s/o What % are you? How much do you outsource cleaning, yardwork, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is such a typical nosy response. We're not supposed to outsource because you can't afford to OP? C'mon. Do you want a copy of my GD pay stub? Get real, will you. That is a rhetorical question.

Did I miss something or did you meant to say it's a nosy question? I'll agree there... it is nosy, but you also don't have to respond. Anyways, i don't think my original post sounded resentful at all towards people who do outsource; I am really just curious how other families' budgets break down.

FWIW, I can afford to outsource; I just don't. When I said I don't have extra dollars floating around for it, it's just b/c we prefer to save ~65% of our take-home on an annual basis and have the family spend a couple hours on Saturday picking/cleaning up around the house. It's all about priorities -- I'd rather spend the money on a fun and exciting activity for the family. Plus, I think learning to clean up after yourself is a valuable skill for our kids to have.

You save 65% of your pay, but still do chores? That's crazy. You have tons of extra money floating around. How clean is your house, really, on a regular basis?

[Anonymous]

95% dual income. We have a cleaner that comes weekly, who also does 3 loads of laundry. We have a yard service that comes ever other week. And we eat out at least 3 times a week (including weekends), we have had weeks where we ate out or had delivery every day. The cleaner is cheaper than the marrage counceling we would need if we had to clean the house ourselves. We got a cleaner about 3 months after getting married, before having any kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is such a typical nosy response. We're not supposed to outsource because you can't afford to OP? C'mon. Do you want a copy of my GD pay stub? Get real, will you. That is a rhetorical question.

Did I miss something or did you meant to say it's a nosy question? I'll agree there... it is nosy, but you also don't have to respond. Anyways, i don't think my original post sounded resentful at all towards people who do outsource; I am really just curious how other families' budgets break down.

FWIW, I can afford to outsource; I just don't. When I said I don't have extra dollars floating around for it, it's just b/c we prefer to save ~65% of our take-home on an annual basis and have the family spend a couple hours on Saturday picking/cleaning up around the house. It's all about priorities -- I'd rather spend the money on a fun and exciting activity for the family. Plus, I think learning to clean up after yourself is a valuable skill for our kids to have.

You save 65% of your pay, but still do chores? That's crazy. You have tons of extra money floating around. How clean is your house, really, on a regular basis?

The deep clean is only done once a month, so i guess we have some dusty baseboards/top of the fridge/windowsills for a week or so each month. We vacuum twice a week, disinfect tubs/toilets/floors once a week, pick up clutter nightly and do dishes nightly. Laundry piles up until the weekend, and we only do sheets every 2 weeks. It helps a lot that we only have 1,100 square feet to maintain. DH takes care of the outdoor stuff, but our small yard only takes an hour/week max. We're really watching all our pennies right now to save up for a downpayment on a larger house in Arlington. Once that happens, we may consider outsourcing... especially since there will be more maintenance to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is such a typical nosy response. We're not supposed to outsource because you can't afford to OP? C'mon. Do you want a copy of my GD pay stub? Get real, will you. That is a rhetorical question.

Did I miss something or did you meant to say it's a nosy question? I'll agree there... it is nosy, but you also don't have to respond. Anyways, i don't think my original post sounded resentful at all towards people who do outsource; I am really just curious how other families' budgets break down.

FWIW, I can afford to outsource; I just don't. When I said I don't have extra dollars floating around for it, it's just b/c we prefer to save ~65% of our take-home on an annual basis and have the family spend a couple hours on Saturday picking/cleaning up around the house. It's all about priorities -- I'd rather spend the money on a fun and exciting activity for the family. Plus, I think learning to clean up after yourself is a valuable skill for our kids to have.

You save 65% of your pay, but still do chores? That's crazy. You have tons of extra money floating around. How clean is your house, really, on a regular basis?

The deep clean is only done once a month, so i guess we have some dusty baseboards/top of the fridge/windowsills for a week or so each month. We vacuum twice a week, disinfect tubs/toilets/floors once a week, pick up clutter nightly and do dishes nightly. Laundry piles up until the weekend, and we only do sheets every 2 weeks. It helps a lot that we only have 1,100 square feet to maintain. DH takes care of the outdoor stuff, but our small yard only takes an hour/week max. We're really watching all our pennies right now to save up for a downpayment on a larger house in Arlington. Once that happens, we may consider outsourcing... especially since there will be more maintenance to do.

Oh, I should also add that even though we save 65% on an annual basis, we only save about 35-40% on a monthly basis. I work in banking, so the rest comes from a large bonus each year that we always put into savings. Our monthly budget feels tighter than our annual budget, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We outsource everything we can.

Biweekly cleaners - $200 a month
Local teen to do lawn mowing and yardwork - $40 a visit
Peapod for groceries - $5 or free
Premade dinners half the time from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, etc. - we spend $1,000 on food a month

We're 98%, but we did this years ago. We're both out of the house 50+ hours a week, and want to spend our free time with the kids, not doing chores. It's really not all that expensive, compared to the value of our time.

Then you don't know how to work efficiently around your house. We are 96% and DH and I also are out of the house 50+ hrs/week, yet we don't outsource anything and have plenty of time with our kids.

The housecleaning is one I really don't understand. My kids are still younger, so if may be a little different, but when they are using the restroom before bath time I scrub the tub down when needed, when they are in the tub I wipe down the baseboards, empty the garbage can, wipe down the sink and scrub the toilet. I split these smaller chores up into 1 or 2 a night so it takes literally 5 mins a night. We have all of the other chores spread out throughout the week - vacuum upstairs one night, vacuum downstairs another night, laundry is thrown in by DH in the mornings a few mornings a week and I fold it the one load and put it away that night. My point is you can do it all in a small increments throughout the week and really never notice a difference in your time.

Lawn work is something we have always done as a family. DH or I cut the grass while the other picks weeds, plants new flowers and plays in the yard with the kids. Within an hour or 2 it's all done and we continue to play in the yard.

There was study once that showed people who make meals from scratch spend the same amount of time in a kitchen as those that use premade meals. I always thought it would be much harder, but if you prep your foods when you get them from the grocery store you can make meals super quick at night.

As for peapod, well I don't shop at Giant. I go out of my way to Harris Teeter because the produce and meat are generally better and with coupons you can save more at HT than any other grocery store in the area. I spend about 20-30 mins a week on making a grocery list and pulling coupons (coupons, grocery list, and meal planning..done!) and then about 30 min/week at the grocery store. I only buy what's on my list, I shop by sales/coupons only, and I know where exactly where everything is in the store.

So, it is possible to not outsource much and still have plenty of time with your family. I don't spend my weekends cleaning or doing errands because we have a system down during the week. I have to also say that I get up at 5am to start my day. No a criticism to pp, but in similar threads ppl have mentioned getting up at 7am which seems really late for a workday.

[Anonymous]

No idea what our 5 is but we have a HHI of about $120K with 2 kids.

We outsource whatever we can, because in this economy I believe in spreading what little we have around as much as possible. I know a few womn who have lost their jobs and are trying to earn money as housecleaners, occasionally nannies, etc. and some men who are looking to do yard work for the same reason, so I try to hire as many people as I can. Yes it is a luxury but me hanging onto my money and doing everything myself to save money doesn't help them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We outsource everything we can.

Biweekly cleaners - $200 a month
Local teen to do lawn mowing and yardwork - $40 a visit
Peapod for groceries - $5 or free
Premade dinners half the time from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, etc. - we spend $1,000 on food a month

We're 98%, but we did this years ago. We're both out of the house 50+ hours a week, and want to spend our free time with the kids, not doing chores. It's really not all that expensive, compared to the value of our time.

Then you don't know how to work efficiently around your house. We are 96% and DH and I also are out of the house 50+ hrs/week, yet we don't outsource anything and have plenty of time with our kids.

The housecleaning is one I really don't understand. My kids are still younger, so if may be a little different, but when they are using the restroom before bath time I scrub the tub down when needed, when they are in the tub I wipe down the baseboards, empty the garbage can, wipe down the sink and scrub the toilet. I split these smaller chores up into 1 or 2 a night so it takes literally 5 mins a night. We have all of the other chores spread out throughout the week - vacuum upstairs one night, vacuum downstairs another night, laundry is thrown in by DH in the mornings a few mornings a week and I fold it the one load and put it away that night. My point is you can do it all in a small increments throughout the week and really never notice a difference in your time.

Lawn work is something we have always done as a family. DH or I cut the grass while the other picks weeds, plants new flowers and plays in the yard with the kids. Within an hour or 2 it's all done and we continue to play in the yard.

There was study once that showed people who make meals from scratch spend the same amount of time in a kitchen as those that use premade meals. I always thought it would be much harder, but if you prep your foods when you get them from the grocery store you can make meals super quick at night.

As for peapod, well I don't shop at Giant. I go out of my way to Harris Teeter because the produce and meat are generally better and with coupons you can save more at HT than any other grocery store in the area. I spend about 20-30 mins a week on making a grocery list and pulling coupons (coupons, grocery list, and meal planning..done!) and then about 30 min/week at the grocery store. I only buy what's on my list, I shop by sales/coupons only, and I know where exactly where everything is in the store.

So, it is possible to not outsource much and still have plenty of time with your family. I don't spend my weekends cleaning or doing errands because we have a system down during the week. I have to also say that I get up at 5am to start my day. No a criticism to pp, but in similar threads ppl have mentioned getting up at 7am which seems really late for a workday.

Not the poster you are responding too, but why do you care? And clearly your priorities are different. I start my day at 6:45 am. That works best for me, in terms of the sleep I need. I find that more beneficial for my health than getting up at 5 do things. I agree with you about home-cooked meals vs. premade. We cook most meals and with meal planning and both of us involved, it is really not that time consuming and possible avoid arriving home and having to rush around to make a meal, which is nice. I also prefer to buy our own groceries, but we don't go all over town to do so. Typically Giant is fine for us for the bulk shop and we have some other sources for local fresh foods that we priortize.

Otherwise we will order some things from amazon and we do outsource housecleaning. We have to do upkeep but it's a huge load off not to have to do the deep cleans. We also are lucky to work in environments that don't require a lot of dry cleaned clothes. We do dry cleaning a few times a year and my husband just drops off at his office.

If you enjoy doing certain things and find they don't get in the way of your family time, great. We can afford to outsource some thing we don't enjoy doing so we do. And neither of us are even out of the home for more than 50 hours a week. Who cares though - different strokes for different folks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We outsource everything we can.

Biweekly cleaners - $200 a month
Local teen to do lawn mowing and yardwork - $40 a visit
Peapod for groceries - $5 or free
Premade dinners half the time from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, etc. - we spend $1,000 on food a month

We're 98%, but we did this years ago. We're both out of the house 50+ hours a week, and want to spend our free time with the kids, not doing chores. It's really not all that expensive, compared to the value of our time.

Then you don't know how to work efficiently around your house. We are 96% and DH and I also are out of the house 50+ hrs/week, yet we don't outsource anything and have plenty of time with our kids.

The housecleaning is one I really don't understand. My kids are still younger, so if may be a little different, but when they are using the restroom before bath time I scrub the tub down when needed, when they are in the tub I wipe down the baseboards, empty the garbage can, wipe down the sink and scrub the toilet. I split these smaller chores up into 1 or 2 a night so it takes literally 5 mins a night. We have all of the other chores spread out throughout the week - vacuum upstairs one night, vacuum downstairs another night, laundry is thrown in by DH in the mornings a few mornings a week and I fold it the one load and put it away that night. My point is you can do it all in a small increments throughout the week and really never notice a difference in your time.

Lawn work is something we have always done as a family. DH or I cut the grass while the other picks weeds, plants new flowers and plays in the yard with the kids. Within an hour or 2 it's all done and we continue to play in the yard.

There was study once that showed people who make meals from scratch spend the same amount of time in a kitchen as those that use premade meals. I always thought it would be much harder, but if you prep your foods when you get them from the grocery store you can make meals super quick at night.

As for peapod, well I don't shop at Giant. I go out of my way to Harris Teeter because the produce and meat are generally better and with coupons you can save more at HT than any other grocery store in the area. I spend about 20-30 mins a week on making a grocery list and pulling coupons (coupons, grocery list, and meal planning..done!) and then about 30 min/week at the grocery store. I only buy what's on my list, I shop by sales/coupons only, and I know where exactly where everything is in the store.

So, it is possible to not outsource much and still have plenty of time with your family. I don't spend my weekends cleaning or doing errands because we have a system down during the week. I have to also say that I get up at 5am to start my day. No a criticism to pp, but in similar threads ppl have mentioned getting up at 7am which seems really late for a workday.

You don't get it. I don't WANT to work efficikently on chores, I want to outsource them.

[Anonymous]

...and I sure as he#$ don't want to get up at 5 am to get stuff done (!) What kind of job do you have that you're gone 50 + hours a week but yet still have the energy and desire to get up at 5 am regularly?

[Anonymous]

...AND I'm gathering your kids don't have evening activities? My children are old enough that we're out of the house immediately after school or dinner 5 nights out of 7.

[Anonymous]

...AND my husband doesn't do diddly around the house.

[Anonymous]

I have no idea what % we are, but we recently both started new jobs and our dual income has significantly increased (not sure by how much because husband's income will depend on what he bills).

Right now we have zero outsourcing, and I'd hope to keep that up and start saving. But.......then realize that if we keep going at this rate, we'll be divorced within a year. So my plan is to look into lawn services. We probably will never venture into out sourcing house cleaning. Part of it is that I want my son to see us doing housework (ahem....at least me). Part of it is that our dog would have a nervous breakdown if a cleaning crew came in. Ok, Ok, its more of the latter.

[Anonymous]

I for one freely admit that I am not efficient about doing household chores!

I'm happy to outsource.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We outsource everything we can.

Biweekly cleaners - $200 a month
Local teen to do lawn mowing and yardwork - $40 a visit
Peapod for groceries - $5 or free
Premade dinners half the time from Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, etc. - we spend $1,000 on food a month

We're 98%, but we did this years ago. We're both out of the house 50+ hours a week, and want to spend our free time with the kids, not doing chores. It's really not all that expensive, compared to the value of our time.

Then you don't know how to work efficiently around your house. We are 96% and DH and I also are out of the house 50+ hrs/week, yet we don't outsource anything and have plenty of time with our kids.

The housecleaning is one I really don't understand. My kids are still younger, so if may be a little different, but when they are using the restroom before bath time I scrub the tub down when needed, when they are in the tub I wipe down the baseboards, empty the garbage can, wipe down the sink and scrub the toilet. I split these smaller chores up into 1 or 2 a night so it takes literally 5 mins a night. We have all of the other chores spread out throughout the week - vacuum upstairs one night, vacuum downstairs another night, laundry is thrown in by DH in the mornings a few mornings a week and I fold it the one load and put it away that night. My point is you can do it all in a small increments throughout the week and really never notice a difference in your time.

Lawn work is something we have always done as a family. DH or I cut the grass while the other picks weeds, plants new flowers and plays in the yard with the kids. Within an hour or 2 it's all done and we continue to play in the yard.

There was study once that showed people who make meals from scratch spend the same amount of time in a kitchen as those that use premade meals. I always thought it would be much harder, but if you prep your foods when you get them from the grocery store you can make meals super quick at night.

As for peapod, well I don't shop at Giant. I go out of my way to Harris Teeter because the produce and meat are generally better and with coupons you can save more at HT than any other grocery store in the area. I spend about 20-30 mins a week on making a grocery list and pulling coupons (coupons, grocery list, and meal planning..done!) and then about 30 min/week at the grocery store. I only buy what's on my list, I shop by sales/coupons only, and I know where exactly where everything is in the store.

So, it is possible to not outsource much and still have plenty of time with your family. I don't spend my weekends cleaning or doing errands because we have a system down during the week. I have to also say that I get up at 5am to start my day. No a criticism to pp, but in similar threads ppl have mentioned getting up at 7am which seems really late for a workday.

You don't get it. I don't WANT to work efficikently on chores, I want to outsource them.

I do get it - you're lazy! Hope your DC make enough to outsource since they won't know how to clean up after themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:...AND my husband doesn't do diddly around the house.

you're first mistake! I'd rather be a single parent than have DH like that.