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I've always bought time. Even going back 30-40 years ago, I always joked that my toolbox consisted of my checkbook and the phone book. (Remember those?)
I also used to say that my home repair/improvement expertise began and ended at changing lightbulbs. (And my wife complained that I didn't do that right! She was convinced that I was screwing them in crookedly, lol.)
When I buy something I do a ton of research, but I'm seriously considering hiring a car broker to buy a car for me because I can't stand the sliminess of dealers. I'm not sure I'm happy about the idea of hiring out such a task, but not having to deal with car salesperson might take a weight off.
I wish we had discovered sooner that when we hire someone to paint our bedroom that we do not wake up the next morning stiff and sore and hunched over for a week.
We still do many DIY projects because we like to and still enjoy yard/gardening work. We hire out the things that have a higher probability of injury now, like using the extension ladder to clean out the gutters on the second story in NY and cutting large trees down/grinding stumps in FL. It's a matter of safety and having the right equipment to do the job.
Many times repairs are done by us because of timing and scheduling of repair people. We had a burner go out on our glass top stove. An appointment needed to be scheduled for an estimate and another to order the part and install. DH ordered the part from Amazon and watched a video on YouTube for installing it. Three days instead of a week and a half. He is very competent and patient when making repairs, it's like a puzzle to solve and he enjoys it.
None of us are retired, but still, the idea remains inline with this thread...
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My sister and BIL just hire help to mow the lawn and do gardening. They make plenty of money to justify paying AFAIK are reasonable rates to get back hours of time.
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When I travel out of town, driving more than 2 hours 1-way (4+ hours round trip), I stay in town for an extra night or 2, and pay an extra $80 to $120 per night for a motel. The time and energy driving down there is the "true cost" of traveling for me.
When I lived in a condo, I happily forked over hundreds of dollars per month for them to take care of all of the exterior work.
I'm just the opposite.
I learned years ago that given my work schedule it was easier to hire out a lot of chores. I had a cleaner once a week, sent my laundry out (no washer and dryer in my house) and used a car service and taxis (no car).
Now that I am retired I do my own laundry, drive myself and handle daily/weekly cleaning. I still have someone come in an deep clean the bathrooms, floors and kitchen once a month.
When I buy something I do a ton of research, but I'm seriously considering hiring a car broker to buy a car for me because I can't stand the sliminess of dealers. I'm not sure I'm happy about the idea of hiring out such a task, but not having to deal with car salesperson might take a weight off.
That's a great idea, but I've never heard of hiring a car broker. Hope you don't mind me asking, but is that common in your area ?
My wife likes to hire a house cleaner. She'll gladly pay for that. We hire a gardener for our Arizona house because of the complexity of maintaining desert landscaping. Our Alaska house just requires mowing the lawn once a week, so I handle that. As for vehicle maintenance, I do oil changes and any other minor maintenance.
I wish we had discovered sooner that when we hire someone to paint our bedroom that we do not wake up the next morning stiff and sore and hunched over for a week.
I totally forgot about that one! Yes, a million times yes! Painting is easy so it's hard to mentally accept hiring it out, but at the same time, there are hundreds of painters on craigslist who charge bottom dollar. I don't miss waking up with sore everything and paint in my hair the next day.
I have been a hot rodder and shade tree mechanic all my life. Now at 74 I am willing to pay a mechanic to do work I could do to buy time and a lot of automotive work is a pain in the rear
It's wonderful to find a mechanic you like and trust.
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