Often in desiring to save a minute or two, we cost ourselves twenty.

I was planting bulbs and tending our little garden patch on Saturday. Naturally I came upon a few weeds. Too lazy to go to the barn and get my weed digger, I yanked, ineffectively, getting some of the weeds but not all the roots, and shredding my hands in the process. It took far longer to attack the weeds in this manner than it would have taken to go get the right tool and do the job correctly.

I’ve been known to do the same thing cleaning up the kitchen. There will be something hard stuck on the counter that could be removed in seconds with a putty knife. My sponge or dishrag is closer at hand though, so I’ll begin working at it, and before long I’ve spent ten minutes on something that should have taken seconds with the right tool.

Likewise I’ve been known to ineffectively hammer with a rock or the sole of my shoe rather than take a moment to go to the garage for a real hammer. Bent nails and other casualties result. (Never-mind my my scratched up table knife that stood in for a screwdriver.)

While we don’t need every gizmo, a few well chosen tools can save both time and money. There is a time and a place for ingenuity. If expense or availability keeps me from using the ideal tool, then using a make-shift one is laudable. But in the above cases the tool was merely in the next room, or across the yard.

Owning the right tools is good, but using them is better. Store tools in a logical place that is easy to access. I need to put all my gardening things in a handy carry-all tote and make sure to grab the entire tote before venturing into the garden. I should never have gone INTO the garden plot without my weed digger. Experience has shown that there will always be a weed or two I’ll want to get "while I’m there." Even if I’d forgotten to take the weed digger into the garden, I should have gone back for it immediately when I spotted a weed.

As the old adage reminds us: A stitch in time, saves nine.