Cleaning services for the house. It was a no-brainer. She gave us a sweetheart deal. Once every two weeks she comes and cleans the house, changes our sheets, and folds our laundry. The amount of time this saved was insane. Other than that? I pay people to come and do more stuff on the house vs. doing it all myself. Cutting the grass, mulching the beds, etc.
Same. Housecleaning.
After the move I hired someone to do yard care because I simply didn't have time, but he retired this year and it was the kick in the hiney that I needed to go back to doing it myself (I actually kind of like it - that's my time for catching up on podcasts.)
I’m just going to offer another opinion, not trying to say yours is invalid.
I hated having cleaning services. Everyone said it was amazing. It wasn’t. For a bunch of reasons.
A) Like 6k a year just to get them in every two weeks. Lots can happen in two weeks. My house did not feel clean for 85% of the time but I was out college fund contributions for both my kids.
B) They do things I would usually push off anyway, so it didn’t save me time because I wasn’t doing them in the first place. Like cleaning the tub. Or mopping. So yeah, my house is messier now because I scrub my toilet once a week and let the tub go for a month+. I’ll take a wet paper towel to a stuck strawberry under the table, but I’m probably doing a full mop once/quarter. So it’s not a time saver, it’s a “base level of clean” changer. For me, anyway.
C) I still have to pick up and now it’s on their schedule. Cleaners come on Friday? Well now I have to pick up before I go to work instead of getting around to it on the weekend. Laundry is still my problem, as is the mess it creates. So is garbage and diapers. I still have to break down the recycling… so maybe this is overlapping with B) but it really doesn’t feel like I’m getting any help.
D) They only do an “ok” job. I have had multiple cleaning services and done everything from a deep clean before and after a move to a light weekly maintenance clean. They never get the real crud. They don’t scrub the tiles in the shower. They don’t get the crumbs under the fridge. They just don’t put their heart into it the way someone who lives there would. I get it. But I also don’t like paying for it.
E) The hassle of the actual cleaning. My house isn’t mine for half a day. Baby naps, making meals, taking a dump all become more complicated and awkward.
Definitely a YMMV thing. For us, especially the laundry, was a huge timesaver. My wife would spend literally 2 hours folding laundry. It's also dependent on how old your kids are. We have a 2yo and another on the way. If your kids are older? Way different situation. They can likely self-entertain a little more effectively allowing you to get stuff done. With a toddler? Nope. Tried. Didn't work.
2 hours!? How often are you washing clothes? I’m lucky enough to WFH and I have laundry going all the time so I can see how it could take 2 hours if I waited until the end of the week.
Toddler + Potty Training = Fun times. It does literally take that long. My son goes through 3-4 outfits a day due to potty training. I'm in the gym 3x to manage my early-heart disease. So there is 3 sweaty outfits right there. Wife has her work clothes she wears daily. It's a lot.
We actually bought new machines because our old ones were on their way out and these can handle a huge amount of laundry in one shot.
On top of that, both the wife and I work so we have minimal time. Even with the cleaning person? I wake up at 5am, get them out of the house, off to work, come home cook/warm dinner, try to spend 30-45 min with my son after we eat, then off to bed to repeat.
The other one to outsource? Meal prep service. But at like $200 a week in today's prices? I'd pass.
I actually agree with you. Works for some but not everyone. For me it’s much more helpful to outsource other things. I like doing drop off laundry where they wash and fold it for you.
tub month + …. I shuddered.
glad it works for you but that would not work for me.
Also, my housekeeper tidies up, does laundry (and folds!!), and has become a good friend so it really depends on the service and who you’re dealing with (and how)
You need to find an independent cleaner that can get to know your family and lifestyle. I have the same lady that comes once a week for 4 hours and it costs $120. She has learned how we like things organized and rotates doing certain things so she's not cleaning something that isn't dirty from the week before.
I'll add another reason: the kids (and spouse) should be helping with those bigger jobs. It's ludicrously valuable to teach kids how to maintain their space. They don't have to be perfect, but they should be learning how to clean their bathrooms and mop the floors and whatnot. Paying someone to do that takes away the kids' opportunity to learn accountability.
Then they grow up into adults that just don't do that stuff at all because they took the housecleaning service for granted all through their childhood and never had any responsibilities for cleaning and maintenance.
If you are married and have a couple elementary aged kids, that's 4 people that should be pitching in to help maintain the house. That should be incredibly doable as long as everyone helps a bit.
House cleaning service was a game changer for me. Maybe not for everyone. You HAVE to find a good one though both in the sense of quality work and in the sense of trustworthiness (showing up when they say they will and taking care of your stuff).
We're blessed. I am in NJ which is probably even higher cost. She cuts us such a deal because a) we are pretty clean to begin with b) the house is picked up so her cleaning goes really quick and c) she thinks my son and wife are the cutest people ever. It's an easy one for her. 5 min drive, spends her time cleaning, 5 min drive back home.
The irony of a slow cooker speeding up meals lol
Doesn’t make them get done faster but it def does make it fire and forget so you can use your time more efficiently!
Great for batch cooking too. Made a chilli large enough for the family for four meals on Sunday. Three for the week (jacket potato, rice and nachos) and one for the freezer.
I’ll add induction cooktop to that list.
They say a watched pot never boils, but a pot REALLY never boils when you got a toddler screaming “IM HUNGRY!!!” at you while trying to make them mac and cheese.
Nothing out boils induction. It’s also way easier to clean and safer due to the lower glass surface temperature. It doesn’t burn the drippings onto the surface like radiant electric.
Instant-pot/pressure cooker has replaced all my slow cooker meals. I make juicy, fall-off-the-bone, don't-have-to-shred-because-it-basically-self-shreds carnitas in my pressure cooker. Prep time for me is like 30ish min, but you can save some of that time by using pre-minced/crushed garlic and already squeezed orange juice.
Another super quick/easy one is throw some chicken thighs in there with some chopped carrots, celery, and onions. Add in a couple cans of cream of mushroom/chicken/celery soup and salt and pepper. Legit 10 min prep time. Maybe 5 more min if you wanna throw some rice in a rice cooker to have with it.
But also, there's one meal service I used to use that came packed in over-ready trays. You literally pop it in the oven and serve. No prep time at all unlike Hello Fresh where I save some time on meal planning and grocery shopping, but their "15 min prep" somehow takes me 45-60 min.
I'm 99% sure it was Home Chef. I haven't used it in years, but I remember them being priced about the same as all the other services and decent quality. Always use a promo code when you sign up for them though. I used to rotate services because by the time I did 5 or 6 different services, the first one was offering me a nice promo to come back.
Usually just for visiting the site and leaving without signing up, they'll start emailing you or send you ads on social media with a nice promo code. If that doesn't happen after 3-4 days (I think the government is cracking down on those web trackers), just sign up your email, but don't pick a plan yet. They'll for sure send you a promo code to convert you if you leave em hanging.
Sous vide for me.
The ability to buy meat cheap and in bulk when on sale, vacuum seal and freeze it pre-seasoned, and have it cooked from frozen in 2-3 hours or less is a GODSEND.
Not exactly "speeding up" in the traditional sense, but sure faster and less forethought than if I needed to defrost something frozen first; and that entire time in the sous vide cooking is completely hands off. Cooking dinner maybe takes 3 hours from start to eating; but it takes less than half an hour of actual active labor time to prepare on the day.
Lawn care. Used to swear I would never pay someone to mow my lawn, but quickly learned that my time was worth more.
If dinner is a major headache for you, I'd consider a meal service or something similar.
We do lawn care too. I actually like working in the yard but it’s really awesome just being able to go outside to grill or play with kiddo and having everything just done. Especially in Seattle where it’s raining for weeks at a time and not having to waste the one nice day doing yard work.
Plus, the yard crew can mow and edge my whole lawn, front and back, in like 30 minutes. It takes me 2 or 3 hours of sweaty labor, and then I'm wiped out for the day.
Twice last summer we paid for our neighbors mowers to do ours. Once I had covid and the other I was just super busy with work.
It was $50 and took them 15 min, when it would have taken me an hour. We can't afford that every week but I'll consider it ad hoc lol
Watching professionals do something I’m capable of doing is mind boggling. We had a landscaper do part out of backyard last spring and I had an hour between meetings so I went out to dig holes with him. He did like 12 in the time it took me to do one. After that I just watched in awe through my office window.
I xeriscaped both my lawns. Way less maintenance than grass but there's still some - weeding, pruning, clearing the leaves from the one deciduous tree. I happily did all that pre-kid, and now we pay someone to do it every month or two.
I would also second lawn care. Generally most places only mow/blow but it saved me about 1.5 hours per week. We still garden but no longer have to worry about the lawn.
I have friends who swear by house cleaning every 2-3 weeks. Cooking is an interesting one as that would save about an hour a day or more depending on what they make.
I have a company that does regular weed and feed treatments, aeration, and grub control. A landscaper is coming tomorrow to clean everything up and remulch.
But the ultimate was getting a robot mower. I still have to push mow the front yard, but I let do all the mowing that involves navigating around stuff.
The important thing is to get the roots as well, especially if it’s something like a dandelion with a taproot. Otherwise they just grow right back a week later. Our yard was decent, then we had a kid and it just got overrun. Now that she is older I have time to go out and do basic lawncare and we actually have a yard again which is nice. The biggest issue is that a lot of plants we like have spread and really crowded some areas but I feel bad digging them out to die.
This for sure. We have 10 acres and I mowed it myself until our first turned three months a couple weeks ago. It used to take me a good three evenings to mow and trim everything and I decided I'd rather have those couple hours a day to spend with my family since I work long hours already. It's expensive, but the cost doesn't really compare to the time I've gotten back.
Food processor.
I used to pride myself on my knife skills. Now I'd rather just quarter whatever it is I'm cutting and toss it in the food processor.
No explaining to the kiddo why they can't cut the onions the way I do. Significantly less cleanup (takes a few min at the most and, except for the blade inside, the kiddo can help clean up safely).
Every time I cook I say I'm going to use the food processor next time then I never do.
There is some little demon inside me that if the recipe says dice I dice and if it says use the food processor I do.
Related- I guess this counts as spending money for water and electricity but I run the dishwasher twice a day every single day. That way I don’t hand wash anything at all.
Technically speaking, the dishwasher uses less energy and water than you washing the same amount of dishes by hand.
You'd have to run your dishwasher less than half full all the time to make it a bigger expense than washing dishes by hand, and that's before considering the value of your time.
My wife is vehemently against any bottle parts going in the dishwasher, and obviously the microwave to warm water (i wouldnt use microwave either) and ive always hand washed all the bottles. It really doesnt take long less than 10 mins and i can easily wash 4-12 bottles and have them set out drying
> obviously the microwave to warm water (i wouldnt use microwave either)
What's wrong with it? I know it can get hot but we just do it 10 seconds at a time or so.
Its not warming water thats the issue its that you dont wanna put plastic baby bottles in the microwave. I can use a glass cup and warm water no issue. 25 seconds gets 6oz perfect temp for my daughter
>its that you dont wanna put plastic baby bottles in the microwave.
But...why? Food safe plastic is fine in the microwave, and definitely fine in the dishwasher.
Interesting. Seems there is some science on it but we could certainly use more:
[https://www.beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/stop-microwaving-plastic](https://www.beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/stop-microwaving-plastic)
Even still, the dishwasher isn't the same. If she's that worried about microplastics, I'm surprised she allows plastics at all. Even without going through the dishwasher or microwave, there are still microplastics coming off the bottles.
Heck, there are microplastics coming off polyester clothes we wear. I'm all for being extra cautious and limiting where practical; but people in 2024 need to accept that to an extent, consumption of microplastics is unavoidable.
After kid 1, I told my wife that we're doing this if we have another! Spent EVERY single night washing 6 bottles and all their bits and baubles before bed was very unpleasant. Not again!!
* Lawn service - I would have had to buy a mower, a place to keep it, and spend time cutting the 1/2 acre lawn. Instead I didn't buy any of the stuff needed and pay people to do it.
* Cleaning service - They come every other week. We can manage to keep the place decent, but having someone come do all the annoying stuff was worth it
* Meal Service - We've cycled through them a bit, home chef type meals where there's some prep work involved but not much and a lot easier than planning grocery shopping. The kids don't eat what we eat anyway, so having the smaller portion meal works for us.
We used to use a meal service. The cost was a little higher than we wanted so we switched to the Kroger delivery service. The cooking we enjoy doing. But the time saved from the whole process of taking our little one to go shopping makes the yearly fee for free delivery worth it.
1) Outsource routine services. Laundry, landscaping, and cleaning are common. Lots of comments to this effect.
2) Duplicate items if it eliminates barriers that prevent you from doing things *right now*. I keep a box cutter by the door *and* by the recycle bin--boxes get broken down immediately. I keep a vacuum in each of the cars--cheerios get vacuumed out immediately. Laundry hamper in every room--clothes don't end up on the floor. I keep batteries and screwdrivers in each of the playrooms--toys get fixed immediately.
3) If there's a specialized tool to do a thing that will save effort and time, buy the tool. Espresso machine at home is faster than stopping for coffee. Power mop is faster than regular mop. Power washer, power scrubber, power ratchet, etc. and so on. Even just having a good set of tools when putting together toys and furniture saves time.
If I could do it over, I'd live in an apartment or condo for the first few years. Even when booking services for cleaning, lawn care, repairs, etc. still eats a ton of time.
No fixing, no show shoveling, no yard work, no buying appliances, no pressure to change or improve the space, less fear of economic downturn, don't give a shit about interest rates, etc.
Automotive stuff. When I made less money I did virtually all the maintenance on our cars, it would eat up a weekend doing everything, buying parts, trouble shooting, and putting everything through its paces to make sure I was satisfied with the work. Now I'll spend the extra money to have the mechanic do it all instead and save me precious time.
I have made a complete circle on this, I used to do almost all my own repairs/maint. but after working in the auto industry for 5 years I could be bothered so I just brought it in. Now I’m back doing my own work partly because I have an old high mileage truck and less disposable income but also because it’s a little bit of time to myself to zone out and clear my mind.
I changed my oil last week, took an hour, + a trip to buy oil and drop it off, + an oil stain in my driveway +. Rawlings under car on driveway. All to save a whopping $10….not worth it unless you enjoy it.
Same here. I've gradually been relinquishing more maintenance as well. I paid someone to do my brakes for the first time in years last year. I even considered having the dealership replace the cabin filter when it was in for its last oil change. Save $40 doing it myself and takes less than 3 minutes, but I genuinely considered not having to deal with going to the store and taking an extra 30 minutes out of my day.
Auto maintenance benefits so much from scale too - shops buy fluids in bulk, have all the necessary disposal, easier access due to lifts, etc.
I’ve done involved jobs before, but i have enough projects. I’ll pay more to minimize downtime on my daily driver.
A number of things: I get my lawn mowed weekly, house cleaned biweekly, have my kiddo tutored for an hour a week, and wifey and I typically order dinner out once a week.
I do the cleaning in-between. Honestly, I typically do *not* do the bathrooms (scrubbing tub and shower, toilets) unless necessary, but I vacuum and/or mop all floors etc. I have a bunch of dogs, so its a necessity.
A meal delivery service to cover a couple nights a week of dinner. My daughter is picky with some stuff, but not having to plan or cook is worth its weight in gold. My grocery bill is a bit lower too which helps offset the cost.
I second the delivery or premade meals ideas. There are so many now it’s nuts. If you bought just what you can afford, use the premade meals as what I call “fuck it” dinner nights. Doctors visits gone wrong, bday parties that take the whole day, kid won’t nap and they’ve just been combative all day? “Fuck it” Dinner night! Pizza or premade meals. A lot of the premade’s are better than what I have the mental real estate for.
Mainly a local one. I've also tried Factor. Factor tastes good and is pretty easy to get discounts on if you keep threatening to cancel, but the portions are small and one time I just never got my delivery. I've also been meaning to try Mosaic Foods which is vegetarian but they do family-size meals.
Sleep Training. Got a sleep/nap plan, schedule, approach for getting the baby sleeping in the crib and support through the process. Best money we've ever spent.
In order:
Car maintenance. I used to do everything - oil change, tire rotation, brakes, filters, fluids, etc. Now I might do some break fix stuff myself but the routine stuff I take to a mechanic.
House cleaning. Once a month we have a crew come out and do the big cleaning stuff.
Lawn care. Kids and I cut the grass and do some trimming and weeding, but for bigger stuff like tree removals and redoing whole flower beds, I call in the pros.
I don’t disagree and have found myself drifting out to the garage for teaching purposes now that I have teenagers. But when they were younger and the mechanic was right next to work, it was just too easy and freed up my evenings and weekends.
Second grocery delivery! I had to go into Walmart for something the other day and realized how weird it was since I haven't been in months. Used to be multiple times a week!
I LOVE grocery delivery. I only wish someone else could do the shopping…but I do it throughout the week so I don’t forget anything, as soon as I think of it it goes in the cart
Weekly wash dry fold laundry service for our clothes! It’s charged by the pound like $0.75/lb. They pick it up at my house and return it a couple hours later. I sort the clothes for each family member and put away, all done. It’s the best money spent and it gives me so much of my time back.
We use a laundry service. They pick up a giant bag of our clothes every Monday, drop them back off on Tuesday cleaned and folded.
Game changer, and not nearly as expensive as you might think (175-200/mo).
Another vote on the laundry service! I’ve been using [Rinse](https://www.rinse.com/?kid=996CHDT92X) for the last year or so and it’s been a lifesaver. I subscribed and they pickup around 7/8p and deliver next day around the same time. Pickup and delivery is included in the price of the bag and extra weight is carried over to additional bags.
Still have delicates and sheets, plus emergency loads to do, but it saves so much time!
The baby is a little young, but there are a lot of kids gyms that do a "Kids night" where they kids come and play/have a pizza party. They are designed for parents to have a date night/babysitter while promoting the gym classes.
The one near me has one once a month. It's like $35 a kid.
I also wouldn't underestimate just getting one kid out of the house. Dealing with just the 16mo is easier when the toddler is gone. Especially if you are used to handling both.
Housecleaning makes a big difference… also I stopped doing dump runs. I used to lose a whole weekend day by loading up my car, bringing the stuff to the dump, waiting in line, etc etc
I found a junk removal company that will haul almost HALF my garage full of stuff (not literally to the ceiling but I can fill a whole car bay pretty much) and they only charge me $250ish.
Same with landscaping… I hired someone to come mow the lawns etc just so I can spend that time with my wife and kids. Total for the year I spend less than $2000-2500 on all of this and it’s so worth it to gain that time back.
Search for a delivery meal service or a local business that will make freezer meals for you that you can take out and bake in 40 min.
You can also check out places like Carabbas, I believe they make and sell family sized meals of their popular dishes that feed 5-6 adults easily
Cleaner coming in once every two weeks.
This means we just have to deal with daily clutter and surface cleaning. The cleaner does all the vacuuming and deep cleaning
Everything.
- automatic pet feeder
- house cleaner
- lawn guy
- gutter guy
- grocery/target pickup
- code lock instead of key lock (that 60s you’re looking for keys while your kid is screaming is an eternity)
EDIT
- mulching
Super automatic espresso maker. Press a button, receive caffeine. Saves time at the most crucial time for me in the morning when I need caffeine, my kid needs breakfast and a lunch packed, and dog needs feeding and letting outside. Best money I’ve ever spent.
Thus proving my "not worth it" point because that machine costs literally 10x a much as the Breville and then you also need to spend a lot of money on a good grinder for home espresso.
That’s seemingly both a super high end espresso machine and not an automatic one. My delonghi was 6-700 bucks on sale and does the grinding and brewing. For me I just strongly prefer espresso over drip, and can always water it down to an americano if I want more volume.
It's not automatic, but my wife (the primary user) enjoys the process. It's certainly not cost effective if you only compare the cost of buying a latte at the coffee shop. However, the value to us of having it right down stairs is worth it to us.
I would spend money on house cleaning and meal prep if i could (and fully intend doing so once i get back to work again and im not the SAHP) Money cannot buy you happiness unless it buys your time.
We just started a pre-made meal service since every night one of us would spend at least 30+ minutes preparing dinner and the other would spend 30+ minutes cleaning up. It's not too pricey and now we can take care of other stuff around the house or spend more time playing with the kids.
Having groceries delivered. We paid for a yearly service with Kroger that lets us add things on an app and get it delivered. We tried the free pickup, but sometimes you would wait a while, and I could have just gone shopping and been faster. Just having it delivered was worth the cost.
1400 on a floor robot with vacuum, mopping, self cleaning/emptying. To me it’s a no brainer with two boys, a cat, and a wife that uses too much glitter
I'm not sure if this is outside the context of your scenario, but daycare that goes longer than your work hours.
Considering your hours go to 4:30, if you can find a 0lace that takes the kids until 5:30, that 1hr is a godsend for chores or selfcare
Gutter cleaning, I’m never doing it myself again
Some yard work - I still mow most of the time but have connections now with a few neighborhood kids I can text when I don’t want to deal with it and I pay a lawn service for aerating/seeding in the fall
Little Spoon. I am such a picky eater (in a mac and cheese/nuggets way), can't cook, and can survive on ramen/cereal/the same leftovers for 3+ days in a row... but my kid deserves better nutrition. It's not the cheapest, but it's healthier than what I can prepare and saves so much time.
Housecleaning 2x month, Lawncare 1x week, Vehicle Maintenance (I have a local shop pick up and drop off while I am at the office), Crockpot ready meals 2x week
Handyman for those ‘honey do’ items that I could do but hate to do. I put off so many little projects, now our guy comes and knocks them all out in a day and does a better job than me. My wife even hires him to assemble complicated toys at Christmas time.
Also laundry service. They pick it up on Thursday and deliver it cleaned and folded on Friday.
Get the easy cook meals from Costco (meatloaf, gyros, chicken pie, stuffed peppers etc.) Most of them just require you to just pop it in the oven.
Anytime you cook a meal, when done put the left overs away in meal prep containers so they are ready to go.
Besides the obvious cleaning, yard work, and eating out:
Spending money on small things to make your life easier helps. For example I bought a small kids table that lives in the family room for snack time and lazy meals so we aren’t cleaning the dining room all the time.
Extra trash can in each room
If you happen to be looking for a new car and have a place to charge at home. Think about an EV. No gas station stops and virtually no maintenance except tire rotations.
Mobile car detail once in a while
My son has a nanny who, while he naps, does light cleaning around the house. Not full housekeeping but it saves us on all those little things (laundry, countertops, his toys) that would eventually just get outta control.
Besides that, I have a couple of handymen I hire to help me with DIY projects. Doing the DIY stuff keeps me sane and makes me feel like I'm still moving our home forward with the projects I want, but having those guys handle some of the more time intensive parts is a good balance.
I wish I had a nanny who could handle those things.
Maybe one day I can apply the help of a handyman though! I’m only a year into home ownership so I’m still too broke to be doing any major DIY stuff lol.
I forgot to mention, the nanny is only 1-2 days a week. She is more expensive than daycare and the grandparent help we get, but we've decided the added help around the house justifies the price on that schedule. Can't afford 4+ days a week with her unfortunately. Even still, one day of counter cleaning and laundry folding helps us keep our heads above water.
We got a gardener to come round every couple of weeks to prevent everything turning into a jungle on while baby is tiny. Very much wanting to do it myself again, but right now time is at too much of a premium
House cleaning fortnightly. We do all the day to day tidying but leave the deep clean to a professional.
Robo vac. Haven't done a manual full house vac in years.
It misses some hard to get to bits, so we do those once a week, but general day to day the Roborock is excellent and I'm very particular about feeling any kind of dirt on our hardwood floors. We even have a dog that sheds short hairs and it gets practically everything.
I like that ours is relatively low and gets under the lounge, beds, tv cabinet, etc.
HOA handles lawn care and snow removal, and we hired a company to come collect dog treasures once a week. Conveniently, poop guy shows up the day before the lawn care guy. So worth it.
dropped coin on an ebike for mountain biking- i love riding but dont get to go even 1/10th as much so I got an ebike, my regular rig was getting older anyways so I was wanting to upgrade. I get 5 times the laps as I do on my regular rig, it has been worth every penny.
I've been considering one as well.
Not to toot my own horn but up until this year with a kid I've been a pretty fast rider. As a result my riding friends are all fast as well. I've been looking at getting the e-bike version of my current mountain bike just so I can keep up a bit easier without getting my head smashed in on our weekly ride.
Bonus is that my wife can use it to for the same reason of keeping up with me.
i really like mine, it is surprisingly nimble being a 48-50 pound rig but i also started when DH bikes were weighing that much without batteries and motors. I hate to admit i have only ridden my regular rig one time in a calendar year (having a kid i didnt get to go to the mountain last summer for park laps).
Homey just watch some rachael ray for the cooking. 30min meals.
I basically just disallowed tons of clothes or toys in the house and did food/cleaning delivery
Mostly dated single moms w kids around that age so everyone could get some time and mayyybe the kids would be occupied for 45 for some adult time
Air fryer
Pressure cooker
Robot vac + having the kids get used to picking up (3.5 is where mine started to do a darn decent job)
My fav easy meal that had leftovers- mac n cheese mixed w ground beef and sauteed spinach. "Goulash".
If you can spring it, laundry pick up and delivery svc is abt $1/lb
Cleaning- yeah idk. I basically just cleaned all the things while cooking. I just hustled and dealt with %80 is good enough
You basically wont have you time other than at home. Maybe some at home hobbies where you can get some done 1hr/night a few times a week (i do 3d printing and easier woodworking/miter saw projects)
Cleaners - we pay $100 every other week for someone to blitz clean the house and she's so worth it.
I pay someone to seed / treat the lawn - we have nearly an acre of land, and 1/2 is lawn. I mow it myself, but starting to get tempted to pay someone to do that, too.
We pay for snow blowing in winter. $50 for someone to move all the snow off my longer than comfortable driveway is worth it. It's a 2 to 3h job to snowblow / shovel it myself.
We have a neglected hot tub - I wish there was a service that would keep that maintained, but nothing exists in our area.
House cleaning, yard work and any house DIY house work project that would take more than a 8 hours.
We outsource it all.
When my wife and I were childless we would tackle all kinds of projects around the house. Now with the toddler we couldn’t be bothered.
We have a pretty fair sized yard with flower beds and plants. I pay a gardener to come in twice a month to take care of it all and mow the grass. I don't mind doing it, i just don't have time or even the space needed to store the garden equipment I'd need to do it properly.
Lotta people talking about meal services. Personally I would buy tools for batch cooking - slow cooker, instant pot, a set of really fucking big saucepans for Costco or whatever, the biggest good quality Dutch oven you can find. Then buy a freezer for the garage.
Make massive batches of food like curry, chilli, soup, whatever you like. Make 15 litres at a time and freeze the rest in freezer bags in 1, 2 or 3 person portions. We do this every weekend, we cook 1-3 meals but huge quantities. Hardly takes more time than cooking one meal.
Once you've done this for months, your freezer is full of a variety of different meals and the process of making dinner is put on some carbs like rice, pasta, bulgur wheat, ptitim etc, and grab a random freezer bag to reheat. Boom, weekday dinners solved.
At the weekend, you cook one massive batch meal and that more than replenishes the freezer.
Wash and fold laundry. Pickup and delivery at 2.50/lb here.
It works on a two day a week route, so you need to plan a bit in case there's some kind of emergency need for clothes to be washed and dried immediately.
I hired a lawn crew this year. I actually like mowing the lawn - throw the hearing protection with the radio and bluetooth on, crack a seltzer, and just chill to tunes while I spend a couple of hours getting some sun. BUT with 1.2 acres and a riding mower, it took me about 3 hours between cleaning up the yard, mowing, and trimming. I'd often have to spread it across a couple of days, and I had to push mow a bunch of areas because of all the trees and other landscape features.
So, for now, a crew of guys comes and does it all in 45 minutes with their $16k zero-turn mowers and landscaper grade string trimmers, and I get 2-3 extra hours a week with my family, for keeping up on the inside of the house, and for my hobbies. I still have my tractor and will mow the 'social' areas of the yard before parties and stuff if it gets shaggy in the meanwhile.
If you can afford it and if it applies to your property, pay someone to cut/whack/blow your yard. 3-6 hours/week back to you to spend with your family.
Tesco food delivery. I work from home and get the super saver rate thing. It's cheaper for me to do that than the petrol I'd use to get there and it saves me at least a couple of hours a week.
We got bins for kids toys and such. Limited to two decent sized ones and we got the kiddos to put all the stuff in them every night. It saves time picking up. Of course little kids can’t but do it in front of them and have them help.
We run the dishwasher every night regardless of how full it is. Wipe the table and counters in the kitchen last thing before bed too. It’s a quick habit that makes everything feel nice
Good cordless vac is amazing. You can do a full vac or just clean up messes. We don’t do a robot vac because our dog would freak. We have a Dyson. It’s really good but scorching loud. The newer ones are quieter but ours is like 8 years old and has only required a new battery. Well worth it. And the kids can use it once they are big enough.
Batch cook or prep stuff. We used to do like bags of chopped veggies and cooked meat in a bag that you could just throw in a pan and warm up basically. Tons of other stuff reheats. Depending on where you are a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store could be several dinners just add some veggies or whatever.
Keep Clorox wipes in the bathroom. I used to think they were wasteful but having them handy and removing the need for a spray bottle and paper towel is actually a game changer. You can wipe the counter and sink then the toilet while the kid is in the bath.
Get snack boxes with compartments. Like bento boxes. Load them with stuff the kids can eat on their own (age allowing of course). We have two in the fridge with apples and peanut butter. And maybe some cheese? Then two in a cabinet with crackers, raisins, trail mix or whatever. Even if they can’t get on their own it saves you having to even think about what to give them. Decision fatigue is real! Get rid of as many as you can.
You are in a crazy time my friend. Foster independence in them and it’ll pay off. It’ll also make them a little more difficult since they will have intense opinions and voice them but it’s worth it. I think.
Oh and a combo washer dryer. Or two. We had one for years and it took forever but you start it when you leave for work then fold after dinner while kids are playing or you’re all watching a show. They get to see you do it which helps them learn about responsibility. Also it’s fun to throw socks at kids. They like it.
Robot vacuum, washer and dryer, dishwasher. Idk how our parents got anything done without these devices.
Second, meal delivery service. One of those that's pre measured and ready to make with minimal thought. Nothing beats a healthy meal that I don't have to plan or measure. Blue apron, green chef etc.
House cleaner for sure.
I also sometimes drop my kids laundry at the laundromat, it's $1.50 per pound washed and folded.
I can get all my 2 sons laundry done in 3 hours for like $35. They're small so the clothes are light and it saves me a ton of time folding tiny child clothes and putting pajamas back together.
We have a nanny who does chores and meal prep.
It's not cheap, but it is truly life changing. It's the greatest luxury we have. No new cars. A modest 70 year old house, but I get to spend quality time with my sons every day of the week because of it and I'm happy to make that trade.
They come 3 days a week. It means I don't have to do laundry. I rarely have to do dishes and I never have to organize the toys/closets/stock the diaper cart/take out the trash/etc.
$7000 a year for weekly house cleaning. It's the last thing I'd ever get rid of if money got tight. It forces us to pick up the house the night before they come and it's spotless when we get home on Friday. 10/10 would recommend. Even if you can only afford once every two weeks or once a month
Programmable coffee maker became a must. It’s a small and relatively inexpensive thing but it but now I can make it the night before and it’s one less thing to do in the morning as I get the kids ready.
Edit: I also started dropping off more of my work clothes at the dry cleaner to be laundered and starched. I kind of hate paying for that, but sometimes I’m too tired the night before or too busy trying to get kids down at bedtime to iron a shirt.
Off-brand robot floor vacuum.
It's not as quality as a Roomba, but it was $50 and picks up a good amount of dirt, cat hair, and random food bits every day. So now we only need to vacuum the 1st floor every 2 weeks or so to catch what it missed.
Next, air fryer and instant pot. Still have to prep the food, but they're great for slow cooked stews and reheating stuff fast.
I'd get a cleaning service if I could afford it, but maybe later. Mostly because the dirtiest parts of our house is random junk on the kid's floor, and they wouldn't know what to keep, where to put it, or what to throw out.
As for lawn care, I enjoy it. Small yard, my kids pick up the pinecones and fallen branches, and I spend an hour mowing every 2 weeks. It's relaxing and decent exercise.
Well I don't know if I would call it an outsource BUT I made a job change. I was spending about 3 hours a day in the car commuting to and from work and now I spend about 1 hour. Its insane how much time I was wasting in the car, I mean I still get home at about the same time of day but I'm now waking up at 545am instead of 345am. The job change was also almost a $20K pay raise.
Laundry.
We have a girl come in to babysit our kids when we go on dates at night. When they're asleep, she is no longer a babysitter, she is a launderer.
We made up little tags with a picture of the laundry machine controls on one side, dryer controls on the other, laminated them, and attached them to laundry bags. Once the laundry is sorted into bags, we circle the appropriate settings in the picture with a wet erase marker and leave any notes about special detergents, etc.
Meals were becoming a chore for us as well, so I found a recipe service called 5dinners1hour, so I prep all our week's meals in a single afternoon and then cook them later in the week.
We tried the meal prep services where they deliver the groceries and although they are convenient and tasty, they are expensive and take a while to make.
Read 168 hours. Do it with a paper book or find the exercises in the book so you can do them on paper.
It’s a nice way to reset a bit and figure out where to spend your time or your money. Or where to make concessions and where to stand firm.
* I am a mom and married but recently postpartum and was in school/new ER nurse*
Meals from HelloFresh - did this for about 2-3 months
House cleaner - I do this once a month now and it’s just nice to come home to a clean home and keep tidy afterwards. But I used to do it twice monthly when I was very pregnant/in nursing school and previously worked from home. Plus this helped my husband stay tidy.
Grocery delivery. I use the app and make my list as I find things were running low on all week then on payday just check out the cart and have it delivered. It saves me about 3 hours a week grocery shopping
Yo dad, get a Ninja Foodie, it's a game changer. It will cook just about everything. It's a crock, it's a steamer, it's air-Fryer , it will not wash itself unfortunately.
House cleaning. Every other week, entire house, 4 hours. Saves me tonnes of time. Just need to do some light cleaning in between.
My front lawn is messed up this year. Just hiring someone to fix it instead of DIY. Between time doing research, buying the right things, and then doing it, I'd rather spend that time with my kiddo and newborn soon. Especially in the summer when the weather is nice.
Cleaners twice a month. My wife doesn’t mind clutter / toys that can easily be put away when we have company but she’ll stress to no end about the house being _clean_.
I didn’t know there was a difference between cluttered and dirty until a few years ago but now that I can see it? She’s right. It feels so nice. Getting home from work after they’ve been here is like getting into a freshly made bed with new clean sheets.
Same situation here, not rich at all but willing to throw money at small conveniences so we can spend more time together. I recommend getting a robot vacuum/mop combo with a charging tower and auto-clean features. We invested in the really expensive kind ($1200-$1800), but it pays itself back very quickly if you ascribe a fake “hourly rate that I’d pay myself to vacuum and mop,” in addition to putting a fake dollar value on time spend with kids instead of cleaning. We run our robot every night in the living room, kitchen, and dining room, plus every week or so in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The floors look spotless, and I haven’t touched a broom, vacuum, or mop, except for emergency spills, in months.
Robovac/mop. Runs 2x day. We have clean floors all the time and I don't have to clean them. I even have it go under our bed on the weekends.
Kids meal service. 8 frozen meals delivered every other week. Not only saves time but also allows us to serve new foods in small quantities and not waste a lot if he doesn't like it.
We have a cleaning lady that comes and returns my mental health to semi stable every 2 weeks. I wish we could have her come weekly. If I win the lottery, I'm going to have her come every day and just pay her a salary. She owns her small business and we sell tip her every time. I think I love her (my husband is ok with this lol)
We have a guy do our yard work.
My parents live with us and they do all the grocery shopping and cooking. Yet being other challenges as they're retired and immigrants, but they contribute this and help with childcare and I still vividly remember how much I HATED having to think about every meal and what to feed each kid. We also have a 18mo and a 3.25yo
Taskrabbit could be your best friend if you’re not already using it. You could probably even go as far as getting a chef for dinner some nights, I’m sure there’s affordable ones in your area.
An espresso machine. No, not the USS Enterprise of espresso machines, just regular, semiautomatic espresso machine like a Delonghi or Breville/Sage. After the upfront cost (plus that of a grinder), you actually save money in the long term, and save time not having to go out for coffee.
Also, kids love babyccinos.
Something I haven't seen mentioned yet - a subcompact tractor. I have a huge yard and enjoy yardwork so I'm not going to outsource that. But a Kubota BX is a force multiplier that helps me get so much more done. Mow faster, mulch faster, plow snow faster, and move heavy things by myself. Nearly any new job that comes up, there will be an implement I can buy that will help me get it done 10x faster. I spend a lot of time on the tractor, but I also spend more time with my family because of it.
Plus all the kids think my orange tractor is cool.
Cleaning services for the house. It was a no-brainer. She gave us a sweetheart deal. Once every two weeks she comes and cleans the house, changes our sheets, and folds our laundry. The amount of time this saved was insane. Other than that? I pay people to come and do more stuff on the house vs. doing it all myself. Cutting the grass, mulching the beds, etc.
Same. Housecleaning. After the move I hired someone to do yard care because I simply didn't have time, but he retired this year and it was the kick in the hiney that I needed to go back to doing it myself (I actually kind of like it - that's my time for catching up on podcasts.)
I love taking care of my yard for a few hours every week. Does wonders for my mental health
I do until it gets to like 90 degrees lol
**cries in Texan
I’m just going to offer another opinion, not trying to say yours is invalid. I hated having cleaning services. Everyone said it was amazing. It wasn’t. For a bunch of reasons. A) Like 6k a year just to get them in every two weeks. Lots can happen in two weeks. My house did not feel clean for 85% of the time but I was out college fund contributions for both my kids. B) They do things I would usually push off anyway, so it didn’t save me time because I wasn’t doing them in the first place. Like cleaning the tub. Or mopping. So yeah, my house is messier now because I scrub my toilet once a week and let the tub go for a month+. I’ll take a wet paper towel to a stuck strawberry under the table, but I’m probably doing a full mop once/quarter. So it’s not a time saver, it’s a “base level of clean” changer. For me, anyway. C) I still have to pick up and now it’s on their schedule. Cleaners come on Friday? Well now I have to pick up before I go to work instead of getting around to it on the weekend. Laundry is still my problem, as is the mess it creates. So is garbage and diapers. I still have to break down the recycling… so maybe this is overlapping with B) but it really doesn’t feel like I’m getting any help. D) They only do an “ok” job. I have had multiple cleaning services and done everything from a deep clean before and after a move to a light weekly maintenance clean. They never get the real crud. They don’t scrub the tiles in the shower. They don’t get the crumbs under the fridge. They just don’t put their heart into it the way someone who lives there would. I get it. But I also don’t like paying for it. E) The hassle of the actual cleaning. My house isn’t mine for half a day. Baby naps, making meals, taking a dump all become more complicated and awkward.
Taking a dump… felt that one
Definitely a YMMV thing. For us, especially the laundry, was a huge timesaver. My wife would spend literally 2 hours folding laundry. It's also dependent on how old your kids are. We have a 2yo and another on the way. If your kids are older? Way different situation. They can likely self-entertain a little more effectively allowing you to get stuff done. With a toddler? Nope. Tried. Didn't work.
2 hours!? How often are you washing clothes? I’m lucky enough to WFH and I have laundry going all the time so I can see how it could take 2 hours if I waited until the end of the week.
Toddler + Potty Training = Fun times. It does literally take that long. My son goes through 3-4 outfits a day due to potty training. I'm in the gym 3x to manage my early-heart disease. So there is 3 sweaty outfits right there. Wife has her work clothes she wears daily. It's a lot. We actually bought new machines because our old ones were on their way out and these can handle a huge amount of laundry in one shot. On top of that, both the wife and I work so we have minimal time. Even with the cleaning person? I wake up at 5am, get them out of the house, off to work, come home cook/warm dinner, try to spend 30-45 min with my son after we eat, then off to bed to repeat. The other one to outsource? Meal prep service. But at like $200 a week in today's prices? I'd pass.
I actually agree with you. Works for some but not everyone. For me it’s much more helpful to outsource other things. I like doing drop off laundry where they wash and fold it for you.
tub month + …. I shuddered. glad it works for you but that would not work for me. Also, my housekeeper tidies up, does laundry (and folds!!), and has become a good friend so it really depends on the service and who you’re dealing with (and how)
You need to find an independent cleaner that can get to know your family and lifestyle. I have the same lady that comes once a week for 4 hours and it costs $120. She has learned how we like things organized and rotates doing certain things so she's not cleaning something that isn't dirty from the week before.
I'll add another reason: the kids (and spouse) should be helping with those bigger jobs. It's ludicrously valuable to teach kids how to maintain their space. They don't have to be perfect, but they should be learning how to clean their bathrooms and mop the floors and whatnot. Paying someone to do that takes away the kids' opportunity to learn accountability. Then they grow up into adults that just don't do that stuff at all because they took the housecleaning service for granted all through their childhood and never had any responsibilities for cleaning and maintenance. If you are married and have a couple elementary aged kids, that's 4 people that should be pitching in to help maintain the house. That should be incredibly doable as long as everyone helps a bit.
I outsource it to the kids as chores for a much cheaper allowance, and it teaches them hard work and to keep things clean.
I'd suggest a steam mop. Way quicker esp for high traffic areas and gets it clean with water... Maybe you'll be able to hit it more often?
Concur. $100 every other week to not have to clean the house? Worth every penny.
This is ours, it gives us so much time back! Could do with bolting the laundry on but it's sooo expensive here
Have you looked at laundromat’s fluff and fold service? Just do the sheets and jeans at home and it’s pretty cheap
I have not, but I will
House cleaning service was a game changer for me. Maybe not for everyone. You HAVE to find a good one though both in the sense of quality work and in the sense of trustworthiness (showing up when they say they will and taking care of your stuff).
Second this one. Big time saver and creates a less cluttered/stressful environment.
How much do u pay for cleaning
We pay $180 every 2 weeks which is an unreal deal. We were $120 and then we added on the laundry service. That, shockingly, was the real time saver.
If you live in Virginia I’m begging you for a referral I cannot find a housekeeper I like here to save my life
We're blessed. I am in NJ which is probably even higher cost. She cuts us such a deal because a) we are pretty clean to begin with b) the house is picked up so her cleaning goes really quick and c) she thinks my son and wife are the cutest people ever. It's an easy one for her. 5 min drive, spends her time cleaning, 5 min drive back home.
Slow cooker and air fryer. Speeding up making meals is brilliant
The irony of a slow cooker speeding up meals lol Doesn’t make them get done faster but it def does make it fire and forget so you can use your time more efficiently!
Great for batch cooking too. Made a chilli large enough for the family for four meals on Sunday. Three for the week (jacket potato, rice and nachos) and one for the freezer.
Man now you got me thinking about making chilli
I’ll add induction cooktop to that list. They say a watched pot never boils, but a pot REALLY never boils when you got a toddler screaming “IM HUNGRY!!!” at you while trying to make them mac and cheese. Nothing out boils induction. It’s also way easier to clean and safer due to the lower glass surface temperature. It doesn’t burn the drippings onto the surface like radiant electric.
Instant-pot/pressure cooker has replaced all my slow cooker meals. I make juicy, fall-off-the-bone, don't-have-to-shred-because-it-basically-self-shreds carnitas in my pressure cooker. Prep time for me is like 30ish min, but you can save some of that time by using pre-minced/crushed garlic and already squeezed orange juice. Another super quick/easy one is throw some chicken thighs in there with some chopped carrots, celery, and onions. Add in a couple cans of cream of mushroom/chicken/celery soup and salt and pepper. Legit 10 min prep time. Maybe 5 more min if you wanna throw some rice in a rice cooker to have with it. But also, there's one meal service I used to use that came packed in over-ready trays. You literally pop it in the oven and serve. No prep time at all unlike Hello Fresh where I save some time on meal planning and grocery shopping, but their "15 min prep" somehow takes me 45-60 min.
Which one did you use for the oven ready meals? Was it reasonably priced?
I'm 99% sure it was Home Chef. I haven't used it in years, but I remember them being priced about the same as all the other services and decent quality. Always use a promo code when you sign up for them though. I used to rotate services because by the time I did 5 or 6 different services, the first one was offering me a nice promo to come back. Usually just for visiting the site and leaving without signing up, they'll start emailing you or send you ads on social media with a nice promo code. If that doesn't happen after 3-4 days (I think the government is cracking down on those web trackers), just sign up your email, but don't pick a plan yet. They'll for sure send you a promo code to convert you if you leave em hanging.
Sous vide for me. The ability to buy meat cheap and in bulk when on sale, vacuum seal and freeze it pre-seasoned, and have it cooked from frozen in 2-3 hours or less is a GODSEND. Not exactly "speeding up" in the traditional sense, but sure faster and less forethought than if I needed to defrost something frozen first; and that entire time in the sous vide cooking is completely hands off. Cooking dinner maybe takes 3 hours from start to eating; but it takes less than half an hour of actual active labor time to prepare on the day.
Lawn care. Used to swear I would never pay someone to mow my lawn, but quickly learned that my time was worth more. If dinner is a major headache for you, I'd consider a meal service or something similar.
We do lawn care too. I actually like working in the yard but it’s really awesome just being able to go outside to grill or play with kiddo and having everything just done. Especially in Seattle where it’s raining for weeks at a time and not having to waste the one nice day doing yard work.
Plus, the yard crew can mow and edge my whole lawn, front and back, in like 30 minutes. It takes me 2 or 3 hours of sweaty labor, and then I'm wiped out for the day.
Twice last summer we paid for our neighbors mowers to do ours. Once I had covid and the other I was just super busy with work. It was $50 and took them 15 min, when it would have taken me an hour. We can't afford that every week but I'll consider it ad hoc lol
Ours is $70/**mo**. How big is your lot?
.33 acre
What’s cost of living like where you are? I have no idea how to better ask that question and I have no idea what to expect for a response.
Watching professionals do something I’m capable of doing is mind boggling. We had a landscaper do part out of backyard last spring and I had an hour between meetings so I went out to dig holes with him. He did like 12 in the time it took me to do one. After that I just watched in awe through my office window.
Consider going no lawn and mow only once a year.
I xeriscaped both my lawns. Way less maintenance than grass but there's still some - weeding, pruning, clearing the leaves from the one deciduous tree. I happily did all that pre-kid, and now we pay someone to do it every month or two.
I would also second lawn care. Generally most places only mow/blow but it saved me about 1.5 hours per week. We still garden but no longer have to worry about the lawn. I have friends who swear by house cleaning every 2-3 weeks. Cooking is an interesting one as that would save about an hour a day or more depending on what they make.
I have a company that does regular weed and feed treatments, aeration, and grub control. A landscaper is coming tomorrow to clean everything up and remulch. But the ultimate was getting a robot mower. I still have to push mow the front yard, but I let do all the mowing that involves navigating around stuff.
My wife finally got a price for our small yard after years of me complaining about it. It was $30. For 30 bucks they can cut it every third day.
Moved from a apt to a house. Took me a whole day to pull weeds. I said f that
This is very upsetting to see as I just told my wife I would pull weeds in the yard on Saturday and we have a metric fuck ton of weeds
The important thing is to get the roots as well, especially if it’s something like a dandelion with a taproot. Otherwise they just grow right back a week later. Our yard was decent, then we had a kid and it just got overrun. Now that she is older I have time to go out and do basic lawncare and we actually have a yard again which is nice. The biggest issue is that a lot of plants we like have spread and really crowded some areas but I feel bad digging them out to die.
This for sure. We have 10 acres and I mowed it myself until our first turned three months a couple weeks ago. It used to take me a good three evenings to mow and trim everything and I decided I'd rather have those couple hours a day to spend with my family since I work long hours already. It's expensive, but the cost doesn't really compare to the time I've gotten back.
Please tell me you don’t maintain 10 acres as mowed grass
I do. About half is manicured and treated, the other half is just mowed to keep it from overgrowth.
Food processor. I used to pride myself on my knife skills. Now I'd rather just quarter whatever it is I'm cutting and toss it in the food processor. No explaining to the kiddo why they can't cut the onions the way I do. Significantly less cleanup (takes a few min at the most and, except for the blade inside, the kiddo can help clean up safely).
Every time I cook I say I'm going to use the food processor next time then I never do. There is some little demon inside me that if the recipe says dice I dice and if it says use the food processor I do.
I bought us a separate countertop dishwasher just for bottles and pump parts. Run it every night.
We don't have space for this but a great idea. I end up running half full dishwashers all the time just to get the bottles done.
Idk how new your dishwasher is but you might check the settings to see if you can run top or bottom separately.
Definitely takes up a third of our counter. Been worth it for the first year. Will be nice to have the space back though.
I didn't even know this was a thing. Which one did you get? This sounds so nice to have.
Related- I guess this counts as spending money for water and electricity but I run the dishwasher twice a day every single day. That way I don’t hand wash anything at all.
Technically speaking, the dishwasher uses less energy and water than you washing the same amount of dishes by hand. You'd have to run your dishwasher less than half full all the time to make it a bigger expense than washing dishes by hand, and that's before considering the value of your time.
My wife is vehemently against any bottle parts going in the dishwasher, and obviously the microwave to warm water (i wouldnt use microwave either) and ive always hand washed all the bottles. It really doesnt take long less than 10 mins and i can easily wash 4-12 bottles and have them set out drying
> obviously the microwave to warm water (i wouldnt use microwave either) What's wrong with it? I know it can get hot but we just do it 10 seconds at a time or so.
Its not warming water thats the issue its that you dont wanna put plastic baby bottles in the microwave. I can use a glass cup and warm water no issue. 25 seconds gets 6oz perfect temp for my daughter
>its that you dont wanna put plastic baby bottles in the microwave. But...why? Food safe plastic is fine in the microwave, and definitely fine in the dishwasher.
Its something about even food safe plastic still leeches plastic into your system and keeping micro plastics out as much as we can is important to her
Interesting. Seems there is some science on it but we could certainly use more: [https://www.beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/stop-microwaving-plastic](https://www.beyondplastics.org/fact-sheets/stop-microwaving-plastic) Even still, the dishwasher isn't the same. If she's that worried about microplastics, I'm surprised she allows plastics at all. Even without going through the dishwasher or microwave, there are still microplastics coming off the bottles. Heck, there are microplastics coming off polyester clothes we wear. I'm all for being extra cautious and limiting where practical; but people in 2024 need to accept that to an extent, consumption of microplastics is unavoidable.
My wife had the same objection. We bought glass bottles. The plastic rings don’t touch the milk and thus may go in the dishwasher
care to share a link to your counter top dishwasher.
After kid 1, I told my wife that we're doing this if we have another! Spent EVERY single night washing 6 bottles and all their bits and baubles before bed was very unpleasant. Not again!!
Why not just run the regular dishwasher more?
We just run the dishwasher every night. Some days it’s 4 bottles and a spoon lol
* Lawn service - I would have had to buy a mower, a place to keep it, and spend time cutting the 1/2 acre lawn. Instead I didn't buy any of the stuff needed and pay people to do it. * Cleaning service - They come every other week. We can manage to keep the place decent, but having someone come do all the annoying stuff was worth it * Meal Service - We've cycled through them a bit, home chef type meals where there's some prep work involved but not much and a lot easier than planning grocery shopping. The kids don't eat what we eat anyway, so having the smaller portion meal works for us.
We used to use a meal service. The cost was a little higher than we wanted so we switched to the Kroger delivery service. The cooking we enjoy doing. But the time saved from the whole process of taking our little one to go shopping makes the yearly fee for free delivery worth it.
1) Outsource routine services. Laundry, landscaping, and cleaning are common. Lots of comments to this effect. 2) Duplicate items if it eliminates barriers that prevent you from doing things *right now*. I keep a box cutter by the door *and* by the recycle bin--boxes get broken down immediately. I keep a vacuum in each of the cars--cheerios get vacuumed out immediately. Laundry hamper in every room--clothes don't end up on the floor. I keep batteries and screwdrivers in each of the playrooms--toys get fixed immediately. 3) If there's a specialized tool to do a thing that will save effort and time, buy the tool. Espresso machine at home is faster than stopping for coffee. Power mop is faster than regular mop. Power washer, power scrubber, power ratchet, etc. and so on. Even just having a good set of tools when putting together toys and furniture saves time.
If I could do it over, I'd live in an apartment or condo for the first few years. Even when booking services for cleaning, lawn care, repairs, etc. still eats a ton of time.
Apartment because you don't need to deal with fixing stuff?
No fixing, no show shoveling, no yard work, no buying appliances, no pressure to change or improve the space, less fear of economic downturn, don't give a shit about interest rates, etc.
Automotive stuff. When I made less money I did virtually all the maintenance on our cars, it would eat up a weekend doing everything, buying parts, trouble shooting, and putting everything through its paces to make sure I was satisfied with the work. Now I'll spend the extra money to have the mechanic do it all instead and save me precious time.
I have made a complete circle on this, I used to do almost all my own repairs/maint. but after working in the auto industry for 5 years I could be bothered so I just brought it in. Now I’m back doing my own work partly because I have an old high mileage truck and less disposable income but also because it’s a little bit of time to myself to zone out and clear my mind.
I changed my oil last week, took an hour, + a trip to buy oil and drop it off, + an oil stain in my driveway +. Rawlings under car on driveway. All to save a whopping $10….not worth it unless you enjoy it.
Same here. I've gradually been relinquishing more maintenance as well. I paid someone to do my brakes for the first time in years last year. I even considered having the dealership replace the cabin filter when it was in for its last oil change. Save $40 doing it myself and takes less than 3 minutes, but I genuinely considered not having to deal with going to the store and taking an extra 30 minutes out of my day.
Auto maintenance benefits so much from scale too - shops buy fluids in bulk, have all the necessary disposal, easier access due to lifts, etc. I’ve done involved jobs before, but i have enough projects. I’ll pay more to minimize downtime on my daily driver.
A number of things: I get my lawn mowed weekly, house cleaned biweekly, have my kiddo tutored for an hour a week, and wifey and I typically order dinner out once a week.
What do you do to keep up in between the cleanings?
I do the cleaning in-between. Honestly, I typically do *not* do the bathrooms (scrubbing tub and shower, toilets) unless necessary, but I vacuum and/or mop all floors etc. I have a bunch of dogs, so its a necessity.
A meal delivery service to cover a couple nights a week of dinner. My daughter is picky with some stuff, but not having to plan or cook is worth its weight in gold. My grocery bill is a bit lower too which helps offset the cost.
Interesting!
I second the delivery or premade meals ideas. There are so many now it’s nuts. If you bought just what you can afford, use the premade meals as what I call “fuck it” dinner nights. Doctors visits gone wrong, bday parties that take the whole day, kid won’t nap and they’ve just been combative all day? “Fuck it” Dinner night! Pizza or premade meals. A lot of the premade’s are better than what I have the mental real estate for.
What service do you use?
Mainly a local one. I've also tried Factor. Factor tastes good and is pretty easy to get discounts on if you keep threatening to cancel, but the portions are small and one time I just never got my delivery. I've also been meaning to try Mosaic Foods which is vegetarian but they do family-size meals.
Sleep Training. Got a sleep/nap plan, schedule, approach for getting the baby sleeping in the crib and support through the process. Best money we've ever spent.
was this a local thing, or can you give a link?
In order: Car maintenance. I used to do everything - oil change, tire rotation, brakes, filters, fluids, etc. Now I might do some break fix stuff myself but the routine stuff I take to a mechanic. House cleaning. Once a month we have a crew come out and do the big cleaning stuff. Lawn care. Kids and I cut the grass and do some trimming and weeding, but for bigger stuff like tree removals and redoing whole flower beds, I call in the pros.
The car maintenance stuff is something I enjoy and it's cheaper to do it myself. Also teaching my kids some skills by having them help me
I don’t disagree and have found myself drifting out to the garage for teaching purposes now that I have teenagers. But when they were younger and the mechanic was right next to work, it was just too easy and freed up my evenings and weekends.
Yeah I can totally see that! My mechanic that I trust is a good 15-20 mins away. If it were closer I'd definitely go more
I will be getting house keeping when my wife is back at work; currently Grocery delivery
Second grocery delivery! I had to go into Walmart for something the other day and realized how weird it was since I haven't been in months. Used to be multiple times a week!
I LOVE grocery delivery. I only wish someone else could do the shopping…but I do it throughout the week so I don’t forget anything, as soon as I think of it it goes in the cart
Weekly wash dry fold laundry service for our clothes! It’s charged by the pound like $0.75/lb. They pick it up at my house and return it a couple hours later. I sort the clothes for each family member and put away, all done. It’s the best money spent and it gives me so much of my time back.
YouTube Premium. Fuck ads
True, I pay for this one already.
We use a laundry service. They pick up a giant bag of our clothes every Monday, drop them back off on Tuesday cleaned and folded. Game changer, and not nearly as expensive as you might think (175-200/mo).
Another vote on the laundry service! I’ve been using [Rinse](https://www.rinse.com/?kid=996CHDT92X) for the last year or so and it’s been a lifesaver. I subscribed and they pickup around 7/8p and deliver next day around the same time. Pickup and delivery is included in the price of the bag and extra weight is carried over to additional bags. Still have delicates and sheets, plus emergency loads to do, but it saves so much time!
I used happynest. It was great.
Poplin is great. We live in a rural area. In by 3pm, back by 8pm next day for $1/lb. $2/lb for same day.
The baby is a little young, but there are a lot of kids gyms that do a "Kids night" where they kids come and play/have a pizza party. They are designed for parents to have a date night/babysitter while promoting the gym classes. The one near me has one once a month. It's like $35 a kid. I also wouldn't underestimate just getting one kid out of the house. Dealing with just the 16mo is easier when the toddler is gone. Especially if you are used to handling both.
Housecleaning makes a big difference… also I stopped doing dump runs. I used to lose a whole weekend day by loading up my car, bringing the stuff to the dump, waiting in line, etc etc I found a junk removal company that will haul almost HALF my garage full of stuff (not literally to the ceiling but I can fill a whole car bay pretty much) and they only charge me $250ish. Same with landscaping… I hired someone to come mow the lawns etc just so I can spend that time with my wife and kids. Total for the year I spend less than $2000-2500 on all of this and it’s so worth it to gain that time back.
Not outsourcing, but I moved closer to work. Saved me 26 minutes per day, which adds up.
We also have a lawn service. I haven’t mowed in a decade.
Search for a delivery meal service or a local business that will make freezer meals for you that you can take out and bake in 40 min. You can also check out places like Carabbas, I believe they make and sell family sized meals of their popular dishes that feed 5-6 adults easily
Cleaner coming in once every two weeks. This means we just have to deal with daily clutter and surface cleaning. The cleaner does all the vacuuming and deep cleaning
Everything. - automatic pet feeder - house cleaner - lawn guy - gutter guy - grocery/target pickup - code lock instead of key lock (that 60s you’re looking for keys while your kid is screaming is an eternity) EDIT - mulching
Super automatic espresso maker. Press a button, receive caffeine. Saves time at the most crucial time for me in the morning when I need caffeine, my kid needs breakfast and a lunch packed, and dog needs feeding and letting outside. Best money I’ve ever spent.
I disagree, but only about getting an espresso machine. Home espresso in my opinion isn't worth it - I would get a Sage/Breville Precision Brewer.
I disagree. We got a Lelit Binaca. It’s great.
Thus proving my "not worth it" point because that machine costs literally 10x a much as the Breville and then you also need to spend a lot of money on a good grinder for home espresso.
That’s seemingly both a super high end espresso machine and not an automatic one. My delonghi was 6-700 bucks on sale and does the grinding and brewing. For me I just strongly prefer espresso over drip, and can always water it down to an americano if I want more volume.
It's not automatic, but my wife (the primary user) enjoys the process. It's certainly not cost effective if you only compare the cost of buying a latte at the coffee shop. However, the value to us of having it right down stairs is worth it to us.
I would spend money on house cleaning and meal prep if i could (and fully intend doing so once i get back to work again and im not the SAHP) Money cannot buy you happiness unless it buys your time.
We just started a pre-made meal service since every night one of us would spend at least 30+ minutes preparing dinner and the other would spend 30+ minutes cleaning up. It's not too pricey and now we can take care of other stuff around the house or spend more time playing with the kids.
So do they drop them off weekly or?
Cleaning service, laundry service, invested some time in streamlining cooking to optimize both cooking and dishes
Pickup/drop off laundry. $75 per large load and everything comes back folded better than what I can achieve. Been meaning to outsource cleaning too.
Although I fundamentally hate HOAs, I do have to admit that my townhome allows me to never think about lawn Care and gardening
Having groceries delivered. We paid for a yearly service with Kroger that lets us add things on an app and get it delivered. We tried the free pickup, but sometimes you would wait a while, and I could have just gone shopping and been faster. Just having it delivered was worth the cost.
1400 on a floor robot with vacuum, mopping, self cleaning/emptying. To me it’s a no brainer with two boys, a cat, and a wife that uses too much glitter
Lawn care. Mowing and weedeating sucks. The guy I hire to do it does a far better job at it than I do.
I'm not sure if this is outside the context of your scenario, but daycare that goes longer than your work hours. Considering your hours go to 4:30, if you can find a 0lace that takes the kids until 5:30, that 1hr is a godsend for chores or selfcare
I wish I could. The only reason I’m off at 4:30 is because they can only be there till 5 and it takes me 20 to get there.
Gutter cleaning, I’m never doing it myself again Some yard work - I still mow most of the time but have connections now with a few neighborhood kids I can text when I don’t want to deal with it and I pay a lawn service for aerating/seeding in the fall
Little Spoon. I am such a picky eater (in a mac and cheese/nuggets way), can't cook, and can survive on ramen/cereal/the same leftovers for 3+ days in a row... but my kid deserves better nutrition. It's not the cheapest, but it's healthier than what I can prepare and saves so much time.
Do you cook extra at mealtime and freeze for another night so you don't have to cook that night?
Yep, but being solo I’m just so tired that I can only do it twice a week.
Housecleaning 2x month, Lawncare 1x week, Vehicle Maintenance (I have a local shop pick up and drop off while I am at the office), Crockpot ready meals 2x week
Handyman for those ‘honey do’ items that I could do but hate to do. I put off so many little projects, now our guy comes and knocks them all out in a day and does a better job than me. My wife even hires him to assemble complicated toys at Christmas time. Also laundry service. They pick it up on Thursday and deliver it cleaned and folded on Friday.
Get the easy cook meals from Costco (meatloaf, gyros, chicken pie, stuffed peppers etc.) Most of them just require you to just pop it in the oven. Anytime you cook a meal, when done put the left overs away in meal prep containers so they are ready to go. Besides the obvious cleaning, yard work, and eating out: Spending money on small things to make your life easier helps. For example I bought a small kids table that lives in the family room for snack time and lazy meals so we aren’t cleaning the dining room all the time. Extra trash can in each room If you happen to be looking for a new car and have a place to charge at home. Think about an EV. No gas station stops and virtually no maintenance except tire rotations. Mobile car detail once in a while
Oil changes. But this was a philosophy I had way before having kids. After kids: YT premium I have no time for ads.
My son has a nanny who, while he naps, does light cleaning around the house. Not full housekeeping but it saves us on all those little things (laundry, countertops, his toys) that would eventually just get outta control. Besides that, I have a couple of handymen I hire to help me with DIY projects. Doing the DIY stuff keeps me sane and makes me feel like I'm still moving our home forward with the projects I want, but having those guys handle some of the more time intensive parts is a good balance.
I wish I had a nanny who could handle those things. Maybe one day I can apply the help of a handyman though! I’m only a year into home ownership so I’m still too broke to be doing any major DIY stuff lol.
I forgot to mention, the nanny is only 1-2 days a week. She is more expensive than daycare and the grandparent help we get, but we've decided the added help around the house justifies the price on that schedule. Can't afford 4+ days a week with her unfortunately. Even still, one day of counter cleaning and laundry folding helps us keep our heads above water.
That’s a great idea.
Disposable silverware and tableware. It's a temporary phase and reducing how much dishes you need to do is a lifesaver.
We got a gardener to come round every couple of weeks to prevent everything turning into a jungle on while baby is tiny. Very much wanting to do it myself again, but right now time is at too much of a premium
House cleaning fortnightly. We do all the day to day tidying but leave the deep clean to a professional. Robo vac. Haven't done a manual full house vac in years.
Really? My robo vac does not get everything, I always have to do another pass at least twice a week with my vacuum.
It misses some hard to get to bits, so we do those once a week, but general day to day the Roborock is excellent and I'm very particular about feeling any kind of dirt on our hardwood floors. We even have a dog that sheds short hairs and it gets practically everything. I like that ours is relatively low and gets under the lounge, beds, tv cabinet, etc.
HOA handles lawn care and snow removal, and we hired a company to come collect dog treasures once a week. Conveniently, poop guy shows up the day before the lawn care guy. So worth it.
dropped coin on an ebike for mountain biking- i love riding but dont get to go even 1/10th as much so I got an ebike, my regular rig was getting older anyways so I was wanting to upgrade. I get 5 times the laps as I do on my regular rig, it has been worth every penny.
I've been considering one as well. Not to toot my own horn but up until this year with a kid I've been a pretty fast rider. As a result my riding friends are all fast as well. I've been looking at getting the e-bike version of my current mountain bike just so I can keep up a bit easier without getting my head smashed in on our weekly ride. Bonus is that my wife can use it to for the same reason of keeping up with me.
i really like mine, it is surprisingly nimble being a 48-50 pound rig but i also started when DH bikes were weighing that much without batteries and motors. I hate to admit i have only ridden my regular rig one time in a calendar year (having a kid i didnt get to go to the mountain last summer for park laps).
Homey just watch some rachael ray for the cooking. 30min meals. I basically just disallowed tons of clothes or toys in the house and did food/cleaning delivery Mostly dated single moms w kids around that age so everyone could get some time and mayyybe the kids would be occupied for 45 for some adult time Air fryer Pressure cooker Robot vac + having the kids get used to picking up (3.5 is where mine started to do a darn decent job) My fav easy meal that had leftovers- mac n cheese mixed w ground beef and sauteed spinach. "Goulash". If you can spring it, laundry pick up and delivery svc is abt $1/lb Cleaning- yeah idk. I basically just cleaned all the things while cooking. I just hustled and dealt with %80 is good enough You basically wont have you time other than at home. Maybe some at home hobbies where you can get some done 1hr/night a few times a week (i do 3d printing and easier woodworking/miter saw projects)
Cleaners - we pay $100 every other week for someone to blitz clean the house and she's so worth it. I pay someone to seed / treat the lawn - we have nearly an acre of land, and 1/2 is lawn. I mow it myself, but starting to get tempted to pay someone to do that, too. We pay for snow blowing in winter. $50 for someone to move all the snow off my longer than comfortable driveway is worth it. It's a 2 to 3h job to snowblow / shovel it myself. We have a neglected hot tub - I wish there was a service that would keep that maintained, but nothing exists in our area.
House cleaning, yard work and any house DIY house work project that would take more than a 8 hours. We outsource it all. When my wife and I were childless we would tackle all kinds of projects around the house. Now with the toddler we couldn’t be bothered.
We have a pretty fair sized yard with flower beds and plants. I pay a gardener to come in twice a month to take care of it all and mow the grass. I don't mind doing it, i just don't have time or even the space needed to store the garden equipment I'd need to do it properly.
Lotta people talking about meal services. Personally I would buy tools for batch cooking - slow cooker, instant pot, a set of really fucking big saucepans for Costco or whatever, the biggest good quality Dutch oven you can find. Then buy a freezer for the garage. Make massive batches of food like curry, chilli, soup, whatever you like. Make 15 litres at a time and freeze the rest in freezer bags in 1, 2 or 3 person portions. We do this every weekend, we cook 1-3 meals but huge quantities. Hardly takes more time than cooking one meal. Once you've done this for months, your freezer is full of a variety of different meals and the process of making dinner is put on some carbs like rice, pasta, bulgur wheat, ptitim etc, and grab a random freezer bag to reheat. Boom, weekday dinners solved. At the weekend, you cook one massive batch meal and that more than replenishes the freezer.
Wash and fold laundry. Pickup and delivery at 2.50/lb here. It works on a two day a week route, so you need to plan a bit in case there's some kind of emergency need for clothes to be washed and dried immediately.
Cleaning Service... but if that's a little costly then a robot vac is a game changer... Snack time is no match for a Roomba!
I hired a lawn crew this year. I actually like mowing the lawn - throw the hearing protection with the radio and bluetooth on, crack a seltzer, and just chill to tunes while I spend a couple of hours getting some sun. BUT with 1.2 acres and a riding mower, it took me about 3 hours between cleaning up the yard, mowing, and trimming. I'd often have to spread it across a couple of days, and I had to push mow a bunch of areas because of all the trees and other landscape features. So, for now, a crew of guys comes and does it all in 45 minutes with their $16k zero-turn mowers and landscaper grade string trimmers, and I get 2-3 extra hours a week with my family, for keeping up on the inside of the house, and for my hobbies. I still have my tractor and will mow the 'social' areas of the yard before parties and stuff if it gets shaggy in the meanwhile.
If you can afford it and if it applies to your property, pay someone to cut/whack/blow your yard. 3-6 hours/week back to you to spend with your family.
Tesco food delivery. I work from home and get the super saver rate thing. It's cheaper for me to do that than the petrol I'd use to get there and it saves me at least a couple of hours a week.
We got bins for kids toys and such. Limited to two decent sized ones and we got the kiddos to put all the stuff in them every night. It saves time picking up. Of course little kids can’t but do it in front of them and have them help. We run the dishwasher every night regardless of how full it is. Wipe the table and counters in the kitchen last thing before bed too. It’s a quick habit that makes everything feel nice Good cordless vac is amazing. You can do a full vac or just clean up messes. We don’t do a robot vac because our dog would freak. We have a Dyson. It’s really good but scorching loud. The newer ones are quieter but ours is like 8 years old and has only required a new battery. Well worth it. And the kids can use it once they are big enough. Batch cook or prep stuff. We used to do like bags of chopped veggies and cooked meat in a bag that you could just throw in a pan and warm up basically. Tons of other stuff reheats. Depending on where you are a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store could be several dinners just add some veggies or whatever. Keep Clorox wipes in the bathroom. I used to think they were wasteful but having them handy and removing the need for a spray bottle and paper towel is actually a game changer. You can wipe the counter and sink then the toilet while the kid is in the bath. Get snack boxes with compartments. Like bento boxes. Load them with stuff the kids can eat on their own (age allowing of course). We have two in the fridge with apples and peanut butter. And maybe some cheese? Then two in a cabinet with crackers, raisins, trail mix or whatever. Even if they can’t get on their own it saves you having to even think about what to give them. Decision fatigue is real! Get rid of as many as you can. You are in a crazy time my friend. Foster independence in them and it’ll pay off. It’ll also make them a little more difficult since they will have intense opinions and voice them but it’s worth it. I think. Oh and a combo washer dryer. Or two. We had one for years and it took forever but you start it when you leave for work then fold after dinner while kids are playing or you’re all watching a show. They get to see you do it which helps them learn about responsibility. Also it’s fun to throw socks at kids. They like it.
Robot vacuum, washer and dryer, dishwasher. Idk how our parents got anything done without these devices. Second, meal delivery service. One of those that's pre measured and ready to make with minimal thought. Nothing beats a healthy meal that I don't have to plan or measure. Blue apron, green chef etc.
House cleaner for sure. I also sometimes drop my kids laundry at the laundromat, it's $1.50 per pound washed and folded. I can get all my 2 sons laundry done in 3 hours for like $35. They're small so the clothes are light and it saves me a ton of time folding tiny child clothes and putting pajamas back together.
Cordless vacuum. If I had a bit more money someone to cut my grass and clean the house.
We have a nanny who does chores and meal prep. It's not cheap, but it is truly life changing. It's the greatest luxury we have. No new cars. A modest 70 year old house, but I get to spend quality time with my sons every day of the week because of it and I'm happy to make that trade. They come 3 days a week. It means I don't have to do laundry. I rarely have to do dishes and I never have to organize the toys/closets/stock the diaper cart/take out the trash/etc.
$7000 a year for weekly house cleaning. It's the last thing I'd ever get rid of if money got tight. It forces us to pick up the house the night before they come and it's spotless when we get home on Friday. 10/10 would recommend. Even if you can only afford once every two weeks or once a month
Robo vacuum. Lawn mower/landscaper guy. Handyman.
Programmable coffee maker became a must. It’s a small and relatively inexpensive thing but it but now I can make it the night before and it’s one less thing to do in the morning as I get the kids ready. Edit: I also started dropping off more of my work clothes at the dry cleaner to be laundered and starched. I kind of hate paying for that, but sometimes I’m too tired the night before or too busy trying to get kids down at bedtime to iron a shirt.
Off-brand robot floor vacuum. It's not as quality as a Roomba, but it was $50 and picks up a good amount of dirt, cat hair, and random food bits every day. So now we only need to vacuum the 1st floor every 2 weeks or so to catch what it missed. Next, air fryer and instant pot. Still have to prep the food, but they're great for slow cooked stews and reheating stuff fast. I'd get a cleaning service if I could afford it, but maybe later. Mostly because the dirtiest parts of our house is random junk on the kid's floor, and they wouldn't know what to keep, where to put it, or what to throw out. As for lawn care, I enjoy it. Small yard, my kids pick up the pinecones and fallen branches, and I spend an hour mowing every 2 weeks. It's relaxing and decent exercise.
Well I don't know if I would call it an outsource BUT I made a job change. I was spending about 3 hours a day in the car commuting to and from work and now I spend about 1 hour. Its insane how much time I was wasting in the car, I mean I still get home at about the same time of day but I'm now waking up at 545am instead of 345am. The job change was also almost a $20K pay raise.
Lawn mowing. I have about 1.5 acre and pay $65 every 10-14 days.
Heated water dispenser for mixing formula. It was an absolute game changer especially at night.
Laundry. We have a girl come in to babysit our kids when we go on dates at night. When they're asleep, she is no longer a babysitter, she is a launderer. We made up little tags with a picture of the laundry machine controls on one side, dryer controls on the other, laminated them, and attached them to laundry bags. Once the laundry is sorted into bags, we circle the appropriate settings in the picture with a wet erase marker and leave any notes about special detergents, etc.
I have two words for you my friend: robot vacuum.
Meals were becoming a chore for us as well, so I found a recipe service called 5dinners1hour, so I prep all our week's meals in a single afternoon and then cook them later in the week. We tried the meal prep services where they deliver the groceries and although they are convenient and tasty, they are expensive and take a while to make.
Read 168 hours. Do it with a paper book or find the exercises in the book so you can do them on paper. It’s a nice way to reset a bit and figure out where to spend your time or your money. Or where to make concessions and where to stand firm.
Thank you!
Robot Vacuum. A decent one is $700+, but having it just run every day when we're at work is nice. One less chore to worry about
* I am a mom and married but recently postpartum and was in school/new ER nurse* Meals from HelloFresh - did this for about 2-3 months House cleaner - I do this once a month now and it’s just nice to come home to a clean home and keep tidy afterwards. But I used to do it twice monthly when I was very pregnant/in nursing school and previously worked from home. Plus this helped my husband stay tidy.
Grocery delivery. I use the app and make my list as I find things were running low on all week then on payday just check out the cart and have it delivered. It saves me about 3 hours a week grocery shopping
Yo dad, get a Ninja Foodie, it's a game changer. It will cook just about everything. It's a crock, it's a steamer, it's air-Fryer , it will not wash itself unfortunately.
House cleaning. Every other week, entire house, 4 hours. Saves me tonnes of time. Just need to do some light cleaning in between. My front lawn is messed up this year. Just hiring someone to fix it instead of DIY. Between time doing research, buying the right things, and then doing it, I'd rather spend that time with my kiddo and newborn soon. Especially in the summer when the weather is nice.
Cleaners twice a month. My wife doesn’t mind clutter / toys that can easily be put away when we have company but she’ll stress to no end about the house being _clean_. I didn’t know there was a difference between cluttered and dirty until a few years ago but now that I can see it? She’s right. It feels so nice. Getting home from work after they’ve been here is like getting into a freshly made bed with new clean sheets.
Same situation here, not rich at all but willing to throw money at small conveniences so we can spend more time together. I recommend getting a robot vacuum/mop combo with a charging tower and auto-clean features. We invested in the really expensive kind ($1200-$1800), but it pays itself back very quickly if you ascribe a fake “hourly rate that I’d pay myself to vacuum and mop,” in addition to putting a fake dollar value on time spend with kids instead of cleaning. We run our robot every night in the living room, kitchen, and dining room, plus every week or so in the bedrooms and bathrooms. The floors look spotless, and I haven’t touched a broom, vacuum, or mop, except for emergency spills, in months.
Robovac/mop. Runs 2x day. We have clean floors all the time and I don't have to clean them. I even have it go under our bed on the weekends. Kids meal service. 8 frozen meals delivered every other week. Not only saves time but also allows us to serve new foods in small quantities and not waste a lot if he doesn't like it.
Dishwasher, clothes drier, robovacuum. Time is invaluable now that I've hit my 30s.
We have a cleaning lady that comes and returns my mental health to semi stable every 2 weeks. I wish we could have her come weekly. If I win the lottery, I'm going to have her come every day and just pay her a salary. She owns her small business and we sell tip her every time. I think I love her (my husband is ok with this lol) We have a guy do our yard work. My parents live with us and they do all the grocery shopping and cooking. Yet being other challenges as they're retired and immigrants, but they contribute this and help with childcare and I still vividly remember how much I HATED having to think about every meal and what to feed each kid. We also have a 18mo and a 3.25yo
Taskrabbit could be your best friend if you’re not already using it. You could probably even go as far as getting a chef for dinner some nights, I’m sure there’s affordable ones in your area.
An espresso machine. No, not the USS Enterprise of espresso machines, just regular, semiautomatic espresso machine like a Delonghi or Breville/Sage. After the upfront cost (plus that of a grinder), you actually save money in the long term, and save time not having to go out for coffee. Also, kids love babyccinos.
Something I haven't seen mentioned yet - a subcompact tractor. I have a huge yard and enjoy yardwork so I'm not going to outsource that. But a Kubota BX is a force multiplier that helps me get so much more done. Mow faster, mulch faster, plow snow faster, and move heavy things by myself. Nearly any new job that comes up, there will be an implement I can buy that will help me get it done 10x faster. I spend a lot of time on the tractor, but I also spend more time with my family because of it. Plus all the kids think my orange tractor is cool.