DIY or PSTDIFY?

Girl Ninja and I like to think of ourselves as “down to earth” individuals. As our income has grown over the years we have tried really hard to remain grounded and not let lifestyle inflation consume us. While it would be nice to take all our laundry to the cleaners, pay someone to tidy up our house, or even whip us in to shape a la personal trainer, we know we are fully capable of doing all of those things ourselves. That said, we do enjoy eating out, taking our cars in for oil changes, and Girl Ninja likes getting her hair and nails did. Again, all things we could do ourselves, but in this case enjoy not having to do it.

And that my friend bring us to today’s million dollar question…

Are you a DIYer (Do it Yourself-er) or a PSTDIFYer (Pay Someone To Do It For You-er)? 

Here is a list of things that could go either way, followed by how we handle it in the Ninja household:

• Meals: We probably eat out once a week at a restaurant, plus another 1 or 2 times for a quick bite (like Teriyaki or sandwiches). We definitely enjoy paying someone else to handle our meals for us.
• Blog Stuff: Many bloggers have monthly expenses for things like staff writers, SEO software, upgraded traffic tools, etc. My only blogging expenses are the domain name and hosting ($100/year). Everything else, including the design and logos, are done by yours truly. That’s why things kind of suck around here 🙂
• Decor/Building Stuff: We probably could have made or created many of the things in our house. But I suck at building stuff, and GN does crafts all day with her Kindergartners, so instead we hit up Ross and TJ Maxx trying to find decor stuff on the cheap. We fail at HGTV projects.
• Money Stuff: I imagine if we had millions of dollars we would pay someone to advise us financially. Unfortunately, we do not. Therefore, we handle all aspects of our money. Investing, taxes, etc.
• Moving: We’ve made a handful of moves and every time we have gone the way of the miser. I always regret it afterwards, because let’s face it, moving sucks. But at the end of the day, I’m too cheap to pay someone else to move my couch when I’m fully capable of doing it myself.
• Cleaning: Currently, we do 100% of all household cleaning. Down the road, I’d be open to the idea of having someone come through once every two weeks or so and do some touch-up deep cleaning, but I never (repeat NEVER) want to think I am too good to clean my own toilet or shower.
• Broken Stuff: If something breaks, I almost always pay to replace it, or at least pay someone else to fix it. I have virtually no handy-man talent and am intimated at the process of fixing a leaky pipe or a defunct gadget.

And that’s about all I can think for this stage of life. Obviously as we grow older, the list of possible DIY or PSTDIFY tasks increases exponentially; dog walking, nannying, lawn care, tutoring kids, vacation planning, etc. With the internet, you can find just about anyone to do anything for you if you got the money.

So readers, what things do you DIY and what do you PSTDIFY?

Favorite nail from yesterday as voted by MANteresting community: Shark Five