Stuff breaks! Appliances, furniture, furnaces, toys, garage door openers, and everything else in your home will eventually break. And, in this economy, buying replacement stuff isn't always an option. Before you go out and buy a replacement, consider ten good reasons why you should figure out how to fix it.

1. You can save money by not having to replace things that you easily can fix. It might just need a fuse, a new electrical cord, or a screw tightened. You can do that!

2. You can buy better things that will last longer than disposables because you know you can probably fix them if they ever do conk out.

3. You can reduce the environmental impact of having a replacement manufactured from raw materials and transported from a far-off land.

4. You can learn how to recycle the things you just can't fix.

5. You can learn new skills and discover the satisfaction of fixing something that's broken.

6. You can spend some quality time with kids fixing things together -- and teaching them a good lesson in economics.

7. You can keep that family clock or other heirloom running longer.

8. You can justify the cost of expanding your collection of tools.

9. You can impress your spouse, partner, and others with your new-found fixing skills.

10. You can be a smarter consumer by knowing how things work and what to do if they don't.

Hopefully, you're convinced that you should at least attempt to fix household things that break. Fortunately, there is a simple process that can make the job easier -- and maybe even fun.

The first step to fixing things -- anything -- is to figure out what's wrong with it. That's common sense. It doesn't matter whether it's a door chime, a barbecue grill, a child's toy, or a computer printer. Once you identify what's wrong with it, you're well on the way to fixing it--or making an informed decision not to. Figuring out what's wrong is called "troubleshooting" and often is the step that keeps folks from fixing things easily.

Troubleshooting is a problem-solving process with the goal of returning an item to its as-designed state. The item doesn't work at all, doesn't work correctly, doesn't work efficiently, or doesn't stop working. You can fix anything if you know how to troubleshoot it. And you can troubleshoot if you understand how an item works and how to figure out why it doesn't work. Here's the fix-it process:

* What does this thing do?

* How is it supposed to work?

* What isn't this thing doing that it should do?

* What's the possible cause(s) of the problem?

* What parts and tools will I need to fix it?

* What are the steps to fixing it?

* Once fixed, does it now work?

For example, a coffee maker, obviously, is an apparatus for brewing coffee. There are two types of coffee makers: drip and percolator. A drip coffee maker is designed to heat water then pump it to drip through the coffee basket and into a carafe. Most drip coffee makers also keep the carafe of coffee warm. That's a drip coffee maker's as-designed state; that's what it's supposed to do -- three simple jobs.

What does it not do? In the example, the drip coffee maker doesn't keep the coffee hot, though everything else works. Knowing how a coffee maker is supposed to work, you will identify the problem to be within the warming element or controls. To check it you need an electrical test instrument called a multimeter or VOM for testing these components. Multimeters are cheap to buy and easy to use. Following instructions in the appliance's manual or on the Internet, you disassemble, test, and, if needed, replace the part. Finally, you can brew yourself some coffee and know that it will stay warm.

So, that's the fix-it process . You can apply it to every thing that's broken. That's because the fix-it process works for every thing. It's a simplified version of a universal and time-tested problem-solving system. It shows you how to "outsmart" broken things. It's the key to easily making common repairs. You can do it!