I am frugal by nature. I do the mental calculations almost reflexively. Food is my favourite measure of equivalent value, since I rarely buy books these days. If I bike instead of taking public transit, that's three Vietnamese sandwiches. For the price of dinner for two at Pho Hung, we could buy and roast two whole chickens. I hardly eat out, since I know I can make my favourite meals for $2-$4 a serving.

2014-03-06 Our frugal life #finance #frugality

Many people who are working on financial independence take pride in doing as much as possible themselves. It's a great way to save money and build a variety of skills. I usually do the same. It's great knowing that fixing a washing machine doesn't have to be a scary thing.

But there are some areas where I spend more than most people do, like outsourcing.  For example, even though no one expects transcripts for podcasts and even though I can transcribe my own posts, I pay other people to transcribe them for me. I pay people to research, draft, code, experiment, learn. I'm slowly getting the hang of passing on tasks even if I feel like I could learn a lot by doing things myself. If I outsource those tasks, then at least two people learn: my assistant and me. In fact, since they write down things I might otherwise just skim or take for granted, I can usually take what they send me and share that with other people.

For me, outsourcing is so much more than just a money-for-time trade off. I think of outsourcing as a way to help other people build up assets and skills as they figure out flexible work that fits their needs. It's a way for me to learn from different perspectives and experiences, too. I don't need stuff. I don't crave experiences: no exotic vacations, no once-in-a-lifetime memories. I'd rather take advantage of the abundance to scale up and help others.

2014-01-28 What do I get out of delegation

(See more in Ramping up delegation)

Independence matters to me. So does interdependence. If I can carve out enough to provide reasonable security for myself and I have the skills to go and earn more money if I need to, then I'll use the surplus to make the world a little bit better. I had thought about focusing on stashing away more money so that we might have a greater margin of safety. (Who knows, maybe W- might even be able to retire.) I'm slowly adding to that stash, but that doesn't rule out helping other people along the way.

I don't want to become dependent on outsourcing. I make sure all my tasks are documented so that I can take over if needed. I establish financial limits so that outsourcing doesn't encroach on my other plans. (This is one of the reasons why I like working with assistants on an as-needed basis instead of committing to a specific number of hours or tasks a month.) I learn from small experiments before I move on to larger ones. I prefer outsourcing to people who can learn from the experience instead of to established companies with polished solutions.

I don't have to spend the money on this, but I decide to, and it's worth it to me.