Rant: my brother said sanding a $60 dresser was a waste, but 3 weekends later the drawers actually slide
I picked up a beat up oak dresser off Facebook for $60 back in March, and it had water rings and drawers that stuck so bad you had to yank them with two hands. My brother laughed and said just buy a new one at IKEA for $150, but I spent 3 weekends sanding it down to bare wood, slapping on a $14 can of tung oil, and waxing the drawer runners with a $3 candle stub. Now they glide with one finger, so what is the cheapest fix you have done that made people eat their words?
Three weekends is around 30 hours of work for a $60 dresser. Add the $14 oil and your time is worth maybe $10 an hour if you are lucky, so you are already past the $150 IKEA price. Your brother was not wrong about the math, he was just wrong about what you wanted. Buying new also means particle board that will swell up the first time a kid spills juice on it, while your oak will outlast both of you. So congrats on the drawers, but calling it the cheap fix is a stretch when you paid with your Saturdays.