Discussion:Am I considered LAZY?

The following is what I pay instead of doing it myself:

1) Bathroom Cleaning: $50

2) House Cleaning: $160

3) Shoveling: $50 (I love it when high school kids come by with their shovels at 6AM and these kids are getting good at negotiations lol)

4) Yard Work: $ (depends)

5) Handyman Repairs: (I refuse to touch nething unless it takes less than 15 minutes)

6) Car Maintenance: things like bulbs and battery that I can do myself but instead I pay to have it changed for me.

7) Car Wash: $20 full service (wash / wax / vacuum) that included tip.

8) Barely cooks because I make a mess.....

Family and friends are calling me the lazy and good for nothing. I was thinking I can spend my free time to do something else or something more important and I don't want to be bothered. I've tried cleaning my own stuff but literally took me all day.

It is a useful exercise to spend some time thinking about exactly what our time is worth. If my time is worth $75 an hour, and I can hire someone to mow my grass for $20 an hour, then I should do so (unless I just love mowing grass). You can't make every decision based on a dollars-per-hour criteria, but I find it consistently useful.

I agree with David. Unless you enjoy doing it, or have the free time, then I say keep the economy rolling on. you are not only freeing up valuable time for yourself but contributing to the economy.

The only thing I can find fault with is the comparison to your hourly rate. Because, are you really doing billable work during that free time you generate. Some yeah, but not all. Doesn't mean there isn't a value on your free time, but I know I have extra hours in the day, I just don't want to do those things and it's worth it for me to pay someone else to.

Heck, here's another time saver, I love the fluff and fold. When my washer broke during tax season last year, started going to the fluff and fold. I hate doing laundry and at 80 cents a pound, having everything washed, dried folded and hung is awesome. I still haven't got my washer fixed because then i would feel guilty about bringing my clothes to the fluff and fold.

If you don't want to save the money instead or blow it on something else, then it's fine. But if you've got credit card balances, late on bills, etc., you're lazy. It all depends. If you're a college kid, this would be a lazy man's list.

Just remember, for a salaried person or a person who doesn't work during the saved time, your time = $0. That was a hard pill for me to figure out in my own personal finance world, but it's the truth. These are luxury items, so treat them as such.

I would do it again as a form of stress relief, better than spending it on medicine or booze to relax with no worry about cleaning during the weekend. Seems I can always find a better use for my money nowdays, or the money does not seem to go as far (retirement does not seem such a distant horizon now as it once did, and more goes into that account also). I've always done my own yardwork, except raking/leaf removal, because I enjoy it, however, the heat does seem to get to me more now, lol. My car is generally hopeless, but now we are having a drought down here, so I have an excuse not to wash it.

If someone is billing their time at $250 and bills 400 hours per year, I'm quite sure they still devote a lot of attention to their field to be able to bill at such a high hourly rate. Cleaning bathrooms and mowing lawns will not increase their "knowledge asset" and generate additional income.

If you can't afford to pay to have chores done, then there's no shame in that. Keeping your own nest clean is a valuable activity and gives some people a sense of order and control over their surroundings. There's value in that too.

Everyone manages their affairs in the way that works best for them.

Someone earlier noted that it's good for the economy to hire chores done. I agree.