After spending years on a tight budget, struggling to make ends meet, you finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. With time and hard work, you’re able to move beyond worrying about paying the bills. In fact, you may be at a point in your life where you’re living a bit more comfortably.
Unfortunately, life is a giant paradox… throughout most of our lives we are in one of two situations either we have plenty of time but no money or we have enough money but no time.
If you’ve conquered the money problem and are fighting the time problem, how would you like to improve your lifestyle and free up some time?
How do you know if you are ready?
If paying for these services would not cramp your lifestyle or interfere with your ability to save money on a regular basis you may want to consider these ideas to improve your lifestyle while freeing up some time to relax and enjoy the family.
Cleaning Service
Cleaning your home requires a significant time commitment each week. It can be tiring to do after a long work week, and you may prefer to enjoy more quality time with family friends or to simply relax rather than cleaning. Hiring a cleaning service to visit your home anywhere from weekly to monthly can drastically reduce the amount of time that is required to have a tidy home. Many people will still do light housekeeping between cleaning sessions, but this service can save hours of your time each week. If you are self-employed it can be one of the best investments you make, freeing up time that can be used much more profitably elsewhere. You don’t have to go with a commercial service, perhaps you have a friend who could use some extra money and would be willing to come by and clean, do laundry or even prepare meals. There is no right or wrong answer to what services you can contract for. If it works for both of you it is a good solution.
Au Pair or Nanny
Lawn Care Service
Keeping your yard looking neat and tidy is a year-round project, you no sooner finish mowing when you have to start all over again. Not to mention, leaves, mulching, weeding and on and on it goes. A nicely maintained yard can improve curb appeal and bolster property value, but it takes a considerable amount of time each week to keep your yard looking fabulous. A smart idea is to hire lawn care service. Your service provider can assist with fertilizing, mowing, trimming, mulching, raking, and other tasks as needed throughout the year.
A Self Storage Unit
According to several scientific studies clutter actually causes stress. Here are 8 reasons why:
- Excessive stimuli.
- Loss of Focus.
- Difficult to relax.
- Feeling our work is never done.
- Guilt and embarrassment.
- Inhibits creativity and productivity.
- Frustration because we can’t find things.
- What it’s going to take to get through to the bottom of the pile?
Unfortunately, people have a tendency to purchase more and more things over time, but the storage space available in their home remains the same. Getting rid of stuff is one option. You could have a yard sale, or donate unused items to a charity.
Another option is moving into a larger home with more storage space, but this can be costly and inconvenient. Every time you move you actually lose equity. Why? Because of commissions, fees, title insurance, moving expenses, etc. These expenses can easily add up to 10% or more of the cost of your home. Plus a larger home costs more to maintain, higher taxes, higher utilities, etc.
One option to avoid moving is to consider renting a self-storage unit. There are many self-storage facilities in most areas with both national chains and local options. For instance, if you live in the Washington D.C. area you might consider a locally owned and operated solution like Tysons Self Storage which might be able to provide more personalized service than some of the larger chains. Using a storage unit allows you to eliminate clutter from your home such as seasonal sports equipment, holiday décor, mementos and heirlooms, that you want to keep. The key to a low stress storage solution is to find one that is conveniently located either near your home or work or where you travel regularly. If you have to make a special trip too far away, using storage may cause more stress than it relieves.
You might also like:
- Does It Pay to Work When Paying For Child Care?
- Eliminate Debt Before You Retire
- Searching For Happiness in All The Wrong Places
- Your Beliefs Are Your Destiny
- Too Much Stuff
I’ve read Getting Rid of It: The Step-by-step Guide for Eliminating the Clutter in Your Life by the Talbot’s and enjoyed the book it had lots of logical helpful tips and was a motivating interesting read. ~Tim McMahon, editor
Image courtesy of Blogpiks.com