I’m getting a dish washer
Ok, really, this is not just about getting a dish washer.
Hey Laura,
I am just writing to let you know that I am going to buy a dish washer when we move to the new place. This is by no means my excuse to slack off. Let me explain to you why.
A dishwasher costs between AU$400-700. Let’s buy one for $500.
I spend 15 to 30 minutes each day, after dinner, to wash the dishes. For the sake of simplicity, let’s say I spend 20 minutes a day on average. That’s about 2 hours and 20 minutes per week, or 121 hours a year.
A dish washer will last for a very long time, but let’s use the 2-year warranty period as a base line (Imagine the machine breaks down after 2 year, we can just throw it away). That will be the equivalent of trading AU$500 of investment for 243 hours of my labour. Basically, the machine will work at an hourly rate of approximately $2/hour!!!
In other words, by not using a dish washer, I am working for $2/hour. If we add water and electricity and washing supply cost, I don’t think my hourly rate can reach $3.5. If you insist on numbers, I can follow up with some maths.
On an economic scale, using a machine clearly wins. Let’s discuss the quality of life aspect.
- We have more time to rest, recharge, and be together.
- We don’t need to be upset or argue about why the dishes are still there over night. As a result, we can have worry-free late dinner at home.
- When we sit down and meditate, It’s gonna be easier as there’s one less thing to worry about.
- I can spend time on professional development, or working on personal projects, or music, all of which in turn improve our quality of life.
The only downside I can see is that we may run out of supply every now and then. We can simply bulk buy it, once a year.
Let me know what you think. If you don’t have any valid objection after 2 weeks, the decision to buy a dish washer will be considered final and will be executed upon our move.
PS: By the way, I also propose you buy a slow cooker, a food processor, and a robot vacuum cleaner (and fancy designer perfume).
PPS: I’m pretty sure that our parents had this similar argument when the washing machine was first popularised.