Tackling an enormous load of laundry can feel nearly impossible at the end of a long work week. When your to-do list is growing — or a new episode of your favorite show is calling — the thought of paying someone else to pick up your dirty clothes and return them freshly folded can seem like a dream.
But at around $2 per pound of laundry, or around $20 to $30 for washing an average load, it can be hard to determine if the convenience is really worth the ongoing cost, says Ben Smith, a certified financial planner in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“As a financial planner, I always encourage folks to consider the long-term benefits and impacts [of paying for convenience], not just thinking about a week or two or just a few months,” he says.
Smith recommends treating your finances like you’re running a business. If you can afford it, outsourcing tasks that bog you down can help you focus on what you value most — whether that be family time or an exciting new side hustle.
Here are a few questions that he and other financial pros say to ask yourself to determine whether to handle the load in your closet yourself, or pay someone else to do it.
Does it cost less than your personal hourly rate?
One of Smith’s first steps with his clients is determining their personal hourly rate, usually with the help of online tools, like the salary to hourly calculators on Indeed or The Calculator Site, he says.
While making your calculations, you should account for several factors: base salary, bonuses, recurring job costs, benefits and vacation time.
For a quick estimate, add your annual income and typical bonus together, then subtract estimated taxes and work-related expenses, such as gas to and from the job. Divide that number by the total hours you work in a year, which is usually around 2,080 hours for full-time employees.
Once you have an hourly number to work with, you can more accurately determine if delegating makes financial sense, Smith says. If your hourly rate comes to $75, you may be comfortable paying someone $50 an hour on occasion to help with a tedious home maintenance task, he says.
When weighing if it’s worth it for you to outsource an activity like doing laundry, you should consider not only the cost, but how much time it normally takes out of your week, says Jovan Johnson, a CFP based in Atlanta, Georgia.
If you have a washer and dryer at home, it may be a relatively easy task to manage while going about your day. But if you have to haul your loads to a laundromat and wait around while they wash and dry, it might be worth it to buy back some of your time, he says.
Will outsourcing boost your emotional wellbeing?
If laundry is truly the chore you dread most — to the point that doing it is dragging you down in other areas of your life — it may actually be a smart financial decision to outsource it, per Smith’s advice.
Your income is “the engine” of your financial health, and on top of the mental benefits of prioritizing your happiness, reducing the risk of burnout is essential to keeping that engine running as long as possible, Smith says.
“If I can help a client outsource one or two things in their personal lives that don’t bring them joy, but that help them stay motivated to work hard and create and grow income, they’re going to be miles better for it in the long run,” Smith says.
Are you comfortable with the premium price?
Even if a service is within your budget and below your hourly rate, it still might not be “worth it” to you. You should always pause to consider if you’re legitimately comfortable with a premium price, Johnson says.
Many people are often unaware of how much they spend on convenience services month to month, he says. Part of evaluating how much you’re comfortable spending now is looking back at past purchases and weighing if those costs feel worth it in hindsight, Johnson adds.
Although $20 or $30 for a load of laundry may not seem like much, you may look back at your budget and realize you’re paying around $100 a month to wash your clothes when a bottle of Tide and some patience would have run you much less.
Are you still prioritizing long-term goals?
If outsourcing laundry services means cutting back on how much you put into retirement savings or emergency funds, the service might not be as worth it as you may think, Johnson says.
“You want to prioritize happiness in life now without sacrificing the future,” Johnson says. “I always have a savings-first mindset.”
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