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Every successful entrepreneur from Mark Cuban to Jay Z says time is your most valuable asset. Not only in the sense that we all only have so much time before we die but also in the sense that if you can make $50 an hour at your business and you spend 4 hours cleaning your house you could have made $200 in the time it took you to clean where as you probably could have paid someone $60 to clean your house so in that sense you lost $140 in time/earned income.
I'm all for being frugal and struggle with this issue where as I don't want to pay anyone to do anything for me that I can do myself I also realize sometimes its in my best interest and fiscally the smartest thing to do to pay someone to do a job for me.
I know some people like working on their own cars, some people like re-using plastic bags, etc. I was just curious how much you guys value your time, what value you place on your time and if you sometimes spend money because your time is more valuable than whatever you paid for a given task.
Every successful entrepreneur from Mark Cuban to Jay Z says time is your most valuable asset. Not only in the sense that we all only have so much time before we die but also in the sense that if you can make $50 an hour at your business and you spend 4 hours cleaning your house you could have made $200 in the time it took you to clean where as you probably could have paid someone $60 to clean your house so in that sense you lost $140 in time/earned income.
I'm all for being frugal and struggle with this issue where as I don't want to pay anyone to do anything for me that I can do myself I also realize sometimes its in my best interest and fiscally the smartest thing to do to pay someone to do a job for me.
I know some people like working on their own cars, some people like re-using plastic bags, etc. I was just curious how much you guys value your time, what value you place on your time and if you sometimes spend money because your time is more valuable than whatever you paid for a given task.
The first question is - what would you *honestly* do with extra time? If it isn't either work or something that would reduce your expenditures such as cooking, then your time, from a financial standpoint, isn't worth much apart from what you need for basic living activities and sleep.
The second question is - what are you earning money for? If your goals include something that requires a lot of time that you don't have, they may still be worthwhile nonetheless.
The first question is - what would you *honestly* do with extra time? If it isn't either work or something that would reduce your expenditures such as cooking, then your time, from a financial standpoint, isn't worth much apart from what you need for basic living activities and sleep.
The second question is - what are you earning money for? If your goals include something that requires a lot of time that you don't have, they may still be worthwhile nonetheless.
I think this question is most relevant to people who either own a business or have some type of side income because your right if I work a 9-5 and I come home at 5, the rest of the night I'm not going to be making money whether I'm washing dishes or watching tv.
If you either own a business or make some craft onthe side that you sell online, mow lawns, etc if you have any side income you can do at your leisure then this qustion is especially relevant.
This question does apply to everyone though. The time you take cleaning your house you could be spending with family, reading to your kids, etc
I've debated this a number of times because I live in an affluent community where most outsource domestic duties and I simply have never been able to outsource myself. But why not?
First of all, with a savings rate of 30%+ a month we are saving plenty of money and I don't NEED to bring in more cash. Having someone clean my house wouldn't then be a "need" it would just be a "want". I'm pretty careful to indulge in "wants". I find that the more I concentrate on "needs" the more I save.
Secondly, I have a pretty strong orientation towards sustainability and environmentalism and it pains me to think I would pay someone to come from 20-40 miles away (lower SES) just to clean my house. 40-80 minutes of carbon emissions because I'm too lazy to do it myself is not acceptable.
Thirdly, it's healthy for me to move. My mother and my grandmother never had weight issues. I don't have weight issues. Getting on my hands and knees to clean the floors and baseboards probably helps me stay fit. When you Scrub, lift, sweep and wipe.. you don't need a gym! But I can pay for a monthly yoga membership for the same amount I'd pay someone to clean the house once a week. I win twice by doing it myself.
Fourth, I really don't want to support the social inequality. Yeah, I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes (if so, just move on to the next poster). I've heard it a million times before that "they need jobs" or "it's better than nothing". And that's sort of true, but I personally won't do it unless I have to. Maybe I simply can't articulate it yet. My sister-in-law in Mexico pays $100 for 30 hours of labor each week... $100 will pay for just one house cleaning in my city. If it were a full-time job this individual would be making $130 a week. My sister-in-law's husband works for an American bank and is paid an American salary.... a banker's salary.... that is some major social inequality and my SIL thinks nothing of it. She doesn't recognize the individual cleaning her house as a person so much as a commodity. It's a service, not a person, and thus it's easier to negotiate to the bottom line without much consideration for the circumstances of the individual performing the service. The whole social class treats the lower income folks this way and little wonder the lower income folks develop their bad habits... they become untrustworthy, unpredictable and they'll take opportunity to steal and cheat and lie. If the system were based on more mutual trust and respect. Less about the "value of time" and more on the "value of person" well I think it could be a better, more collaborative society.
Every successful entrepreneur from Mark Cuban to Jay Z says time is your most valuable asset. Not only in the sense that we all only have so much time before we die but also in the sense that if you can make $50 an hour at your business and you spend 4 hours cleaning your house you could have made $200 in the time it took you to clean where as you probably could have paid someone $60 to clean your house so in that sense you lost $140 in time/earned income.
I'm all for being frugal and struggle with this issue where as I don't want to pay anyone to do anything for me that I can do myself I also realize sometimes its in my best interest and fiscally the smartest thing to do to pay someone to do a job for me.
I know some people like working on their own cars, some people like re-using plastic bags, etc. I was just curious how much you guys value your time, what value you place on your time and if you sometimes spend money because your time is more valuable than whatever you paid for a given task.
If you value your time, then that doesn't mean to stop saving for a rainy day, but what it does mean is to have short-term savings funds and not just long-term ones. The short-term ones can be for spending sprees, traveling, going out, getting drunk. There's nothing wrong with doing all of this stuff...it's actually insane not to..... But do it with short-term savings funds so that when you splurge you don't lose anything more than you set aside. For this you can use a simple money market fund
You can plan a fun day, week, month, or set of months, just budget first then splurge it
It depends on the task. Yard work? I pay someone to mow my grass weekly but I do the larger yard projects. I removed and replaced 3 windows at our house but would love to have a maid service. We did for a while but my wife thought it was too expensive. I think we paid 160.00 a month for two visits, I miss the extra free time on the weekends
I've debated this a number of times because I live in an affluent community where most outsource domestic duties and I simply have never been able to outsource myself. But why not?
First of all, with a savings rate of 30%+ a month we are saving plenty of money and I don't NEED to bring in more cash. Having someone clean my house wouldn't then be a "need" it would just be a "want". I'm pretty careful to indulge in "wants". I find that the more I concentrate on "needs" the more I save.
Secondly, I have a pretty strong orientation towards sustainability and environmentalism and it pains me to think I would pay someone to come from 20-40 miles away (lower SES) just to clean my house. 40-80 minutes of carbon emissions because I'm too lazy to do it myself is not acceptable.
Thirdly, it's healthy for me to move. My mother and my grandmother never had weight issues. I don't have weight issues. Getting on my hands and knees to clean the floors and baseboards probably helps me stay fit. When you Scrub, lift, sweep and wipe.. you don't need a gym! But I can pay for a monthly yoga membership for the same amount I'd pay someone to clean the house once a week. I win twice by doing it myself.
Fourth, I really don't want to support the social inequality. Yeah, I'm sure some of you are rolling your eyes (if so, just move on to the next poster). I've heard it a million times before that "they need jobs" or "it's better than nothing". And that's sort of true, but I personally won't do it unless I have to. Maybe I simply can't articulate it yet. My sister-in-law in Mexico pays $100 for 30 hours of labor each week... $100 will pay for just one house cleaning in my city. If it were a full-time job this individual would be making $130 a week. My sister-in-law's husband works for an American bank and is paid an American salary.... a banker's salary.... that is some major social inequality and my SIL thinks nothing of it. She doesn't recognize the individual cleaning her house as a person so much as a commodity. It's a service, not a person, and thus it's easier to negotiate to the bottom line without much consideration for the circumstances of the individual performing the service. The whole social class treats the lower income folks this way and little wonder the lower income folks develop their bad habits... they become untrustworthy, unpredictable and they'll take opportunity to steal and cheat and lie. If the system were based on more mutual trust and respect. Less about the "value of time" and more on the "value of person" well I think it could be a better, more collaborative society.
Common now get off your high horse. Your fourth reason is pretty out there. You won't pay someone to clean your house because your sister doesn't respect her house cleaner and because you don't feel people should have to do menial or manual work? Really?
I know a girl who cleans houses herself with a girlfriend or two and makes a good 70k per year. It's all about working for yourself and not working for someone else for min wage. Secondly, who do you think picks up your garbage, picks the fruit you eat, etc? It's people making a low amount of money probably not being respected at their workplace but are you going to stop eating fruits and veggies?
To each their own your obviously welcome to have your own views and spend your money how you like but not getting a housekeeper because of how someone else treats theirs ins't a reason its silly
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