To measure the cost of conveniences by comparing them to my hourly wage?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

(Figures are examples not actuals here).

So if I get a Hello Fresh / similar, each week and pay £45, I think to myself that even if meal planning and shopping takes 1 hour max per week, that would be £15 (hourly rate), so realistically, the cost of the meals is now £30.

If I hire a cleaner at £20 per hour, it may seem expensive, but by hiring the cleaner, I'm able to then earn £15 in that same hour, so the actual cost of cleaning really is £5. Which means I pay £10 per week for 2 hours cleaning and don't have to clean. I could clean myself, but that "costs" me £30 and I have to clean too

Obviously I don't mean this in terms of actual cash flowing in and out of the house, but in measuring whether something is worth doing, eg the Meal Service, I don't just factor in the pure cost of the ingredients- there's a cost time wise too.

I'm an employee, rather than self employed, so I don't actually work extra hours in direct place of these things, so I'm not sure if that then changes things, but I do work a full time job, so buying in certain services means I spend more of my free time with family and friends whilst the basics are paid for via a service.

Is it odd to quantify these things this way?

Not odd...I often think when I buy something how long that has taken me to earn it.

I tend to do that too so you aren’t alone

Oh yes I definitely do that!

You can only do so much work overall, so money spent on cleaning is allowing you to earn money by working!

I think a lot of people do this to establish something's worth - 'how much do I have to work to pay for this?' type thing. You lost me at the cleaning costing £5 an hour though - unless you're working overtime while the cleaner is in I don't see things this way

Not odd but there is a tipping point where you can spend a disproportionate amount of income on these conveniences and then have no money to do anything in all the spare time you’ve bought.

Not particularly odd, but logically it isn't really the best way to think about a decision to spend money unless you do actually use that extra time to earn money. If in practice you would actually spend the time saved to watch more Netflix, then instead you should be thinking, is it worth paying £15 to a cleaner in order to have an extra hour watching Netflix instead of cleaning.

Doesn't that only make sense if you actually work in that extra hour and earn extra money? For me, my working week is 37 hours and I don't get paid overtime. So I can't make any extra so it's a pretty pointless justification for me.

That is true, and we pay for convenience on so few things.

I think it comes to mind most when chatting to my folks, as they would see the cost of something based on the actual shop price of the items involved only, rather than seeing what else is included.

So if I meet them for a day trip, they see the £3.00 meal deal as a costly equivalent to purchasing the ingredients to make my own sandwich, crisps and drink packed lunch. My thoughts are that the meal day may cost an extra (say) 80p-£1 overall, but the extra I've spent would have been more than absorbed in my going to the shop, purchasing the ingredients to make cheese savoury sandwiches and buying a drink and crisps.

Not that I'd then go into all that with them, just nod and smile, but I do think we should value the time we would spend doing the cheaper option and weigh up if its worth it.

I acknowledge that I'm lucky to be in a position where I can pay the £3.00 meal deal, rather than purchasing stuff to make a £1.50/£2 packed lunch as its not a choice for lots of people.

I suppose its more "ill work ft and buy in some conveniences" so that my out of work time is purely for my kids, husband, friends etc.

Or....I work ft and don't buy in this stuff then spend free time doing all this, thus reducing family time.

Or... I drop to pt hours at a cost of £15ph to fit these things into what used to be my full time hours so that I don't lose any time with the kids/dh.

It’s how DH and I both decide how to make financial decisions. Makes sense.

I do it too.

I remember an colleague and I fighting with finance over an expense claim for her, and totted up our joint hourly rates, 450 quid of toing and froing over a totally legit 40 quid claim.

She took great delight in pointing it out to them.

but I do think we should value the time we would spend doing the cheaper option and weigh up if its worth it.

Yes, but the value of our time might not be the same as our wage from employment. For some people, who are short of time and would definitely not want to work more hours at their current wage, it is more. For others, who have plenty of time and would like to work more hours at their current wage, it is less.

I do that all the time. But I mainly do it with treats. I work for x hours and think: that's DC's birthday dinner in the restaurant paid for. Or when DH says, 'Those theatre tickets are too expensive' I think but it's only x hours of my time in exchange for all those actors doing a brilliant show for 2.5 hours. Good value. Then buy the tickets.

Money is just a unit of exchange for stuff we need and want. That is all it is. So figuring out how much of our time a given thing is worth is a really good way to determine its real value to us.

Absolutely not! I’m a dog groomer and measure my expenses in Westies 😂 works for me

I get it if those are options. I feel like my only option is work full time and pay the mortgage 😄. But I'm ok with that. 😁