Where are the people we are ready to serve?  As a society and community we are interconnected and rely on each other for pretty much everything, that is, until we decide we can get by on less.  We really don’t need to buy that latte, or have our car washed or go out to dinner or have a gardener take care of our yard.  All of those things we can easily do ourselves or do without and we can convince our friends and neighbors that being frugal is cool.  But when everyone you know decides they can wait 5 years to replace the old couch, that is when you notice the furniture store you always liked is no longer in business.

It is important to live within your means and to not over extend yourself when the economy looks a bit fuzzy.  But, if you still have that good job and that great house you’re so happy you bought when you did, how long should you wait to fix the fence or put in the patio in the back yard for those summer parties you’ve dreamed about?  My contention is “ If you can afford it – do that project now”.

People in the service industry and contractors in particular are working on as little profit margin as they can possibly get away with.  If you have made it this far through the recession you know how low you can go before you have to rely on savings to finish the job because you have likely run out of savings working for less than you can afford already.  Contractors who do good work will continue to do good work – right now, however, they simply have to do good work for less profit.  This is a boon to anyone who realizes that they either don’t have the time to build that patio, BarBQ and firepit or knows that they will not be able to do the work themselves to their own high standards.

So, we are all in this community together and we need each other.  Doing less and being frugal is noble but remember every time you hire someone to work for you there is a ripple effect of benefits that spreads a long way around you.  Your generosity not only benefits yourself in an improved lifestyle it improves the lifestyle of everyone your decision to better your surroundings affects.  Come on out of your shell and hire someone!   We all want to serve and are ready to go.