For me, it’s when people factor in their time and stress levels as part of the cost of something.

For example, when I was 19, I took a job as an assistant for a disabled teen. I was hired directly by the family, and I worked in their home. I began working in August, and by that November, they treated me like I was an equal member of the family, so much so that they invited me to their Thanksgiving dinner. They didn’t need me there to work (although I did help out with the teen anyway), they just knew that I didn’t have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving that year.

Growing up, Thanksgiving was a week-long ordeal in my house. The house had to be cleaned top to bottom, the meal had to be planned, there had to be an expensive grocery store run, and food prep began the day before the actual holiday. That’s what I thought Thanksgiving was all about: everyone in the family being busy all week in order to have the extended family over for one really, really big meal.

But the family I was working for did it differently.

They had a twice-per-week housekeeper anyway, but they hired a crew of four additional “deep clean” housekeepers to get the house spotless the day before Thanksgiving. Then, at around 11am the morning of Thanksgiving, a catering truck pulled up and unloaded the whole meal, appetizers and all. By noon, extended family members were trickling in, and by 2pm, we were all sitting at the table for the meal. They did Thanksgiving as a late lunch thing.

That’s actually been the most common scenario in all of my social circles throughout my life: Thanksgiving is a mid-afternoon meal that replaces both lunch and dinner that day.

Anyway, when I commented to the mother of the boy I took care of that I’d never seen a catered Thanksgiving, she was quick to point out that it wasn’t that much more expensive than if she did all of the cooking herself, but her time was more valuable to her than trying to save a few dollars.

Hiring professionals to do things for you is less stressful, too.

The mother also informed me that both the extra cleaning crew and the caterers that she hired were scheduled well ahead of time because they were so in demand that week in that area. Basically, a lot of people who hosted Thanksgiving in that affluent city outsourced those things. Some did it for Christmas and Easter, too. The caterers had a full-time waiter option, too, but the family I worked for didn’t need to take it that far. They went with a buffet-style Thanksgiving meal.

Over the last few years, my wife and I have batted around the idea of hiring a once-per week housekeeper, and maybe getting our Thanksgiving catered, but we haven’t done it … yet. She actually likes all of the chores that come along with hosting Thanksgiving … for now. Although I think that every year she likes it a little less.

Still, at this point in my life, I factor in my time and stress (and safety) before I decide to do things myself rather than call a professional. I just paid $145 to have my gutters cleaned last week, which is something I used to do myself, but I hated it and it took a long time and just… nah… I’ll let someone else handle that chore now. Next week, I’m going to pay someone $80 to groom my dog. We get that done every two weeks. I could probably save a lot of money by just buying some shears and grooming her myself, but nah… The time and effort and stress it would take me to do it are worth more than $80 to me.