My BTO is approaching the 9-year mark and there are no short-term plans to move. Especially since I have endured 3 rounds of renovations in the past few years. The 2 units on the same floor as me and the unit directly above me. We have endured the worst and there is simply little impetus to move.
Although the house is pretty well-maintained, signs of wear and tear is obvious. In fact, exactly a year ago, we gave a fresh coat of paint to one of the rooms. We did not hire anyone. It was just the Mrs and me buying paint and brushes and embarking on a 2-day project. Hard work, pride and some good fun.
This year though, it’s the appliances that are breaking down. The ceiling fan is creaking, the stove needs a manual starter (battery mechanism spoilt), the freezer is frosting and the washing machine totally broke down a week ago.
What Most People Would Have Done
I don’t know but a washing machine breaking down is probably an emergency to most people.
Mrs 15HWW immediately suggested buying a new washing machine and have it delivered the very next day. Otherwise, she suggested bringing our laundry to my in-laws’ place (3 minutes drive away) to wash. Logistics-wise, the latter actually seems a big hassle to me.
When I volunteered to hand wash our laundry for the next few weeks, she was totally shocked. Well, since we already had an order for a new fridge and stove that was going to be delivered in late November, I thought it was just more rational and economical to tag along on that order.
Merits Of Hand Washing All Your Clothes
My mother hand-washed most of my clothes when I was in Primary and Secondary school so this was not a foreign concept to me. We had a washing machine but she would argue that hand-washing clothes helped to save on water and electricity.
I just did some simple research on washing machines and found out that a 1-2hr session of washing machine usage consumes <$2 worth of electricity and water.
Since I take about an hour to manually hand-wash the clothes, this task is probably not financially productive in this modern day and age. Especially when we account for opportunity cost.
But I certainly feel that there are other good reasons to manually wash our clothes, at least for the next few weeks:
- My kind of meditation. One hour in the morning in the toilet, away from phones and screens.
- Relieves some shoulder and back aches. Weight-lifting or other exercises simply do not replicate the movement of grinding and wringing the clothes.
- The knowledge that I am not totally dependent on tech and machines for my life to function.
Of course, I would acknowledge that hand washing laundry permanently could be back-breaking. There are also other downsides like wetter clothes since my hand-wringing cannot totally replicate the spin-drying function of washing machines.
Economically-Productive vs Financially-Productive Tasks
It’s quite remarkable that something as traditional and basic like the washing machine did not even exist 2 generations back. Your grandmother probably had to hand-wash the household’s clothes on a daily basis.
So in modern society, that’s one hour of back-breaking labour saved.
But why are we even busier these days then?
My hypothesis is that economically-productive (and more “useful”) tasks like washing your clothes is fast being replaced by technological improvements and innovations, which frees up more time.
More time to pursue financially-productive tasks like:
- Pushing papers and proposals in office
- Writing a sponsored blog post or one with affiliates
- Staring at screens to distil stock/crypto alphas
This is probably how we measure progress these days, huh? Food for thought, no?
Thanks for reading and back to replying emails after yesterday’s post.
My mantra is I try to put in the same effort in my replies as the person/reader crafting the email/message.
Hope you did not hang out to dry after washing!
Harder to dry these days. Need 3 days instead of 2.
This is the ongoing cost of being a property owner. For tenants, they just have to bugger the landlord, who hopefully will respond lol.
If only IRAS will allow some basic level of tax deductible for certain repairs & replacements for own-stay properties! But I can see how this can be regressive tax policy for retirees in HDB flats, since that’s not much left to cut from the small HDB property tax — maybe a cash rebate for them.
This is the reason why I happily pay for painters to re-paint my rental unit every couple years, since I can deduct the costs for my rental income tax, while doing my own painting for my own-stay flat, even though it’s a SOB job.
SOB job? Not that bad lah.
But really smart strategy to outsource when there is tax benefits and vice versa. If I ever become a landlord, will approach you for advice.
Unsure how spoilt the washing machine is, have you considered getting someone to fix it?
Not too long ago, my parents’ TV broke down. My first reaction was to starting shopping for a new TV. . Until my parents asked why don’t we try fixing it. Not sure if you remember, just one generation ago, whenever things start breaking down, our parents would usually call the repair man to have a look and fix things up. So that’s what we did and it only cost us less than a hundred bucks.
Just sharing how different two generations’ approach to handle things that are faulty
Hi Wayne,
Most handymen would suggest for me to replace it since it’s a 9 year old washing machine. Likely the motherboard is the issue and repairing it would likely incur 1/3 of the price of a new washing machine.
I also think things are made differently these days. A generation ago, things were made much more robust.