In Calculating Your Net Worth, I wrote about the financial value mothers add to the family; Salary.com offers a financial calculator that you can use to determine an estimate of how much it would cost your family to hire someone to do your job.Friday, while enjoying lunch out with my husband--and paying with a $15 certificate I bought for $7.50 through our area Bargain Phone discount program--we discussed our unusual ideas about how we save and spend money. For instance, I believe the amount we spend for heat and electricity is outrageous; granted, we live in a high-cost area, but, at a certain point, it just makes me sick to think that so much money is going just for utilities. I've spent the past month looking at everything in our house and all of our habits to determine how to eliminate any energy wasters: I've been unplugging everything not in use, hanging as much laundry as possible, washing dishes by hand instead of using the dishwasher (which I hate because I'm spending time, but my relatively new and supposedly energy-efficient dishwasher takes sixty to ninety minutes to wash a load and I can do it in fifteen minutes or less), etc. And, yet, here we were at a restaurant. Even with the discount, it was still money spent that could have been saved had we done something like, say, pack a few sandwiches and go to a park. (Which we already planned to do next week.)
Here's how I look at managing money:
- I agree with Ayn Rand when she said, "Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver." I work for money to use for my benefit. If my work consists of cutting the energy bill to give me more money in my pocket to get me the nice discounted lunch out with my husband, then I have used my tool--my money--how I desire.
- It is my responsibility to get as much out of my money as possible with very little waste. A tool is only as good as it is used.
They are the choices that, one could argue, are not necessarily "money-saving" because not having or doing certain things would ultimately save more time and money in the long run. However, their benefits still bring tangible benefits or personal enjoyment.
Here are a few things that I thought of just while sitting here that I do that costs money and brings me value, but do cost as much as if I obtained them "differently:"
- I give myself a manicure and pedicure. I purchase one new color of Opi polish every three monts and a bottle of Opi combo base-and-topcoat every six months, but always on sale at $5 a bottle for a cost of $25 a year; add $5 for emery boards, etc. I paint my nails every week (I live on a farmette, so I'm hard on my hands and feet and can't make it two weeks), so a manicure/pedicure costs me $0.58 a week. Our local "cheap" nail salon charges $30 for a manicure/pedicure, so I've "saved" $1,530 a year in mani/pedis...or $765 if you compare to the typical every-two-week schedule.
- Same with my eyebrows. I don't really have eyebrows--I have these uncontrollable bushes trying to lay claim to my entire forehead. I must wax and pluck weekly. I buy two boxes of wax strips a year at a cost of $6 a box. I can get my eyebrows waxed at our discount salon for $8. Total savings: $404.
- My family loves scones. We have a local cafe that makes super-delicious scones; the cafe charges $1.85 apiece (and they are well worth it). This morning I made homemade scones with frozen mixed berries; the batch made eight. To purchase eight would cost me $14.80 plus tax; my cost was $2.50...and they were almost as good as the ones from the cafe. Total savings: $12.30; annually, $650.
- The do-it-yourself-car-wash by the gas station costs $5 a wash for the size of my car. The do-it-yourself-in-the-backyard-car-wash costs me $0. Nine-month savings: $195. (We live where it is freezing three or more months out of the year and we shut off the outside faucets, and we must wash the salt off our cars.)
- A bottle of Chateau St. Michelle Reisling at T.G.I.Friday's (a restaurant I can't stand but all my friends love) is $22.95. A bottle of Chateau St. Michelle Reisling at our local liquor store is $12.95. We only have wine occasionally, so, if I figure one bottle a month, I've saved $120 annually.
- I love good coffee. One daughter bought me an espresso machine for Christmas (from Target, a low-end Mr. Coffee on sale for $23). I buy either Starbuck's with a coupon from Walmart or use a Bargain Phone certificate to buy from our local coffee roasters, Heavenly Cup. Two cups of espresso costs less than $0.50. If my husband and I just have espresso on Saturday mornings, we save $182 a year. Twice a week, $364 a year.
I should consider it savings because I worked (i.e. made choices) to optimize my resources to get what I want.
My husband and I get a good cup of coffee because I found a way to get us a good cup of coffee. I have manicured nails because I found a way to afford manicured nails. We have scones on Saturday mornings because I learned how to make them. My husband and I have occasional nice dates out because I plan the food budget carefully and only go places where I can use a discount certificate. My family and I are in no way deprived...but we do not pay full-price for our advantages.
You know those people and businesses who believe that mothers who are out of the work force haven't "done anything" during those years? I'll bet they look for ways to get more for less for their business just like we do for ourselves and our family.
What we mothers do for the family is significant, even in the little things. The ways in which we add value to our lives and the lives of others are numerous. Don't forget that when considering your financial worth.
