How Much Will You Pay to Save Time?

Filed in archive Buying Stuff on August 16, 2006

This is a photo of our cleaning woman, Lydia. Unbeknownst to my wife, I requested she dress this way but had Lydia play it off by telling my wife that our house was much too hot and she couldn't function if she had to wear more clothing. I haven't figured out how I can get some backrubs from Lydia yet, but I'm working on it.

I kid. Anyway, I do have to admit that at certain times of the year we have someone clean our house (she doesn't look like Lydia, though, sigh...). Growing up I never in a million years would have thought that I would someday give someone else money to clean my showers and vacuum my bedroom carpet. But with two small kids, two parents with jobs, and other concerns, we decided that when we have the cash, it's OK to use it to avoid spending our Saturdays washing toilets.

It's not very cheap. And I'm tempted to say it's not worth it. But I hate cleaning. Hate it. Hate, hate, hate it. I think time is the most precious commodity I have, and spending some money to avoid spending my time on something I hate is like an investment in myself.

Of course, if you take this too far you can spend money to avoid doing a lot of things and buy yourself all kinds of time. I don't like to cook, either. But going out to eat every night is not a very wise financial decision, yet many people do it. Those people probably clean their own homes, though. It's all trade-offs in this life.

So, what are you willing to pay for to avoid doing yourself?