Taking On Home Projects to Save Money Let them hammer nails? In a tight economy, better-off Americans are making sacrifices, too - like taking on do-it-yourself home improvement and maintenance projects that they would ordinarily hire someone else to do, according to a new report from Bank of America. The report, which found that more than half of working better-off Americans expect to work longer before retiring than they had planned a year ago, also revealed that 70 percent say that in the last year, they have taken on tasks like "plumbing, painting, and home cleaning" to bolster their savings accounts. The most common chores cited were fixing leaky faucets or loose wiring in a light (42 percent), followed by yard work and gardening (36 percent). The most enthusiastic of the do it yourself crowd, the survey found, are members of "Generation Y," people from 18 to 34 years old. Among that group, 84 percent said they'd take on home improvement projects, compared with 70 percent of 51- to 64-year-olds. Ketchum Global Research & Analytics and Braun Research conducted the survey by telephone in February on behalf of Bank of America, polling 1,000 Americans with "investable" assets of $50,000 to $249,999. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percent. GenY members were also the most likely to trim day-to-day expenses (65 percent) to save money. And they are more focused on saving; 51 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds said they saved more over the last year, compared with 37 percent of 35- to 50-year-olds. GenY survey participants, in fact, were more worried about long-term financial concerns than the "mass affluent" over all, the survey found. Alok Prasad, head of Bank of America's Merrill Edge investment service, said these younger Americans had seen both the bursting of the tech bubble in 1999 to 2000 as well as the more recent downturn, and it had made them realize they need to prepare for the future by saving for retirement and caring for family members. "They have seen more bad years than good years," he said. Have you undertaken home improvement projects to save money? Was it worth it?