Outsourcing Household Chores: Cost-Effective Move or the Ultimate In Anti-Frugal?

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Jason (Frugal Dad) at 5:00 am

When I was growing up, and too small to mow the lawn at the house my mom and I rented, my mom hired someone to cut the grass, edge and trim the hedges. It was the only household chore she outsourced as she tackled all inside work, often worked 50-60 hours a week, cooked a hot meal nearly every night for the two of us, and was an all-around great mom.

One day I asked her how we could afford to pay the man to cut our grass. Mom said she could probably get out there and do it herself, but it would take her all day and her allergies would suffer the next couple days. To her, it just wasn’t worth it.

It wasn’t long before my grandfather convinced her I was plenty old enough to push that mower around the yard, and so I did, happy to be doing my part. As I got older, I seem to have inherited those same allergies…and no, that’s not just an excuse to get out of yard work!

These days I wear a mask to prevent inhaling dust and grass clippings, but my eyes still swell to the point I look like I’ve lost a fight. The next day, my sinuses are completely clogged. My wife, probably weary of hearing me complain about my allergies, recently asked the valid question, “Why don’t you just hire someone to handle the yard work?”

Outsourcing the Yard Work?

Honestly, I had never considered it, because it seemed more frugal for me to do it myself. In fact, despite the allergies, I’ve always enjoyed yard work. Well, for the most part. But maybe my wife was on to something. Maybe I should scout out local service providers at Angie’s List and give one of them a try.

I could hire someone to do the lawn, freeing up more family time, and maybe even giving me an opportunity to write more. Instead of spending Saturday mornings in the yard, and the rest of the weekend paying for it (physically), it might make sense to outsource the work and free up that time for something else.

Naturally, I’m reluctant to do it, because it is hard for the do-it-yourselfer in me to hire someone to do something I can do myself. But at some point you have to recognize that your time is valuable, too. Would I rather be enjoying more time with my kids, and/or pursuing more entrepreneurial endeavors, or working in the yard in 100-degree heat on a Saturday. Well, when you put it that way, it seems like a pretty easy decision.

However, I’m also careful to avoid lifestyle creep – something I’ve mentioned a couple times here lately. I haven’t quoted landscape pricing, but I imagine it would add $100-$200 to maintain the yard each month, maybe more. That doesn’t factor in other special projects I’ve completed like planting trees, pruning trees, spreading mulch, etc.

Maybe a compromise would be to outsource the regular mowing and trimming, but continuing to take on special projects myself.

Other Chores to Outsource

Yard work seems to be a popular chore to outsource, but it certainly isn’t the only one. Cleaning services seem to still be in demand, despite the tough economy. Assuming they have the disposable income, I know many people who are happy to pay someone else to perform the weekly maintenance inside the home: vacuuming, cleaning bathrooms, dusting furniture, sweeping porches, etc.

Most cleaning services offer a variety of package deals and an a la carte option, and will come up with a schedule that fits your needs (weekly cleaning, every two weeks, once a month, one-time deep clean, etc.).

My wife and hired a cleaning service to deep-clean our old house when we moved, because we were so occupied with getting our stuff settled in the new home. It added a couple hundred dollars to our moving budget, but we both agreed it was the best couple hundred dollars we ever spent!

Sure, it would have been cheaper for us to spend a couple days there scrubbing the place down after the furniture was moved out and the walls were painted, but at the time we were exhausted, I had to return to work, and my wife spent much of her time caring for our kids and my grandfather, who lived with us, all the while trying to unpack boxes in the new house.

I’m still weighing the decision to outsource the yard work, but for now I’ll keep wearing masks and taking Claritin on yard days. Maybe I could ask for service every two weeks to give myself a weekend off (the yard has to be cut just about every week in the peak of summer growing).

I’ll keep you posted on what we ultimately decide, but I guess the takeaway lesson here is that just because we are frugal, we shouldn’t be against spending money just for frugal sake. Sometimes it makes more sense to buy the more expensive, higher-quality option, or in this case, trade some amount of money for your time, which should also treated with value. After all, time is the most important non-renewable commodity we have.

What are your thoughts on outsourcing household chores? Have you ever thought about hiring someone to perform yard maintenance, or to help clean your home?

Forget Swimming Pools, Homeowners Opting for Admission to Doomsday Bunkers

Posted on June 28, 2011 by Laurel Gray at 5:00 am

With real-life doomsday scenarios like mega-tsunamis and nuclear meltdown making headlines, companies marketing survival shelters have seen a spike in interest in recent months. A few days ago, CNN Money ran an article on a new type of “economy class” doomsday bunker for thrifty folks who still want to hedge their bets against catastrophe.

These pared-down bunkers are part of a 100,000 sq. ft. underground facility called “Vivos 1000.” The four-bunk compartments cost $9,950 and promise customers six months of “autonomous” survival. Units in the Vivos company’s high-end bunker complexes—which feature comforts like pool tables and stocked wine cellars—sell for $25,000 to $35,000 and promise clients survival for up to one year. Although these luxury units were selling steadily, the recent uptick in interest spurred the company to develop a budget-priced model and thus, the Vivos 1000 was born.

Vivos and a slew of competitors market their survival shelters as protection against a host of apocalyptic scenarios, including tsunamis, nuclear accidents, volcanic eruptions, asteroids, epidemics, solar flares and instability in the Middle East. Even though the recent Rapture predictions proved false, many people still wonder if the Mayans were on to something with their doomsday prediction for 2012.

Editor’s Note: After reading the article, 12 Things that the Mainstream Media is Being Strangely Quiet About (via The Daily Crux), I took stock of our own bug out bags and various stockpiles. As they say, plan for the worst; hope for the best

Some shelter companies market family-sized backyard bunkers, but others, like Vivos, are counting on filling up entire post-apocalyptic communities. Vivos has more than five 200-occupant shelters in the works around the U.S., as well as a mega-shelter for up to 1,000 survivalists in Nebraska.

Shelling out thousands of dollars for a berth in one of these bunkers has a big downside: access. During a “life extinction event,” clients may not be able to reach their costly safe haven. If transportation routes collapse, food and fuel become scarce, and anarchy reigns, getting to Nebraska might not be a fun-filled road trip.

Bugging In

In the event of a catastrophe, sheltering in place might be a more practical solution. Many websites, including the American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency Management Agency-sponsored site Ready.gov, provide basic information on sheltering in place and disaster preparedness.

Selecting a home with a basement that can be utilized as a bunker in times of emergency is a practical choice. There is no need to invest in an off-site facility when a basement bunker can be reinforced and stocked to the specifications of the homeowner. Access in an emergency is simple, and there is the added comfort of being at home during chaotic or uncertain times.

If your home does not have a basement that can be used as a shelter, you may be able to build a bunker elsewhere on your property. Such shelters can serve double-duty as a root cellar or wine cellar while providing a safety zone during an emergency or natural disaster.

My family had such a shelter when I was a child, and although it was ostensibly used as a root cellar for potatoes and preserves, I know my military-minded father had its other purpose in mind when he built it.

Safe Rooms

A safe room is an option for a home that lacks both a basement and sufficient outdoor space to build a below-ground shelter. Often designed to withstand high winds, a safe room can also be used during a home invasion or other emergency.

A safe room can be as simple as a closet retrofitted with an exterior-grade door and a heavy lock, or as elaborate as a ventilated structure reinforced with concrete, Kevlar, or steel sheeting.

Several websites, including FEMA.gov, offer valuable tips on safe room construction. An integrated safe room is convenient and economical because it does not require the construction of a separate shelter. A home’s safe room can be a bathroom, storage closet or other room that has been reinforced, anchored and stocked–but that still blends seamlessly into the home’s floor plan.

Any shelter should be equipped with emergency supplies including food, water, flashlights, blankets, first aid supplies, sanitation supplies, a portable or fixed toilet, and any self-defense items deemed necessary by the occupants.

Some homeowners are happy to forgo a new swimming pool or family vacation in order to pay for a safe haven for their family. Recent events prompted one family to take $20,000 they had set aside as a down-payment on a new home and instead purchase a space in a Vivos stronghold.

Will this decision turn out to be a wise move or a personal-finance cataclysm? We’ll just have to wait until 2012 to find out.

This article was written by contributing author Laurel Gray.

ING Direct Sells to Capital One: PerkStreet Financial, Here We Come

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Jason (Frugal Dad) at 4:58 pm

I’ve been an ING Direct customer for several years. We have a portion of our emergency fund stashed there, and we have a number of small sinking funds there to save for things like vacations, car tag renewals, insurance premiums, etc.

News broke a couple weeks ago that Capital One has acquired ING Direct. I cringed. I had a Capital One credit card back in my spendthrift days, and after many problems with their lack of customer service, I decided to mail them their card back…in pieces.

It might be a bit premature to expect that same level of customer no-service for their former ING Direct customers, but I’m not going to stick around and find out.

The PerkStreet Financial^SMChecking Account With Rewards

Over the last several months I’ve been hearing good things from fellow bloggers about PerkStreet Financial. Over the weekend, I decided to give them a shot, and plan to move part of our tri-level emergency fund there, as well as our sinking fund balances (I’ll just keep the balances separate in a spreadsheet, since it looks like the sub-account feature may not be an option).

One of the most impressive offerings at PerkStreet is a 2% unlimited cash rebate on purchases for your first 3 months (and longer, if you maintain more than a $5,000 balance). If you keep less than $5,000 on hand, they will still give you 1% cash back after the initial offering.

Throughout the year, they also offer 5% (with a $250 annual limit) on various categories and retailers. That’s a fairly generous offering for a checking account!

We currently use one credit card for similar rewards, but even they aren’t as generous. I’ve always felt a little conflicted about using a credit card for paying household utilities and the like, so if I can move these expenses over to the The PerkStreet Financial^SM Debit MasterCard^®, and earn an even higher cash rebate, well that sounds even sweeter.

I’ll probably have some of my regular paycheck deposited at PerkStreet to cover our regular, recurring household bills (utilities, Netflix subscription, etc), and run those charges through their debit card. Might as well earn some cash back on things I’m already paying.

Applying for an account was simple – just the standard contact information. You can fund your account using your existing checking account or a credit or debit card.

If you are interested, here’s more information from PerkStreet on their checking account offering:

Buying a New Hybrid to Save on Gas: Smart Move or Financial Folly

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Guest at 5:00 am

The following guest post is from Tim Chen. Tim is the CEO of NerdWallet, a credit card website that helps consumers find the best cash back credit cards for their spending habits.

People have remarkably short memories when it comes to price changes. Retailers can attest to how quickly shoppers perceive sale prices as baselines, while a price increase must be sustained for quite some time before consumers shift their spending habits.

But the current rise in gas prices reawakened the memories of similar spikes in 2008 and has Americans considering long-term adaptations in addition to quick fixes like simply driving less.

Instead of opting for low-mileage giants that bear a strong resemblance to army tanks, many car buyers are considering hybrids instead. Soaring gas prices, combined with anticipated shortages following the March 11^th earthquake and tsunami in Japan, lifted demand just as production interruptions began to reverberate in America.

Car dealers see their hybrids flying off the lot, while selling used Priuses has become so lucrative that Toyota of Hollywood paid its employees a $500 finder’s fee for every Prius brought in.

Given the spike in Prius prices – used models sold for 30% more than the beginning of this year according to the National Automobile Dealers Association – and the admittedly fickle nature of gas prices, is a hybrid car still a solid investment?

New Prius vs. New Jetta

The Kelly Blue Book puts the fair purchase price of a 2011 Prius at $23,300, while that of a 2011 Volkswagen 4-door Jetta is $15,500. The Prius gets about 50 miles per gallon for both city and highway, while the Jetta gets 25 and 34mpg, respectively.

Setting aside the abstract benefits of owning a Prius, from saving the environment to establishing save-the-environment street cred, how long would it take to make up for the Prius premium?

We calculated the amount a consumer would spend on gas in a given year for different amounts of driving. By subtracting the amount spent with a Prius from that spent with a Jetta, we find the yearly savings on gas achieved with the hybrid.

Target: $7,800

Assumptions: Gas costs $4 a gallon, driving is split between city and highway

Miles Driven per Year	20,000	40,000 (national average)	60,000	80,000
Gas Savings per Year	$1,112	$2,224	$3,336	$4,447
Years to Reach Target	7	3.5	2	1.75

In order to make up for the Prius’ cost, the average American would have to hold the car for 3.5 years. Drivers keep their cars for just that long on average, so a Prius won’t save the typical driver any money even with the generous assumption that gas prices remain high throughout.

Used Prius vs. Used Jetta

Now we’ll compare the advantages of purchasing a 2006 Prius and Jetta, both with 200,000 miles, from a dealer. KBB puts the suggested retail price of the Prius at $11,500 and the Jetta at $8,000. Using the same assumptions as above, how long will it take to earn back the used Prius markup? The fuel efficiency of both cars is slightly lower: 48mpg in the city and 45 on the highway for the Prius, and 19 and 28mpg for the Jetta.

Target: $3,500

Miles Driven per Year	20,000	40,000 (national average)	60,000	80,000
Gas Savings per Year	$1,804	$3,609	$5,413	$7,217
Years to Break Even	1.7	0.8	0.6	0.4

The savings on gas are realized much sooner with a used Prius than a new one, which may, in part, explain Toyota of Hollywood’s juicy finder’s fee. Assisted by a larger absolute decline in price and comparatively better fuel efficiency, the used Prius easily beats out the used Jetta within a year.

Other ways to save on gas

Buying a car simply to cut down on gas spending doesn’t make financial sense, so consumers who don’t plan to trade in their vehicles in the near future will have to find other ways to cope with high gas prices. Despite rising fares and schedule cuts, public transportation remains a viable option.

Gas credit cards and customer loyalty programs can shave off a few cents per gallon, and some gas stations charge lower prices for cash payments. Such strategies can help to ride out temporarily high gas prices without the significant cost of a new hybrid.

Editor’s Note: As has been pointed out in the comments below, I believe Tim made a mistake in citing 40,000 as the average number of miles driven in a year. That number is more likely to be in the 15,000 mile range.

10 Fun and Frugal Summer Family Activities

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Guest at 5:00 am

The following guest post is from Kyle James. Kyle owns and operate a website called Rather-Be-Shopping.com which specializes in online coupon codes for over 700 stores, organized in 25 shopping categories. He also has a blog, where he writes about frugal living tips, creative ways to save money, and other musings about the adventures and mis-adventures of raising 3 active kids.

With 3 young kids, and living on a tight budget, my wife and I have come up with many fun and frugal activities for this summer. Stuff that will stimulate both their brain and muscles, which is the needed combo for healthy kids. Hopefully one of these ideas can inspire you this summer. The best part is most are free and the others cost very little.

The bottom-line is that kids just want your time, and activities don’t have to be expensive in order to create great memories. Here are our 10 favorite, in no particular order.

1. Family Bike Rides – Almost every Sunday, without fail, I load up our bikes in my truck and we head off to one of our local bike trails. We typically pack a lunch and make a day out of it. The kids absolutely love the freedom of it, and minus the gas costs, it is completely free. If you are not sure where your local trails are located, I found a great resource called Trails.com that will find them for you.

2. Free Summer Movies – Our local movie theater offers free kids movies all summer long on Tuesday mornings. Check your local theaters for similar offers. Don’t forget to bring in your own snacks so that don’t nail you with their ridiculous popcorn and candy prices.

3. State & Local Parks – Plan a day trip to a local park. It is amazing how many parks are in our area that we take for granted and never visit. Well, not anymore. We have several small trips planned to state parks. The cost is only $5 for a day pass. They have rivers, streams, and lakes that we plan to cool off in. Get out and find the natural beauty in your area. Your kids will love it.

4. Water Balloons – Last summer I spend 20 minutes filling up a five gallon bucket with water balloons and then let the kids go crazy on the front lawn. It was such a hit that I had at least one kid ask me daily if we could do it again. I obliged several times and we had a blast bombing each.

5. Do Your Kids Love Animals? – My 2 girls are huge animal lovers. So last summer, my wife had the idea of having them volunteer at our local animal shelter walking dogs, cleaning up after kittens, and other similar duties. They loved it and talked about it for days.

6. Library Time – Our local library has a story-time twice a week all summer long. We take our kids a few times every summer. They get to listen to stories, do an arts & crafts project, and then we let them check out a few books to take home. It is completely free and you get the added benefit of building a love for reading.

7. Family Game Night – Several times this summer I plan on dusting off an old board game, popping some popcorn, and having a family game night. This goes back to the concept of a family that plays together, stays together. The word “play” does not have to be expensive. You don’t need 3 jet skis or a garage full of quad-runners to have fun together.

8. Camping Trip – Just last week, we got back from our first camping trip of the summer. We biked, kayaked, did the S’mores thing, and the kids were in hog heaven. We went to a local state park and it only cost me $30 a night. The kids look forward to it every year. If you are interested in camping, try to get your camping gear used or on sale. I have found a lot of our gear at garage sales and from eBay.com.

9. Barnes & Noble Story-time – This one is similar to the library idea. Our local B&N offers free story-time once a week during the summer. This is a nice choice if your kids are musically inclined as stories are often accompanied by a guitar or keyboard.

10. Sprinkler Time – If all else fails, just turn on your sprinklers and let the kids do their thing.

Do you have any frugal summer activities to add to my list? I look forward to any new ideas I can implement with my family this summer. Here are some of the better coupons on my website right now that can save you money on summer purchases like swimsuits and camping gear. If your favorite store is not listed, please Contact Me and I will personally find you a coupon.

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