How to Desolder Components

Here's a nice tutorial on desoldering components. I really need to brush up on my soldering skills and I can't count the number of times a little soldering has led to cool results. I'd like the confidence to take on trickier projects using more expensive parts, but my lack of training in soldering techniques has scared me away more than once... I'm too scared to do a $20 mod on a $100 item for fear of owning a $120 pile of scrap...