How much is my TIME worth? Knowing when to spend more

Today I was faced with a problem that has me thinking "What is my time worth?"

My husband works in the roofing industry and it's definitely seasonal. Pair that with people dragging out payments and insurance companies never being in a rush to cut a check and we can go sometime without income. So, I have to be very frugal with cash when we have it.

This is one of those months! Ugh!

My issue today was this: I have WHITE roots. I know, I know. You all thought this head was all natural, but it's not. *Sigh* There's no running to my hair dresser these days to get a touch up so I had to resort to coloring my hair at home.

Now, this is where the problem comes in. I REALLY, REALLY like John Freida's foam color, but the stuff is sometimes double the cheaper hair colors. I always try to purchase it with a coupon and on sale but lately, I haven't seen a good enough deal to spend the little bit of money we have had. So, I had to resort to my stockpile of some more inexpensive hair color that I picked up some time ago when I found a really good sale.

While the foam color takes me about 20 minutes to apply to my long hair, the "liquid" color took me over an hour to cover my head. It was MESSY, I have color EVERYWHERE. It's on my forehead, shoulders and even my big toe where it dripped! And my mood, well, it's pretty sour right now as I sit and wait for this 30 minutes to pass before I can go rinse my head and PRAY that I didn't miss any spots.

So, I think my question "How much is my time worth?" is a fair one. I could spend $4 more and complete this task nearly 45 minutes earlier than it will be today. I wouldn't have the mess and I know my mood would be completely different.

I often pose this question when people tell me about DIY projects. I could possibly save money on materials but when I factor in the time it would take me, would I really be saving? Is the monetary savings enough?

So the next time you are shopping for products that may require you to spend your own time, ask yourself  that question. I know that today, I could have spent 45 minutes doing LOTS of other things that ultimately would be worth that $4 extra.