I guess I look at things a little differently than most folks.
I don't put a 'dollar value' or 'cost factor' to anything that I do. Mainly because I don't believe life is all about living within, or to be measured by - 'monetary values'.
To me, money is nothing more that a tool that one sets out to achieve, so that they may acquire the items that they feel they need to survive their day to day existence, in the world that they set themselves up in. Some folks need boatloads to get thru the day - others live on next to nothing. (And I have to tell ya - study after study has shown that those with less (whether voluntary or thru acceptance) - tend to be the happier people on the planet).
Trying to measure whether something is 'worth your time' - based on whether you can/should do it yourself - vs/ paying someone else to do it for you is mostly based on 'what is my 'monetary worth' per hour?' - or should I pay someone $20 for 2 hours of cleaning my home while I work outside it, making $40 for those same 2 hours. In simplistic terms, the answer seems like a real no-brainer.
But it's not all about the all-mighty dollar. That is nothing but a piece of paper that we have given an agreed upon value to.
It's about what more you get out of the job/chore/project/hobby - whatever it is you are doing. You are engaging your own mind & your body. And there is no 'monetary value' that can ever be set to that. As they say in the commercials - it's priceless. And it truly is.
You can't buy more brain cells. You can't buy more red blood cells. It doesn't matter who you are, or how many dollar bills you own. Steve Jobs could tell you that one - had he been able to survive. You can't buy back years of youth or good health. You can't buy experiences (I am talking living day to day in the moment experiences). You can't buy skills handed down to you, you can't buy the satisfaction & experiences of a job well done by your own hands & ingenuity.... and on & on....
I just shake my head when I hear people say that something is "not worth my time". But yet, those same people can be caught sitting on the couch, in front of the TV, mindlessly dipping their hands in & out of the potato chip bag resting in their laps. (What is the true value of your time now)? Unless you are in a constant, perpetual motion 24 hours a day - earning boatloads of monies for your troubles - you will occasionally be caught doing something that you just might be 'under-qualified' for. But stop measuring everything by the almighty $$ bill.
If you don't want to do something - then don't do it. But never be ashamed to admit that you do something simply because - you enjoy it. Who cares how many $$'s will be netted by the end of the project. It's about engaging so much more than that. Case in point - As I sit here typing this, and prior to that - reading the timeline of this forum - I could be out in the world making some real $$'s. As it stands at this very moment - I am not getting paid to sit here in the village. So in other words - being here, right now - is a complete & total waste of my time. Right? After all, this is making me worth zero dollars per hour. (And if you figure in the electricity used to run the computer, and the cost of the computer itself, oh - and the internet access cost...) Geez.... I need to shut this thing down now & get out there & try to somehow reclaim my expected existence on the societal levels set out for me....
Not happening..... instead, I will sit here & read the forums. I will even go to other places on the web before the day is over. I will wash out my baggies, I will take the time to hang my clothes coming from the washer, instead of piling them into the dryer - I will go out of my way to leave as few footprints on this planet as possible. Whether it is the 'harder or the 'dumber way to do things'... I will work on my crafts, recycling materials into other objects for resale at the farmers market. And come summer, I will sit at said farmers market every Sat selling my wares for what many might consider pennies on the dollars. But, when I see the satisfaction of my customers, and when I spend those hours visiting with my vendor neighbors, repeat customers, new customers... well - it just makes all those hours that I spend tirelessly toiling away at what some would consider 'fruitless' - all the more priceless in my own little world...
And - I will plant a huge garden. And I will spend hour upon hour weeding, watering & doing all those things that a gardener does. I could go down to the corner grocery & just purchase those same veggies. (After all, when I figure in my time & materials growing that pepper - could I not have just bought it cheaper - and a lot more easily)? The answer is probably a big fat, yes...
But - who's counting.....