{"id":250,"date":"2020-10-12T13:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-12T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/"},"modified":"2025-09-05T19:45:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T19:45:13","slug":"i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/","title":{"rendered":"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

\n

I usually try to avoid spending money on things that I can do myself. I never really understood why people paid for services like Uber Eats \u2013 you\u2019re already not cooking. You\u2019re telling me you\u2019re too lazy to drive<\/em> to go get your takeout?<\/p>\n

But as my life has gotten increasingly full and, consequently, tiring, I\u2019d find myself at the end of every day completely disinterested in doing things like cleaning my own apartment \u2013 or leaving it at all. <\/p>\n

So I enacted a small experiment this weekend: Spending guiltlessly on convenience instead of muscling my way through it, purely as a personal finance exercise. All in the name of science!<\/p>\n

Housekeeping<\/h4>\n

I\u2019ve never hired a housekeeping service before, but considering there\u2019s a 100-lb. fur ball constantly torpedoing around my apartment, if I miss even a few days of vacuuming, there are fluffy brown tumbleweeds tucked in every corner.<\/p>\n

So I bit the bullet and I paid $185 for a \u201ctwo-hour deep clean service\u201d on a Friday afternoon \u2013 and I have to admit, it felt pretty good to park it at my desk, crank through a project, and have two other<\/em> people vacuuming, scrubbing, and tidying my home behind me. <\/p>\n

The value I\u2019d assign to this service<\/p>\n

Two people cleaned both bathrooms, the kitchen, both bedrooms, and the main room for two hours. I\u2019d value this service at four hours of my time<\/strong>, or buying back my time for $46 per hour. Of course, I can\u2019t exactly quantify the energy it would\u2019ve sucked out of me, but I recognize that\u2019s a piece of it. <\/p>\n

It helped me unwind to pack up the laptop on a Friday night and spin around in my chair to find a sparkling place, which made me feel calm and refreshed (I actually ended up getting a few more hours of work done because I didn\u2019t have to transition into cleaning mode like I normally would after work on a Friday).<\/p>\n

The down side<\/p>\n

When judging whether something is worth paying a premium, I always try to objectively assess it. There were a few things I noticed after the cleaners left that made me feel like maybe paying extra for a \u201cdeep clean\u201d wasn\u2019t worth it \u2013 stuff still hadn\u2019t been dusted, parts of the apartment hadn\u2019t really been touched, and I still found myself cleaning a little<\/em> bit. But for the most part, the stuff I dread cleaning the most (the bathrooms and kitchen) were spotless. <\/p>\n

While I probably wouldn\u2019t spend $200 on another \u201cdeep clean,\u201d I might consider semi-regularly paying housekeepers for a less expensive service. \u201cDeep clean\u201d made me think this place would shine like the top of the Chrysler building, so I was probably bound to be a little disappointed. <\/p>\n

Justified?<\/p>\n

It begs the question: How much money do you need to make (and how much do you need to be working) in order to outsource something as basic as cleaning your own house?<\/strong> <\/p>\n

I\u2019m fairly certain I don\u2019t make the type of money that justifies housekeepers, and I truly didn\u2019t think I\u2019d ever be the type of person who would want<\/em> to pay someone else to do it because I normally enjoy cleaning (to some extent). But hey \u2013 it\u2019s pretty nice.<\/p>\n

Technically, at $46\/hour, this isn\u2019t defensible until your salary is $92,000\/year (the point at which your time has been deemed worth $46\/hour). <\/p>\n

Washing the dog<\/h4>\n

Washing the aforementioned 100-lb. fluffy torpedo is an exercise in both patience and towel-handiwork. Georgia is massive by any stretch, but especially within the confines of a 1,000 sf. apartment. <\/p>\n

She also doesn\u2019t love<\/em> getting baths, so wrangling her into the tub means you, too, are going to get \u201cwashed\u201d \u2013 and you better be ready to keep a tight grip on a massive, slippery bear \u2013 because every chance she gets, she\u2019ll try to leap out of the tub and leave a trail of soapy slime behind her, which creates a mess that might even rival the muddy paws that necessitated the bath in the first place.<\/p>\n

Am I painting an enjoyable enough picture here? In short, we avoid this practice until it\u2019s absolutely necessary. <\/p>\n

There are no outdoor hoses available to us at the apartment, so this is really the only option we have. <\/p>\n

During the expensive 2-hour cleaning spree, I took Georgia to get a $50 bath at the daycare facility she goes to.<\/p>\n

A few hours later, I picked up my fluffy, scented creature and drove her home to wreak fresh havoc on our clean apartment. I have to admit, I was feeling pretty good Friday night \u2013 sitting on the couch next to a dog who smelled like shampoo in an apartment that was clean? That\u2019s truly a mid-twenties dream evening.<\/p>\n

The downside<\/p>\n

When Georgia gets stressed, she gets sick (I won’t go into detail, but\u2026 she has a nervous stomach). She\u2019s not a fan of baths or daycare, so her Friday afternoon activity didn\u2019t sit well.<\/p>\n

I woke up Saturday morning to find she had an accident in her kennel. So while I thought I was paying my way to a seamless, convenience-filled weekend, Georgia promptly put my ass right back in its place. <\/p>\n

The value I\u2019d assign to this service<\/p>\n

If we could\u2019ve avoided Diarrheageddon afterward, I\u2019d say this was a pretty damn good value: $50 to save me about an hour of time washing the dog (and don\u2019t even get me started on drying) and the aftermath of following her around with towels. I think I could reasonably budget in a professional bath every two months ($25\/month allotted). <\/p>\n

If you consider $25\/month the \u201cprice\u201d of saving an hour of time every two months, I\u2019m going to be generous with this one and say it\u2019s more like $25\/hour \u2013 therefore, a $50,000 salary justifies it ($50,000 is the equivalent of $25\/hour).<\/p>\n

Food delivery services<\/h4>\n

For all my shit-talking about Uber Eats, it does come in handy \u2013 we ordered takeout from a Korean restaurant down the block that\u2019s literally<\/em> walking distance.<\/p>\n

But in true \u201cconvenience experiment\u201d fashion, we went the Uber Eats route. <\/p>\n

The food itself totaled $31; when you switched the toggle to \u201cdelivery,\u201d the total changed to $41. \u201cService fees,\u201d tip, and taxes stack up quickly. <\/p>\n

The value I\u2019d assign to this service<\/p>\n

In short, not $10. <\/p>\n

It would\u2019ve taken me all of 10 minutes to go pick up the food myself. And unless someone\u2019s going to physically feed me the food, I don\u2019t think $10 is worth delivery. <\/p>\n

$10 may<\/em> have been worth delivery if the restaurant was on the other side of town and I didn\u2019t feel well, but this certainly didn\u2019t meet my criteria for \u201cvalue added.\u201d<\/p>\n

Final thoughts<\/h4>\n

I think the biggest lesson I learned from my experiment was that you don\u2019t always<\/em> get what you pay for, but outsourcing stuff you hate doing can be a huge mental boost. <\/p>\n

My original perception of \u201cpaying someone else to do stuff for you\u201d was that the outcome would be perfect<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

While I normally wouldn\u2019t be irritated that the dresser was dusty or the cat boxes were dirty, I was this time<\/em> because I had just paid $200 expecting a spotless place.<\/p>\n

While I normally wouldn\u2019t be annoyed about Georgia having an accident, I was this time <\/em>because I had just paid to have her cleaned. It felt like a waste \u2013 and worse than a waste, since I\u2019m pretty sure the bath was what stressed her out in the first place.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re going to spend money on convenience, the expectation has to be that you\u2019ll get mostly<\/em> what you pay for \u2013 but in a way, you\u2019re setting yourself up to get a little price-gouged because convenience is, in itself, a premium. If it made perfect economic sense to do so, everyone would do it.<\/p>\n

My final takeaway is this: If there\u2019s something you really don\u2019t like doing (cleaning, cooking, etc.) and you can afford to outsource it, it\u2019s worth the psychological<\/strong> relief<\/strong> and time<\/strong> \u2013 but paying for convenience isn\u2019t always created equal. I maintain the stance, even on the other side of this, that Uber Eats is a rip-off.<\/p>\n

Happy medium solutions<\/h4>\n

There are certain purchases I\u2019ve made that were expensive (a robot vacuum, a Nespresso machine, etc.), but expensive only once<\/strong>. Now, the value and efficiency I get from these appliances (read: convenience) far surpasses what I initially paid. <\/p>\n

The Nespresso prevents me from driving out to Starbucks or a more expensive boutique coffee shop every morning, and the robot vacuum saves me a lot of time \u2013and while it\u2019s not as<\/em> efficient as a full-fledged cleaning crew, it sure beats taking 15 minutes to work up a sweat pushing a real vacuum around the apartment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I usually try to avoid spending money on things that I can do myself. I never really understood why people paid for services like Uber Eats \u2013 you\u2019re already not cooking. You\u2019re telling me you\u2019re too lazy to drive to go get your takeout? But as my life has gotten increasingly full and, consequently, tiring, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178814,"featured_media":2451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"si-template-single-post-everyday-spending-and-budgeting.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spending-and-saving","tag-everyday-spending-and-budgeting"],"yoast_head":"\nI Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis - Money with Katie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis - Money with Katie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I usually try to avoid spending money on things that I can do myself. I never really understood why people paid for services like Uber Eats \u2013 you\u2019re already not cooking. You\u2019re telling me you\u2019re too lazy to drive to go get your takeout? But as my life has gotten increasingly full and, consequently, tiring, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Money with Katie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-12T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-05T19:45:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1001\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"757\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Gatti\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Gatti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/\",\"name\":\"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis - Money with Katie\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-12T13:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-09-05T19:45:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51ab3e47f462d7af0d7d2b00ab153000\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png\",\"width\":1001,\"height\":757},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/\",\"name\":\"Money with Katie\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51ab3e47f462d7af0d7d2b00ab153000\",\"name\":\"Katie Gatti\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59c980f5acd370ecf7e985b2da3db33f1883bc4b53677d75e5b8f124f8e1ed74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59c980f5acd370ecf7e985b2da3db33f1883bc4b53677d75e5b8f124f8e1ed74?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Katie Gatti\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/author\/katiemoneywithkatie-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis - Money with Katie","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis - Money with Katie","og_description":"I usually try to avoid spending money on things that I can do myself. I never really understood why people paid for services like Uber Eats \u2013 you\u2019re already not cooking. You\u2019re telling me you\u2019re too lazy to drive to go get your takeout? But as my life has gotten increasingly full and, consequently, tiring, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/","og_site_name":"Money with Katie","article_published_time":"2020-10-12T13:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-09-05T19:45:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1001,"height":757,"url":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Katie Gatti","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Gatti","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/","url":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/","name":"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis - Money with Katie","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png","datePublished":"2020-10-12T13:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-09-05T19:45:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51ab3e47f462d7af0d7d2b00ab153000"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Receipt_Green-Mint_Cropped.png","width":1001,"height":757},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/i-spent-money-on-convenience-for-an-entire-weekend-and-this-is-what-happened\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"I Spent Money on \u201cConvenience\u201d for an Entire Weekend: An Analysis"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/","name":"Money with Katie","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#\/schema\/person\/51ab3e47f462d7af0d7d2b00ab153000","name":"Katie Gatti","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59c980f5acd370ecf7e985b2da3db33f1883bc4b53677d75e5b8f124f8e1ed74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/59c980f5acd370ecf7e985b2da3db33f1883bc4b53677d75e5b8f124f8e1ed74?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Katie Gatti"},"url":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/author\/katiemoneywithkatie-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/178814"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1985,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250\/revisions\/1985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/moneywithkatie.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}