wrote:

"Although I'm a good cook, I want a man who also cooks. Everyone loves to hear those magic words: 'Dinner is served.'"

At 64, I have met a number of men who never learned to cook. They want a "mommy" to do all of the grocery shopping, meal planning, cooking, laundry, and cleaning... and great sex.

I'm not willing to be a kitchen slave.

I'm great at sewing, she said modestly. Here are some clothes I made in the past year.

The summer before we went into seventh grade, my best friend Jami's mother taught us to sew, to keep us out of trouble. We loved it! Jami and I sewed all our clothes through high school, including prom dresses. Jami became a textile artist.

I had fun sewing my daughter's clothes. I didn't want Claire to look like a Disney advertisement, or a mini-prostitute. This was the 1990's when girl's clothing was modeled after the singer Madonna.

The last photo shows the Mother-of-Bride dress I made for my daughter's wedding on Sept. 15. Will wear it with pearls.

So much emphasis has been put on having college degrees and such that basic life skills have been undermined. It truly is a shame, and , should it ever happen that modern life as we know it came to an end, those are the people who would not stand a chance, yet they choose to ridicule and demean people who survive by such skills.

Rather do it myself but have neverbeen able to sow no matter how much i try . Its all to do with the throw away cultur so the rich can keep bleeding you of your cash

The zipper broke on a dress I love, and it would cost at least $30 to fix. The dress wasn’t expensive so I considered tossing it. Then I remembered that when I was a teen, I sewed all the time — took classes, even! So I brought a zipper to fix it myself. It is a very handy skill. Now if only I could get a handle on installing molly bolts....

You recharged your aircon in your car? oh kudos to you. I wish you would teach me.

I've been so broke for so long that I can fix loads of things. I can sew by hand and by machine, and do basic car and home maintenance. What I don't know ow how to do I look up. However, I'll admit there are things that are beyond my shitty eyesight and bad finger joints. I couldn't fix my sewing machine, so I had to scrape together the money for a new one. ?

I have talked to several that are younger than me or just a tad older and have no clue about computers. I can rip a car to the engine block and rebuilt it hands-on experience only not my favorite thing. I disassembled my first IBM compatible computer rebuilt it with no computer repair skills have built 14 computers from the CPU on up since. I can fix the plumbing electric and carpenter what I need. Taught my self how to gourmet cook. Learned how to sew knit and craft at a very young age. I might be unusually inquisitive though. People without basic skills are always a mystery to me.

My sister (who is 60) has no idea how to thread a needle much less sew. Any time she needs something mended she either buys new or has me do it. I have offered to teach her, however she claims she is unable to see the hole in the needle to thread it. When I told her that they make self threading needles she blew me off.

Flash back to the early 70's....... Before I was even allowed to drive a car my father made sure I could change a tire, check the oil and transmission fluid and fill the radiator. I tried to change the oil, but I'm claustrophobic and could not stay under the car long enough to do it.

All of my children know how to take care of a car, sew, cook, and do basic maintenance around the house. Personally, I feel that's just proper parenting.

I spent twenty years turning wrenches. I taught myself how to sew at ten. If I didn’t do it, it didn’t get done. Most of my high school students couldn’t change a tire, much less mend a sock.

I pay the seamstress $10 to hem my pants and it's worth more than that to me Like you, I also work on my car, except for engine stuff like timing belt. I tried teaching my 18yo daughter about basic car maintenance but she acted disinterested. Sad.

I have AAA in case of flat tires or breakdowns; my son/dad advise on all else. Outside of that I can fend for myself. Sewing is a skill everyone needs! Also the basics of cooking, housekeeping, and paying bills.

It used to be normal to learn these skills. We picked them up in Home Ec, 4H, etc. I found out the next generation couldn't even change their own tires. Somewhere along the line the basic skills stopped being passed down to future generations. Value the old people that know how to do stuff while you can - when we're dead everyone will be helpless it seems.

I had AAA when I was in the US, and an inexpensive handyman on call, but I can sew things for myself and fix most simple things, as long as I don't have to get oily.

I guess I'm an antique as I grew up having to do all those things. My daughter who turns 21 next month knows how to change tires and simple maintenance but cars are much harder to work on than they were 30 years ago. I could change transmissions and brakes and engines but now it's just not worth it. My body won't allow me to do a lot on cars but there's still a lot of general maintenance around the house l do.

I'm with you. I will spend a couple of hours learning a skill that I retain for life rather than pay someone. Not everyone is good with their hands, so this is not for all. I have a pretty diverse skill set from this. Also for the mechanically inclined, don't forget about YouTube! Lots of stuff out there that can save a handy person a ton of time and money.

I can sew and always fix things around the house. But cars are a mystery to me. I just bought my first car and I don't know what is happening when it makes a noise! I wish I knew. I'm considering doing a car maintenance course, but the cost and most of all the time are barriers to this. Why don't I know about this stuff in the first place? Because my parents don't, either!

I think you somewhat answered your own question. Many prefer to pay or just buy new. Some just have a skill that can trade or swap skills for. I have a brother-in-law that swaps services with people.
Many have to prioritize where they spend their time. I don’t know how to sew but the time it takes to do that could be used for things that would make me more than doing that myself so I don’t mind paying someone to do a better job than I could do myself.

At 67, I've spent much of my life learning as many skills as possible. Sewing, cooking, canning, baking of course are just regular skills, IMO. I also do plumbing, as needed, electrical work, carpentry work, appliance repair. Not long ago, I replaced the idler pulley and serpentine belt on the truck (while standing on a snow drift in hard winds, on a roadside) Not my first choice of things to do but the alternative was have it towed from 70 miles away, then repaired. A friend offered to instruct me as I worked and I drove the truck home. Generally, I'm willing to try anything but with age there are things I choose not to do any longer, like change oil in the truck.

There was a time when money was a significant factor in doing it myself but not so much these days. On the other hand, because I can do so many things myself, I tend to be a rather demanding customer. I feel that if I pay someone to do a job, I expect it to be done at least as well as I would do it. This is not always the case.

I do take pride in being able/willing to do a large number of things. I find "helplessness" offensive and refuse to be willfully helpless, especially as a woman. I have seen women use the "helpless" ploy, clearly considering it cute in some way to present themselves "poor little me, I just don't know anything about that". Does every woman need to change their own oil? No, but when they stand in front of the car, looking confused when a man comes by and announce, "I'm supposed to check the oil but I don't know what to do" it is embarrassing to me as a female. There is no reason for this in an age where you can learn pretty much anything just by going to the computer.

So, my answer is yes, learn as much as you can about as many things as you can. You can always choose what knowledge/skills you want to use but don’t give away your power by not educating yourself at every opportunity. This pertains to all aspects of life, not just DIY skills. Always seek to expand your knowledge. NEVER accept willful ignorance!
Rant over!
Pictures of a few projects I've done.