Concept of valuing your time and nuances

[resjudicata]

@marriedwoman This video explains it pretty well from my perspective (I know some people dont like the man talking ,but just listen to the words at least.)

 

[resjudicata]

Thanks, that was a good watch. I know he's controversial and I don't care for the man too much, but you're right - the message here is on point.

 

[chainofjewels]

@marriedwoman I look forward to the day I can pay people to do more tasks.

 

[iamzhihao]

@marriedwoman I pay a cleaner and a gardener, and this is a part of the reasoning. But there’s other jobs that I do myself despite the same reasoning. You have to include personal preferences and overall quality of life. It’s not just a numbers decision.

 

[shanda7182]

@marriedwoman Is the value of that time and convenience worth the going rate for that job?

I get up a bit earlier and clean on Saturday mornings. If I didn't, I'd only be scrolling reddit or playing video games. I don't value those things or a lie-in enough to pay someone to do my Saturday morning chores for me.

 

[resjudicata]

@marriedwoman Services done for yourself are tax-free so for me this is a big incentive to do stuff like painting my own walls, mowing my lawn etc.

To pay someone £100, I need to first scale that up with VAT (sometimes) to £120. Then to earn that at 42% tax rate, I need £206.

So instead I'll just put £206 into my pension and do lots of DIY. This scales up massively for big jobs if you have skills.

 

[resjudicata]

I think you meant £200, rather than £300, but it's a good point. Given that most of us are paying tax and NI, the actualy cost in hours worked is a lot more than we realise. I don't add the money to my pension, but I do a lot of stuff myself. For example, my car needs a lot of work at the moment - probably 2/3 days worth. I actually don't mind doing that, and I really like my car, so it's ok. However, in reality, I should probably pay someone else to do it because they could have it all done in a day and I don't need to take time off work and order a couple of new tools (one of which is going to cost me £80, which is quite annoying!)

 

[resjudicata]

Sorry, that's right. Although if I include the loss of child benefit between £50k-£60k my marginal tax rate is around 60% anyway.

Yep, it's all a trade-off between being able to work productively and be taxed on it vs. doing DIY stuff inefficiently but no tax effects.

 

[ramerd]

@marriedwoman Doesn't really work with any job that involves paying for someones experience and equipment, in addition to time.

 

[rmpardee]

@marriedwoman You should check out https://www.economyofhours.com/ they are making an alternative economy where everyone's time is valued equally. It really makes you think about society in a different way!

 

[wfg]

@marriedwoman There is also the another factor which is whether you enjoy or at least can tolerate the task. For example l quite enjoy mowing the lawn so would never pay someone to do it, even if it was economic to.

 

[hebraic]

@marriedwoman The concept really comes about from the US where working culture is different. I married a yank, and she cannot believe all the time we get off here.

Yea incomes are higher, but it’s pretty much expected to work all the hours in the day and take minimal lunch breaks. If you want to progress you work 9-9pm and get weekends off. She worked for a big 4 firm.

Here we get loads of time off relatively so I don’t feel the need to think like that. If I need to paint the decking or do the gardening I can do it around work.

If I literally had no time spare I’d probably count the per hours cost like the yanks

 

[mikelee987]

@marriedwoman I get pay a very high hourly salary, however i also have quite a lot of free time out of work. This means that i am usually very unbothered by taking long commutes or cleaning and cooking for myself.

 

[tychokepler]

@marriedwoman It’s a nice idea but lacks applicability in real life. I tend to think of things more as what would I save if I spent the time myself and then is it worth it.
My dad always likes to talk about how haggling can be thought of as money earnt or saved. If you’re buying a car and spend 15 mins haggling to get £50 off, that’s the same as being paid £200 per hour. Excellent rate of pay, well worth the awkwardness

 

[mapiooon]

@marriedwoman Time doesn't have a fixed value for me, it depends what the task is. I'd rather work a 40 hour week doing something I enjoy rather than a 30 hour week doing something I hate.

Similarly, there are times I'd give an hour's wages to not have to unload the dishwasher and take the bins out which take 10 minutes.

 

[immioche]

@marriedwoman An added consideration is how long the tasks will take you to complete and how long the hired professional will take to complete them. If it takes you twice as long to paint a room as a professional painter & decorator, paid 50% higher hourly rate than you, maybe it's best to let the professional do it.

 

[beautifulmess2141]

@marriedwoman Using a cleaner as an example.

It’s a known fact that what a cleaner can do in 2 hours is far more than you can. For me it’s likely motivation. I don’t want to do it so I’m slow from the get go.

When I was married we’d spend half of a weekend day cleaning our house. We’d have a chores list, we’d dread it, we’d argue over it and it felt like such a waste.

Before having a cleaner I considered having one a luxury. Now, no matter what I earned it would be my one choice over takeaway, eating out etc.

No one argues over wanting to clean “oh no, I was going going to do the vacuuming…”

 

[stefy]

@marriedwoman That rule seems quite arbitrary, especially for jobs/tasks that will surely be radically different.

A better approach would be to ask yourself whether you prefer to pay in cash or time.

Do you prefer to use money so that someone else cleans the house and saves your time or to use your own time and keep the money?

Do you prefer to use money for a taxi and save time or do you prefer to save the money and spend more time walking/taking the bus?

Etc.

 

[alight4him]

@marriedwoman The logic applies depending on your circumstance. This is far from a ‘rule’. For instance, if you have very little money spare but earn £40 per hour with inflexible hours, you still cannot afford that much. Just because you earn it, doesn’t mean you can earn it back.

If though you had a job where you could simply
Pick up more shifts, then the argument is better suited.

 

[wen]

@marriedwoman I have a salary but use this formula for certain lifestyle things but mostly relating to my kids. If it’s less than my hourly rate and it is something that means I can spend less quality time with my kids, then I outsource it.

However I work full time, and I am a Mum to two kids so I am quite time poor. I feel guilty spending all Saturday cleaning. I also get my food shop delivered. Neither my husband or I are good at DIY so we tend to hire skilled labourers but we had many expensive mistakes In our youth.