In 2025 one of my goals is to learn about electronics and specifically electronic repair. I have no formal or practical education in this area for better or worst but I’m also facing a big challenge in my life beside ignorance right now – poverty. I am currently the most broke I have ever been. Every cent I earn right now is earmarked for more important things so there is nothing left to put towards this goal. In addition to that I have no dedicated area devoted to working on electronics so whatever comes in the future will have to be mobile at least for the time being.
That being said, most of April was spent dipping my feet into the world of electronics and trying to narrow down one area to start with. I decided that soldering was a good enough beginning step because it was a practical skill I could develop while learning theory as I progressed.
I like learning through books so I started by checking the library system in my city. Unfortunately there was nothing in English about Electronics available except for one For Dummies (for kids) book that just turned out to be a shopping list of items for projects you could create. I have no money to buy books through a website like Amazon or Ebay or even know anyone that could teach me the basics either so that left one place to turn to- Youtube.
I watched a bunch of videos on Youtube but if I had to recommend the two best to anyone else wanting to start like me they would be:
Basic Soldering Lesson 1 – “Solder & Flux” by paceworldwide
The paceworldwide video is a concise and informative guide that explains basic soldering theory. I highly recommend it even if it’s from 1980 because it was simply superior at explaining what soldering actually is better that any other beginning video that I watched.
Cheapest way to learn to solder by bigclivedotcom
The bigclivedotcom video is more informal than the paceworldwide video but actually applicable to present day. It discusses what equipment you should acquire to solder and it does so with the aim of doing it cheaply. You would be surprised how many beginner videos on Youtube casually talk about starting soldering equipment but when you price out often their recommendations they end up costing upwards of $250+. One video I even came across listed off a range of equipment to start with that would cost $1000 but in the same video admitted that he did not know what flux was but to “use it because it helps the solder flow.” Terrible.
Now that I knew a bit about soldering the next step was putting together the tools I would need which is a rather difficult task when you have no money.
Raising Money for Tools
Since I have no money available right now, can’t get a second job and don’t want to take on any more debt it leaves me with scavenging. I took to the streets during errands to start collecting cans and/or trash that I could resell. It’s not glamorous but it’s the only option I have left.
Have you ever had an experience say when you’re young and your parents get a new car and you start seeing the same model everywhere you go? This phenomena started happening to me but instead of cars I started seeing people collecting cans. Over the month of April I must have seen at least 20 different people at various times collecting cans in my area. Even one of my neighbors started collecting cans going through the garbage and recycle bins on our street. I honestly do not understand it. She has a car and she has a job so why would you bother with scavenging? Surely just having a car opens up tons of different ways to make money even if she lost her job. But no, there she is like a raccoon ripping open trash bags at the apartment next door. Maybe I’m just bitter that it’s more competition.
Anyway, I managed to collect $19.60 worth of cans during the month and I also found $0.75 laying on the street (which is extremely rare these days) and that left me with $20.35 raised for April to work with.
I also trash picked this decorative drink tray that’s listed on eBay but has not sold yet as of this writing. If it ever does I’ll include that amount too.
The Tools
The first thing I purchased was a soldering iron. Due not having a dedicated workspace nor having access to an electrical outlet all the time I decided to go with a battery powered soldering iron purchased from Aliexpress for $9.49.
The second thing I purchased was solder. I decided against using a cheap solder manufactured in the orient because I had heard that it could be extremely variable in quality and is often hard to work with. Plus there wasn’t much price difference between an oriental solder and one manufactured in Canada anyway. I chose a 18g 63/37 solder from MG chemicals which I purchased on Amazon for $5.76 after tax. It had good reviews and I figured I would have more success starting with this type of solder over one of unknown quality.
From there I purchased a solder sucker off of eBay for $1.00 shipped
I didn’t have much money after those purchases but I managed to find a few things that I thought would come in useful while at the YWCA thrift store. They usually have nothing “tool” related but I found a screwdriver set in the toys section for $2. The rubberized coating on the outside was suffering from reversion so it was tacky picking up every piece of dirt which is why I assume it was donated. It was surprisingly complete however, and in decent enough condition except for one bit that was missing a corner.
I also found a mug full of miscellaneous “school” supplies that had several pairs of scissors and 3 magnifying loops in it for $1. The loops are old but will come in handy for PCB inspection. The scissors aren’t ideal but will be used instead of pliers to cut leads until I can afford something better. The people working there threw in the mug which I am not sure was originally meant to come as a package deal but I’m not complaining. It’s Corelle branded and I will be using it as a soldering stand to hide the hot iron in case one of my cats interrupts me while I’m working.
The last thing I found was an OLFA box cutter and an X-Acto knife both with replacement blades in a plastic baggy in the craft section for $1.00. I thought briefly of passing them up because they don’t have a direct use to me right now but they are both good quality brands and I probably will not come across a deal like that again when I eventually find a need for them.
Lastly while scavenging I found storage – a shoe box for my tools, some empty pill containers and mason jars for components. I’ll use this stuff until I can afford something better.
Financial Summary for April 2025
Revenue
- Cans $19.60
- Found Money: $0.75
Total: $20.35
Expenses
- Soldering Iron $9.49
- MG Solder $5.76
- Solder Sucker $1.00
- Scissors/Magnifiers/Cup $1.00
- Screwdriver Set $2.00
- Blades $1.00
Total: $20.25
Summary
So there you have it. In the end I didn’t manage to do any actual soldering in April (mainly because it took awhile for the soldering iron to arrive from China). I did manage to put together what I think is a decent starting kit. I doubt I will be able to raise as much money in May as April with all this ridiculous competition but will do my best to keep adding to my tools as I go. In the end as long as I’m learning that’s what really matters.
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