You shouldn't......everyone has their own priorities.

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yes we cut our own grass... I am however guilty of asking my 12 year old nephew to shovel our drive way in the winter once in awhile if we are going to be away... he loves it he makes a couple of bucks and he actually likes to shovel so it's a win win situation

Anything we are not sure of like electrical we ask a friend of ours to help us out and pay him as a side job.

My DH works out of town usually 3 wks at a time. When he is home he wants to spend time with us, not working. There are many things we do ourselves and there are some things we hire people to do for us.

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I can see the arguments for it...There are some valid reasons there, and if I was in a situation that it was financially feasible and would be in the best interest for us, I'd do it. All that said, if we can do it ourselves we do. But it's because we enjoy it (and Paige, this is my raising my hand...I DO enjoy cleaning my home).
How many wives do you know who can tile and grout 3 bathroom floors in a weekend...and they all look awesome btw )?

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Gosh, I love contractors! They own their own tools. They often come with a crew. They get the job done. They are fast. They clean up and they leave. All I have to do is make a few phone calls and write a check.

Often I don't even have to reschedule my life. I don't have to carve out time to change into grubby clothes and figure out how to get that gunk out of my hair or off my skin. Contractors take showers in their own homes and I don't have to worry about whatever that is clogging up my drains. I don't end up going to the ER because I made one little slip. Contractors do the work all day long, everyday. Not only do they know where to get the supplies easier and cheaper, but they have quick solutions to the little complications that baffle me.

This extends even to housecleaning. I remember the first time I got a house cleaner. She got the ring off the inside of my toilet. I marvelled! I had worked on that sucker for years. I had a closet full of chemicals and tools to prove it yet the housecleaner removed it in one visit!

I especially like the guys who come and do the 'mow and blow' on my lawn. If they run over a sprinkler head, THEY fix it. Their mowers are so large. They come in and zip-zip, the lawn is DONE. If I did the job, it would be a whole day affair, capped by the wonderful scene of me struggling with the weedeater and grass blower (not a pretty sight). Right now we are mowing our own lawn but the episode starts with a trip to the gas station - ugh!

That said, there are some things I can do cheaper, better and faster. Yesterday we did a dump run. For the $20 it took to pay the dump to take our pick-up truck load, it was worth the day of sweating to get rid of that stuff. I didn't have to put up with the fustration of dealing with a clean-up crew who would have to be told what to take and what to leave. Nor did I have to pay a $750 minimum charge to have them do it. Had I not alread owned a pick-up truck, it might have been a different story, though.

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We don't hire out for anything. Well, not yet. We rented until recently, so I supose there might be something in the future we will need to hire out for. But for us, it is mainly because we can't afford to. Hubby can fix most car problems, he is a construction worker, I usually bake the birthday cakes, unless I run out of time. Clothes rip, either toss em, or my daughter can sow it. My son does the lawn. We just had him paint the house. I guess you can consider that hiring in. LOL. We pay him for the lawn and the painting.

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"The Christian does not think that God will love us because we are good, but God will make us good because he loves us."- C.S. Lewis

I'm the same way (and so is dh) - won't pay anyone to do things around here but we do not think twice about paying someone to cook for us! Gosh dang eating out!!!!

I think for most people it is a time management issue these days. We've paid for some of the projects around our house like building the garage, siding, carpet in the basement and drywall finishing.

My dh mows our grass and takes the trash to the dump. I wish he'd let me pay for trash removal.

DH works mad hours. He's out the house by 7am, and coming home by 7:30pm is very early for him. Sometimes, he's home after we go to bed. I work full-time as well. DH even works some weekends. With that said, we have someone to come clean our house every week, and someone to cut the grass once a week or once every two weeks. If some pluming or electric work needs to be done in the house, DH has some of his guys who work for him to swing by the house and take care of it. For us it's basically a time issue, and the way we look at it, it saves our sanity. We never have to 'clean' the house before the cleaning lady comes. Our house is always picked up.

As a single mom with only the one income to support the family every penny counts. I only hire someone when all else fails. This past weekend I watched a 2 minute video on the internet to learn how to tune up my own lawn mower (yes I am the family lawn care specialist along with many other hats I wear). I watched what they did (no speakers on the computer) went to the store and got a new spark plug, air filter and oil then changed them all myself. I was so proud of myself for not having to hire anyone and saving about $35 by doing it myself. Try things yourself first. We can do a lot more than we think we can if we just try. Dont sell yourself short and NEVER say you cant do something because you are a "girl".