I am sure it was really more about the enjoyment of doing so than about the cost savings he used to justify the project.
I think he went overboard in committing so much of his time to the project.
There's a point when one needs be honest with oneself by wondering if we're really doing something to save money--or if we're just using that as an excuse to play hooky from more important responsibilities.
I'm a hard workin' man
I wear a steel hard hat
I can ride, rope, hammer, and paint
Do things with my hands that most men can't
I can't get ahead no matter how hard I try
I'm gettin' really good at barely gettin' by
Got everything I own
By the sweat of my brow
From my four-wheel drive to my cowboy boots
I owe it all to my blue collar roots
I feel like I'm workin' overtime on a runaway train
I've got to bust loose from this ball and chain
I'm a hard, hard workin' man
I got it all on the line
For a piece of the promised land
I'm burnin' my candle at both ends
'Bout the only way to keep the fire goin'
Is to outrun the wind
Come Friday night
I like to party hard
I carry on with the Cadillac cuties
Spend my whole week's pay on some weekend buety
Come Monday mornin' I'm the first to arrive
I ain't nothin' but business from nine till five
Chorus
I can't wait to get up in the mornin'
And do it all over again
Well I'm a hard livin', hard workin' man
And women too
It's all about what your time is worth. If you spend 200 hours in the shop building cabinets for yourself instead of a paying customer it means you want a new kitchen more than health insurance for your family. The profit from one typical kitchen job would be about enough for one year's insurance. The Frosts decided that comfort/status was worth more to them than security/health.
I am foursquare behind the liberty to make that choice. Just don't whine that others are unwilling to pay for the things you don't care that much about.