Let me tell you a story.
A not-too-long time ago in a kingdom resembling a major California city famous for being located on a Bay, a dashing young prince bought a cheap-as-can be DVD player. See, back at the castle, the prince's enchanted TV was not really all that enchanted, so it didn't make sense for the prince to spend his already meager finances on a high-end DVD player, so he got the most basic "all I can do is play movies" kind of DVD player he could find. This DVD player also came with a cursed remote. Apparently the dark wizard who assembled this remote was evil and sadistic, so he possessed it with an evil demon. In the first six months in which the dashing prince owned this DVD player, the cursed remote began acting funny.
Unfortunately, since this was a bottom-of-line DVD player, it did not come with Ye Olde Factory Warranty.
Alarmed at the prospect of facing a future where all he could do was turn the machine on or off, eject discs, and hit either play or stop, the dashing prince decided to take matters into his own hands. He suited up in his armor, opened up the cursed remote, and prepared to do battle. Apparently the evil demon which possessed the remote had caused the battery to leak, which lead to a breakage in the battery tab on the circuit board of the remote. Upon even further inspection, the evil demon had also detached an enchanted capacitor from it's spot on the motherboard.
Undeterred, the dashing prince took up his trusty
soldering gun and tried to repair the evils done upon the poor land of RemoteControlia. Some time later, the prince emerged victorious. The bewitched remote control had been restored, the dark wizard had been thwarted, and the demon from inside the remote had been exorcised. He went to celebrate with a tall glass of mead, a leg of mutton, and the boxed set of The Simpsons - Season Nine.
Long story short:
soldering irons are fantastic if you have a general concept of circuitry and electronics, but should only be used by those who know how. Remember that opening up consumer electronics will void warranties, and you also have that nagging ever-present threat of electrocution which has a nasty side effect known as death.

Still, if you know what you're doing and have the space to work, a soldering iron will pay dividends. For just $30, you can be repairing all your electronics with minor issues, mending broken wires, and wreaking general havoc. While there are very high end soldering sets out there, I have always been most comfortable with the
traditional soldering gun, and recommend it as a safe and controlled starting point. Not only will you save money on electronics you can repair instead of replace (the green choice as well, might I add) you will also get 2% cash back when you use your
Ebates account (the choice to save some green).