LAMBORGHINIS AND LAWNMOWERS

[WinstonSmith]

I am fortunate. I was gifted with certain skills/proclivities that are in high demand in the early 21st century. One of the interesting side benefits is the team I am privileged to lead, more than one of whom own exotic cars. I myself do not have any (I could, but I like what I have and and putting money away for a rainy day ... "priorities" as my colleagues like to say).

But this thread isn't about luxury items that my teammates or I have accumulated. It's about thinking in different terms: time vs money. One of these exotic car owners who works for me still mows his own lawn. I asked him why.
...

Him: "I don't feel like my non-work time has a monetary value. I'm not working, so I'm not getting paid for that time. I'm free."

Me: "Yes, but you could be enjoying nice things like that [exotic vehicle]."

Him: "My friends say the same thing-- they make fun of me saying 'You have all these nice things
[lists much more than just the single exotic car], but you still mow your own lawn!'"

Me: "Maybe you should look at your time differently. You're not getting any more of it, you know."

Him: "Yeah, I know, but ..."

Me: "How about thinking about it like this: Let's say it costs $100 to get your lawn mowed, and let's say you only have time for either mowing that lawn or [an activity he likes to do]. Choosing to mow means you can't do that activity. Wouldn't you be willing to pay an extra $100 to do that activity this week?"

Him: "Well, sure I would."

Me: "Then just tell yourself you're not paying to have the lawn mowed. You're paying to get to do the thing you want with your time."

Him: "Didn't think of it like that way. I think I'll go hire a mower."

...

Moral of the story: what's the point of being successful, making money, owning nice things, if you can't free up your time to be able to enjoy them?

[Greg Nichols]

I think everyone will reach a point where they value their free time and what they do with it far more than they value a dollar. The sad thing is most don't realize it till they are too old to enjoy it.

[WinstonSmith]

Agreed - maybe it means not buying a Lambo, but buying something nice and a little cheaper and still having money to have others perform services like lawn mowing to free up your time.

Or maybe a more down-to-earth example would be NOT changing your own oil to save $10 when it means taking up your entire Saturday morning and getting messy.

[DeltaCadet84]

Read The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. It taught me to think this way. Your time is far more valuable than your money.

[Jon Payne]

Read The 4 Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss. It taught me to think this way. Your time is far more valuable than your money.

Which is why I love teaching Private Suarez Classes.


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[SEANSTRAIT]

Agreed - maybe it means not buying a Lambo, but buying something nice and a little cheaper and still having money to have others perform services like lawn mowing to free up your time.

Or maybe a more down-to-earth example would be NOT changing your own oil to save $10 when it means taking up your entire Saturday morning and getting messy.

Depends on what you get out of it. I hate changing my own oil and refuse to do it but I know a surgeon who finds it very relaxing and would never pay someone else to change the oil in his vehicles.

I do understand what you are saying. My wife and I lived on the beach in Florida when I retired from the military. It was paradise but the job market sucked so we packed up and moved to the desert of New Mexico because we were offered good jobs that paid great. I now have the ability to buy a pretty much whatever I want (within reason-I'm not Jeff Bezos) including a new SI "toy" every couple of months. The trade off is our schedules are extremely tight and it is near impossible to attend any SI classes right now but we plan to retire or semi retire in less than 2 years and move back to Florida. I will be in my late 50s and will have plenty of time and money to attend those classes and sip Coronas on the beach thanks to a little delayed gratification and sacrifice.

[H60DoorGunner]

Agreed - maybe it means not buying a Lambo, but buying something nice and a little cheaper and still having money to have others perform services like lawn mowing to free up your time.

Or maybe a more down-to-earth example would be NOT changing your own oil to save $10 when it means taking up your entire Saturday morning and getting messy.

I value my time with my family far more than I value my money. But to your specific point here, I've yet to find a place that can change my oil faster than I can change it myself. The same is true of a lot of things I think.

I could pay someone to do it, but the time is spent nonetheless. Either waiting on them to do it, or driving back and forth to pick up the vehicle. It honestly just strikes me as a poor excuse to spend money and gain little to nothing in return.

EDIT: I've also paid services several times to mow my grass. I haven't found one yet that doesn't transplant new weeds into my somewhat expensive grass. Sometimes its worth paying for convenience. Sometimes it turns out to not be as convenient.

[Brent Yamamoto]

If you're a guy who likes doing that stuff, I get it.

But it seems to me most people do it to save money. I think it's a false economy. I can change oil and mow lawns too but why the hell would I? My time is more valuable than that.

[chad newton]

Maybe the dude only relaxes when he mows his lawn.

[Brent Yamamoto]

Maybe the dude only relaxes when he mows his lawn.

That's why I said this:


If you're a guy who likes doing that stuff, I get it.


And I'm not knocking manual labor. Just saying depending where you're at, there's an economic cost...and the whole point of the thread that so many don't put a monetary value on their time.

But if a guy like's mowing his lawn...cool.

[H60DoorGunner]

...Just saying depending where you're at, there's an economic cost...and the whole point of the thread that so many don't put a monetary value on their time.

But if a guy like's mowing his lawn...cool.

Really what's being said here is, "I dont feel like doing it, and I have the money to pay someone else to do it... so I pay someone else to do it". And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But to say that anyone saves time or money having someone else do these things for you isn't always true. Admitting to the former is honest, claiming the latter is most often just pointless self deception

[Brent Yamamoto]

I’m not saying it saves you money. I am saying there is an opportunity cost.

Those are different things. And “I just don’t want to do it” is fair but for some of us there’s more to it than that.

Edited to add: I can change oil. Or I can pay someone to do it. I can’t pay the same guy to design, market, do record keeping, film or teach my class. A good share of what I do is just think about stuff. So yeah, there is economic value even when I have time just to sit on my ass.

[45Smashemflat]

Sometimes you just like to daydream about running over certain people with the mower as you cut... It's therapeutic.

[Greg Nichols]

Really what's being said here is, "I dont feel like doing it, and I have the money to pay someone else to do it... so I pay someone else to do it". And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But to say that anyone saves time or money having someone else do these things for you isn't always true. Admitting to the former is honest, claiming the latter is most often just pointless self deception

That's not how I read it and find your summary extraordinarily simplistic and mildly ignorant. I can change my own oil, change out my brakes, now my lawn faster, cheaper, and arguably better than I can pay someone else to do it. The point is if I chose to or not is completely dictated by value and return on investment.

For example, the oil change. If I do it myself, between the time getting supplies from the store and actually performing the function compared to the hour wait to have it done I've saved my self at most 30 minutes. But sitting waiting for it to be done while reading a good book on finances didn't lose me 30 minutes of time, it bought me an hour of self improvement I will carry with me the rest of my life. So what's the better investment? $10 and 30 minutes that will last me the next 6k miles or the hour of education that will benefit me, my family, and my finances the remainder of my life.

What separates a millionaire and a ditch digger is how they think, who they associate with, and the way they spend their free time.

[Jim Miller]

At the end of the day, I can always make more money, I don't know anyone who's figured out how to make more time.

Jim Miller
ISA 6:8

[epilepticninja]

Buying time has been around forever. I have a housekeeper, vehicle detailer (for my daily driver and my muscle car), a pet sitter, a dry cleaner, etc. I don't pay these people because I think I'm all that, I do it to buy time to do the things I like.

[45Smashemflat]

But seriously, yes... The answer is it depends. Sometimes I want the "meditation time" working in the yard, or working on a car brings. When that's needed, I do it myself. Those times I value the effort worth my time. Others, I have more important (valued) things to do, and I pay others to do it.

There are some tasks that you know you want done a certain way, and you are capable of doing them, AND you know hired help won't meet your expectations. So, you do it yourself, and you're happy to do so.

[H60DoorGunner]

That's not how I read it and find your summary extraordinarily simplistic and mildly ignorant. I can change my own oil, change out my brakes, now my lawn faster, cheaper, and arguably better than I can pay someone else to do it. The point is if I chose to or not is completely dictated by value and return on investment.

For example, the oil change. If I do it myself, between the time getting supplies from the store and actually performing the function compared to the hour wait to have it done I've saved my self at most 30 minutes. But sitting waiting for it to be done while reading a good book on finances didn't lose me 30 minutes of time, it bought me an hour of self improvement I will carry with me the rest of my life. So what's the better investment? $10 and 30 minutes that will last me the next 6k miles or the hour of education that will benefit me, my family, and my finances the remainder of my life.

What separates a millionaire and a ditch digger is how they think, who they associate with, and the way they spend their free time.

I'm not going to argue with you. We all work hard and make a lot of money, and we can spend our time and money however we want. I never said otherwise.

[Papa]

Geez. I dunno. Is it okay for me to cut my grass even if I like doing something else better and I can afford to have it done? Just kidding.

It takes 5 hours to cut my lawn with a power push mower. It's hard work and I can easily lose 3-5 pounds on a hot day. I'm moving with purpose, too, and some of the lawn is graded. It would not surprise me to find I've walked ten or twelve miles or more.

I actually enjoy it. It's like running but hurts less. My mind is free to think, plan, meditate. I could easily work OT and come out ahead. For me the rewards are mental as well as physical: I get to create order out of chaos.

There's an OPSEC aspect, too: the only people I allow on the property are those whose company I enjoy.

So no Lambo for me just yet.

[Greg Nichols]

I'm not going to argue with you. We all work hard and make a lot of money, and we can spend our time and money however we want. I never said otherwise.

Wasn't meant as an insult mearly an observation

[Mike Heckathorn]

Wasn't meant as an insult mearly an observation

I’ve noticed more offense being taken by the right. Breaks my heart.


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[IANative]

A different perspective, perhaps, and not to detract in any way from Winston's original point, but I love my land (and value all of the hard work that's gone into acquiring it) so much that I love the time and effort spent caring for it. I lot of quality thinking/planning/scheming gets done in the seat of my Scag mower or my Mahindra tractor. I yearn for the day when I walk away from "all of this" and get to enjoy my retired pirate solitude full-time.

[Greg Nichols]

Scag mower or my Mahindra tractor.

What? none of this makes any sense

[IANative]

What? none of this makes any sense

Would you rather I say "John Deere mower" (I have one of those, too) and "Ford 9N tractor" (that was replaced by the Mahindra)?

[Greg Nichols]

Would you rather I say "John Deere mower" (I have one of those, too) and "Ford 9N tractor" (that was replaced by the Mahindra)?

ya, case, ford, massey, IH, JD, bobcat, caterpillar, snapper ...... communist


Jesus, I'd even take Cub Cadet or a White

[IANative]

ya, case, ford, massey, IH, JD, bobcat, caterpillar, snapper ...... communist

Sorry, I'm buying quality and comfort... and establishing a relationship w/ the local implement dealer and repair barn. So, am I a commie or a f'ing commie? lol

[Greg Nichols]

Sorry, I'm buying quality and comfort... and establishing a relationship w/ the local implement dealer and repair barn. So, am I a commie or a f'ing commie? lol

Tractors are supposed to be merican, so that you work on them and top off the fluids every time you take them out of the barn. They're jerky, loud, and smell like diesel, steel, and child labor that they don't get paid for in anything but ham salad sammiches and shelter.

[IANative]

Tractors are supposed to be merican, so that you work on them and top off the fluids every time you take them out of the barn. They're jerky, loud, and smell like diesel, steel, and child labor that they don't get paid for in anything but ham salad sammiches and shelter.

LOL- sounds EXACTLY like that old Ford!

[ZeroTA]

I've got a modest 2 acres, last year I spent 7 grand on a 60" Gravely zero-turn that cut my times down from 2 hours (on a normal rider) to 45 minutes. Completely worth it.

We didn't have any money when I was a kid. We really didn't. So I know what it's like to just not be able to afford something. And I've been successful by American standards, but certainly not "rich". To me, puttering around on a riding mower forever because I don't want to spend the money to buy a zero turn isn't being frugal, it's being cheap. There's a difference. 7k is probably about three years worth of paying someone else to do it, but it's not like I particularly have anywhere else to be. Plus I've conscripted my 11yo son to start doing it, he's only taken out one section of fence so far. :D

Now if I wanted to take a weekend trip, or play golf (I don't golf) or just go to the gun range but had to say "I can't because I have to cut grass", then yeah that'd be worth looking into hiring it out.

[blackie]

I just have one of the kids cut the grass. Or let it grow.

I don’t have time for that shit.

[WOLF220]

I just have one of the kids cut the grass. Or let it grow.

I don’t have time for that shit.
Funny that we live in the same state, and have the exact same sentiments. The grass will be there next week if I don’t mow it this week....

[WinstonSmith]

Funny that we live in the same state, and have the exact same sentiments. The grass will be there next week if I don’t mow it this week....

Does grass even grow in California?

Seriously ... just replace “mowing” with any other repetitive task that sucks down time.

[Herbert West]

One pays for convenience. I do not mow my lawn, my landscape service takes care of it. Car wash? Nope, my guy comes every Saturday or Sunday depending on my desire to have it done. Pool maintenance? yep... you guessed it... pool service. Laundry? dry cleaner pick up and delivery twice a week. House cleaning? Cleaning service Monday and Friday. Cars need service? call to dealer, driver comes with loaner, takes vehicle and returns it at end of day. Cooking , yes, the wife and I have fun making dinners together, but we call a chef in on occasion, sometimes out of indolence, other times to get some culinary tips.Basically I don't do squat ! Can I ? if need be, yes. However, if you can pay for mundane everyday services, why bother? More free time to read, research, fish, hike, kayak, travel/wander, exercise, and go shooting/train.