I love saving money, and I love doing projects myself. I definitely love saving money by doing projects myself. But, I do recognize there’s a line at which the money I could pay someone to do a task for me is absolutely worth the cost.
Here are four things I gladly pay someone to do for me:
Yard Thatching
As the snow cover melts in early spring, it reveals my matted down lawn. It needs to be raked to remove the dead clippings from the previous season allowing the live grass to get sunlight and thrive. Raking my lawn would be a full weekend job. Instead, I pay a lawn service $100 to use their lawn tractor to both give the first cut of the year to my lawn, and thatch it. The money is worth saving hours of back breaking work.
Window Washing
My house as 19 windows, some of which the exterior can be reached only with a 20 foot extension ladder. Washing windows isn’t hard work, but it is mundane and time consuming. A professionals can do it with speed and quality for a quoted price of $150. My wife would pay it simply to keep my feet on the ground.
Car Washing
During the summer my neighbor, armed with a bucket of water, a sponge, and a towel, spends at least an hour each weekend washing his car. I used to do the same thing when I was in high school. Gas stations and full service car washes have low end wash options for as little as $5 that take just a few minutes. I tend to do the cheap wash most of the time, and every once in awhile select a more expensive option for a deeper clean. I’d gladly spend such a small amount of money to get back a significant amount of time for more enjoyable and productive outside activities.
Interior Car Cleaning
I very much enjoy having a clean car interior. I do not enjoy wiping down and vacuuming out the little crevices found in the interior of a car. The quick lube place I use for oil changes gives a free car wash worth $12, or that amount off any service. I use that $12 towards a full service exterior and interior clean. I get my car washed, and they vacuum and wipe down the interior. It’s not a full detail service, but it comes out looking really good. For $24 out of pocket every few months, it’s worth every penny.
Saving money puts more money in your pocket. But sometimes it’s worth it to gain more time to relax or enjoy other things – and that’s invaluable.
How about you, EOD Nation, what do you gladly spend money on instead of doing it yourself?
