Ridiculous Things People Outsource

Let’s face it, we’re all busy. You may not know how you’re going to get through your day sometimes when you have a ton of stuff to do including some tasks you don’t even like. Outsourcing is really popular in that it helps people buy back more of their time and relieve some of their stressful load of responsibilities.

Don’t have time to mow your lawn, clean your house or wash your clothes? You can pay someone else to do that. I use outsourcing a lot in my business because as a full-time blogger and freelance writer, there’s always so much to do. I would be exhausted every day if I didn’t seek out help by outsourcing some things.

It’s clear that outsourcing can be a great thing, but what if you take it too far? It’s important to consider how much money you are losing and not earning back when you outsource. The quality of service is also important too.

1. A Personal Chef

Hiring a personal chef sounds very luxurious, but it’s not always necessary. I’m sure it sounds like a dream to have someone do all the grocery shopping, come over, and prepare all your meals for you but the price tag is not appealing at all. According to Angie’s List, hiring a personal chef can cost anywhere from $20-$30 per plate or $30-$40 per hour. I don’t know which rate is worse since the chef can spend multiple hours prepping and cooking food for you and if you need meals prepared throughout the day and for other family members the per plate rate can add up quickly.

Some companies even require customers to sign up for a minimum amount of meals so it’s hard to consider keeping your costs down with this services and it’s not really frugal, to begin with. Whether you can’t cook, don’t have time to cook, or just don’t want to cook, there are always cheaper alternatives than hiring a personal chef. Your first alternative is just to do your own shopping and cook your own food.

Sure, it’s not as glamorous, but you’ll know everything you’re eating and you can download simple recipes and nutritional food guides right off the internet for free. If you live with a partner, family member, or roommate, you can alternate cooking nights so one person isn’t stuck always making the food. When I got together with my husband, I made sure he learned how to cook a few of our favorite recipes so I wasn’t stuck making dinner every night.

2. A Driver

Hiring a driver for anything other than special occasions has always seemed silly to me. I can see why you might need a driver if you’re going to an important event and you don’t want to drive, or your wedding and you want to feel like royalty, but unless you’re famous or don’t have the ability to drive, you probably don’t need to have a regular driver.

According to Payscale, full-time drivers make a salary of $25,000-$65,000. That’s a lot of money to spend just on transportation when you can just drive your own car, use Uber or Lyft, or use public transportation if you don’t want to drive.

3. Someone to Stand in Line for You

This one sounds pretty ridiculous. If you’ve ever been stuck in a long line and wondered ‘I wish I could just pay someone to stand in line for me’, now it’s definitely an option. It’s no secret that people like to camp out for new products and offers like on Black Friday or when a new iPhone comes out.

There are queuing agencies all over the world along with many regular people who would just like to make a ‘quick buck’ by standing in line for you. If you want to pay someone to stand in line for you, you’d have to shell out around $25 per hour plus whatever you were going to spend originally when they get to the top of the line.

As a cheaper alternative, consider pre-ordering what you need online or just deal with the fact that you might not be the first one to get it if you have other important things to do.

Wedding Speech Writing

Who said wedding speeches must come from the heart? If you’re just too choked up, at a loss for words, or just too lazy, you can hire a professional speech writer to write your wedding speech. There are dozens of companies out there who write speeches for the groom, father-of-the-bride, best man and more. Speeches generally cost around $150 and up.

My problem with this, other than the price, is that no matter how good the speech sounds, it’s still not from the heart and the person who reads it will probably forget it easier. A wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and you want your vows, thoughts, and funny stories to come from you. Plus, it’s not even worth the cost considering all the other wedding-related expenses that can add up.

You can always ask friends and family to help you with ideas and help you organize your thoughts if you are having trouble writing a wedding speech.

Weighing Costs and Rewards With Outsourcing

While some of these things sound ridiculous to outsource to me, they might not sound as bad to the next person. When it comes to choosing what to outsource, it all depends on your current needs and situation along with your budget. If you are a busy person and can’t find time to properly clean your home and need to pay someone $40 to do it, but you make $150 during the time they spend cleaning, I definitely think that is worth it in terms of outsourcing.

If you decide to pay the next door neighbor $15 to mow your lawn, so you can spend quality time with your kids watching a fun movie on a Saturday afternoon, that may be worth it to you. Also, if you’re a professional athlete training for a special event and can afford to hire a professional chef who knows how to cater to your diet, by all means, do it.

The bottom line is that we all outsource something whether it’s childcare, household chores, or landscaping. The key is to make sure the benefits you receive outweigh the cost so you don’t go broke or get into debt trying to outsource.

For more on outsourcing, and how you can do so to make extra money check out these articles.

When is it Time to Outsource Your Small Business IT Services?
How to Make Time to Side Hustle
Should You Get a Second Job?

Have you ever outsourced anything? How has it helped you?