Oh, also until this point we have done DIY moves, but if we move again I’m going to prioritize outsourcing. Hopefully that’s no time soon, as we just bought our house last year!
1 Like
Insource:
Cooking
House cleaning
Laundry (though I do it somewhere else)
Interior car cleaning (using self-serve vacuums and supplies from home)
Pumping gas because I don’t live in Oregon, ha
Outsource:
Haircuts (on the rare occasions I actually get them)
Car washes (prohibited in apartment complex, could use parents’ house but there are local water restrictions due to drought and would rather use recycled water even when restrictions are lifted)
Car maintenance (used to do minor things like air filter replacement myself, but lost too much grip strength in my hands and now have everything done by my mechanic)
Cooking components (I used to cook almost everything from scratch, but now I do more convenience cooking and don’t usually make my own bread, crackers, broth, etc.)
1 Like
ETA we mostly buy our clothes but I’m experimenting with making our own due to cost/ ethics/ fussiness reasons. I can have the exact thing I want if I make it myself, and super comfortable clothes, instead of spending way too much energy on not-quite-right clothing.
2 Likes
This is me too! It’s rare I buy clothes for me any more, I just make them. My job helps with that too though
3 Likes
I insource most things:cooking, cleaning, yard work, basic auto (lightbulbs, washer fluid, etc), most lower-skill house improvement/repair or work that will be done better because I care more, and haircuts. The hair is the big one for me because I kept hating the mid-range haircut and the pricey ones still make me feel faint. If I get bangs again I’ll probably have a professional put them in.
I outsource auto things from oil change on up, complicated electrical work, plumbing, and anything that requires heavy lifting or industrial levels of equipment. And most bike maintenance that’s not patch a tire or change a tube.
1 Like
I also insource most stuff, with a couple of exceptions:
Car inspection/servicing. I only drive about 7-8k/year, so only need annual oil changes. My dealership also does a full inspection, including status of tires, brakes, belts, winshield wipers, etc. For $40-50/year and not having to learn to change my own oil, I think it is worth it.
Haircuts. I could probably do them myself (my sister has similar hair to me and cuts her own and it looks fine), but for now I am continuing to go to the local cheap haircut places in my neighborhood. There are several, mostly run by ladies from Vietnam/Cambodia. Probably all related. They do a good job for $20-30 including tax and tip, and I like to support them. I go every 3-4 months, depending on how long I can hold out (partly an effect of how short the last cut was). I also try to get one cut a year done during my family visit to China – only $6-8 for the same type of cut there.
1 Like
Am I too late for this thread? Living in a city makes most services easy to find but also expensive, so it’s always tricky to figure out what I ought to pay for.
Insourced:
haircuts, as is popular
piano tuning (until I got an electric piano instead)
shoeshines - does anyone even outsource these anymore?
minor repairs - because it’s easier than dealing with the landlady
Outsourced:
driving
printing and framing
most tailoring
web design and hosting - believe my girlfriend uses Squarespace and Google Domains to reduce the amount of effort she spends on this
In between:
laundry - I don’t have my own washing machine but I use the one in my building and don’t buy dry clean items
7 Likes