We probably pay for conveniences more than we realize, but it's a mix. We have a maid service every 3 weeks to give the house a good cleaning, but at the same time we make things like bread from scratch (probably not much cheaper, but we enjoy it) and cut up our own fruits and veggies. We buy applesauce and yogurt in big containers not snack size, but have someone clean out the gutters once or twice a year. I think it depends on what we like/don't like to do and safety factors - if my husband falls while cleaning the gutters it's going to cost much more than the $70 we pay 2x a year; sitting outside and cutting up and eating a watermelon with the kids is a nice activity for a summer day.
I guess I do in some instances, when I order online rather than trudging to the store, or go to a local convenience store for a few goods rather than the groceries. Not too often though.
You're right, every time we buy anything, we've paid for the convenience of someone else building/preparing that product. Even in building a computer, it's certainly more convenient to buy a pre-constructed motherboard, RAM, etc. than to go to school to become an electrical engineer.
Yes, I use the automatic car wash when I could wash the car myself. I pay for bottled water when I could buy a water filter because even though it may be cheaper to buy a filter I prefer getting my favorite water already bottled from the store.
After my sister and I both moved out of the house (and were thereby not frequently available for family photos), we took our picture together one year -- our mom seemed to really appreciate that.
Does anybody else have good suggestions for free ways to celebrate Mother's Day?
If I've had a bad day, I'll treat myself to the convenience of buying coffee, even though it's so much cheaper to make at home. I tend to look at it as time vs. money and if my time is more valuable than the amount of money I'd save doing something myself. Sometimes I'll pay a little extra for a direct flight to avoid a layover, but if the price is significantly higher, then I'll deal with stops. I'm a little more inclined to pay for convenience on vacation since I'd rather enjoy the experience and not be wasting the dollars spent on a trip by constantly counting pennies.
I pay for lots of conveniences. This computer, for example was purchased even though I suppose I could wire-wrap my own board...once I made my own wire and board...after mining the appropriate minerals and ores and smelting them.
There are times to pay for convenience and there are times to cut your own fruit.
I do my best to balance between paying for convenience and saving money by doing things myself, but the reality is...convenience usually wins. Here are a few ways I pay for convenience.
1. I go visit a certain someone pretty frequently. I try to use SouthWest airlines as much as possible even when the tickets are a little more because the DAL is way closer to his house and if I need to cancel a flight at the last minute it's no big deal.
2. Ditto on the oil change. I usually refuse to pay more than $19.99 though.
3. In the future I plan to have a cleaning lady. I hate cleaning and I'd rather spend what little free time I have doing something fun.
Convenience is definitely something that I am willing to pay for. I like to apply the concept of opportunity cost to my time, and thus I am able to value my time for what it is and spend time on things that matter to me, rather than trying to save a few cents or not. It's all about weighing the pros and cons.
We ALL PAY FOR CONVINIENCES, such as electricity and other modern things, because they directly or indirectly damage the environment (think nuclear chaos or risk, or polution) and many other things are involved, such as destroying the local economies because we buy things cheaper from somewhere else...
Yes, I pay for convenience goods, mostly for food. I will buy pre-washed greens when I know I will use them right away. I also buy rotissiere chicken and make soup, enchiladas, fajitas, etc. For the cost of the chicken it is still a very good deal. I also will buy the frozen "bag" dinners and add fresh veggies or more meat to them to stretch them even further.
Yes, there are some areas which I will pay for convenience. I usually weigh the time involved against the cost to determine the benefit. For example, I will buy pre-cut veggies but I have a hard time paying a salon to color my hair because it is so expensive!
I absolutely pay for convenience. As a perfect example: When sending a letter via Certified Mail-Return Receipt Requested, I use an online service instead of going to the post office. It's about $2 more expensive, but I don't have to go to the post office and wait in a ridiculously long and slow-moving line. To me, that is well worth an extra $2 considering it's an occasional thing.
Sometimes. I work strange hours that often make it difficult to make a healthy meal for dinner, so I'll often buy convenience items like frozen microwavable rice (or something similar) so that I can make a quick dinner.
This is a great question. In terms of our household, I would say that we usually don't pay for convenience services. We mow our own lawn, clean our own house, cook our own food (that we grow most of in our own garden), and I even launder and iron my husband's dress shirts instead of taking them to the cleaners.
All that said, we do "pay" for these services in terms of opportunity cost. I only work part-time because I do so many things at home. My income could easily be doubled if we took advantage of more convenience services. But I enjoy doing many of these tasks, so it seems pointless to work more so I can earn more money to pay for someone else to do jobs I like.
One convenience that I do pay for is lunch. I used to make sandwiches every evening before work, but now I opt for the ease of just going out at lunch to get something, even if it means I pay 100-300% more.
Some goods and services are nice to have but in this tough economy I have found that I tend to do most things myself. Precut fruits and veggies are an easy decision for me... I cut them myself to preserve the freshness up until I need them. I have never had anyone else clean my home except for me or my parents (when they visit they tend to clean and yet their house is never clean). All this saves money from unnecessary expenses.
I added a lawn care this year, decided to pay someone to do all the weed and feed spraying instead of doing it myself. Each year it physically got harder for me to do and I was not sure that I wanted to add the cost into my budget. This year I took the big step and I have to say I do feel guilty about it.
We probably pay for conveniences more than we realize, but it's a mix. We have a maid service every 3 weeks to give the house a good cleaning, but at the same time we make things like bread from scratch (probably not much cheaper, but we enjoy it) and cut up our own fruits and veggies. We buy applesauce and yogurt in big containers not snack size, but have someone clean out the gutters once or twice a year. I think it depends on what we like/don't like to do and safety factors - if my husband falls while cleaning the gutters it's going to cost much more than the $70 we pay 2x a year; sitting outside and cutting up and eating a watermelon with the kids is a nice activity for a summer day.
I guess I do in some instances, when I order online rather than trudging to the store, or go to a local convenience store for a few goods rather than the groceries. Not too often though.
You're right, every time we buy anything, we've paid for the convenience of someone else building/preparing that product. Even in building a computer, it's certainly more convenient to buy a pre-constructed motherboard, RAM, etc. than to go to school to become an electrical engineer.
Yes, I use the automatic car wash when I could wash the car myself. I pay for bottled water when I could buy a water filter because even though it may be cheaper to buy a filter I prefer getting my favorite water already bottled from the store.
Sometimes yes, most of the time no--especially as I learn how more to make the most of my budget.
After my sister and I both moved out of the house (and were thereby not frequently available for family photos), we took our picture together one year -- our mom seemed to really appreciate that.
Does anybody else have good suggestions for free ways to celebrate Mother's Day?
If I've had a bad day, I'll treat myself to the convenience of buying coffee, even though it's so much cheaper to make at home. I tend to look at it as time vs. money and if my time is more valuable than the amount of money I'd save doing something myself. Sometimes I'll pay a little extra for a direct flight to avoid a layover, but if the price is significantly higher, then I'll deal with stops. I'm a little more inclined to pay for convenience on vacation since I'd rather enjoy the experience and not be wasting the dollars spent on a trip by constantly counting pennies.
I definitely pay for convenience but only for certain things
I pay for lots of conveniences. This computer, for example was purchased even though I suppose I could wire-wrap my own board...once I made my own wire and board...after mining the appropriate minerals and ores and smelting them.
There are times to pay for convenience and there are times to cut your own fruit.
I do my best to balance between paying for convenience and saving money by doing things myself, but the reality is...convenience usually wins. Here are a few ways I pay for convenience.
1. I go visit a certain someone pretty frequently. I try to use SouthWest airlines as much as possible even when the tickets are a little more because the DAL is way closer to his house and if I need to cancel a flight at the last minute it's no big deal.
2. Ditto on the oil change. I usually refuse to pay more than $19.99 though.
3. In the future I plan to have a cleaning lady. I hate cleaning and I'd rather spend what little free time I have doing something fun.
Convenience is definitely something that I am willing to pay for. I like to apply the concept of opportunity cost to my time, and thus I am able to value my time for what it is and spend time on things that matter to me, rather than trying to save a few cents or not. It's all about weighing the pros and cons.
We ALL PAY FOR CONVINIENCES, such as electricity and other modern things, because they directly or indirectly damage the environment (think nuclear chaos or risk, or polution) and many other things are involved, such as destroying the local economies because we buy things cheaper from somewhere else...
Yes, I pay for convenience goods, mostly for food. I will buy pre-washed greens when I know I will use them right away. I also buy rotissiere chicken and make soup, enchiladas, fajitas, etc. For the cost of the chicken it is still a very good deal. I also will buy the frozen "bag" dinners and add fresh veggies or more meat to them to stretch them even further.
Yes, there are some areas which I will pay for convenience. I usually weigh the time involved against the cost to determine the benefit. For example, I will buy pre-cut veggies but I have a hard time paying a salon to color my hair because it is so expensive!
I do not pay for convenience most of the time. Sometimes I do pick up food for lunch thru a drive-thru when I didn't take the time to make my lunch.
You've now given some validity to my friends PB&T sandwich! I thought she was crazy when she said natural peanut butter and a thick slice of tomato!
Sounds like a great plan!
I absolutely pay for convenience. As a perfect example: When sending a letter via Certified Mail-Return Receipt Requested, I use an online service instead of going to the post office. It's about $2 more expensive, but I don't have to go to the post office and wait in a ridiculously long and slow-moving line. To me, that is well worth an extra $2 considering it's an occasional thing.
Sometimes. I work strange hours that often make it difficult to make a healthy meal for dinner, so I'll often buy convenience items like frozen microwavable rice (or something similar) so that I can make a quick dinner.
This is a great question. In terms of our household, I would say that we usually don't pay for convenience services. We mow our own lawn, clean our own house, cook our own food (that we grow most of in our own garden), and I even launder and iron my husband's dress shirts instead of taking them to the cleaners.
All that said, we do "pay" for these services in terms of opportunity cost. I only work part-time because I do so many things at home. My income could easily be doubled if we took advantage of more convenience services. But I enjoy doing many of these tasks, so it seems pointless to work more so I can earn more money to pay for someone else to do jobs I like.
Yes, I definitely pay for convenience; precut veggies and such allow me to meet halfway between frozen meals and cooking from scratch.
One convenience that I do pay for is lunch. I used to make sandwiches every evening before work, but now I opt for the ease of just going out at lunch to get something, even if it means I pay 100-300% more.
Anything I can do money to save as a SAHM I will do! Sometimes we have to inconvenience ourselves to get ahead.
@luckyatars54
whitlav at gmail dot com
Some goods and services are nice to have but in this tough economy I have found that I tend to do most things myself. Precut fruits and veggies are an easy decision for me... I cut them myself to preserve the freshness up until I need them. I have never had anyone else clean my home except for me or my parents (when they visit they tend to clean and yet their house is never clean). All this saves money from unnecessary expenses.
I added a lawn care this year, decided to pay someone to do all the weed and feed spraying instead of doing it myself. Each year it physically got harder for me to do and I was not sure that I wanted to add the cost into my budget. This year I took the big step and I have to say I do feel guilty about it.