November 13, 2010
In the last 30 years, there has been a tremendous “Wealthening” of America. Perhaps the greatest evidence of that is the huge growth in the service sector. Today, we pay other people to do many things that we used to just do ourselves just 3 decades ago.
If you want to start living cheap, it is time to reverse the trend and start doing these things for yourself!
1) Lawn Mowing: 30 years ago, only old ladies and the very rich hired somebody to mow their lawns. Either you did it or your kid did it. And if you were childless you hired the neighbor’s kid. These days, it seems everyone hires a “professional” to do their lawn. Paying someone $25+ a week to mow the lawn can cost you an extra $650 a year. You can buy an air-conditioned programmable lawn mower for that kind of money. It’s all about scheduling the time, it doesn’t take that much effort and it helps keep you fit. It’s a medical fact that yardwork reduces stress and burns calories.
2) House Cleaning: 30 years ago, a maid was considered something that only the elite could afford. Of course, the average size of a house has doubled and requires more work to clean up and keep tidy. You can save two to three thousand a year by just doing it yourself. Invest some money in some high quality cleaning equipment to make the work easier. Get organized. If you’re tidy all week - you’ll have less to clean up on the weekend. A fallback position is to cut back to every other week.
3) Home Security: 30 years ago, home security meant a 12 gauge shotgun or two guys named Smith & Wesson. Today, after decades of plummeting crime, we pay $30 a month or more for the privilege of putting a little Octagon outside our door and hoping that would be criminals can’t figure out an alarm system that an 8th grader could foil. Get a dog.
4) Cooking: According to ZAGAT, the average family eats out 3.2 times per week. 30 years ago, it was something families would only do on very special occasions or while on vacation. Those meals cost an average of about $2,800. Do yourself a favor, invest $1,000 and get someone in your family to take a few gourmet cooking classes. It’ll pay for itself in six months. If your kitchen serves better food than 95% of the restaurants in your area, you won’t eat out as much. Savings $1,400+ a year.
5) Laundry: Maybe the Blue Suits at IBM were getting their shirts pressed 30 years ago, but most everyone else was firing up the iron and pressing away at home. Today, many professionals spend $20 to $100 a week for their dry cleaning bills. Do it yourself. It makes sense to send a suit to the cleaners - but you should be able to do a shirt or two. Buy a good $80 iron, some starch, and a nice ironing board and iron away while the game is on. Savings $1,000 + a year.
6) Automotive Maintenance: Most of us have to admit that we don’t handle the upkeep on the cars. There was a time not to long ago that the oil changes, brakes, and fixing up the old jalopy was done in our driveways. A few of us keep up with the old tradition but for most people, jacking up the car and sliding underneath is a permanent part of the past. Thankfully, our cars need a heck of a lot less maintenance than they used to. Savings: $500 or more if you are handy.
7) Childcare: 30 years ago, nobody ever heard of a Pre-K school or nannies. Most kids stayed home until Kindergarten and if their parents were really humane they’d let the kid stay home till first grade. The entrance of women into the workforce accelerated the growth of Pre-K and nannies. What’s interesting is that the subsequent exit of many women from the workforce hasn’t led to a decline in Pre-K enrollment or nanny employment. If you have a parent at home, cut some costs by keeping the kids at home and making educational play dates with friends. You might just save $5,000+ a year.
8) Car Wash: $12 a week to get your car clean? 30 years ago you’d be lucky to find a carwash that cost more than fifty cents. Do yourself a favor spend $35 on a bucket, hose, and some sponges and do like Daniel-son and wax on wax off. You’ll save $500 or more.
9) Hair Cuts: Ok, we have to admit, our moms used to break out the scissors and cut our hair. Yeah, we looked like someone put a bowl on our head but it was the seventies so there wasn’t much of a standard. But c’mon $20 hair cuts for 5 year olds and $90 for the ladies. While that’s bad, what’s with the dudes getting $45 cuts every 4 weeks. While you may not be able to cut at home, there are plenty of decent places where you can get a cut for $20. If you’re a guy, go short and get a pair of cutters.
10) Manicures (and Pedicures!): Let’s get real here, how hard is it to find a girlfriend to sit down and paint each others nails. And the guys getting manicures and pedicures, don’t get us started. 30 years ago you would have gotten laughed out of the office. Why is it that the only guys that actually need a pedicure (mechanics, construction workers, etc.) are exactly the one’s that will never get one. Save $300 or more every year.
11) Coffee: The easiest thing to make excluding toast and people fork over $4 a day for some barista to make it for them. Get yourself a nice machine and 4 or 5 flavored syrups and set the coffee maker for 6:45 in the morning. Go to a barista class if you can’t figure it out by reading the Internet. You might actually see your family for 10 minutes more each day instead of standing 10 people deep in Starbucks. $750 or more a year in savings.
12) Painting: Painting is probably one of the easiest trades to master. It’s one thing to call a plumber or an electrician - but you should at least be able to paint the interior of your house. Plenty of courses at Home Depot or other home improvement centers and if you get any good at it you might pick up some easy income for doing a few rooms for friends.
In the last 30 years, there has been a tremendous “Wealthening” of America. Perhaps the greatest evidence of that is the huge growth in the service sector. Today, we pay other people to do many things that we used to just do ourselves just 3 decades ago.
If you want to start living cheap, it is time to reverse the trend and start doing these things for yourself!
1) Lawn Mowing: 30 years ago, only old ladies and the very rich hired somebody to mow their lawns. Either you did it or your kid did it. And if you were childless you hired the neighbor’s kid. These days, it seems everyone hires a “professional” to do their lawn. Paying someone $25+ a week to mow the lawn can cost you an extra $650 a year. You can buy an air-conditioned programmable lawn mower for that kind of money. It’s all about scheduling the time, it doesn’t take that much effort and it helps keep you fit. It’s a medical fact that yardwork reduces stress and burns calories.
2) House Cleaning: 30 years ago, a maid was considered something that only the elite could afford. Of course, the average size of a house has doubled and requires more work to clean up and keep tidy. You can save two to three thousand a year by just doing it yourself. Invest some money in some high quality cleaning equipment to make the work easier. Get organized. If you’re tidy all week - you’ll have less to clean up on the weekend. A fallback position is to cut back to every other week.
3) Home Security: 30 years ago, home security meant a 12 gauge shotgun or two guys named Smith & Wesson. Today, after decades of plummeting crime, we pay $30 a month or more for the privilege of putting a little Octagon outside our door and hoping that would be criminals can’t figure out an alarm system that an 8th grader could foil. Get a dog.
4) Cooking: According to ZAGAT, the average family eats out 3.2 times per week. 30 years ago, it was something families would only do on very special occasions or while on vacation. Those meals cost an average of about $2,800. Do yourself a favor, invest $1,000 and get someone in your family to take a few gourmet cooking classes. It’ll pay for itself in six months. If your kitchen serves better food than 95% of the restaurants in your area, you won’t eat out as much. Savings $1,400+ a year.
5) Laundry: Maybe the Blue Suits at IBM were getting their shirts pressed 30 years ago, but most everyone else was firing up the iron and pressing away at home. Today, many professionals spend $20 to $100 a week for their dry cleaning bills. Do it yourself. It makes sense to send a suit to the cleaners - but you should be able to do a shirt or two. Buy a good $80 iron, some starch, and a nice ironing board and iron away while the game is on. Savings $1,000 + a year.
6) Automotive Maintenance: Most of us have to admit that we don’t handle the upkeep on the cars. There was a time not to long ago that the oil changes, brakes, and fixing up the old jalopy was done in our driveways. A few of us keep up with the old tradition but for most people, jacking up the car and sliding underneath is a permanent part of the past. Thankfully, our cars need a heck of a lot less maintenance than they used to. Savings: $500 or more if you are handy.
7) Childcare: 30 years ago, nobody ever heard of a Pre-K school or nannies. Most kids stayed home until Kindergarten and if their parents were really humane they’d let the kid stay home till first grade. The entrance of women into the workforce accelerated the growth of Pre-K and nannies. What’s interesting is that the subsequent exit of many women from the workforce hasn’t led to a decline in Pre-K enrollment or nanny employment. If you have a parent at home, cut some costs by keeping the kids at home and making educational play dates with friends. You might just save $5,000+ a year.
8) Car Wash: $12 a week to get your car clean? 30 years ago you’d be lucky to find a carwash that cost more than fifty cents. Do yourself a favor spend $35 on a bucket, hose, and some sponges and do like Daniel-son and wax on wax off. You’ll save $500 or more.
9) Hair Cuts: Ok, we have to admit, our moms used to break out the scissors and cut our hair. Yeah, we looked like someone put a bowl on our head but it was the seventies so there wasn’t much of a standard. But c’mon $20 hair cuts for 5 year olds and $90 for the ladies. While that’s bad, what’s with the dudes getting $45 cuts every 4 weeks. While you may not be able to cut at home, there are plenty of decent places where you can get a cut for $20. If you’re a guy, go short and get a pair of cutters.
10) Manicures (and Pedicures!): Let’s get real here, how hard is it to find a girlfriend to sit down and paint each others nails. And the guys getting manicures and pedicures, don’t get us started. 30 years ago you would have gotten laughed out of the office. Why is it that the only guys that actually need a pedicure (mechanics, construction workers, etc.) are exactly the one’s that will never get one. Save $300 or more every year.
11) Coffee: The easiest thing to make excluding toast and people fork over $4 a day for some barista to make it for them. Get yourself a nice machine and 4 or 5 flavored syrups and set the coffee maker for 6:45 in the morning. Go to a barista class if you can’t figure it out by reading the Internet. You might actually see your family for 10 minutes more each day instead of standing 10 people deep in Starbucks. $750 or more a year in savings.
12) Painting: Painting is probably one of the easiest trades to master. It’s one thing to call a plumber or an electrician - but you should at least be able to paint the interior of your house. Plenty of courses at Home Depot or other home improvement centers and if you get any good at it you might pick up some easy income for doing a few rooms for friends.
Closed November 2010
Woo-hoo!
) 
But I don't need fake nails since I'm doing the cooking, cleaning, the painting, and washing the car. Auto maintenance though - forget it. So many cars are on "computer systems" now - I don't even know where the heck the dip stick is anymore (I remember Dad taught me that in high school). I do agree that there are soooooo many things people pay for now that they don't need. And I chuckle to myself when I get in the elevator in the morning and all 4 people standing around me have their caffe latte espresso decaf mocha supreme. . . whatever. . . in their hands. LOL 
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