I posted this many years ago under '28,000 reasons not to hire a cleaning service'. I think it bears repeating.

Many years ago when I was a wage slave, (with spouse and two kids), I hired a cleaning service because I got zero help and/or support from spouse and kids. After a few months, it felt like I was throwing my money away.

I decided to suck it up and pay myself to do the cleaning. I had money directly deposited from each paycheck into a special deferred compensation account. My goal was to have travel and fun money for when I retired.

Because the market has performed very well over the past 9 years, the account balance is now over $65,000! I've got some fun trips planned for myself this year.

Yes, I did work myself to exhaustion when I was younger, but I can now enjoy the fruits of that labor.