We got approached buy a guy last weekend who gave us a quote to mow our lawn: $35. Our lot is gently rolling with a hill, about ½ acre (with the house in the middle), and should grow beautifully thanks to the quarterly fertilizer/weed treatments it’s receiving in combo with the sprinkler system. As you can imagine, the first thing Jim did was run the numbers to see what ROI the zero-turn mower he wants would be at the $35/mow/week price. I believe the answer to that equation was 2.5 years.
We have a growing number of friends who have services done for them. Tom has his lawn manicured once a week. It’s beautiful, wooded, and hilly. There’s no way I’d want to mow it myself. Carole is having her backyard landscaped to help her maintain the health of her hands. John & Ruth have someone clean their house once a week – they have three kids and Ruth’s a stay-at-home mom who is exhausted by the end of the week. I get this.
On the other hand, John also has his lawn cut for him. He’s 35, in good health, and (I think) still owns his own lawn mower. In his opinion he’d rather have that hour and a half to play with his kids on the weekend and not worry about mowing.
I used to think that people who had maids were rich. As I age I realize that people who have maids are busy (or men).
I'm still too cheap to pay someone to do much of anything for me. I think I feel this way because when it comes to cleaning Jim does it all (I literally don’t have to lift a finger!), when it comes to mowing neither of us mind doing it, and when it comes to cleaning the car (thinking of Dave’s blog) it seems expensive for a job I can do myself (or have Jim do). The car thing does, however, sound like a fantastic gift to receive though.
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I wish that we could afford to have people do stuff for us like cleaning and laundry. I would so love to be able to carve out more time to spend with family and friends. I love yard work so I would not be willing to give that up, plus Alex seems to be into dirt and "pitty" (pretty) things.
I do not mow lawns--perhaps that is why I am choosing a condo/townhouse over a real one??
I think those are definitely luxuries for the rich. Not typically the middle class and definitely not for me during times of economic uncertainty. Why buy something you don't even want to take care of?
I live in a condo primarily because I do not have to mow and I do not have to shovel snow. When we do move into the house in a few years Trey will be responsible for these tasks as I still do the majority of inside the house work. I'd really be fine with living in a condo or townhouse my entire life though, as long as we had a ground floor unit so Trey could have a nice garden and his birdfeeders up.
As for maids, I'd actually hire one to come once a month and do heavier cleaning - our apartment is small so it wouldn't take more than about 4-5 hours to do the whole thing. I'm just worried about finding someone who I won't have to worry about when we're not home. My mom recently had to can her cleaning lady (who'd been coming a couple of times a month for about 18 months) because some things have recently turned up missing and her having taken them is the only feasible explanation.
Follow-up on the cleaning lady thing...I think those luxuries are for folks who are more well off. I don't consider Trey and I well off, and certainly if we were choosing to have children we'd be struggling to make ends meet, but if I could find someone I could trust and get away with paying that someone $50 to come and do bathrooms, scrub the kitchen, vacuum around all of the baseboards, and a couple of other things once a month I would find a way to make it work regardless of whatever situation I was in. The less than $2 a day seems like it would be well worth it.
For those who want to spend more time with their kids - do chores TOGETHER (I get that infants can't do it and small kids can't use cleaning solutions). But they can dust while you sanitize. Or they can sweep or even swiffer while you scrub the toilet. Or, from what it sounds like Sarah does, go outside and pull weeds together (so Alex can look at his pitty things, too). Not only does the work get done, you get to spend quality time with your kid, and the kid learns responsibility and appreciation for the work.
Isn't the point of having kids so that they can earn their keep and do your work for you? ;) That sure was the way it felt when we were growing up...
I love to cut my grass too! I have 3/4 of an acre and I use a 22 inch push mower that does have the self propulsion option that I do need at times on the hill. However, at 52 years of age, it is really all I do for healthy exercise, besides trying to keep up with all of the young folk on the softball diamond. It does take a very long time to cut, (6 to 7 hrs. at times). I believe if I could truely afford to have it done the way I want it, I might be looking into it some day soon. I am very busy, but I just love the smell of freash cut grass, and the pride of taking care of it myself. I just might have to break down and get a riding mower. If I do, Carole has already told me she would help cut the grass using the tractor mower.
I think it's all about how much your time is worth to do, and that's determined by what you would do with the time that you save. I wonder in Jim's ROI calculation if he's figured that in... i.e. what he would do with the time that's not spent mowing the lawn, and how much that time is worth to you. If you love doing it yourself, then by definition you value that time and therefore the threshold amount that you're willing to spend on that goes down.
Assuming you have the means to do it, if you hire someone to mow the yard, and you subsequently spend incremental time to enjoy with your family, and that makes you 5 times happier, then I would say it's almost irresponsible to NOT spend the money.
Ha to Martha's comment about having kids so they can earn their keep... I know I felt like that as a kid, but Danny and I joke about that very thing. How many kids will it take to do this or that so we can have time to do other things. Now, that said... it's a joke and I totally can't wait til Alex can help us cook dinner, load and unload the dishwasher, etc.
We have a service mow our lawn, it's worth every penny! We had true green doing the lawn care up until this week when I canceled. We decided to go organic and see how the results look, plus truegreen continuously calls you to push additional services. STAY AWAY FROM TRUEGREEN!
I'm still curious: to the people with such services, why did you buy the product/item (a huge yard, a big house) if you are not willing to take care of it yourself? Why not buy something you can maintain? Do you think *your* time is better spent than, gasp, manual labor! If you don't want to weed then do not have a garden! Or have kids. :) Oh, and on that - you need to take care of them, too. Privilage brings responsiblity. We'd ALL be *happier* if, rather than working or doing yardwork or cleaning, our time was spent playing *Pretend* with our friends in our treehouse. But we're grownups - we're not 5 anymore. Life is not sunshine on a chocolate cake. (I read that quote recently on Fugly Horse and like it! It makes me laugh b/c it's so true)
Note: I can see a LOT of gray area here. However, if someone is able, I have yet to see a plausible excuse.
I think the this country would be a much better place if everyone thought the way Martha did...not only on the home maintanence (sp?) level, but on all levels. Why does the average American family have so much credit card debt?...
I concur Viki!!
My mom cleans houses and she finds it hard to believe that some of her families can afford her. She says that so many of them should save the money that they pay her and buy new furniture and stuff like that. Some of her families are just too lazy to clean their houses and don't mind paying for someone to come and clean for them. I always thought that a cleaning lady was for rich families but I am seeing that that is not the case.
I think Martha's point - while a great rallying cry - is way off. The only thing limited here on earth is time. If you enjoy those thing - sure spend your time weeding and planting, if you don't, spend yout time with your family or doing something you like.
I mean to run with your point, should no one have kids if they plan to send them to day care? Doesn't "if you don't want to weed then don't have a garden" apply here? What about running electrical in my house or fixing my car (don't have a car unless you can rebuild an engine - with a car comes responsibility!)
Anyways my point is it's easy to be high and mighty about how others choose to spend their time or money but at the end of the day they do what they feel is the best use of their money for their best return, not yours.
I'm late on this one, but I agree w/ each of us choosing how we spend our time and what we want to outsource. We all outsource more than we think. I literally trade making deodorant for everything I need in life.
I pay to have someone mow my lawn and it is the best money I have spent, plus I am supporting a friend who left work to start their own lawn business. Also, it gets done while I am at work so my neighbors don't wake up to lawn mowers on a quiet weekend.
I also outsource all of the work on my car, keeps my warranty clean.
I do not do any of my own roof work (lots of wind damage here) because of the risk, I leave it to the pros.
I do shovel my driveway since it is a great experiment on how to manage the timing to prevent ice etc.
Should we get rid of all restaurants because we all have the ability to go to Kroger and cook, thereby reducing obesity since the avg restaurant meal is now ~3,000 calories?
It IS my business because when, in 20 years, you come down with cancer it'll more than likely be my ass paying for your healthcare. But you won't be able to afford to pay for your treatments because you squandered your money away on a gardner, pool boy, house maid, nanny, and RETIREMENT (but only the fun part of retirement - the traveling part. Not the healthcare part). So what do you do? You bitch and complain and ultimately the tax payers - yes, that would be ME - has to foot your bill. So yes, it is my business when people spend frivolously now if I'm just going to have to pay for it later.
Don't just plan for today, or today + retirement, but plan for today, tomorrow, next year, yada yada yada, and retirement.
For example. My dad. Long before he had a family, he was putting money away to provide for them. He wanted to provide for his children, so he started college funds when he was still single. Kudos to him.
It's about taking responsibility for your actions and for yourself.
If you want to hear how things can change quickly, go talk with a lot of homeless. Not all of them are (or started out as) lazy druggies who'd rather you give them handouts. Some of them are very proud, hard working individuals where things just didn't end up like they planned. You think "it won't happen to you". Well, they thought they same thing. And we see where it got them.
Day to day care and maintenance should be done by the individual. Sure, bring in experts for something unmanagable. But your car? Seriously, you should know how to change tires, change fluids, etc, and that will not, in any way, affect your warranty. I'm equally anal about my car, too. Trust me. But if I'm on the side of the road with a flat, I don't want to wait for someone else to fix it - my time is more valuable than that (sound familar to other arguments? my time is too valuable to take care of my property?!??). Daycare? not a problem. Nanny? that's getting rediculous.
Aw, hell, just have 12 kids. That way, your older kid can be your "free" nanny to your younger ones. Plus you still have them mow your grass, weed your garden, and wash your car. :)
Oh. And as for the restaurant comment - that is a whole-nother rant where my opinion would probably surprise people. But hey - whether you get your food from a restaurant or the grocery store, it's paying for my today, tomorrow, next year, and retirement... :)
how is a nanny any different than daycare?
Daycares, I thought, provide education and tools for a child to better themselves (social interaction definitely included there). I know some daycares provide the learning experience. Perhaps all do not? I do not associate nannies with quality education at all as they're just high paid, tax paying babysitters.
actually, to be a nanny with many agencies, you have to have a degree in education. further, since you are so cost-efficient, nannies are MUCH more efficient. most children in daycare get 8-12 infection per year (with the parents then catching the same 8-12 infections). doesn't this increase health costs, while at the same time decreasing work time as one parent must stay home with the little one. with a nanny, a child gets one-on-one, quality interaction AND avoids the infections that come with so many children in one room, drooling on all the same toys. also, during my time at miami, i worked at several daycares. how much education do you think a child gets when there are 15 other toddlers who need to be fed and changed in the room?
Martha - you do need to chill out.
I do not think having someone mow my lawn is wasteful, especially since I can afford it. And you said it's your business because you will have to pay for my healthcare because I am not saving for retirement (pretty presumptuous) but I can assure you my retirement savings are stellar to borderline ridiculous.
One quick way to see if your argument holds up is to go to an extreme. Should Bill Gates not own a 1,000 acre homestead because he physically can not mow the whole thing, obviously not because he can afford to have someone do it.
Also - by outsourcing my lawn care and car care I am exposed to less chemcials and probably reducing my cancer risk thereby being even a lesser burden on you :)
I really think it is offensive and narrow minded to think people can't easily afford to have work done for them in their lives, certainly the average family in amaerica making $30-50k a year may not be able to afford to have a lawn service, but there are plenty of people I know who can and do. Many have maids which in even 3rd world countries (costa rica) it is considered your duty to hire a maid if if you can afford it because it employs people who otherwise wouldn't have a job. Pretty much every american who lives in costa rica is culturally obligated to have a maid. But I won't get into all that here.
NET - live an let live, don't get after people for how they spend their money because likely you don't know their financial situation. Sure many americans (if not most) are extremely wasteful (hence a -2% savings rate) but I don't have that problem so your comments above are certainly offensive and presumptuous. I would encourage you to expand your model of how the world could work because there certainly is plenty of room for lawn services on the budget of responsible savers.
Martha, you conflict with your own logic.
If your issue is most people over spend and squander their money increasing tax burden, then your Dad squandered his money by saving for your education rather than saving for his retirement. You can get a loan for school, but not for retirement. No matter how much he saved, he is at a greater risk of not being able to afford cancer because he saved for someone's education rather than additional medical savings.
If your point is kudos to him for budgeting enough to save for someone's else's education than that is exactly our point!
If people can budget for things like a lawn service (which costs less than an education) than there is no need to question how they chose spend their money.
Dave
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