Oh I didn't mean AT ALL to imply paying people is a bad thing (well...for certain things...yes definitely bad
). I WISH I could be more of a participant in the service industry. I just get anxiety when I think of spending money on things that I can do. Like really bad anxiety. Especially the nail place - that's the worst. I'm sure if I had 2 older boys contributing to the mess that hubby leaves around (he's a pig - a sloppy pig) I would need to rethink that strategy.
Lol I bathe the dog myself too. That one is different though - he has short hair and does not need to be groomed in any way.
I suppose I am a bit of a George Costanza in that way - how did Elaine put it - "you're extremely CAREFUL with money".
FYI - I was not offended in any way.
I too am ridiculously cheap, in many ways. I haggle prices wherever I go. I use my MasterCard for everything, so I can get a 10 cent/litre discount on gas. I compare shop. I clip coupons. I use all of the free reward cards.
After a half dozen hair colouring fiascos over the years, I no longer colour my own hair. My SIL/BFF is a non-practising hair dresser, so generally she cuts and colours my hair for free. She hates doing highlights however, so those I get done at the salon.
I bathe my dog myself. But being a cocka-poo, she needs regular clipping. In the grand scheme of things, $35 four times/year is the least of my worries. I pay $500 per month for gas, plus another $250 in tolls. Hubby pays double!
And the cleaning lady is my former SIL. She was with Bro #1 for almost 20 years. This is the brother who was disabled in a car accident years ago. She is a functional illiterate who lost her job in her early 30's. They were barely making ends meet, so I used to buy them a $250-$300 grocery gift card every month. More when I could afford it.
Being able bodied, proud, and grateful, she proposed cleaning my house in exchange. At the time, I was working 6 days/week, out of town (as per usual), and had two small kids, so I took her up on it. So essentially my monthly donation morphed into a paid position. Sadly, as my kids have gotten older, they have become even bigger slobs. She used to only come 8 hours every other week. Now I have her come for a "half clean" (4 hours) the week in between.
She has since taken up house-cleaning as a full time job. I got her a position with my next door neighbour, and from there it just blossomed. She is an excellent cleaner, and makes my house worth coming home to.
And, I'm a little lazy. So, there's that too.
Seriously, that sounds terrible. All of a sudden I am glad that I sweat. You didn't deny getting tired watching the cleaning lady and needing more naps then most of us regular non-shallow folks.
