Megan emailed in recently and said:
We always look for ways to cut money — I coupon regularly and take surveys to save and earn money to be able to provide fun money for our family. We try to do most things ourselves and hate to hire since, most of the time, we can do it much cheaper (and better) than a “professional” can.
For six years, my husband and I always bought mulch in bulk and then spent several hours over several days carting it all over the yard with a wheelbarrow and making our islands look nice. Each scoop cost about $32 plus tax and we did it one truck load at a time plus we had to add in gas, time, and wear and tear on the truck.
Doing this up to 20 times in the matter of a weekend can really start to add up and zap the joy out of “doing it yourself”. We even tried having the mulch delivered for a small delivery charge, but we still had the same amount of labor involved.
Well, last spring, it was time to put new mulch out again and we were absolutely dreading it so we hired someone to do it for us. {GASP!}
We decided that it was just too much to do while trying to get my husband’s new company off and running, too. It was a very good decision.
One year later, my husband’s company is providing paychecks and health insurance to eight different employees and we are hiring the same guy to install our mulch again this year.
We have developed a relationship with this man who owns his own landscape company, and because we are repeat customers, he has given us a better price than we could probably get elsewhere. He purchases the mulch we like, brings eight scoops at a time, and has his workers install it — all for $45 a scoop.
It blows my mind that, when it comes down to it, we did all that physical manual labor just to save $8 per scoop! I know when you multiply $8 by 20 scoops, the savings does add up — but, at this season of our lives, it just isn’t worth it to us to both work for almost two days straight in order to only save $160 total.
We will gladly pay the $160 on top of the mulch price for this valuable service.
While we technically aren’t saving any money, we are choosing to pay someone a small amount of money in order to save valuable time — time that we’d rather spend with our children than mulching our yard!
Hope says
I’m not at a place yet where it makes more sense to have someone do things for me, but I think that’s a good place to be, eventually. Right now, every cent I save benefits me and helps me get financially stronger. Once I have more money in the bank, I’ll GLADLY turn a few things over, it’ll feel good to lighten my load a little AND help someone else make a living. Win-win.
I also really liked the writer’s statement about having employees and covering their health insurance. What a great feeling that must be, to help others feel more secure.
Heart and Haven says
This is a great point! There was a time in my life I was a single mom and didn’t have any money for any “extras”. Sometimes bartering, or even charging, for skills you’re good at could be helpful in this case….and could be a win-win to help another family as well.
I think that is a big reason, during this time of my life, that I pay others for various services (ie. landscaping, window washing, carpet cleaning, etc.). It’s rewarding to know that I can help other families put food on their tables too, by making an honest living 🙂
Jennifer says
We pay a lawn service to mow our lawn and it’s worth every penny. We both work long shifts and my husband works 60 hours plus a week. So when the mower died last spring I talked him into getting a service and it’s wonderful! Now his minimal time off is spent in better fashion and our yard looks fantastic!
Lana says
We have 2 1/2 heavily wooded acres and our kids are all grown. Storms bring down all kinds of debris and tree branches. Sometimes we hire neighborhood kids to do the clean up and it is worth every penny. We also have tree service come out to handle trees that need to be taken down. It would not be a good idea to drop a tree on our house!
LIz @ Wonder Woman I'm Not says
As I’ve gotten older I’ve come to realize that sometimes we have to realize our limitations. Instead of trying to do it all, reevaluating your priorities and asking for help is sometimes a better choice. I myself hire a cleaning service to come in every other week to do my floors, bathrooms, dusting, etc. Having those extra hours to spend time with my family or do something I enjoy is well worth the price.
If financially you are not in a position to hire someone I would suggest considering a barter. A lot of the items don’t require technical knowledge (cleaning, mulching, mowing, etc). Trading your skill, that you enjoy, with someone else could potentially not only make your life a little easier but it could also benefit the person you are trading with.
Tracy @ usingtimewisely.com says
Absolutely! We pay for all our vehicle maintenance and willingly pay for a qualified, professional to handle the oil changes, light bulbs, and routine maintenance. Great investment of our resources though we could save money doing some of it ourselves.
Elizabeth says
My husband always asks, “What is your time worth.” Now he rates his time as being more expensive than myself but that’s just comes down to ego and some days I’m surprised his head fits through the door LOL But the idea is still a pretty basic one. Sometimes it’s just worth paying someone else so you can have time and less stress.
Though about the mulch thing I only recently learned you’re suppose to do it more than once every few years LOL I’m horrible at landscaping though I think if I had to look at the daunting task every year I’d definitely spring for rubber mulch or rocks and not touch it for 10 years LOL … I’m a tad lazy 🙂
Lisa says
I completely agree! In addition to getting a chore done that we don’t particularly enjoy, we are providing income to someone who needs work and we have found that most of the time the work is done more efficiently and better than we can do.
Christina says
I am an RN and my hubby works 50-65 hrs a week. We have 2 young kids, so I pay someone to clean my house…I hate cleaning and would rather spend my time off with the kids… bonus, is that my SAHM friend is the one who cleans, so she makes out with some cash and I come home to a clean house =) soooo worth it!!!
Victoria says
I work with many people who try to sell their house on their own. Usually they get frustrated and give up. That’s why Realtors are here! Let us help. The commission is always negotiable and the home owner pays nothing upfront.
Matt says
We actually had a great experience selling our own home in a month. We had the time and did our research. We did some work on it and made sure we paid for comparable advertising. In the end we saved a hefty sum and were happy with that.
On the other hand when we redid our roof the cost savings wasn’t worth the extra weeks of labor that we didn’t anticipate.
Hope says
I will probably always use a realtor in buying and selling houses. Having a knowledgeable agent assist me in the whole process is worth paying for, as long as the price is reasonable. Just being spared the aggravation that often comes up is priceless.
Kim says
Time is money, and that is why Crystal doesn’t make her own tortillas! I stopped doing the surveys because I could make more money doing work from home than clicking boxes. Sometimes it is just worth the next $$ to get some rest to prepare for being 100% at your paid job.
fanged says
We thought to save money by doing the save the dates, invites, response cards, programs, place cards, thank you cards to our wedding ourselves. We bought a wedding invite kit, which helped streamline some of the cutting and pasting. While we had total creative control, at the end of the day, when you totaled the cost of the paper, color ink, oversized stapler, stamps not to mention, our time and effort, we barely broke even on the DIY venture, and possibly “lost” money on the deal.
I am so glad to have had this experience early in our marriage. We’ve since learned that outsourcing is viable, and preferable, in certain occassions.
On the flip side- We had ordered custom “monster cupcakes” for baby’s first birthday party. There must have been a disconnect between the front and the back of the house, because what was produced looked really poor. Hubs and I agreed I probably could have done a better job, and that they really weren’t acceptable. We refused the cupcakes, refused to pay, and went home and made our own.
Sometimes DIY can be cost effective and rewarding, other times, not so much so.
Kathleen says
Yes! I wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes it’s better to spend a little more in order to save some time and effort. My dad (who is super-frugal, but knows the value of time) always reminds us that “time is money.” I loved Amy’s observation in the Tell Your Time series (and this is my loose paraphrase): For every task, you have three options: do it yourself, let someone else do it (which sometimes means paying someone else to do it) or cross it off your list.
Hanna Copeland says
My husband is handy in some areas and not so handy in other areas. We both agreed to recently purchase windows and have them installed rather than do them ourselves. Our new windows have a lifetime warranty and are energy effecient. We got several discounts on them and will be reaping the benefits of better efficiency in our home as well as our budget.
The Coupon "High" says
Not to long ago we purchased several new appliances at Lowe’s. While my husband is capable of doing this he chose to pay for the installation. At first this frustrated me because it was an extra cost of about $60 to $100 per appliance.
However for my husband to install it he would have had to taken off a day of work. This alone would have taken away the savings. In addition since it was professionally installed the warranty is better.
However what made my frustration completely go away was by having it installoed we avoided paying sales tax. This was a 7% savings. That make the additional cost only $10 to $25 per appliance. Definitely worth having someone else do.
Erin says
I was just thinking about this in relation to the series about saving $100. I noticed most of those posts were things to *do* (make your own bread, cut your/your family’s hair) to save money rather than things not to do (spend less/more wisely), which I suppose is the overarching premise of this site. It’s so much easier to subtract non-necessities from your life than adding new tasks. When I had less money, I simply didn’t buy things that I could do without–and there are LOTS of thing one can do without! (And I don’t think people always get that. I was just reading an article about welfare, and I was shocked about the things people were spending their money on when they knew that their benefits wouldn’t last the entire month!) That said, if something requires skill rather than simply labor, I will pay those who have the skills. So I’m not cutting or coloring my own hair (better to go gray than end up with some of the horrendous shades I see!) but if it’s a matter of yard work or something that just requires a little work, we’ll do it ourselves.
Lea Stormhammer says
Things we’ve paid to have done:
* Taxes
* A complete gut and redo of our main bathroom
* Adding a second half bath (including putting in the plumbing under our concrete slab)
* Refinishing our hardwood floors (the entire main floor of our house)
* Re-wiring our house
* Finishing off our unfinished basement (walls, doors, electrical, heating, etc.)
Stuff we’ve done ourselves:
* Landscaping
* Installing a large patio (17′ x 24′)
* Painting – walls and ceilings
The difference? The amount of time it takes to do these things and the amount of enjoyment we have with them. I love to garden and don’t mind painting walls and ceilings. The patio was a one-time project with help from family. And our skill levels – we don’t know how to rewire our house (I’m sure we could learn) so for now this was better to hire it done!
We had both bathrooms – including digging through our foundation to install the plumbing – completed in 1 1/2 weeks by hiring it done and always had a working bathroom in the house. The floors took a week total for the entire level of the house. And our taxes take about 1 hour per year total (we have investments and self-employment stuff to deal with). We also know just enough about electrical, etc. to know that we probably need help and would have to bring in someone for at least part of it (especially since the prior owners of our house were some very unhandy Hanks!). All are and were worth it to us!
🙂
Lea
Kara M says
Absolutely it’s better to pay someone sometimes! We realized this 6 years ago or so when my husband had to spend 1 1/2 evenings per week, every week, to take care of our yard. He wouldn’t get home from work until 7:00pm and then would spend the rest of the evening (many times until bedtime—it was WAY dark) mowing and weed-eating the yard. Our girls were small at the time and didn’t understand why Daddy couldn’t spend any time with them and was in a horrible mood. We decided to budget money to have a man in our church that was just beginning a lawn service to do this. It has been THE BEST decision we have made. Our yard looks much better (it’s amazing how much better you can see to mow in the daytime) and our family is much happier!
Theres says
Taxes!
I did it myself online one year but due to my slow Internet connection, I hit the “submit” button twice and ended up filing twice. I had to pay an accountant to fix the mess.
I took advantage of a free service through AARP for many years, but had to drive quite a distance and wait for a while. It was good and free, but I had to use a vacation day from work. Now I pay an accountant who attends my church. He appreciates the business and I know it is done correctly.
Jillbert says
We, too, pay someone to mulch our yard and also to maintain it through the growing season. We could do this work ourselves for a lot less but it makes sense for us to hire someone. One, we can afford it. The cost is already built into our budget. Two, we’ve been using the same landscaper for a decade — we know him personally and trust his work and experience. Three, he supports his extended family with his business and to do it ourself would deprive him (and his extended family who lives in a third world country) of the income it provides. And finally, he’s far more meticulous than we would ever be — my yard is in top shape through the spring, summer & fall — it’s a win for all of us.
Jamie Rohrbaugh says
Yes, yes, yes… money is only worth so much. My husband hasn’t agreed to it yet, but I really want to hire someone to do our yard work. I’m the only one that can care for teh yard right now because he has allergies… and between my job, family, church work, blogging, housework, etc, our yard really tends to suffer. 🙁 Ugh. But to me it would totally be worth the money. I’m right there with you.
Rachel says
We generally do everything ourselves also, although we had to make a decision similar to this recently. We are refinishing our basement and my husband is doing it himself. He did a lot of research on how to do it, and we planned the layout. His brother helped him do all the framing first and then my husband did all the electrical wiring. The next step was the drywall. We debated back and forth as to whether we should hire someone or he should do it. We had someone come and give an estimate for the drywall and labor, and it was ridiculously high so he was going to go ahead and try it himself. Then we found a neighbor who works for a drywall company and does drywalling on the side. We bought the drywall, carried it to the basement ourselves and we paid our neighbor to come and hang it for us and do the mudding. It was much cheaper than the first estimate, and based on the time my husband would have had to spend to learn how to do it, SO worth it for us. He is now finishing up everything else himself. We were happy with our final decison.
Bethany says
I am all about “leaving it to the experts” — I hate yardwork and would rather outsource it. I hate painting as well — its worth the wear and tear on my nerves to pay extra to have somebody that knows what they are doing do it.
Lucy says
We’re struggling with the same decision right now. We’re putting down new flooring all throughout our ranch home (hiring this done) but my husband wants to paint before the new flooring is installed. We have a ranch home, but also have cathedral ceilings that are 21-feet high. My husband works at least a 12 hour day and would only have the dark hours during the weekdays (not condusive to painting) and the weekends to paint. He also would have to rent scafolding at $30 a day. They will only guarantee the quote for so many weeks before it might have a cost increase. He wants to do it all himself and doesn’t even think I can do the taping or painting the trim. (I have health issues). I hate to put the money out to hire a painter, but in this case it might be worth it.
Lisa says
Get recommendations and a few quotes. We used to paint all the time for ourselves. The most recent paint job we hired out. Totally worth every penny! A better job, in less time and easier on our necks, backs and arms.
Sarah D says
This nov we had a leak in our hot water system. Normal hubby is pretty handy with plumbing but woke that morning with a sinus infection and was a mess with his asthma. Plus he was leaving in 2 days for a business trip. So instead of fixing it himself, he decided to have the heating company come out and pay for the charge. It was only one man hour for the guy to fix it, but to hubby getting it done and the rest he needed, it was worth it.
heather says
yep, especially when my hubby would have to spend time on that project. we decided long ago that things we couldn’t do in a 4-6 hour time period ie…replacing the flooring, fixing plumbing, ect…were better off being saved for and getting someone else to do it.
cheryl says
Yes it is a good value if it’s what works for you. We both work, my husband is a a HR rep with long hours and a stressful job, I work 2-3 days a week in a factory and we own 20 rental properties that we manage ourselves. We work on properties several days a week and rarely get Saturdays off. In essence we both have two jobs. The there’s church responsibilites as well as our family responsibilites. Time is a huge factor for us so this past summer we chose to have our blacktop resurfaced for $400. Our driveway is very big and we had quotes over $6oo, Hubs said I am not doing it just find the best deal so I did. We also had flooring installed on our first floor of our house. We put it off for a few years as time and money kept getting in the way and finally bought it at Ollies (highly recommend them) and paid a handyman to install it. He charged about $800, over half less than others and still my husband got to focus on our business as well as letting someone else do all the labor for a change. We were happy to pay the money in both cases, we’re frugal and we try to be good stewards of all we’ve been given. And you know in both cases the folks we hired needed the money so it was a win win for all involved!
amy wilson says
We paid Ace Hardware for new window screens. My husband didn’t have much success doing it himself and it took a long time. Now, we can save money by opening our windows 🙂
Heart and Haven says
There are a few tasks I hire out:
professional carpet cleaning & window washing (both 2 times a year).
The truck mounted steam cleaner gets the carpets much cleaner than what I can do renting a steamer, and $110 to clean windows inside & outside and screens on a 2 story house with 8 windows and 2 sliders is a pretty good deal! Also, both services are done in under 2 hours….so I can enjoy “instant” satisfaction of a job well done.
Denise says
My husband and I buy starter plants from a local nursery instead of starting our own. The plants grow better, don’t cost too much more up front than seeds would, and it saves us TIME!
Time and energy are very valuable. Sometimes more than money!
And someone mentioned OIL CHANGES. My husband is an Automotive Technician and even getting the parts and oil at cost doesn’t save us any money doing it himself than he would if he took the car to a quick lube! So you guys out there keep that in mind 🙂 Obviously my husband still changes our oil because he has the time/materials/shop to do it in but if he were in a different line of work we would pay someone to do it!
cheryl says
Oh yes I mentioned below a few things we hired outrecently but I always pay to get my oil changed, using local coupons of course. My husband is NOT mechanical so we’ve always paid to have our cars worked on. Thankfully we have a neighbor who we pay to make repairs as well as a few family members that are mechanics.
Lauren says
My husband’s theory about more complicated jobs is that he’ll get paid for what he’s good at, and we’ll pay someone to do what they’re good at. We are about to get our yard graded and happily paying someone to do it.
Stephanie @ Mrs. Debtfighter says
I do feel like it is a good value to pay to have something done instead of DIY if it is something you don’t enjoy and takes up too much time! Plus, if you find a local, small business owner to complete your task, it is a win-win situation. You get your work done and you are also supporting a family-owned business or a stay-at-home mom making extra money for her family.
Amanda says
We just put a new roof on our house in the fall. While we could have saved money doing it ourselves, we hired a contractor. We were and still are at a point where we just didn’t have the time to give. And really it was such a releif having professionals come and get it done in one day and we did end up getting a good deal so it was a major stress releif there.
Jen says
My husband and I have a good balance. I always like to DIY and try new things, and while he enjoys some pf those types of things too (key word: enjoys!), he says that time is money, so we need to be smart about what we choose to DIY and what we spend our money on. Example, we had some water proofing work done in our basement before we finish it. While he could have done it himself and saved over $1000, it would have been several weekends of back-breaking work. He decided to pay for not only the labor, but also the peace of mind to know it was done right and quickly, and to know he was saving me from weekends of being a “project widow”….knowing there will be plenty of those to come! He can save those hours for projects he will actually enjoy doing.
Dahlia says
I believe you have to count your time as valuable too. Especially if it’s not something you enjoy.
Emily says
We too try to save money wherever we can, but one thing we hire out is the lawn mowing. We have a rather large yard, and my husband’s job requires a lot of overtime in the summer. So for him to keep up on the yard too, meant he had almost no time to spend with me and the kids. Since we felt that we could afford to hire someone, we did, and have been so thankful for the extra family time!
Kalee says
My husband is very much a DIY person, and does not like to hire out projects, however I have convinced him 2 times that it was worth it to pay someone else. Having new windows put in, and last year we had to have the water pipes from our house to the alley replaced due to tree roots in the line. Afterwards when it was done in a short amount of time, I think he was definitely relieved to have not had to do all that himself.
However we bought tile for our 2 bathrooms and our kitchen/dining area, which we will be doing ourselves. We got one shower done last week, and I am afraid it is going to take much longer than I hoped though!
Jessica says
It depends on if you have the skill, equipment and time to do it. Taking on a project only to find that you foul it up and have to hire someone to fix it costs your time, your supplies and attitude. Starting a project only to find you have to buy x, y, z, a, b, c may be more expensive. And it could be that your time would be better spent on other money earning or saving activities.
Becka says
It’s definitely a good value to hire someone for certain jobs. We have hired construction students or even whole classes for certain jobs around our house. They have access to tools and equipment that we would have to rent or buy and have expert teachers/mentors who will advise them if they encounter a problem they are unsure about. We have never had a bad experience in over 30 years of home ownership and it has been a great blessing when we encounter a job that we do not feel qualified to handle ourselves.
Katie L says
Oil change.
Also, when we moved across country, we got most of our boxes for free from a family who had just moved, but we bought additional wardrobe boxes, picture frame boxes & mattress covers, & rented blankets. And we used ABF to drive our stuff. It was completely worth it to us to have an easier time loading the truck with quality, uniform boxes, and every time we saw a big moving truck maneuvering around a parking lot, we agreed we were so glad to be in our car together, not driving a moving truck.
If we’re ever in a financial position to do so, I’d hire someone to help with housework. I love teaching my kids, I love crafting, I enjoy making dinner for my family, but I’d gladly pay someone to do the deep-cleaning jobs.
Joy in Alabama says
My husband is a pastor in a large denomination and we move a lot. We used to move ourselves, but we’re not in our 20s or 30s anymore so now we hire 2 Men and a Truck to take us to the next place. It’s totally worth it! My furniture is not great, but, hey, it’s all I’ve got and I don’t want it scratched, which had been the case when we moved ourselves and had church people or friends helping us. We still move our huge amount of books ourselves to save money and if we have more than will fit into the truck, we finish it up ourselves instead of getting a second truck.
Jenny says
A few years ago we came to the same realization and had someone install our new floors rather than do it ourselves. As it turns out, it saved us a HUGE amount of money. The flooring material was warped and once it was laid down, there were weird ridges all over the floor. Since it had been professionally installed, they pulled it all up and relaid it with non-warped flooring.
The installer told us that if we had installed it ourselves, the manufacturer would have claimed it had been installed incorrectly and that it was our fault. Since a pro installed it, they admitted the problem was with the flooring and replaced it free of charge.
Kayla says
Absolutely! I choose to spend the $5-$6 at the car wash every other week rather than the 45 minutes it would take to gather supplies, wash the car, clean everything up, change clothes, etc. Plus, I don’t have to deal with a muddy driveway for the rest of the afternoon.
Shannon says
This is a great one! I once washed my own vehicles and actually used to use a wisk broom to sweep out the entire vehicle because that is how my dad did it. Well, I’m not a spring chicken anymore and prices of soap, scrubbers, and even the waste of water started to wear on me so I decided to spend the $5 to splurge and wash my van. It is so much faster and eco-friendly honestly considering the hour it took me before.
Andi says
now I was just thinking the opposite this past weekend. We were on vacation and paid $9 for the “extreme” car wash. It was by mistake, we meant to buy the cheap wash but pushed the wrong button. Well it did make the car look better but it didn’t give it nearly as good of a cleaning job as if we would have done it ourselves. There are dirty streaks down the car, all around it. Not so “extreme” 🙁 We usually try to make it fun by having the kids help and they enjoy that plus it doesn’t take all that long if several people are “helping”.
Jeffrey James says
This is very true… Sometimes we get so caught up in saving a few cents here, a dollar there… and we end up spending all of our time trying to save more instead of using that time for the things that actually matter! Of course we should try to be frugal, but not at the expense of our sanity.
Nicole @ Amazing Frugal Mom says
My husband and I were just talking about this, but in regards to groceries. I love to make everything myself to save $$. However, I can’t stand peeling garlic! To me it’s worth it to spend double or triple and buy the containers of whole peeled cloves and save myself that dreaded chore a few days per week!
gina says
Perfect timing. We are trying to get our house ready to sell, and there are tons of halfway done/not started projects that are really necessary to selling the house. My husband just took a job across the country (where we will move in summer, hence selling the house) and is gone most of the time–when he is home, we don’t want to be painting/DIY-ing the whole time. I was feeling incredibly torn about paying a handyman to do a bunch of things, but at this point, it makes sense. Thanks for this article today–helps ease my guilt!
Sarah says
I absolutely agree! While I love to save money and feel that sense of accomplishment the same as the next person I have always said that sometimes it is best not to try to do something in my/our spare time that is someone else’s profession! Sometimes there is a reason there is an entire business built around some of these things, and it’s because these people are professionals and know what they are doing.
Christina says
With 3 kids (6, 3 and 7 months) we’re debating having a reasonably priced painter (after several different quotes) paint our new old house (the entire thing is desperate for paint) rather than put our family through the chaos of us trying to tackle it in our “free” time. The quote for our small kids’ bath was rather high so we’re going to do that one ourselves. I know a lot of people would see this as a waste, but we both really hate painting (having painted our entire previous 2 homes ourselves minus children) and would rather be faithful diy-ers in a lot of other areas (my husband is great at learning how to fix things via internet).
Rosie says
I would have to agree! Time is so valuable, especially when both parents work, or have other committments. You must ask yourself, How much am I really saving, and do I really enjoy this? If the trade off is not feeling overworked, stressed, exhausted, and have time to participate in something enjoyable, it’s putting your best efforts toward those things that really matter, than just to save a few bucks in every regard. There are so many ways to save money, and you can save money even with those tasks you choose to outsource, by calling around and comparing quotes. I TOTALLY think it’s worth it to pay for other people to do things for you, especially if you are not gifted in that particular area or it would be easier for them to do it for you, do it faster, and do it better!
jennifer says
we have adopted some of this too. We have a lawn guy help hubby with the lawn once in a while and I had a cleaning lady come last week and plan to have her come once a month. yes we can both do these things but with every moment taken these 2 things are a huge help which allow for more family time. after the house was cleaned and kids down for a nap (and I was actually off on a saturday) we sat down, relaxed and talked! I even had a nap for the first time in 7 months!
as much as I love to save sometimes it is not always about the $$
Kimber says
I hire a sweet lady to come clean for us once a month. I enjoy couponing, and I happily keep my grocery budget well below the national average. I don’t enjoy cleaning, so I feel feel fully justified in hiring someone to do that for me! Of course, if money was incredibly tight, I wouldn’t do that, but we are blessed to be in a position right now where we can afford it, and our wonderful cleaning lady is happy to have the work.
Joy in Alabama says
I clean houses and offices and sure do appreciate having a little bit of spending money for myself to cover gifts, school tuition, clothing for myself and the kids, etc. without straining our budget further. Thanks to people like you, I’m able to help my husband in our one-income family.
Kimber says
Thanks for the sweet feedback! :o)
Jen says
I totally agree with you. I also have to say as a wife to an independent contractor who specializes in windows, doors, and carpentry services, we appreciate those that do pay for labor. Yes you’re spending a little more, but you’re also feeding a family like ours. Thank you!
Roxanne says
We are often surprised at how little we can actually save on certain projects by doing it ourselves.
The most recent thing we have outsourced is fertilizing our lawn. It’s not much labor to do it, but hiring a service is essentially the same price as doing it ourselves. So we are happy to save time and support a local business!
Maureen says
I agree. We started hiring someone a few years ago for about $20 over what it would cost us to do it ourselves (that’s 4-6 applications throughout the year and they will come out separately if you are having weed issues). And now we don’t have to store a spreader in our garage, either.
Carla says
I hired a man to cut our grass and clean up our yard when my husband was physically exhausted from stress ( and mentally, and emotionally). While my husband was sleeping, the man did all the work. It was such a surprise and a relief when I told my husband to look out the window and he was shocked!! Normally I would not do this without checking first with my husband, but I felt it was okay! 🙂 But it really did end up being a great thing during a hard time.
Lori says
My husband works long, hard hours too and we have entered the season in our lives where it’s often worth it to pay someone to do the jobs that stress him out or would take a long time to do. It’s still hard for me to call workers for help, but I’ve come to accept that’s what I need to do sometimes if I want to get things done. I try to make up for it by being frugal in other ways.
Stephanie says
We just refinished our floors ourselves. It has been hard work but in the end our floors look great and we saved two thousand dollars in the process. We have done a lot of work on our home over the last four years. Some we have had to redo but we are almost done and our time is finally paying off.
CJ says
I wont try to tackle a project if I know I have the potential to mess it up so badly that it will cost me extra to have it fixed, or if it would create a hazard. I once installed an exterior door lock up side down and of course panicked that I’d never be able to lock the door ever again! Fortunately I figured it out and was able to finish it. I’m better about doing things myself when I have help (which isnt often). My mom and I have replaced a dryer belt, replaced a toilet, installed a screen door, replaced an outdoor drain pipe, and put up ceramic tiles all without really knowing what we were doing! But I much prefer to pay someone so I know it will be done right and will cause me a minimum of aggravation and inconvenience.
Lisa says
Well said!
Jo Lynn says
I totally agree!! This is something my husband and I talk about often when making decisions like this. Money definitely has value…and so does time and energy. We definitely try to keep that in mind when deciding to hire or go for it ourselves.
Shannon says
We bought our refrigerator and range at an auction in Indianapolis 4 months ago both for just under $100. We did not plan on getting so lucky to buy these things that day so had no way to transport them. The auction house gives you a few days to arrange for pick up so that was a relief. Well, that day I called a moving company and they were charging over $200 to deliver these two appliances approximately 40 miles to our home. I decided to walk around the auction and approach some of the “regulars” who had big moving style trucks to see if I could work something out and sure enough one man said he would deliver both appliances to our new home for only $80. This was such a relief and of course we tipped him as well since we were so grateful. We feel this was well worth paying for the handling and delivery of such items in this case and only had around $200 in a “new to us” fridge and range which are both working perfectly so far 4 months later!
Sue Dion says
Hi Shannon what auction is that we are in need of such things and live in that area
Shannon says
Hi Sue, It is called Christy’s of Indiana. They are located at 6851 S Madison Ave
indianapolis, IN 46227. Every Wed. is called Market Day for the general public. The auction starts a 9a.m. and ends around 5p.m. There are 4 different buildings with one having furniture/appliances, one having specialty items, one with big boxed lots, and the main room with just about everything else. You can view a lot of the things they will offer on their website at Christys dot com. We have furnished much of our home over the past 7 years going here and just love it! I hope you can go one Wed. and find some things you need.
Shannon says
They are also a Christian family run auction and I meant to mention that they have a prayer team at 8 a.m. open to the public as well 🙂
Sue Dion says
Thank you sooo much for the information
Sarah says
I completely agree! We felt this way when we replaced our deck. We spent an extra $200 in labor, but my husband (who already works 15 hrs a day) had the chance to come home and relax instead of working every spare second. We had the money and not the time (my husband is gone before the kids are awake and home just before bed) so we decided the time together was more valuable.
Ashley @ These Precious Days says
Definitely! My husband hates cleaning out the gutters on our two story home and really is not crazy about big ladders. Anyway, he usually does it for us because we are cheap…err, frugal. Ha! However, my father-in-law passed away last November and as the weather was getting colder and days were getting shorter we opted to hire it done. $50 well spent, so that my husband could be relieved of the additional burden on one of his few days off.
Amy Rose says
This reminds me of Michael Hyatt’s philosophy of delegating tasks that you don’t particularly enjoy, that distract from your passion and goals, but need to be done. Is the extra cost of out sourcing worth the time you can spend doing things that matter to you more? It also reminds me of your post, Crystal, about buying tortillas instead of making your own. Does DIY save enough money or have other value to you to be worth the time it takes?