Wedding Countdown Day 16: Save Time: Spend More

On my way home from work yesterday, I finally stopped by the dry cleaner. I’d been meaning to bring Joe’s shirt in to be laundered and pressed for a couple of weeks. Yes, I could have washed and ironed it myself to save the whopping $1.95. My time is worth far more than that.

I’ve used the same cleaners for a long time. They are close to work, really friendly and they’ve never messed up or misplaced a single thing I’ve dropped off. Over the years, I’ve brought in everything from down comforters to cocktail dresses and one time, even a handbag. A waitress knocked some sort of berry margarita off her serving tray and into my purse, a brand new Michael Kors, out for its first spin on the town. The leather on the outside cleaned up well, but the tan fabric inside looked hopeless. I brought in the purse as my last resort and they managed to get most of it out. Bless them.

I decided since I was going, I should also bring my wedding dress to get steamed, pressed or whatever it is they do to get the wrinkles out. Since it didn’t need to be dry cleaned first, I didn’t think it would cost very much. As I stuffed the receipt into my wallet, I noticed the total for Joe’s shirt and my dress was $27.45. The receipt reads: 1 Dress. Fancy. Long. Lining. Apparently that equates to $25.50. I could have gone to Target, bought a hand-held steamer for $19.99 and done it myself. At this point in the game, my time is still worth more than that.

Besides, if they ruin it, I get a new dress. If I ruin it, I’m out far more than $25.50.

Posted by by Becki Philpott on Thursday, June 24, 2010