In today’s society we are pulled in so many different direction. We are pulled in the directions of work, family, leisure pursuits, day to day life.
If you have a spouse, children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren, we get pulled into their lives. We become a part of what’s pulling them in different directions. Many times it just feels like we are operating a 3-ring circus. It’s these moments that it’s very hard to sit down and wonder what your time worth. Yet, we should be.
Figuring out what our “hourly rate” is for things we do in our lives is something we all need to do. It’s an integral part of moving our lives forward and determining how to allocate our time. The day-to-day or ordinary life tasks can often bog us down and become excuses why we don’t have time to do something (I.e. attend a seminar, sign up for a masterclass, look at more rental properties). How many of our day-to-day tasks are we better off paying someone else to do? If we paid someone else to do somethings, how could we then spend that gained time?
Two common tasks I personally love offloading are grocery shopping and lawn care. Most stores offer curbside pickup or delivery. These services are anywhere from $5-$15. If it saves your 40-70 minutes, what would you do with that time? Evaluate 2 extra properties a week? Read a few chapters from an investing book?
Lawn care is a touchy one. I know some people are very particular about their lawns.They like it cut a certain way, the lines have to make a certain design layout, etc. I’ve known two of these people in my life (gladly neither me nor my husband are one). For the rest of us that aren’t as picky, how much time would you gain if you paid someone else to do this? What if you hired a service? Paid a neighbor cash to do it? Maybe a son, daughter, niece, nephew, etc? If it takes you 2 hours to mow the lawn where does the $39 to service fall on the worth it scale?
What are some other things you can outsource? Well beyond grocery shopping most big box stores have in-store or curbside pick up for domestic goods as well. House cleaning? Services can sometimes be pricey but may be you know an entrepreneurial teenager who would do the major cleaning for $10/hour cash?
Remember, when you outsource something be sure you are using the time to make yourself more productive and more profitable. It won’t pay to outsource the small stuff if you swap it for tv time or video game time (unless you have a Youtube channel as a gamer of course).
So I ask you, what is your time worth for domestic tasks?