Why Put Off Until Tomorrow - Or Next Winter

I don't think it's any secret that I'm not big on spending money.  Whenever I can I try to do what is needed and what is efficient but no more than that, which is why it's a good thing that I married Sharon or I might be living in a plywood house about now.  Maintenance is one of those things that I have to force myself to do all the way.  By all the way I mean, do them when needed, even if they'll probably hold or work for most or all of the next season.  During this winter's maintenance I felt like I was nickle and diming myself into poverty.  The baler was out of spec here and there because parts were stretched, bent, or just not working.  The tractor was missing little things here and there and needed every filter and fluid changed.  No part was outrageously expensive, although many of the parts were expensive for what little material they are, but everyday seemed like I needed to run for another part.  That's tough for me.  Can't I live with the baler gate bouncing open a little from stretched latches?  Or will a bad bearing really impact the twine wrap if the front metering spool doesn't turn without a lot of pressure on it?  How about that small leak in the tractor radiator?  Can't I just keep the radiator topped off before each use?  In the end I have to say no I can't live with those small problems.  Each one of them could lead to downtime or poor quality and I have to put everything right.  A great example was the tractor radiator.  We had just finished flushing and putting fresh coolant into the radiator and after bringing the tractor up to temp my brother said hey, look there's steam coming up from under the hood.  I looked up under there and sure enough there was a wet spot on the radiator.  We agreed that a hole that small shouldn't be a problem.  I could get that fixed at the end of next year.  But that night I thought no I really need to get that fixed.  Why would I wait til I have a major issue or until next year.  Long story short, I asked the guy how repaired it if it was a big leak.  "Oh yeah, the hotter it got the worse the leak would have been" he told me.  I'll really have to keep that in mind the next time I'm tempted to let it go until the next maintenance cycle.