Your time is not free

[AJL]

WOW! Can't really say I have anything new to add...I just want to be able to say I was part of the "Your time is not free" thread of 2010. I'm having T-shirts made if anyone is interested...:laughing:

On serious note, some of the debate is a little strong...I can see why one of the other tractor sites is promoting itself as "the friendliest tractor site". Don't get me wrong, I love a good debate. I just hate to see things get personal.

I am glad I took all those economics courses though...

 

[beppington]

WOW! Can't really say I have anything new to add...I just want to be able to say I was part of the "Your time is not free" thread of 2010. I'm having T-shirts made if anyone is interested...:laughing:

On serious note, some of the debate is a little strong...I can see why one of the other tractor sites is promoting itself as "the friendliest tractor site". Don't get me wrong, I love a good debate. I just hate to see things get personal.

I am glad I took all those economics courses though...

You took economics courses & you're not gonna tell us whether or not your time is free?!? :confused2:

 

[Scotty370]

Or, "I survived the TBN 'Your Time is not Free Thread of 2010' "...but it cost me $90-/hr!
~S

 

[joes_427_vette]

I'm so confused I don't know what to charge myself now. As soon as I figure it out I am asking for a raise on my VOLUNTEER jobs ! Enough is enough !

 

[merrickvilleguy]

I see so many threads where the poster claims they only have a few bucks worth of materials in a project. I always calculate my own "shop hourly rate" into my projects to see whether I am actually saving money by doing some of these things myself. My personal rate is $90/hr.
My current wind powered pond aerator project is rapidly nearing the cost of the commercially available ones using this calc, but I'm in too deep to stop now so I will just go on and see it through.
It's an old habit and hard to break as the urge to do it myself is very strong. I am learning slowly that everything you bring home takes a little piece of your life away from you, whether it is a dozen eggs, a TV or a tractor. Spend your time wisely.

Just have to ask ... how is it to live with $190k annual income (90/hr) ?

I mean why stop there ... why not make it $300/hr or even further ?

Time isn't always money ... I enjoy the work I do, and in the cases hiring out is too expensive (capital investmentwise) I put blood and sweat (more often blood) into it. My time costs me nothing from capital ... so its often worth using.

 

[Reverend Blair]

I was just out cleaning the driveway and did such an excellent job that I decided to pay myself $72.00 an hour. Of course I'd already worked a full day so I had to pay double time, being an advocate of worker's rights, bringing the bill to $134.00 an hour. Just as I was finishing though, I realized that I'd been drinking a beer while working, so I had to fire myself for drinking on the job.

 

[Reverend Blair]

It's okay, I'm from Saskatchewan.:thumbsup:

 

[AJL]

You took economics courses & you're not gonna tell us whether or not your time is free?!? :confused2:

Nope...:laughing:

 

[tulenutn2o]

I see so many threads where the poster claims they only have a few bucks worth of materials in a project. I always calculate my own "shop hourly rate" into my projects to see whether I am actually saving money by doing some of these things myself. My personal rate is $90/hr.
My current wind powered pond aerator project is rapidly nearing the cost of the commercially available ones using this calc, but I'm in too deep to stop now so I will just go on and see it through.
It's an old habit and hard to break as the urge to do it myself is very strong. I am learning slowly that everything you bring home takes a little piece of your life away from you, whether it is a dozen eggs, a TV or a tractor. Spend your time wisely.

My father once said, "there ain't no one worth $90 hr, and don't ever think you are so good that you can't be replaced." A lot of what I do boils down to economics. I may have the money to buy the parts, but not enough for a new machine, but plenty of time. Fix it. Troubles today are result of throw away mentality. Heck, I remember pulling nails and straightening for re use because couldn't afford to buy.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Sound like megous has been brainwashed by Al Gore. He likely needs a day or two of seat time on a tractor to straighten his thinking out.:laughing: The earth has went thru cycles of warming and cooling for millenia without human help and will continue to do so even with our interference.

Back to the $90 an hour. Sometimes in business we have to just take a job below cost to keep our overhead busy. To my way of thinking, I have the same costs for my tool and building whether I use them or not. So if I make something that takes me 3 hours even if I pay myself what I am worth which is much more than $90 an hour, I figure that my cost would still be the same if I use my shop or not so anything I build for myself would be deducted from that overhead cost so I would be losing less by working at a project than if I didnt work at all. Therefore if I didnt loose as much, then I made some money even though it was overall in the red. Some things just may be better to take the overhead loss when you figure the material cost versus what you can buy ready made for. THen you have to figure in the difference in that cost versus your loss and then figure how much tax deduction you can claim on the loss to see how much actual value the loss has before you can make a decision.
If this sounds confusing, then read the rest of this thread and it will make much less sense then.