What's your time worth?

[FIREseeker]

I'm frugal so I like doing everything myself. But I've been so busy lately, I haven't even washed my car in 5 months (I do it myself).

So this got me thinking... how can I know when a project isn't worth my time? Does anyone have a formula you use for figuring this out? It's hazy for me because, while I can work for say, $30/hour I can't spend every hour working even if I wanted to. Sometimes I need a break. I figure that break can either be working on other projects or being a POS and watching TV all evening ha.

How do you figure out the worth of your time? How do you know when to tackle a project and when to hire it out?

I'll wash my car tomorrow.. I promise.

[disneysteve]

How do you figure out the worth of your time? How do you know when to tackle a project and when to hire it out?

I think these are two very different questions.

I hire out projects that I feel I'm not capable of doing in an adequate manner or in the time period in which we want them done.

For example, we recently remodeled my daughter's bathroom. We did not hire it out. She and I did the work ourselves. That said, beginning to end was over a month. There was no rush. We weren't doing anything that made the room unusable. So it didn't have to be completed in a day or two. Had we needed it done quickly, we probably would have farmed it out to a pro.

On the other hand, I stopped mowing my own lawn about 10 years or so ago. I used to do it myself but I didn't enjoy it and quite honestly wasn't very good at it. So once our finances allowed for me to hire someone else, I did and haven't regretted it for a second.

[riverwed070707]

Doesn't address time in dollars but I posted a similar question a while back. Responses might be interesting to you. FWIW, I did end up hiring someone. She comes 2x/week and its been heavenly to come home to a clean house those days and not feel like I have a to do list a mile long. Worth every penny.

I have a lot of side hustles I enjoy. I find it worth it to pay someone to do the things I don't like so I have time to do the things I enjoy, even if I don't end up making that much money in the end. Would I rather be teaching a yoga class or doing dishes? Planning a wedding or vacuuming dog hair? Working on renovating a 4-plex that's going to help me retire early or doing laundry? All easy choices for me.

[FLA]

when the time burden takes a significant chunk out of time with kids or doing something I love, I consider hiring it out if it fits the budget. Like spending $60/month for a cleaning lady to come every two weeks. I count that as one of my best moves, single mom with 2 kids and job, keeping up with the house left me too little time in areas I care about. She became an extraordinary friend when my folks and I combined households. She comes several times a week just to hang out or have dinner, she has become one of my terminally ill mom's closest friends. We still pay her of course but it was a win-win on both sides, oh and I gave her so many new clients, she refuses to raise our rate.

when I had my own home, I am not the least bit handy. A friend gave me the name of a guy who is a handy man on the side and will take the little jobs that most won't and he was very affordable, kind and honest. So when I had big jobs, I offered them to him first so he had the opportunity to make more money, he did my roof at a very reasonable price and (as best as I can tell), he did a great job. Could I have googled how to change door hardware and add dead bolts on three doors? Sure. However, the odds of me doing this right and the hours it would take to learn and actually do this? It was $50 well spent.

This house has a huge (to me at least, lol) yard. Like Steve, I would hire this out if I was working. My dad, who is overburdened with 2 sick people to help, refuses to hire it out, says he loves his riding mower. I offered to pay from my savings and he just will not let go of this. So there's that as well- is it time you enjoy spending?

alright that's all I got, oops, one more. If your grocery store does online and free delivery and let's you price match the other stores and takes coupons- you've hit the jackpot!

[John Doe]

An economist would say your time is extremely valuable. And it is. If you're a salaried guy like me, it may not be particularly easy to earn money doing your chosen profession on evenings and weekends. But you could. It might take a while to find a contract, and you may have to settle for a lower hourly rate, but there is money to be made doing anything part-time. If nothing else, you could get a part-time job doing unskilled labor at a local service establishment in the evenings and weekends. And now there is Uber and Lyft and other online markets for services. If nothing else, you could pick up part-time work doing child care (babysitting), house sitting, pet sitting, lawn care, car washing, tutoring, teaching music lessons, or other informal community activities that pay money.

But as an economist would say, even if you're not actually earning money in your spare time, that spare time is still precious. If you're bored and restless in your spare time, then it's not worth much, and you should put it to good use, improving yourself or earning money or making yourself happy or making the world a better place or all of the above. But if you're exhausted in your spare time and crave things like fresh air, rest, time with family, or whatever...then you don't need to be out hustling for a few more bucks that won't make you any happier or healthier.

[FIREseeker]

Doesn't address time in dollars but I posted a similar question a while back. Responses might be interesting to you. FWIW, I did end up hiring someone. She comes 2x/week and its been heavenly to come home to a clean house those days and not feel like I have a to do list a mile long. Worth every penny.

I have a lot of side hustles I enjoy. I find it worth it to pay someone to do the things I don't like so I have time to do the things I enjoy, even if I don't end up making that much money in the end. Would I rather be teaching a yoga class or doing dishes? Planning a wedding or vacuuming dog hair? Working on renovating a 4-plex that's going to help me retire early or doing laundry? All easy choices for me.

Very interesting. Thanks for the link.

[FLA]

"Responses might be interesting to you. FWIW, I did end up hiring someone. She comes 2x/week and its been heavenly to come home to a clean house those days and not feel like I have a to do list a mile long. Worth every penny."

2xwk! Now I want that, lol. I have every other but now she's a friend so she visits a lot. Best connection I ever made, happened to mention how hard it was to get anything done with work and young kids, got her name. Felt guilty for spending $30 twice a month but finally called. Best thing ever! I don't have side gigs to pay for it but I will cancel my phone and cable before her. Nicest, sweetest woman who became a family friend, how cool is that?

Enjoy!

[riverwed070707]

"Responses might be interesting to you. FWIW, I did end up hiring someone. She comes 2x/week and its been heavenly to come home to a clean house those days and not feel like I have a to do list a mile long. Worth every penny."

2xwk! Now I want that, lol. I have every other but now she's a friend so she visits a lot. Best connection I ever made, happened to mention how hard it was to get anything done with work and young kids, got her name. Felt guilty for spending $30 twice a month but finally called. Best thing ever! I don't have side gigs to pay for it but I will cancel my phone and cable before her. Nicest, sweetest woman who became a family friend, how cool is that?

Enjoy!

I do feel kind of spoiled now! How long does she spend cleaning when she comes 2x/mo? Maybe she'd consider coming weekly for a comparable rate if she only had to spend half the time each week?? Never know unless you ask!

[ua_guy]

I thought I replied to this, but maybe that was to the "what do you outsource" thread.

My time isn't worth anything unless I could otherwise be making money- so it's really a question of what is my free time worth (what I'd rather do), and the answer is: It depends. It's really a comparison of opportunity costs and other factors, like personal risk, required skills, or simply saving money.

[FLA]

I do feel kind of spoiled now! How long does she spend cleaning when she comes 2x/mo? Maybe she'd consider coming weekly for a comparable rate if she only had to spend half the time each week?? Never know unless you ask!

Actually we just hired her to help my mom with her bedroom and bath weekly. She hoards and now she is too ill to clean up the piles and piles of papers everywhere. You can't dust when there is 3 ft of crap on the desk. My mom and I do not do well together working on her hoarding, we could each do it with someone else, put us together and we end up in an argument.

My mom is in bed now pretty much 24/7, she says how she has the most beautiful bedroom and bathroom she has ever had, never thought she could afford to move, especially to a handicapped accessible home. That accessible bathroom is priceless. So she feels really bad that she let it get a mess just like she always has in the past. But it's worse now because she no longer even tries and just adds to the mess. She told me crying that she doesn't want to die in her new room, having ruined it with clutter. That was enough to call Tammy and ask her to spend extra time in those two rooms!

I think the rest of the house is manageable (partly because my mom isn't in it enough to mess it up) every other week.

I swear this woman is a saint, she constantly emails to check on my mom, always offers any kind of help we need (and refuses to take money, that drives me nuts, take the money! I feel better if you do!), she loves my kids. I have a dog who was horribly abused and hates new people. It took a solid year for her to stop barking if Tammy came anywhere near her. Tammy worked her butt off trying to get Bernice to like her, bones, toys, she'd say, "One pat then you can have your space," a year later Bernice finally accepted "one pat". She's still wary but she always eventually lets Tammy pet her. How many cleaning women would do that?

[snafu]

I like the challenge of learning new skills and at least try DIY. Sometimes I have to set a deadline, typically two pay cycles, and note it on our calendar. Some delays are inevitable, ordering parts, unanticipated events, time constraints, life happens but if it's not important enough to do it, I may as well throw it out/find another solution. If it's important it's worth the cost and effort to find someone who can get it done.

DH has always liked to fix things so early on we agreed he had 2 weeks to fix items. Items are dated with a sticky note and unless awaiting parts, or need to borrow a special gizmo, broken items are trashed as soon as we notice the date or if we replace the item.

Not allowed to wash cars at this condo complex but we've a few opportunities to get a car wash discount and I like to support teens holding car wash fund raising events. There are some interesting theories about what a messy, dirty car reveals about the owner.