Tools that help you earn a living without using much energy or brain power is what I like to call “easy money tools”. Lots of guys don’t like their job because they’re working with the wrong tools. Trying to pry a stuck garbage disposal loose with a flat-head screwdriver is not easy money. Also, trying to diagnose an issue without a volt meter can quickly turn you into a parts changer. Again, that’s not easy money.
So do your sanity a favor and invest in yourself. Get yourself some fun tools! Fun tools makes the job fun! And, having fun equals easy money.
$ EASY MONEY TOOLS $
First, lets start with a nice bag to carry your money makers in. I’ve owned this exact bag for 5 years and I LOVE it. I carried my tools in a hand held bag for a decade and couldn’t believe what I’ve been missing when I purchased this bag. It’s so much easier going up and down stairs with my tools on my back. I’ve had zero problems with this bag over the last 5 years. Here’s a video of me showing off my Klein backpack tool bag.
Guys please, for the love of all that is holy, GET A VOLT METER! Learning to use a volt meter isn’t hard. There’s plenty of YouTube videos you can watch to get tips and tricks for using a meter. A volt meter will talk to you and let you know exactly what the problem is. It will give you the answers! That’s easy money! Way easier than being a parts changer and throwing parts at it until it fires up. Click this video for a volt meter lesson.
I do my best to buy only magnetic hand tools. There’s nothing worse than getting to the end of a job and dropping a crucial screw into a cob webbed abyss, never to be seen again. I own this set of Klein magnet nut drivers and they’re fantastic. Although magnetic tools cost a little more, I don’t mind it because they earn easy money. Click here for flathead & phillips magnetic tip tools.
Although trying to pry a stuck garbage disposal loose with a flat-head screwdriver can be done, I don’t recommend it. I went that route in my rookie years and bent up a lot of good flat-heads. Invest in a garbage disposal wrench and end the madness! You’re not a rookie anymore!
If you watch my YouTube videos, then you’ve seen me use this baby a lot. After I shut off a breaker and want to make sure the power is off, all I have to do is run my Klein voltage tester over the wires. If it beeps, it’s still live. If it doesn’t beep, the power is off. Test it on a live circuit first and make sure it works! Not needing to walk back to my truck for my volt meter is easy money.
You haven’t lived until you go to pull a toilet and find the bolt is spinning with the nut. You can go the not so fun route and hacksaw it off. Good luck getting that hacksaw at the perfect angle. Or, you can jam the jam-bar underneath the nut letting it hold the bolt while you turn the nut loose with a wrench or a nut driver. Easy money!
This tool is the epitome of easy money. The Ridgid sink and faucet installer. While I do own a basin wrench, I go to this tool. Always! It can hold a strainer basket while you’re loosening the nut underneath. It loosens base nuts and supply lines. This tool does so much that I’ll let my YouTube video do the talking. Click here to watch tutorial video.
If there’s one tool I wish I would’ve invented, this is it. The magnetic stud finder. Run it over the wall and it will stop on a nail or screw that’s holding the sheet rock up. You’ll never need to buy batteries for a stud finder again! Saving cash is another form of easy money. Click here for my tutorial video about this tool.
This is one of my favorite tools to whip out on an HVAC call. The Supco M500 Megohmmeter. Attach one clip to anywhere on the unit and the other clip to the wire you want to ohm and BAM! With the push of one button you get the answer. It’s either good, caution, or bad. Easy money anyone? Click here to see this tool in action on an actual work order.
Low voltage HVAC shorts that pop fuses or fry transformers use to intimidate me. A 24 volt short can be a very tricky brain smasher. A friend of mine who’s an HVAC technician told me about the Short-Pro Tool. This tool is a game changer. It makes 24 volt shorts easy and in my opinion, fun now! Instead of dreading them, I look forward to one. Click here to watch a video of this tool on an actual work order.
My first year dealing with soft drawn copper was a nightmare. When I had to swage a pipe, I’d take this metal stick and hammer it into the pipe. Then, I had to pull and tug to get it out. Not easy money. Then, one day I was watching one of my pals YouTube videos and he started swaging a pipe with one of these babies. I ordered them right after I saw the video. Nightmare over and making easy money. All you do is put whatever size bit you need into your drill and spin swage the pipe. Click here for my tutorial video about the spin swagers.
I’ve been living in houses for 40 years now and I’ve never broken a bulb off in a socket. But, while out on the job I see it almost daily and wonder how it happens. Anyway, instead of digging the broken piece out with a flat-head and needle nose, I just grab my ease-out light bulb extractor and easily twist it out.
I’m going to wrap this up with a tool that earns me easy money every day. The impact drill. Not only is it powerful but it’s smaller than my big clunky regular drill and it also clips right onto the side of my Klein backpack tool bag. Although Dewalt is top notch, you don’t have to get one. If you’re on a ballers budget and want to save a few bucks, you can get a Ryobi impact driver or a Bosch impact driver. Just make sure it has the clip for your bag!
So that’s it! The tools I’ve just shared with you are tools that I use weekly and have made my job easier. And fun! A lot of you techs out there aren’t enjoying your job because you’re making it hard on yourself by using the wrong tools. And, you’re not having fun! When a job gets stale, I recommend getting something fun that will bring it back to life and make it interesting again. Even when I was a full-time guitar player, I would get a new pedal, amp, or even a new guitar to breathe life back into the monotony of it all. So, invest in yourself and get you some fun tools that will make you some easy money!
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I like that jam bar! I hate, I mean hate working with nuts and bolts that seem to spin continuously and are jammed up with rust, so this seems like a good investment. I’ll have to check it out!
Its a fantastic tool! Thank you for stopping by Richard!