These days we hire out all sorts of things that we used to do ourselves. We pay people to mow our lawns and shovel our driveways. We pay people to clean our houses and carpets and vehicles. Why do we do this? Are we lazy? Too busy? Do we have too much money? No matter what the reasoning is, as individuals who need to save for our future (I don’t know anyone who doesn’t need to do that), we should be doing these things for ourselves as opposed to hiring them out!
So you say you don’t know how to do certain things around the house? Learn. Lack of knowledge is no excuse for not doing something! Check out the Diy Network for instructions on how to fix lots of common things around the house. Every time you fix something yourself, you’re saving money for your future! If you’re hiring out lawn mowing and driveway shoveling, stop. Unless you are not physically capable, there is no reason you should be paying someone to do things around your house! Besides, a little extra physical activity is good for us all!
Your favorite southern couple hates to hire out work. We try to do as much as we can ourselves, and only hire out when absolutely necessary (having a broken tree removed from our yard, for example). If we don’t know how to fix something, we research it. We do understand that not everyone is “handy” around the house, however. If you’re not handy, then befriend someone who is, and trade services. Whatever your talent, exchange that for their help. Maybe they fix your toilet and you help them (as a personal trainer, for example) teach them a basic fitness program in return.
Whatever the circumstance, figure out a way to do things for yourself! Not only will you save money, but you will become more self sufficient!
Tags: Frugality, Personal responsibility, saving money, Spending Money
I love the sentiment but also have one observation to make. My husband and I do what we can to take care of ourselves, but at a certain point one also has to weigh the cost of your own time spent doing something (i.e., could your time be better spent doing something else?) vs. the cost of paying someone else to do the something for you. For us, this means having a cleaner come to the house every two weeks — they do the whole house once a month and the main floor every two weeks. It’s not that we can’t and aren’t willing to do it, but rather that I have a demanding career as a patent attorney, my husband has an exhausting career as a high school teacher, and we have a 22 month old and 2 dogs to distract us in our free time. That’s not to say that these costs come at the expense of other savings (our only debt is our mortgage, we have extensive retirement and emergency savings, and we already have extensive savings for our munchkin’s education). But if we weren’t already financially “sound”, I absolutely would agree with your advice that these extra expenses should be cut out in order to increase savings.
We agree with you Elizabeth! Given your situation (no debt except the mortgage and money going into savings, hopefully at least 15%), which is where we hope our readers find themselves sooner rather than later, it is absolutely understandable to have a cleaner come in to help you out. We wish you and yours continued luck and success!