Spending On Convenience | 9 to FI 054

Convenience Spending Experiments: Lawn Care, Cleaning, Food, and Outsourcing for FIJosh and Elliot discuss “convenience spending” and how it fits into financial independence, comparing DIY habits with paying for services that save time or improve life. Josh shares success with professional lawn fertilization but struggles to outsource more, while Elliot happily pays for lawn mowing and considers home cleaning despite kids quickly undoing results. They cover other convenience spends and trade-offs, including haircuts, eating out, breweries/entertainment as community-building, and hiring a tax preparer for speed and confidence, especially with real estate. Josh describes negative experiences with contractors and quick-lube car maintenance, fueling his reluctance to outsource property management and repairs. They consider testing meal prep kits, grocery pickup/delivery, and house siding washing, and tie the topic to shifting from accumulation to drawdown and “Die With Zero” ideas. They agree to test outsourcing—Josh for real estate help, Elliot for house cleaning or grocery services—and revisit results in a month.00:00 Convenience Spending Setup01:39 Lawn Fertilizing Win03:17 Paying for Lawn Mowing06:10 Cleaning and Time Value10:51 Haircuts DIY vs Pro13:27 Eating Out as Convenience16:00 Breweries and Community18:24 Hiring a Tax Preparer21:37 Real Estate Help Needed24:44 Meal Kits and Groceries29:48 House Washing Experiment31:31 When Convenience Goes Wrong34:43 Mindset Shift and Drawdown40:10 Pick One Experiment41:35 Wrap Up and Next StepsDo you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you!Contact Elliot: [email protected] Josh: [email protected]’s other podcast: Stuck In BetaJosh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It WorkshopAny of these products help the show. Thanks for your support!Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to youWe both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and BudgetingWanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠Books mentioned in this episode:Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI