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Why do it yourself?

Things you can easily pay someone else to do, whilst living in a low-cost country.

There is the saying that if you want something doing, do it yourself, but in some cases that’s just not needed. If you’re staying in a country where the cost of living is relatively low, you may find yourself with a little extra cash, to give yourself a slightly better standard of day to day life. Of course, you don’t want to splash the cash, but if it gives you more time to do other things, such as work, write, travel, sightsee etc, then why not?

I’m currently in Turkey and there is that culture of life here where you do pay others for many different household services, and this is how others make a living, and your life is made easier.

Here are four possible services you can outsource from your life, and into someone else’s.

Laundry.
Now, I do this because I haven’t got a washing machine in my apartment currently, and whilst I can hand-wash, and I do sometimes, it just doesn’t get everything as clean as I would like. For this reason, I pay a very nice lady to do my washing for me, and a very good job of it she does too. Whether you go to a laundrette, or you use a certain person for the job, just like I do, then it can often work out cheaper than the cost of electric, fabric detergent and softener, not to mention your time.

Ironing.
Same goes for this next option. Ironing is boring, don’t you find? I hate it, and in a hot country you don’t want to be stood over a hot iron, trying to get the creases out. I guess equally you don’t want to be walking around in creased clothes, looking like nobody owns you. You can easily find laundrettes who will charge you for your ironing, and they will be returned to you folded, pressed and neat. Again, you save on electric and time, not to mention the cost of an iron.

Cleaning.
General cleaning services are things you can pay others to do for you. In a hot country, you’ll often find floors are the tiled kind, and I can’t believe how dirty they get on a day to day basis. Trying to keep on top of cleaning in places like this, whilst trying to actually have a life, and even work as well, can be borderline impossible. Cleaning services are popular in many different countries, so it’s a good idea to make use of them, freeing up your time.

Language services.
Now I put this one in, and I know it’s not household themed, but it has helped me and my daily life abroad. I mentioned earlier that I am living in Turkey, and I admit that other than a few words and phrases, before I arrived I was probably the world’s worst Turkish speaker. Because of that, and because I wanted to at least try and speak Turkish, considering I was living here, I hired a tutor to teach me the local language; it’s worked wonders. My tutor is English, but is fluent in Turkish and has been living here for years, so this helps me because she understands some of the difficulties I may have. You will find this kind of service in many different countries, and it will certainly help you in your living abroad endeavours.

If it makes your life easier, pays someone’s wages, and doesn’t cost the earth, why wouldn’t you pay someone to do something for you? Makes perfect sense to me!

Guest post by our friend Nicki.

Photo Credit: Wonderlane under Creative Commons license


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