Time value of money calculator
Posted on August 28th, 2007 – 10:07 AMBy Kara McGuire
I’ve blogged about my eternal struggle to balance time and money in the past:
When you finally have less time than money.
The eternal balance between time and money.
Today I stumbled upon a detailed time value of money calculator that allows you to calculate the value of one hour of your time after loading in variables such as income, taxes, work expenses, child care, etc.
According to the calculator, I net a little more than $15 per hour after expenses such as child care, commuting costs, work clothes (even if I didn’t work I doubt I’d resist the lure of the mall).
It also asks you questions about how much time you spend sleeping, taking care of kids, doing household chores and exercising. I’m not 100% sure that my answers are accurate since I think often times I’m taking care of kids while doing chores and considering it exercise.
Based on the figures I entered: 7 hours per night sleep, 12 hours weekly of household chores, 26 hours of child care, and 8 hours of exercise and grooming, I have about 34 hours in leisure time, each “purchased” by 1.19 hours of work time, or $18.50, the calculator explains. That’s after work hours of course. And I haven’t figured out if it adds up to 24 hour days.
Its conclusion? If I have $18.50 in my pocket and can find someone to perform a task I’d rather not do for less than that, it would be worth it from a time value of money perspective to hire that person.
But as we all know, there’s only so much money and so much time to earn it. So as lovely as that sounds, most of my
11 Responses to "Time value of money calculator"
I wouldn’t keep a financial scorecard in taking care of your kids and doing housework. Enjoy this time and realize that it’s short.
Jon, what if she gets more time with the kids by hiring out the housework?
Kim, housework is physical activity. Have you seen the headlines about people getting fatter? If one outsources everything, they become a big fat slob.
I’d also add in one more factor: the time it takes you to do the same task as someone else. A painter, for example, might cost more than $18.50 an hour, but if he or she can get the job done twice as fast as you can, they might be worth $37 an hour to you. (And they also might do a better job!)
Painting is really easy. Come on!
The same people complaining of outsourcing jobs overseas are outsourcing the simple domestic stuff in their house.
Jon, Hula hooping with my kids, or basketball, or tag, or dancing all burns more calories than cleaning my toilet. You’re jumping to conclusions. Speaking of jumping, jump rope and hopscotch burn calories too.
The point is not that painting is really easy, Jon. The point is that if someone else can do a task more efficiently for a better price — whether it’s painting,roofing, or cleaning out a backed up sewer — that’s worth figuring into the equation.
Erin, that’s a weak argument, because if the husband makes more money than the wife and if the wife is better at housework and cooking, it means the husband should spend more time at work making money and I know you would just scoff at that idea.
I would be very interested in hearing if you found a calculator to determine whether or not a couple can go down to one income in order to raise kids. I know I’m struggling with that question right now and am trying to weigh both sides.
Inclination plays a bigger role in these sorts of decisions than money.
I could get takeout most nights rather than make dinner, but I enjoy cooking and am always pained to spend money on a restaurant meal that I could have made better myself.
On the other hand, I’ll take clothes to a tailor for alteration, because I don’t enjoy sewing.
My spouse and I try to divide housekeeping tasks by inclination and ability. I load the dishwasher and washing machine, and mop the floors, but we call in an electrician to fix the wiring.
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