Monday, February 5, 2018

Hourly Rate

It takes too long.  It's not worth my time.  But is that really the truth?  How long does it really take?  What does it "pay" you per hour to do it?  What is your hands on time actually worth?

I can make a large pepperoni pizza in 20 minutes of hands on time:  making the dough, stretching the dough to fit the pan, adding the sauce, cheese and pepperoni and getting it into the oven.  I'm not including the time it takes for the dough to rise or bake because that doesn't take any of my effort.
Theoretically, I could make 3 an hour.  Each pizza costs me less than $3.  To order a large pepperoni pizza, using a coupon, would cost me a bare minimum of $7.  I save $4 per pizza, or $12 per hour. 

Because I can buy my flour for 50 cents a bag, and I buy my yeast in bulk, I can make a loaf of delicious homemade bread in ten minutes for 20 cents. The same quality of bread costs at least $3.50.  I can make 6 loaves an hour, saving $19.80, at a minimum.

I can make two quarts of ham and bean soup, using my homemade broth and meat picked from the ham bone and dry beans bought at the salvage store for a total cost of 55 cents.  I would need to buy 2.5 cans to make the same amount of soup, and I don't think it's as good.  The canned soup, bought on sale, with coupons, would cost me at least $3.75.   Because it only takes me 5 minutes to gather together the ingredients for the crockpot or pressure cooker, I could make 12 batches an hour.  Each batch saves me $3.20 so 12 would save me  $38.40,  $39 an hour. A great wage in my book.

And, besides saving money and making a decent hourly "wage", I have the enjoyment and satisfaction of making something and knowing exactly what's in it.  No small thing.

Then there's my salvage shopping.  I go once a month and the round trip driving and shopping takes about 2  hours.  I estimate, conservatively, that I save an average of $120 each trip.  That comes to $60 an hour.  And, because I go with a friend I get some very enjoyable girl time thrown in for free.


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