#18 Hire someone to do something that I don't like doing...

Sometimes, it's hard to afford the life you want.  When you're fresh out of college, with a entry level salary, living in a city that's twice as expensive as the rest of the nation, paying $1600 for a teensy studio apartment... It's tough.  So you don't splurge on any extras.  You go to dive bars, you beg your dad to be your handyman (and take you out to dinner later), and you definitely clean your own apartment.  (Tough life, right?!?)

Now that I'm (almost) 30, and more "established" in my career, I'm finding it's both easy and not easy to adjust from my former 22 year old budget.  It's definitely easy to go out to dinner with friends more often, travel for girls weekends, and buy tickets to a Broadway play... but at the same time, it's not easy to allow yourself to spend money on a task that you are capable of doing. For example, painting a room, grocery shopping, or cleaning the apartment.  Those are things I can do - I'm not an expert, but I know enough to do them relatively well.  It's not like a plumber, where I definitely need to get help from a pro. 

So on a Saturday in May, I spent a gorgeous day indoors, cleaning the living room.  I vacuumed, windexed, and dusted.  And it took me ALL morning and ALL afternoon to clean one freaking room.  And that's just ONE room in my apartment, which in total is slightly less than 1,000 square feet.

Prior to that sunny Saturday in May, I had read an article about money rules that'll make you rich.  The very first suggestion was to calculate your "hourly rate".  If you can hire someone to do something for you at an hourly rate than is less than your hourly rate, ESPECIALLY if you dislike the task, then you should hire them, even if you are capable of doing it.  It's called the happiness factor.  Now, I was surprised that an article about getting rich was essentially telling me to spend money, but it makes sense when you think about it...  If I get no enjoyment out of an activity, why torture myself to do it when I can hire someone else to do it, and at a "lesser" hourly rate to boot?  Especially when I can be spending that same time doing something else that I actually enjoy?  They don't say "life is short" because it's not true, now, do they?

Hence #18 Hire someone to do something that I don't like doing... Now, I'll admit - I don't HATE cleaning.  There are definitely worse things in life than cleaning.  But I definitely don't enjoy it, and it takes forever, and let's be honest... I'd rather be doing other things (C'mon, did you not see my list of 30 things to do?  I got plans!)  So, after the fateful Saturday in May when all these thoughts (magazine article + spending a gorgeous day inside cleaning) collided, I started researching cleaning crews to get quotes.  I found one, called them, got a quote, got so excited about the quote (because it was less than my "hourly rate", especially when divided by 2, considering I have a roommate) that I booked them for an introductory appointment on Friday, June 15th.

Well, Friday, June 15th arrives, and it's a freaking fantabulous gorgeous day.   I leave work early to meet the cleaning crew, and when they arrive, I fall in love.  They are an army of seven, super cute, tiny women, carrying buckets, vacuums, mops, brooms, etc.  And they immediately go to town on the apartment. They clean everything.  EVERYTHING. They vacuumed the couch. They cleaned the inside of the microwave.  They took out the trash AND the recycling.  They even changed the sheets on my bed for me!!! And, it only took them 32 minutes (yes, I timed them).

Granted, 7 ladies at 32 minutes is 3 1/2 hours, but still, that would have taken me at least 3 mornings/afternoons to complete.  Plus, the experience of having a cleaning crew come in was incredible... After they left, Ellie and I walked around exclaiming "IT'S SO CLEAN!" and "OMG, IT'S SO CLEAN!".  Half an hour later, I'm still screaming things like "OMG the is SO CLEAN!" Who would have thought that having someone do something for you that you can easily do yourself is so incredible.  And liberating.  No wonder the stars have personal chefs, personal assistants, personal trainers, etc...

So, now I'm sitting on my nice, clean couch in my nice, clean apartment, writing this post, and frankly I'm wondering "why did I wait this long?"  Granted, I didn't think I could afford a cleaning crew back then, and I'm not entirely sure I can afford it now, but I keep reminding myself of that magazine article's advice - you need to take happiness in to account.  Life is here to be lived... and sometimes, you just need to let yourself live it.  And, I now get back at least two Saturdays a month in which I can do just that - live.  And that, my friends, is priceless.