Repairs, Maintenance, and Spare Parts

Going through the closet today and purging old clothes. The stuff that is still usable will go to the thrift store, but the stuff that's shabby (collars worn through, crotch about to blow out, etc.) is getting "parted out" per normal routine.

....which got me thinking...am I the only one that goes through old shirts, removes all the buttons to save in a jar as "spare parts", then cuts them up into rags for use in shining shoes and auto repair and stuff?

Do folks fix stuff anymore or do they just donate it? I haven't pulled the sewing machine out of the closet to fix stuff in a while...but I do keep the buttons just in case (for both pants and shirts). I've also been known to use iron on patches on the inside of old pairs of jeans (for working around the house) if I need to. If something breaks, do you hire it out or do you fix it yourself?

What do you do?

I'm not crafty like that so I donate the clothes I don't want any longer.

In fact, I went through my closet a few weeks ago and done just that. Basically If I haven't worn it in a few months it went bye bye.

I fix everything from the hot water heater to ironing on patches on jeans. My kids who are 9 wrapped their play shoes in duct tape last summer because they wore a hole in the side of them! I told them that even though I was proud of them for their fix it spirit, thats where we draw the line, we went and got new play shoes...