Why pay for what you can do for yourself.
How much are you willing to pay someone to?
Change your bulbs - 40% of people under 25 can not change a bulb. This will be the most paid job in five years. People are ready to part with $150 to have someone come to their home and change their bulbs and this does not include the price of bulbs.
How much are you willing to spend?
Change your spare wheel - 80% of people born in 2000 can not change their spare wheel. 30% would rather call a tow truck than letting a stranger do it for them. 60% would rather call road assistance than as a neighbor to help.
How much are willing to spend?
Jumpstart a car with no cables - 97,5 of people in the world can not Jumpstart a car without cables.
Jumpstart a car ( with cables) - More than 40 % of people don't know what jumper cables are.
Do not use! need adult supervision!
Things we do with our money.
I called a technician to come to fix my washing machine had to pay for the call out $30, for him to come to tie my hose up with. Sometimes you are really not able to be there and fix your house, because you are at work or you have to do something rather than let your house should fall apart we pay for things we can do our self.
How big a job should be before you can call it out.
I recently started to paint my house ceiling it is tough work and I do wish I could pay someone to do it. And the cooked dropped. When we can afford it we pay someone to do it for us.
I think eventually we do need to get professionals to do work for us. It is called Job creation. But how far are you willing to take it?
Please leave a comment. Don't be shy we all do it.
Recent Comments
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It depends on the task. Everyone should know how to do some of the above mentioned things. I have an issue with paying someone to do something I know how to do. I did have to pay a plumber >$200/hr just for his time this past week. I was shocked that their hourly rate was so high but it's something I can't do.
~Debbi
Debbs you don't want to mess with those pipes. One mistake there you will be repiping the whole house. I will change washers and maybe install a tap beyond that Call for help.
Ntlhane
I can probably do plumbing, but it is illegal here in Australia to do your own plumbing or electrical work.
I think it is the same here In SA you have to get someone certified. But people do what they want. You have to for insurance purposes. Insurance won't payout if you did not use the right professionals.
Ntlhane
Just some thoughts after reading some of the replies..
Just because we can, doesn't mean we have to, or should.
If we have the luxury, cuz we earned the right to pay someone else to do the task, then by all means, pay and enjoy the use.
I found that when we always have to do everything ourselves, we aren't likely to ask for help because we feel like it's a sign of weakness. That we aren't capable.
It doesn't mean that at all...
Re my post about the Ikea furniture. A friend of mine gave me some crap about not doing it myself. I told him that I spent 40 years building, assembling, etc myself, not because I could, but because I could not afford to pay someone else to do it for me. I told my friend that I had paid my dues, and I don't mind paying someone to do the heavy lifting because I DONT HAVE TO...
When we rely on ourselves too much, we have difficulty trusting someone to help or show us how to do something.
Every once in a while, treat yourself. You will feel good for doing so. Like when you decide to spend money on fine dining for no reason other than you want to...
Think about it, how many of you have paid people to babysit your kids or to clean your house or do yard work?
Hell, I have a battery operated electric lawn mower, yet I'm tempted to hire someone to mow my lawn...grin. The lawn is large, could have picked up a small rider instead...lol.
You don't Have to always do everything...
Like here at WA. How many blogs have you read where people are outsourcing because they have no interest, or no desire to learn how, or no time to create content and newsletters and videos, etc. They do so because they value their time.
Maybe that is the point of my 'could been a post' reply...Do you value your time?
What does that mean to you, to value your time?
Thanks for reading, this was longer than I imagined it would be when I began....
Rudy
Hi Rudy
I have recently moved my household into a new apartment and I bought a bit of furniture.
I needed a desk, it came flat packed and took me about 3 days to assemble it.
A bookcase I completed in about a day (the desk took longer because it had a lot of drawers and moving parts).
Subsequently, I bought a couple of cabinets from IKEA but this time I paid for the assembly. 2 guys came up and in about an hour. It probably would have taken me a day or so to do it by myself - I could have done it but my time is probably better spent doing something else.
Kind regards, Wazza
Rudy and Wazaa, I see you really enjoyed this post.
I totally agree, I can see myself paying for everything, in the future that is when the revenues are coming in. For now, on my music teaching salary during corvid. I have to save every dime that I have.
I thought I was ready there and ended up paying a painter $200 for five days of work. That is too steep looking at SA economic situation. Time is rough and you have to be money savvy.
I have to get Stationary for my kids and not sure if I can afford it. My wife is not willing to do more. She does a lot already and she is convinced that it would be wrong for her to assist her husband. So i work on the House myself, Go to work, and then come back and work on this pipe dream that is what she calls it.
So for now, I will save every cent till the tides change and it seems I still have a long way to get there.
Thanks for your, generous sharing guys.
Ntlhane
You're welcome, brother!
I hear you, too. It's tough without the support of friends and family.
Keep doing what you're doing, it will pay off in the long run.
Rudy
As much as you have the time and resource to do it yourself- then you go for it, it will be an extra skill you can leverage. But if not and you have the means then you can decide on outsourcing help as needed- that's my approach
One time, I ordered some furniture from Ikea that needed some assembly.
I knew that one of the items I would need help, a two-person job, the other item, a chair, was iffy. I hired a guy and had to laugh when the chair assembly was a matter of attaching the legs/feet. Doh....I couldn't done that...sheepish moment.
The couch was missing parts, they had been removed to fill a different order...Hello? And I was supposed to wait a week to get the parts. Fortunately, a friend was coming over and retrieved the parts from Ikea on their way to my house....
I carry jumper cables and know how to use them.
Funny, people won't change lightbulbs? What a service niche that could become, eh?
I wonder how many folks know how to drive a stick, or standard transmission. Or tell time on an analog clock...grin.
Fun post!
Lol, I have coined that Niche Rudy.
Well, my wife, comes home with shelving to assemble, Me- back with shelving to assemble Outwardly " wow honey that's wonderful" Inwardly Sht! Might as well have gone to buy a log and a saw to cut and make it from scratch.
Those things never work, you always have to make shift with something, they are never complete. The worst is when they give you extra parts.
Ntlhane
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Hi Ratlhaganen
I come from a "do-it-yourself" culture where we tend to do everything for ourselves:
* car maintenance
* home maintenance
* building
* concreting
so doing everything for myself comes naturally to me.
I would certainly have done myself those examples that you have set out above:
* changing light bulbs
* jumpstarting a car
* changing wheels
In fact, I would probably naturally do a lot more than those examples, although changing light bulbs is getting difficult for me because I'm getting too old to climb a ladder.
On the other hand, my wife comes from a culture where people typically have maids and servants.
Despite my DIY tendencies, I have had to learn to engage expertise wherever required. This is part of the skills of being a "manager" rather than a "worker".
Nowadays, I have learned to do the things that I am good at and to outsource those things in which I have no particular expertise.
Outsourcing platforms such as "Upwork" and "Fiverr" have been a real blessing.
Kind regards, Wazza
Absolutely. I use fiver for logo creating.
Wazza, My Man.
I also come from that background of DIY. I don't know when the body starts rejecting you with some of your DIY. Like just getting on the leader becomes a challenge. For now, I am strong but there are some signs.
It is a good thing when you can afford to get expertise. Sometimes you might just be forced to do the work yourself. I hope this business works out maybe I could afford some expert help.
Thanks for and in-depth sharing.
Ntlhane
Is that free? or do you have to pay? Fiver dot com?
Ntlhane
Fiverr began kind of like Craigslist, as it was a listing for web services for hire, starting at $5 @ hr. Today, yiu can find anyone to do just about anything, in a virtual sense. They won't change tour lightbulb...grin.
I have a name that was given to me by a wa member, who did fabulous work for her. Cost was like $20.
Yes, I got some excellent logos from Fiverr within an hour for about $20.
Kind regards, Wazza
The budget can't allow it. Still on the freebie stage.
Ntlhane