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Doing It Yourself and the IKEA Effect

October 23, 2014 By: veronica1 Comment

I like doing crafty things – on my own or with the kids. For years I would declare myself being a non-creative and non-crafty person until I realized a few years back that it is actually fun. Not that I spend huge amounts of time being crafty, but once in a while the inspiration overcomes me 🙂

Making stuff yourself is not something new. DIY has been around for many many years – probably as long as humans has been around. In the last century it was mostly linked to home improvement and only later became linked to music as well as arts and crafts. With the years it has become a trend focused on the creative and recreational as well as cost-saving.

Ikea is one of my favorite stores. I like much of the design and the relative low prices and all the fun small stuff you can get there. Probably it also has something to do with the fact that I grew up surrounded by Ikea furniture, etc. and because every store is exactly the same, it gives me a feeling of familiarity – instead of Netanya, Israel I could be in Denmark instead!

Dan Ariely is a researcher in the field of behavioral economics and one of his many interesting theories is that of the Ikea effect that says that if you have made (or assembled) something by yourself you tend to value that thing higher that you would of a similar thing that you had just bought ready-made. Like in Ikea, where you buy the things in pieces and then assemble by yourself.

Since being on a budget I have begun to make more things on my own as you have also seen examples of here on the blog. Whether it is sewing my own clothes, making my own “Nutella” or just painting an old bookcase another color, I can certainly feel that these items become more special to me than many others. It doesn’t happen all the time as not all DIY projects are successful, but it happens a lot.

The interesting thing is that most of the time, a DIY project is more cost friendly that the ready-made version but not always. A good example is the “Nutella”; it is actually a bit more expensive to make yourself that the store bought version, but that is not really the point. The point is that I always make it with the kids and I think that because of that, they have another relation to the product and love it!

So those are great reasons to be more creative, right? While saving money you also get a final product that you are pleased with. At least most of the time…..

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Welcome!

Hi, I am Veronica and this is my blog. This is where I write about how I manage my money and don't let them manage me.
This is where I share my experiences (both personal and professional), my ideas, thoughts, cooking and my new-found love for crafts and DIY.
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