Since flats typically happen on the highway there’s not much choice. Of course I’ll change it and get on my way.
Takes to long to wait for a tow truck.
I haven’t had a flat in a long time (knocks on wood) but yes I do it myself, don’t pay extra for insured towing privileges. Tow trucks charge per mile and where I live it’s a long way to the service station. (Sure it’s a hassle to change a tire; but I don’t want to spend $150.00 or more dollars just to get towed).
Once upon a time I traded in my beat-up old clunker for a not-quite-so-beat-up not-quite-so-old clunker, but I kept the spare tire from the older one and put it in the trunk of the newer one. (Forgot exactly why I did that.)
Then I got a flat, out on a country road once. Of course, I tried to change it myself. I keep some long pipes in the car just for that purpose, just to use as lug-wrench extenders. They work real good for that purpose.
But something else didn’t work real good. Turned out, the wheels on the car had four lug bolts each, and the spare tire had five lug holes.
(sung to the tune of “One Piece At A Time” by Johnny Cash.)
I used to, but it’s been at least 15 years since I’ve had a flat tire, so I don’t have any current habit.
Once, while being driven home from a horrible blind date, the car my wife was driving in got a flat tire. Her date, who was a typical example of the type of losers my wife would date before she moved up to a better class of losers like me, said “fuck it”, curled up in the driver’s seat and promptly fell asleep - leaving them parked on empty highway at 2 in the morning.
After spending several minutes in a state of utter shock, my wife got up, popped the trunk, jacked up the car and changed the tire. Then she shook the asshole awake and ordered him to take her home. He did, without saying a word.
(On our first date together, she asked me if I knew how to change a tire; if I had said no, there probably wouldn’t have been a second date).
I know how to do it, but these days it’s made impossible by tire places using machines and setting them to “as tight as it will go” instead of following the manufacturer’s instructions. The last time I had a flat it was on the highway (uh, I guess it would be a tollway really), so after seeing there was no way I could get it loose I called highway assistance.
Dude was about 6’8", double-wide; if he’d been American he probably would have played football. He needed to use a tube longer than himself for leverage, hang himself from its end and bounce. My 5’5" would never have been able to loosen that with a wrench.
I check my tires all the time, by gauge and visually. If I have a flat or low tire, I remove the tire and find the leak. If the leak is not in the sidewall, I plug the leak with radial tire plugs. I do this for anybody else around with a leak. I have the proper technique and tools to make this work. A round hole is easiest to repair. A jagged hole can require multiple plugs in the same spot to be successful. In a worst case scenario, the tire could develop a slow leak after about a year and need to be repaired again. Of course I carry a pump to inflate tires.
Sure, if I have to. And if there isn’t a convenient man around who can do it for me. 
I’ve even changed a tire for a man, once.
I used to change both oil and tires, and do a fair amount of routine maintenance on my house and car but since going gimpy I have stopped. I would be glad to but I physically can’t any longer.
There also used to be a lot more maintenance and repairs that you could do on your vehicles, but since they got so high tech it has gotten so you can do less and less without specialty tools 
I don’t have a car and I don’t drive, but on one occasion, when I was young I changed a tire on my parents’ car, No problems at all.
The last time I changed a flat, it took about 10 years: 7 years to unscrew the lug nuts*, and 3 years 10 months to get all the crap out of the boot and get to the spare.
Fuck hydrolic drill thingies!!*
**Oo. No. Ow.
I’ve gotten a few flat tires and have only had help once, and I had already gotten halfway through it, but a cop stopped and helped me finish since it was on an interstate during rush hour and he wanted to avoid causing a traffic jam.
One time I even changed a tire with a tennis racket – sort of. I had taken the tire off, but I was pulled over in the sand and the sand shifted under my jack and the car fell back down. So to prevent this happening again, I found a tennis racket in the back seat and put that under the jack to provide a more stable base for support. The strings were bent several inches from true at one point, but I reasoned that when you hit a tennis ball with them, they’re deformed that much anyway, but only temporarily. The strings didn’t break and the “snowshoe effect” helped me change the tire!
I’ve had 3 flats and changed them all myself. The first one, the guy who ran the car wash kindly pointed it out and also pointed out the car repair place conveniently next to his car wash. I pulled to the corner of the parking lot and changed it myself. I’m pretty sure Mr. Car Wash poked a hole in my tire… single girl traveling alone with a car full of luggage and out of state tags - yep, I’m sure the tire just happened to get punctured when I decided to have the road crud washed off…
The other 2 times, it was my fault, and there was no one around to help anyway.
Just remembered a 4th time, but I had to call AAA - I was driving my husband’s 'Vette while he was out of town. I could not for the life of me loosen the lug nuts, so I needed help. Even the AAA guy struggled, so I didn’t feel like a wimpy girl.
Had to do it a couple of weeks ago, for the first time in years. Took me a bit longer, but no real problem with it.
The key? Loosen the wheel nuts a half turn before jacking the wheel off the ground.
Of my many life accomplishments, one of my proudest was the time I changed a flat while en route to a Navy Reserve drill weekend.
I was schlepping my way to the drill center when a front tire blew.
I pulled over immediately and in full dress white uniform, changed the tire which took no more than five minutes and got nary a smudge on my uniform.
Back on the road and picking up the pace a bit, I got to the drill site on time which was the highest priority since the whole company would get gigged if even one person showed up late (a story for another thread).
Sure, that’s a given.
(slight hijack)
How about this though. When I had my flat a few weeks back, the rim was somehow completely and utterly bonded to the hub. I couldn’t separate the two. I smacked the rim with my tire iron. I kicked the crap out of the tire with both feet, while lying in the dirt on my back.
Finally a good Samaritan with a 10 pound sledge hammer helped me out.
What’s up with that? The rim had only been mounted for about 7 months: since the end of last winter.
I certainly can and have, but I won’t be anytime soon since my new car didn’t come with a spare.
Huh? Your new car doesn’t have a spare?
I always change mine. I even have AAA but no way am I going to sit around a wait for them.
I’ve always changed my own flat tires. I never feel like waiting for AAA, though the next time I get a flat on the highway, I just might. Especially if the flat tire is on the left.
And a note to passers by - If you ask the obvious “Got a flat tire?” as you see me loosening the lug nuts, the next words out of your mouth had better be “Do you need any help?”, otherwise you may get a tire iron across the chops. Obviously I have a flat tire. If you don’t want to offer to help, then don’t interrupt what I’m doing - just keep your damn trap shut and keep walking.
enipla: I read something about that recently; that more cars are going to lose the spare in the interest of saving weight for better gas mileage.