A do-it-yourself mentality is one of the most reliable ways to save money. But suppose you never watched anyone frame a wall or hem a skirt? And yeah, you know that regular exercise is important and home cooking is cheaper than takeout, but you can't afford a gym and can barely operate a microwave.

No more excuses; you can learn all sorts of things without paying a dime. The Internet is an obvious choice for new knowledge, but don't forget the public library, the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service or an old-fashioned apprenticeship with a knowledgeable relative or friend.

My dad often used the phrase "useful life skill" to describe whatever we kids were expected to do: tie up pole beans, cook a meatloaf, clean the house or can tomatoes. Sure, we groaned and complained. But as adults we don't rely on fast food, or pay someone else to fix our meals or mow our lawns.

You don't have to, either. Get fit, grow some food and sew on your own buttons. Here's how.

The skill: Basic home repair

Once upon a time, Bret Goble, 39, called a plumber for what turned out to be a simple repair. The price tag was anything but simple: "It cost about a hundred bucks to replace a 99-cent part."

Goble and his wife, Rita, started watching "This Old House" on TV. Always mechanically inclined -- as a kid, he took his toys apart to see how they worked -- Goble quickly learned to do jobs like replace a basement staircase, insulate the attic, rework a brick patio and steps, dig a swale to improve backyard drainage and install windows in their suburban Chicago dwelling.

"Bullheadedness" underlies Goble's DIY passion: "Why (should) I pay somebody for this when I can do it myself?"

Becky Blanton, 53, is another "This Old House" fan but has also learned from library books and from watching her uncle, a general contractor. And from the Internet: Recently Blanton typed the words "paint your car at home" into a search engine.

The result "looks like a (professional) paint job," says Blanton, who is currently blogging about her cross-country travels in a newly refurbished van. (She also built living quarters inside.)

Blanton has attended free Home Depot seminars, which she says are a great way for beginners to get comfortable with tools "even if you're just building a birdhouse."

"The first time you do something it's not perfect, but after several times you get better," she says. "At least when you're self-taught, no one else sees all the (mistakes)."

Some suggested sources: About.com, the DIY network, "This Old House," HGTV, Toiletology 101, free how-to seminars at Home Depot, and "The Reader's Digest New Complete Do It Yourself Manual."

The skill: Gardening

Patti Wood learned how to mow a lawn by watching YouTube. That's not nearly as sad as it sounds. Wood wasn't taught yard skills as a child, and as an adult she hired a landscape service for her Atlanta home because her job required a lot of travel.

Lately her work has become much more regional. Since she's home a lot, "it makes more sense to do (things) myself and save money." Wood usually finds what she needs to know -- deadheading roses, painting windows -- by typing the subject plus the word "video" in an online search engine.

When a pressure-washing estimate came in at $400, she decided to do that herself, too, with a borrowed machine. It went fine -- until the washer suddenly quit working. Wood and her boyfriend went to the manufacturer's home page, watched a video, and took the machine apart to fix it.

"I have hired people to do things for years," Wood says. "But I always knew I could do these things. It feels good."

Anna Florin, 56, bought a gazebo for her daughter's outdoor wedding. Afterward, she wanted to re-site it elsewhere on the family's property. She consulted a book about building concrete pads and then requested a cement mixer for her birthday.

"I have little projects every year," says Florin, who lives near Salt Lake City.

Recently she installed sprinklers in the area around the gazebo, a skill she and her husband first learned from the guide that came with the sprinkler heads. They've been installing irrigation on different parts of their three-quarter-acre property for years.

"Anything you have to pay to have done over and over," she says, "is worth learning how to do yourself."

Often the folks who sell you equipment and supplies throw in advice for free, Florin notes. Apparently some people need to be told even the simplest things: When her son bought his own place and planted grass seed, his neighbors were astonished -- they thought grass came in rolls from a nursery.

You can learn about lawns, flowers, trees and food crops at your state's Cooperative Extension Service, either online or in person. The eXtension (pronounced "e-Extension") site has an "ask an expert" feature so you can customize your query. Try to stop by an office, though, for free advice and pamphlets, or to get the gauge on your pressure canner tested or show a master gardener the odd little larva you found on the rhododendrons.

Suggested sources: eHow.com, About.com, your state's Cooperative Extension Service, YouTube.

The skills: Cooking and preserving food

Angela Barton's epiphany occurred when she handed over $7.50 for a bag of granola. Spending "way too much money" plus having to drive to get the cereal suddenly seemed ridiculous. But as a film editor who worked long hours, she'd gotten used to "these conveniences."

The 47-year-old Los Angelean tried making her own granola, which cost about a dollar, tasted great and made her kitchen smell delicious. She's jettisoned a lot of other conveniences after deciding to work only part time and go for a year without buying anything new. Reaching out to others who have made similar choices, Barton has found plenty of food advice on blogs like Premeditated Leftovers and A Year of Slow Cooking.

"My best advice would be to get online. There's a whole community," Barton says.

Those with special nutritional beliefs or concerns -- vegan, halal, kosher, gluten-free, food allergies -- can find loads of useful info on the Internet.

Or they could just open a book. A Smart Spending message board reader posting as "Mac 7000" quotes her mother's advice: "If you can read, you can cook." As a child Mac "studied" cookbooks to learn more. So did I; as a kid I couldn't wait to bake by myself, and by age 11 I was fixing dinner for six people.

If you've taken up vegetable gardening or raising urban chickens, I suggest the Cooperative Extension link above plus something called the National Center for Home Food Preservation. The latter is a tremendous resource for skills at many levels, from no-cook jams all the way up to home-curing pork.

Suggested sources: National Center for Home Food Preservation, 30 Bucks a Week, The Frugal Girl.

The skill: Fitness

You joined the health club or paid for step aerobics at the YMCA. You mean to go but life keeps getting in the way. Or maybe you disliked the class from the beginning.

"You're either forcing yourself to go and hating it, or not going and feeling angry because you spent the money," says Sara Clemence, co-founder of Recessionwire.com.

In her case, she got laid off and couldn't afford gym fees. Her "Frugal Fitness" blog post outlines other healthy options, including free fitness books/DVDs from the library and downloading fitness podcasts. Clemence loves the podcasts, because they can be done at her own pace any time of the day or night.

Of course, you need to be motivated: "It's one thing to download a podcast -- it's another thing to do it."

The Internet is loaded with free exercise sites, where you can get specific exercise moves plus entire regimens as either videos or PDFs. Hit the online search engine with phrases like "free fitness class online" or "free tai chi outdoors" (some city parks host these sessions, so it's helpful to type in the name of your town as well).

As with any exercise regime, follow instructions exactly. If the book or podcast advises 10 reps to start, don't do 20. And since some free sites are come-ons to get you to buy more things, ignore "upgrades" and be grateful for what's gratis.

Some suggested resources: Workoutz.com, Exercise4WeightLoss.com, YogaDownload.com.

The skill: Sewing

Back in the day, girls took home ec. After graduation, some never threaded a needle again, while others found it a useful life skill. Living for years in an area without thrift stores, Utahan Florin made most of her children's clothes. She has also made draperies and reupholstered furniture, skills they didn't teach in school.

"If you know how to sew, stores that sell drape materials will happily teach you" the necessary techniques, Florin says.

She took a community school class to learn how to re-cover furniture; while such classes aren't free, they're usually cheap. Florin has twice reupholstered a hand-me-down sofa, something that can cost thousands if hired out.

Personally, I avoided home ec. But because I learned a couple of basic sewing techniques from my mom and my aunt, I don't need to pay $6 to $12 to get buttons replaced or pants hemmed. If you have a relative or friend who's handy with a needle, start a sewing circle.

No one to ask? Go to sites such as eHow or About.com and type in phrases like "hand sewing" or "basic alterations." Or get really specific and do a search for your particular question, such as "how to sew on a button." Really, do you want to pay for something that simple?

Some suggested resources: Sewing.org, YouTube, eHow, About.com, ThreadBanger, CyberSeams.

Save money today

Lettuce alone! If your garden is producing salad greens faster than you can eat them, "Too much lettuce? Here's what to do" can help.

Frugal gifting: A reader of the Smart Spending message board asked for some help with "Gift giving for all occasions." Readers came up with some great, frugal answers.

Feed your mind: Want to learn about computer animation algorithms or American urban history? "Free college lectures and more" offers a ton of other subjects, too.