Contrary to some posts here, it does pay to mow your own lawn.
One prevailing theory states that if you're worth, say, $50 an hour, you should pay someone to do menial tasks that are "beneath your pay grade." That's all well and good IF the time you're spending is taking time away from something more important that DOES pay you what you're worth. But what if it doesn't?
Let me illustrate. Saturday morning comes - your car needs an oil change and the lawn needs to be mowed. You better get busy calling Mike the neighborhood kid that is ready and able to help out with anything in exchange for a few bucks. And while Mike is mowing your lawn, you can drop off the car for an oil change. Now, let's look at that.
And you're going to be doing exactly WHAT while Mike is working away, and the oil change guys are working... ? Ah, nothing. Right?
First of all - it's Saturday morning. IF you don't mow the lawn, how will you spend your time instead? You're not working, so you're not going to be pulling in that nice $50 an hour that you're worth. You're going to spend part of it taking your car to get the oil changed. Better set aside two hours for that, including travel time there and back. What are you going to do in those two hours that you're waiting? Work on your Doctorate degree? Fine. But if you're like me - let's get real for a moment - you're going to get something to eat or runs some errands. Let's see what this all costs;
Mike mows the lawn - $35
Oil Change - $25, because you have a coupon, of course
Breakfast at Dennys - $16, with tip.
So here it is: $76 spent on things you could have done yourself. Adds up, doesn't it? Throw in a couple more bucks for gas just for fun. Meanwhile - back at the farm - Mike is going to do three lawns today because he's not a CEO - yet. He will pull in over a hundred bucks, which is pretty damn good for a 12-year-old worth nothing little peon. I bet his parents are damn proud of him.
Here's what could be done instead;
Mow the lawn (I used to, but now the HOA does it) yourself. Get some exercise, clear your mind, and save $35. Time spent: 1 hour.
Change your car's oil: $15 for oil and filter on Mastercard. Time spent: 20 minutes. Feeling of satisfaction: Priceless.
Make my own breakfast, and enjoy time together with wife: Cost: $10. Time spent: 1 hour.
Write down what I ate - how I spent each hour of the day - and put a pin in my progress trajectory graph: Just kidding - get a LIFE!
Okay - so what's the point of all of this?
First of all - when you're not being paid, you can do anything you want. You are not "wasting money" because you will make exactly NO money when you are off the clock and therefore not being paid. Economists miss that important distinction somehow. Yep - from 5:00 Friday to 9:00 Monday, your time is worth nada. As far as your job goes. So save some money.
There are two ways to get wealth today: get paid for something, or don't spend money on something.
As far as your time goes, if you work or do something productive with all of your time, you will likely burn out, turn into a zombie, and die a slow painful death. You need time to deflate - to breathe - to think - and to do something that will "recharge" your batteries - which might be something as totally time-wasting as knitting or building birdhouses. But IS it a waste of time? Absolutely not. If you don't do something along these lines to keep your sanity - you can hire your own therapist, which is another topic on a recent thread here. What will the therapist tell you? Go plant some flowers - go to a park and relax - read a book of fiction that lets your mind wander. Feed your IMAGINATION - and DISCONNECT from business/studying/working all the damn time! Oh - and how much is that therapist going to cost exactly?
So "What if life is not about working to pay bills and then dying?" Who said that? You have to get ahead. You can do that better by not watching the game, or paying somebody to mow your lawn while you sit on your butt. Now if your time is so valuable that you are fulfilling a goal that will make you big bucks, or get you a Ph.D. - then this does not apply to you. Some people DO go to school full time and do work two jobs. They are the exception. I admire these people. Too many other people let their expenses rise to meet their income. Why not spend less and live a little below your means? Maybe have some extra money. Buy a @JScott book and learn how to buy an income property! I did!
Poor little Mike understands this, and will be paying for his own car and college education - if not some fast lane venture - or both! I am like Mike. I had two paper routes when I was a kid. Took me only ONE extra hour to double my income. Looking back, I should have had three. I mowed lawns. I invested half my income in silver and rare coins - at only 12 years old. I bought and sold higher ticket items when I was older - like bikes - motorcycles - cars, even. All way before graduating high school. Not bad for a peon. At 25, I sold my coins and silver and started a business. Great, right? No - compared to Bill Gates, I'm still a stinking peon! LOL
Rock bottom and no skills or ideas? No problem. There are TONS of easy part-time jobs out there. You could get an extra $50 a week or so, after taxes. Not much, but over 50 weeks in a year it adds up to 2,500. Throw in $500 saving from mowing the lawn, etc. and let's say it would be $3,000. Still not much is it? Well, after ten years it's $30,000, plus interest - which is a new car or a down payment on a house that will bring you passive income and be an asset that will appreciate in value FOREVER. All from sweeping floors or stocking shelves or whatever for 4 hours a day that you would be doing INSTEAD of sitting on your butt doing nothing, or reading the paper, or complaining about politics. Or, whatever.
I hate economists that think they know so damn much. They don't live in the real world. Look at your POTENTIAL instead of some graph. My potential when I was 25 was a side business (video production) in which I made more in one day than I was making in a week. This was every week BTW. Did I quit my regular job then? Hell no - I did BOTH. One extra day of my work week in exchange for an increase in pay of over 100%? No brainer. When I expanded, I did even better.
It might sound like you should use all your spare time to get a skill or form a side hustle. Not exactly. Why choose? Do it all. Take time to go to a movie - develop a valuable skill - make a side hustle. Do. it. all. And get off your a$$ and mow the damn lawn too! Buy your wife/husband something nice with the money you saved - or put it in a vacation or investment fund. Hell - I get over $1,000 a year just by saving pocket change in a bucket!
But get off your high horse because on Saturday morning when you're not on the payroll - you can save $35, which is the same as making $35. Add it up to $30,000. That's how millionaires are made. Don't believe me? Read the story of Warren Buffet. He started out making pennies selling newspapers on a corner and look where he is now. Times were much harder then too. He was not too proud to work for extra money AND save extra money at the same time, and I'll bet Warren is an expert at handling a lawnmower too. There is a lot to learn from Warren. Get to it - right after you're done mowing the lawn!
If pocket change adds up - imagine what "real" money (like mowing your lawn) can do.
Buried somewhere in here is a secret to success. This is only one. There are many.
One prevailing theory states that if you're worth, say, $50 an hour, you should pay someone to do menial tasks that are "beneath your pay grade." That's all well and good IF the time you're spending is taking time away from something more important that DOES pay you what you're worth. But what if it doesn't?
Let me illustrate. Saturday morning comes - your car needs an oil change and the lawn needs to be mowed. You better get busy calling Mike the neighborhood kid that is ready and able to help out with anything in exchange for a few bucks. And while Mike is mowing your lawn, you can drop off the car for an oil change. Now, let's look at that.
And you're going to be doing exactly WHAT while Mike is working away, and the oil change guys are working... ? Ah, nothing. Right?
First of all - it's Saturday morning. IF you don't mow the lawn, how will you spend your time instead? You're not working, so you're not going to be pulling in that nice $50 an hour that you're worth. You're going to spend part of it taking your car to get the oil changed. Better set aside two hours for that, including travel time there and back. What are you going to do in those two hours that you're waiting? Work on your Doctorate degree? Fine. But if you're like me - let's get real for a moment - you're going to get something to eat or runs some errands. Let's see what this all costs;
Mike mows the lawn - $35
Oil Change - $25, because you have a coupon, of course
Breakfast at Dennys - $16, with tip.
So here it is: $76 spent on things you could have done yourself. Adds up, doesn't it? Throw in a couple more bucks for gas just for fun. Meanwhile - back at the farm - Mike is going to do three lawns today because he's not a CEO - yet. He will pull in over a hundred bucks, which is pretty damn good for a 12-year-old worth nothing little peon. I bet his parents are damn proud of him.
Here's what could be done instead;
Mow the lawn (I used to, but now the HOA does it) yourself. Get some exercise, clear your mind, and save $35. Time spent: 1 hour.
Change your car's oil: $15 for oil and filter on Mastercard. Time spent: 20 minutes. Feeling of satisfaction: Priceless.
Make my own breakfast, and enjoy time together with wife: Cost: $10. Time spent: 1 hour.
Write down what I ate - how I spent each hour of the day - and put a pin in my progress trajectory graph: Just kidding - get a LIFE!
Okay - so what's the point of all of this?
First of all - when you're not being paid, you can do anything you want. You are not "wasting money" because you will make exactly NO money when you are off the clock and therefore not being paid. Economists miss that important distinction somehow. Yep - from 5:00 Friday to 9:00 Monday, your time is worth nada. As far as your job goes. So save some money.
There are two ways to get wealth today: get paid for something, or don't spend money on something.
As far as your time goes, if you work or do something productive with all of your time, you will likely burn out, turn into a zombie, and die a slow painful death. You need time to deflate - to breathe - to think - and to do something that will "recharge" your batteries - which might be something as totally time-wasting as knitting or building birdhouses. But IS it a waste of time? Absolutely not. If you don't do something along these lines to keep your sanity - you can hire your own therapist, which is another topic on a recent thread here. What will the therapist tell you? Go plant some flowers - go to a park and relax - read a book of fiction that lets your mind wander. Feed your IMAGINATION - and DISCONNECT from business/studying/working all the damn time! Oh - and how much is that therapist going to cost exactly?
So "What if life is not about working to pay bills and then dying?" Who said that? You have to get ahead. You can do that better by not watching the game, or paying somebody to mow your lawn while you sit on your butt. Now if your time is so valuable that you are fulfilling a goal that will make you big bucks, or get you a Ph.D. - then this does not apply to you. Some people DO go to school full time and do work two jobs. They are the exception. I admire these people. Too many other people let their expenses rise to meet their income. Why not spend less and live a little below your means? Maybe have some extra money. Buy a @JScott book and learn how to buy an income property! I did!
Poor little Mike understands this, and will be paying for his own car and college education - if not some fast lane venture - or both! I am like Mike. I had two paper routes when I was a kid. Took me only ONE extra hour to double my income. Looking back, I should have had three. I mowed lawns. I invested half my income in silver and rare coins - at only 12 years old. I bought and sold higher ticket items when I was older - like bikes - motorcycles - cars, even. All way before graduating high school. Not bad for a peon. At 25, I sold my coins and silver and started a business. Great, right? No - compared to Bill Gates, I'm still a stinking peon! LOL
Rock bottom and no skills or ideas? No problem. There are TONS of easy part-time jobs out there. You could get an extra $50 a week or so, after taxes. Not much, but over 50 weeks in a year it adds up to 2,500. Throw in $500 saving from mowing the lawn, etc. and let's say it would be $3,000. Still not much is it? Well, after ten years it's $30,000, plus interest - which is a new car or a down payment on a house that will bring you passive income and be an asset that will appreciate in value FOREVER. All from sweeping floors or stocking shelves or whatever for 4 hours a day that you would be doing INSTEAD of sitting on your butt doing nothing, or reading the paper, or complaining about politics. Or, whatever.
I hate economists that think they know so damn much. They don't live in the real world. Look at your POTENTIAL instead of some graph. My potential when I was 25 was a side business (video production) in which I made more in one day than I was making in a week. This was every week BTW. Did I quit my regular job then? Hell no - I did BOTH. One extra day of my work week in exchange for an increase in pay of over 100%? No brainer. When I expanded, I did even better.
It might sound like you should use all your spare time to get a skill or form a side hustle. Not exactly. Why choose? Do it all. Take time to go to a movie - develop a valuable skill - make a side hustle. Do. it. all. And get off your a$$ and mow the damn lawn too! Buy your wife/husband something nice with the money you saved - or put it in a vacation or investment fund. Hell - I get over $1,000 a year just by saving pocket change in a bucket!
But get off your high horse because on Saturday morning when you're not on the payroll - you can save $35, which is the same as making $35. Add it up to $30,000. That's how millionaires are made. Don't believe me? Read the story of Warren Buffet. He started out making pennies selling newspapers on a corner and look where he is now. Times were much harder then too. He was not too proud to work for extra money AND save extra money at the same time, and I'll bet Warren is an expert at handling a lawnmower too. There is a lot to learn from Warren. Get to it - right after you're done mowing the lawn!
If pocket change adds up - imagine what "real" money (like mowing your lawn) can do.
Buried somewhere in here is a secret to success. This is only one. There are many.
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