I don’t consider myself a handyman by any means, but if there’s one thing I do know, it’s electronics. I love tinkering with computers and I’m not afraid to take things apart if that’s what it takes to fix them.

Last year I decided to crack open M’s digital camera because if wasn’t working. I managed to fix it for free instead of shelling out another couple hundred bucks for a replacement. I also mentioned fixing the camera in a post about asking questions, because if it wasn’t for the information I found online, I never would’ve been able to do it.

It’s tempting to buy something new instead of putting the time and energy into fixing what you have. I just re-learned this lesson lately with my search for a new computer.

I’m in the market for a new PC, and I’ve been saving like a maniac for it. Initially, I was going to buy a laptop to replace the machine I use every day. But then I remembered how I felt five years ago when I bought my current laptop: I told myself to buy a desktop the next time around because laptops aren’t as upgradeable. And as someone who likes to tinker and open up the machine to do different things, it makes sense.

So I changed my mind and decided to buy a desktop. The one we have now is M’s old boyfriend’s computer. Which tells you how old it is (around nine years). So then I would just use the new desktop and chuck the laptop.

And then I got greedy.

I thought to myself, “Why don’t I upgrade both the desktop and the laptop?” And for about a week or so that was the plan—until I had some sense knocked into me.

All I use my laptop for is writing, email, an occasional Photoshop project, and internet browsing. And the laptop I have now, while slow at times and kind of annoying, still does the job.

So I changed strategies and decided to “pimp out” my current laptop.

Here’s what I did:

• Maxed out the RAM ($70): For the nontechnical out there, it’s like buying a bigger desk so you can do more work at once without having to put things away and later take them back out because they don’t fit on your desk.
• Cleaned up the hard drive: I ran a full scan with Avira Antivirus (free), Spybot Search and Destroy (free).
• Cleaned out my registry with CCleaner (free)
• Defragged my hard drive with Smart Defrag (free)
• Cleaned out the cooling fan too (free)

That’s pretty much the most I can do to the computer without backing everything up, wiping the hard drive clean, and reinstalling Windows. Which I may still do.

Either way, the computer runs about 25–30% faster right now and I’m excited because I get to do my work in a more efficient environment.

And I get to buy the computer of my dreams…probably at the end of the month.

So instead of throwing this old laptop in the scrap heap and replacing it with a fancier version that would’ve cost me around $400, I spend $70 and got a “new” laptop that’s around 30% better than the “old” one.

Can’t ask for a better deal than that…

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• How I’m Going to Buy a New Computer Without Spending a Cent
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