Outsourcing Life
One of the things I struggle with most as a traveler is what will I do myself versus what should I pay someone to do.
This week I finally broke down and hired lawn service. It seemed like I was gone all week and I couldn’t really enjoy my weekend until I mowed the grass. I think my friends all made fun of me because they’d want to hang out Saturday morning and I’d use yard work as an excuse. It is nice to come home to a nice yard and it’s relatively cheap. There were a few weeks last year where it would rain during the weekend and I’d try to get a mow finished before rushing to the airport. I was glad I didn’t get hand swabbed by TSA because I definitely had gasoline on my hands. I try not to be the neighbor with an unkempt yard, plus on some level I think it contributes to the “no one is home” look.
I know a lot of business travelers like maid service. I don’t dirty too much and if I put my clothes away instead of on the floor my house is pretty clean.
Next thing to hire out would be my pool service. I really need to hire out my clothes shopping. I wonder if Road Warriorette will just buy me clothes and ship them to me. I have no sense of fashion which is why I don’t talk about clothes.
I tried to start using the car washing service my airport valet offers, but $35 for a basic wash seemed quite steep when the local Wiki Wiki wash is $15 for the super deluxe lava wash.
I outsource all of my food preparation to Whole Foods and Harris Teeter.
I guess that’s why traveling positions also tend to pay more than nontraveling positions…
What do you pay someone to do that you would most likely do if you worked a normal 9-5?
I’d like to pay someone to do my laundry once a week.
wash and fold laundry–if im only home 3 days per week, and dont have a washer/dryer, im not giving up a few precious hours!
Before I retired, I worked in a position that required 12 hour shifts. If we were on shut down I worked 80 hours a week. 6-12’s and a 8 hour shift. The only thing I was home to do is eat one meal and sleep. I hired someone to buy groceries for me, do my laundry and clean the condo. Lawn Maintenance and Snow removal were included in my association fees.
You have to make choices when you work alot of hours or travel for work. Mine were to make things essier for me to cope with my hours. Plus if you are always working you don’t have time to spend your salary. So the little extras were really nice.
I would love to buy you clothes! That sounds like lots of fun 🙂
When my husband was still working we had a housekeeper come every other week but that was about it as far as outsourcing goes. Now that he’s home with baby we don’t even do that anymore…. Although we do buy a ton of stuff online–groceries, diapers, paper products, cleaning products,etc….