DIY LaLa

The five tools every woman should own

You do not need a garage full of equipment. You need five things that are good, and you need to know where they are.

Difficulty
Easy
Time
One shopping trip
Cost
$150 to $250
Here's what we're going to do
  1. 01

    A real cordless drill.

    12V or 18V, brushless if you can swing it, with two batteries. Not a screwdriver that looks like a drill.

  2. 02

    A 25-foot tape measure.

    Wide blade so it stands out straight when nobody's holding the other end.

  3. 03

    Channel-lock pliers.

    The tongue-and-groove kind. They turn everything under a sink.

  4. 04

    A good screwdriver set.

    Phillips and flat, several sizes, magnetic tips. Cheap ones round off screws and ruin afternoons.

  5. 05

    A headlamp.

    Everything that breaks is in a dark place, and you will need both hands.

Here's where we stop

Skip the 200-piece kit in the plastic case. It's forty dollars of tools and a hundred and sixty dollars of case.

LaLa Knows

Buy your drill and your yard tools in the same battery platform. The batteries are the expensive part, not the tools.

The list

Get smarter about your own damn house.

One useful thing from LaLa at a time. No nonsense.

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