Is there anything you can hire out cheaper than you can do it yourself?

GON

GON

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Watched a video by a rancher who's produces videos to educate people entering the ranching (cattle) business.

One of the rancher's tips is when starting out in ranching-- hire out rather than spend precious capital on new equipment such as tractors, trucks, etc.

So, it begs the question- outside of agriculture, what are things that are more cost effective to hire out than do yourself?
 
There are a couple of considerations for me, beyond just cheaper.

1. Does the work require a skillset that is far better than I have.
2. If I can bill $150 an hour for consulting work in my business, it is stupid for me to do it myself, rather than pay someone highly skilled $50 an hour.
#3. Is it hobby work that I love to do and price and time really don't matter.

.... and finally, #4. Is it work I hate doing and I will pay a boat load, just not to do it.
 
Are we assuming time is worth money in this thought exercise? If so tons of things are worth outsourcing.

For instance my wife and I both work so we outsource a lot of duties and tasks. Landscaping, grocery shopping, home repairs, house cleaning, etc. Would it be cheaper to DIY? Technically yes. However once our earning potential is calculated into the equation then outsourcing is way cheaper and more efficient.

We can earn while other’s are doing those tasks for us. ROI is there, more free time, and we are supporting the local economy. Win, win, win.
 
Almost never.

Ends up done wrong 95% of the time or costing way more than if I'd just done it.

I make xx hr at work. Great, but unless you're working 24/7 you aren't earning that pay in you're iff time.
Even when I worked 100hr weeks at my business it was a welcome break working on projects at home.

Hiring someone to buy food? I'm definitely not in that income bracket!
 
Sumboodie said:
Almost never.

Ends up done wrong 95% of the time or costing way more than if I'd just done it.

I make xx hr at work. Great, but unless you're working 24/7 you aren't earning that pay in you're iff time.
Even when I worked 100hr weeks at my business it was a welcome break working on projects at home.

Hiring someone to buy food? I'm definitely not in that income bracket!
Click to expand...
No you aren’t working 24/7 but typically the tasks you are performing are during your off work hours. There are things that are more productive or even more self fulfilling than doing mundane chores and duties. Life is all about trade-off. I’d rather work when I’m working and play when I’m not working. The playing recharges is my batteries and allows me to be better when working (ie, earning.) Down time has an ROI.

Also home delivery of groceries is typically $20-40 and pick up is free. If a weekly shopping trip takes 2 hours on average then it’s definitely worth it for us. My time is worth more than that. And once again, grocery pick up is always free. So in that case hiring someone to shop is free of charge. It is ridiculous not to do it IMO.
 
GON said:
Watched a video by a rancher who's produces videos to educate people entering the ranching (cattle) business.

One of the rancher's tips is when starting out in ranching-- hire out rather than spend precious capital on new equipment such as tractors, trucks, etc.

So, it begs the question- outside of agriculture, what are things that are more cost effective to hire out than do yourself?
Click to expand...
Trimming trees in my back yard along with removing a dead section of a tree in my front yard.
 
On the farm a long time ago we hired 'custom combiners' to come in and harvest the wheat. They of course had their own grain combines which are enormously expensive machines few farmers could affort to purchase and maintain.

1738851653472.webp

John Deere
 
The answer is highly dependent on your income bracket and if you have the skillset/tools to effectively do the task yourself. Have always been a DIYer because I have good mechanical ability, enjoy doing things, saved us tons of money over the years, and can almost always do the job as well as a hired professional.

I could not afford to pay the HVAC guy $500 to replace a 24V control board in the air handler that got fried by a nearby lightning strike when I could buy it for $100 and replace it myself in 15 minutes.

I recently paid a plumber $400 to unclog the kitchen drain line with a tiny power washer because a normal snake didn't get it done.

Roofing never again. Too old and it about did me in 15 years ago when we did a simple roof with hired help.

Love to paint but again not now. Had the house professionally painted last summer and it was money well spent.

Been taking more car repairs to my indie that I would have done 5 years ago.

I wish my income had been 3X what a tradesman would charge but it was usually about 1/2 so my calculus was different.
 
In 1978 when we were building our first house (as the general contractor) I checked how much it would cost to put shingles on the roof. It was within a few dollars ($10 or 20) to have the job done by a subcontractor rather than buy the same shingles and put them on myself. And I don't remember whether it was less or more. I've never owned a truck so the cost of delivery may have been part of the DIY price.

I had them put on by the subcontractor.
 
Considering I wrecked a car while working on brakes, I could argue I've cost myself more in that one accident than in DIY'ing. Might still be ahead after years of DIY, not sure. But the trend is clear, others know how to do it better. Usually... plenty of horror stories here (and elsewhere) where I could do it just as incompetently as I could pay someone else to do it badly.

These days it's more about time than money. Last car we wrecked I "needed" the one car with problems back to 100% in a hurry. Paid to have the alternator swapped--from what I could tell, it would have taken me hours, and I still didn't have a 100% confidence in that being the problem. Had I broken a bolt or not actually fixed the problem... I'd be still in a bad place.
 
I tend to do most things myself, but not arborist type tree work. Lots of land and a tractor make most yard work pretty efficient, no hauling brush anywhere but into the nearest patch of woods.
Vehicle maintenance is easier to DIY instead of calling for appts, getting there, leaving the car, etc.. when it seems to pay myself well over $100/hr even working at a slower pace.
The odd time I have a time crunch but not too often, and its good for the kids to get some experience on how stuff works and is maintained.
I do buy the odd new vehicle/machine as it will require less repairs than something used, so that's my "hiring out" savings for time.
We tried house cleaners, but we just have too much kid traffic and we end up tidying up the house for them anyways. The actual vacuuming and cleaning is the easy part!
 
I have my personal limits when it comes to house maintenance, over time have learned certain boundaries, but in general for farm/ranch work my tractor, toro dump utv and pto chipper will pay for itself in labor costs and ranch maintenance in very little time. The past 20 years with car hobbies prepared myself to do it all.

1738857862840.webp
 
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