30 Minutes A Day

I just found an interesting study that looked at time spent by apartment dwellers and homeowners on various activities. As you may expect, sleeping was number one for both groups (although a little higher for renters than homeowners). But, in the category of leisure, renters spent 30 minutes longer a day on these activities than homeowners, which is 15 % higher! The author links this finding to a variety of issues, but partly due to the exterior maintenance and lawncare that a homeowner must complete that is not necessary for an apartment dweller.

(Study information may be found here - "Housing Situation and Time Use." Jack Goodman, Hartrey Advisors - 703/527-6478 - jackgoodman@hartrey.com - www.hartrey.com - first draft: December 2, 2005)

So, the obvious correlation to this blog is that our homes are maintenance-free on the outside, much like an apartment. However, homeowners get the pride of ownership and benefits of owning real estate to go along with the extra leisure time.

30 minutes a day is 3.5 hours a week, 14 hours a month, 182 hours a year, and a whopping 3640 hours if you live in our home for 20 years. 3640 hours is roughly 6 months more of leisure time added onto your life. If you pair that number with the fact that people live longer with less stress and more fun in their lives, you have a magical result!

What does 30 minutes a day look like to you? Learn a new language, pick up woodworking, travel more, read more books, tutor an at-risk youth? The possibilities are endless!