[Badfaerie]

This, or just read, read, research, read, research, research again, read again, research again, and then take a slow and careful approach to whatever problem may arise.

This too...

[Purplehaze]

Lack of money is a great incentive to learn how to fix your own stuff.

Read, read and read some more. Learn what you can and can't do by yourself. Don't be afraid to try things. Make mistakes (You will!), just make sure you step back and learn from them. Nobody is good at repair and maintenance right out of the box, it takes experiences to get to the point when it becomes smooth looking and feeling.

So much this,

if I hadn't found the wealth of information this community offers, I'd probably have made ten-fold the mistakes I did getting my Katana to run when it died shortly after I bought it or paid thrice the value giving it a shop.

Slow, steady, and sure will always win the endurance races. Le Mans or Tortoise and the Hair.