At a certain point in life for all of us, time rather than money will become the limiting factor in our lives. Hardly any of us would trade places with 95-year-old Warren Buffett, despite his wealth, because we all recognize he is running out of time.
What are some of the ways in which we can trade money for time?
#1 FIRE
FIRE stands for Financially Independent, Retire Early. The biggest way we trade time for money is by working. If you really want to trade money for time instead, then you ought to at least consider stopping work—at least any part of it that you don't really enjoy. You don't necessarily have to retire. You could work fewer hours or fewer days or fewer weeks. Or you could see fewer patients per hour. Or limit the procedures you do. You can pay someone else to take call; pay a scribe to write your charts; or pay an MA, nurse, APC, clerk, or another capable healthcare worker to do some of the work you don't want to do.
#2 Household Chores
One of the first things many doctors hire out is housekeeping. If you'd rather pursue a hobby than clean toilets, here's your chance. You don't have to do your own laundry either. Someone else will pick it up, wash it, fold it, and deliver it back to you. You can hire a nanny or tutor to help the kids if you want. There is no rule that you can only use childcare when you go to work.
More information here:
My Internal Struggle for Outsourcing the Chores I Hate (or Can’t Do)
What We Can Learn About Work-Life Balance and Retirement from the French
#3 Landscaping
Lawn care might be the biggest time suck, but just about anything that needs to be done around your yard can be hired out to someone.
#4 Driveway Care
Do you live somewhere where the fluffy (or not so fluffy) stuff falls? You don't have to spend time dealing with that either when you have money.
#5 Grocery Shopping
You can put in your order online and pick it up in the parking lot these days. You can even have it delivered to your house.
#6 Meal Preparation
Heard of DoorDash? You can actually order it every day if you want. If you don't mind doing a little yourself, you can look at HelloFresh or Sunbasket. You can hire someone to come to your home every day and cook your family a delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We discovered you can even hire someone to do that on your houseboat if you want. No, it's not cheap, but you have more money than time now, right?
#7 Time at the Airport
There's little I detest more than being inside an airport. You can decrease this by paying for premium parking, a car service, or maybe even just Uber. You can get TSA PreCheck, CLEAR, and Global Entry. You can fly first class or business class and get off the plane first. Or you can go big and buy a NetJets subscription and stay out of the terminal altogether.
#8 Time at the Library
Buy a Kindle and download your books from home in minutes. Or just buy the books. Seriously, it's amazing how much time and hassle people will go through to avoid spending $20 on something that will entertain them for eight hours.
#9 Recreational Viewing
It's not the same thing, but it's pretty amazing how much time you can spend going to movies, sports events, shows, and concerts. Many of these can be viewed right in your home theater for just a few bucks. Often, the experience is even better. Watching a cycling event is a classic example, but seeing a football game on TV is often better than watching it from the nosebleeds. Hamilton, by the original cast, even showed up on Disney+ eventually. So did Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour. Just about any movie you want to see can be downloaded at about the same time it becomes available in theaters. Save yourself a lot of time and hassle by having a nice home theater put in and spending a few bucks on downloads and streaming services.
More information here:
I Spent 6 Hours with a Bunch of Taylor Swift-Obsessed Doctors; Here’s What I Learned
#10 Fly People to You
Want to see your sister and brother-in-law? Maybe you don't have to cross the country to go to their home. Maybe they can come to yours if you pay for part or all of it.
#11 Car Care
If you buy newer, more reliable cars, you'll spend less time hassling with them. When they do need to go to the shop, you can pay the shop to come pick them up and return them. They might even swap you a loaner car to use in the meantime. The same applies to just about anything else that goes to the shop. My boat dealership will pick up my boat, winterize it, and bring it home if I'm willing to pay for it. Some storage places will even deliver it to the lake and launch it for me.
#12 Home Care
While it might be challenging to find really good people, any home repair or improvement task can, at least theoretically, be outsourced.
#13 Financial Advisor
Sick of managing your portfolio? You can outsource that to a financial advisor. They might even do a better job than you.
#14 Use Technology
New tools and software are constantly being developed to help automate many of the tasks on which you're spending a ton of time. Artificial intelligence may become so good that it eliminates lots of your chores. One example in my life is team management software for the hockey teams I play on and coach. No more sending emails, texts, and calls to organize everything. It's all right there in the app, saving time and effort.
#15 Buy the Best Tools
If you do still do some chores, why are you using crappy tools? Get the best broom, vacuum, lawnmower, drill, power saw, or whatever. If something on it breaks, get a new one. Your time is worth more than whatever you save by using anything but the best.
#16 Shorten Your Commute
Rent or buy a place closer to where you work and spend less time in the car on the way.
#17 Hire a Driver
Or, if you can work from your phone or computer, turn commute time into work time by hiring a driver. Now, you can arrive at work later or leave earlier while still getting your work done.
#18 Premium Parking/Valets
No more parking on the outer perimeter to save a few bucks. You don't have to do that anymore, so why waste your time?
#19 Stop Driving to Save Money
When you go on a ski vacation, stay at a ski-in, ski-out condo. Eat at the expensive place on site. Rent skis from the shop right there. Basically, think of all the tricks those frugal people do to save money and stop doing them. You'll save a little gas and a little of the planet, but, most importantly, you'll save your time.
#20 Calculate the Value of Your Time
What is your time really worth? I mean after-tax, of course. Is it $10 an hour, $100 an hour, $1,000 an hour, $10,000 an hour? Whatever it is, start using that figure when making decisions about how you use your time. Knowledge is power in this regard.
More information here:
What’s the Value of Our Time, Anyway?
Parenting, Priorities, and a Life Well Spent as My Child Graduated High School
#21 Pay to Get Presents Wrapped
I bought some presents for my wife while my hand was in a cast. I was never very good at wrapping presents in a pretty way before. No way was it going to happen with one hand. But guess what? Many places will do that for you, even when ordering online. No more staying up until 2am on Christmas Eve and having a miserable time the next day.
#22 Pay for Exclusivity
Want to meet certain people or certain types of people at any event? There may be some sort of premium ticket that will allow you to do that. You can show up late and still have the good seats when you pay for more than the general admission ticket. No more listening to the opening acts at a concert.
#23 Consume Stuff
Don't want to take the time to wrap up those leftovers? Throw them out. Don't want to repair that broken gadget or sew the hole in your pants? Throw stuff away and buy new stuff. Instead of washing stuff, just treat it as disposable. No, it's not good for the planet or your pocketbook, but it might save you a lot of time.
#24 Give Stuff Away
Ever tried to sell something? It can take forever. But if you just really want to get rid of it, put a “free” sign on it and put it out front. It won't last long.
More information here:
The Importance of Real Partners
#25 Pet Care
Love animals but hate caring for them? Someone else can walk your dog. Mobile units will come by your house to wash your pet and do its hair. There are even mobile veterinarians.
#26 Concierge Doctors
Quit wasting time in waiting rooms or trying to reach your doc. Pay a concierge fee, and they'll start picking up the phone every time you call.
#27 Home Gym
If the gym is 10 minutes away, that's 20 minutes of wasted time a day. How much equipment are you really even using anyway? Can you just buy the equipment (including a bigger house or garage if necessary) and use it at home?
#28 Hire Employees
Running a business? Figure out how to extract yourself from it. Hire employees to do what you're doing. Spend a little more and get better employees who can free up even more of your time.
#29 Buy an iPhone and Use It
I can't believe how much more efficient my life is when I'm using digital calendars. My iPhone has replaced dozens of devices in my life. No more spending time purchasing, maintaining, and learning to use those devices. Buy the fast internet service while you're at it. Seriously, you're spending your life waiting for a page to load?
#30 Healthcare
Healthcare isn't cheap, but it can certainly extend life in many circumstances. Buy health insurance and use it. Many immunization and screening exams are included in the price.
I think I've only hit the tip of the iceberg here. As a community, I bet we could come up with 100 more ways to trade money for time.
How do YOU trade money for time? How much has it changed your life?