Fix or Replace Household Repairs List

Who this is for

Broken things waiting for a decision, on one list. Each item gets a line for the fault, any guarantee, the repair route and the repair cost set against the price of a new one. Once you decide, it adds up what you spent and what repairing saved.

Households with a drawer of broken things, from the kettle that trips the switch to a coat with a dead zip or a wobbly chair, and anyone weighing a repair café, a repair shop or a new one.

What this helps you track

• Every broken item waiting for a decision, and what is wrong with it
• Whether it is still under guarantee before anyone opens it up
• The repair route: yourself, a repair café, a shop or the maker
• The repair cost set against the price of a replacement
• What you have spent and what repairing rather than replacing saved

How to use it

1. Write the household, the date you started the list and any repair cafés or shops near you.
2. Add a line for each broken item with what is wrong, and tick Guarantee if it is still covered so the seller or maker is asked first.
3. Choose a route and enter the repair cost: the quote, the price of parts, or what you paid at a repair café.
4. Enter the price of a comparable new item from a shop you would actually buy from.
5. Set the outcome once you decide. Difference, Spent and Saved are worked out in the browser and the workbook; on paper, subtract across each line.
6. Keep the list going; the summary shows what has been spent so far and what repairing saved.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

What do Difference, Spent and Saved mean?

Difference is the replacement price minus the repair cost, so a figure above zero means repairing is cheaper. Spent shows the repair or replacement cost once the outcome is set. Saved shows the difference only for items you had repaired.

Should I try to fix something still under guarantee?

Ask the seller or maker first, because opening it yourself or using another repairer may affect a claim. The Guarantee tick is there to prompt that call; check the terms of your own guarantee for what it covers.

What if the repair costs nothing?

Enter zero, or only what you paid for parts. Some community repair events help people mend their own things without a charge for the help, so the saving can be close to the full price of a new one.

Does it count the time a repair takes?

No. The sheet compares money only. If the time, the wait or the trouble of a repair matters to you, note it on the line or in the notes and weigh it alongside the figures.

How is this different from the repair and replacement reserve planner?

That planner sets money aside for the big parts of the house, such as the roof, the boiler or the windows. This list is for the everyday things that break: appliances, clothes, shoes, furniture and gadgets.