I want all three, but can only afford to hire one of these professionals

[Anonymous]

I’d do the housecleaner.
Some therapists are not good. It’s so hard to find a good fit.

[Anonymous]

Cleaner is my therapist

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d do the housecleaner.
Some therapists are not good. It’s so hard to find a good fit.

Also true of housecleaners.

[Anonymous]

None.

Invest in travel and fun.

Remember: you can’t wait for joy. You need to make it happen.

[Anonymous]

Commit to taking a walk everyday—or two: one in the morning or after lunch, and another in the early evening. It’s easy and will boost your mood. Walk alone and listen to music, or walk with a friend.

Bounce around while listening to upbeat music when you get ready each morning.

Buy some small hand weights and follow some easy YouTube videos.

Dance.

Re: Housekeeping - Pick a room each weekend to purge. Once you’ve scaled back and done a deep clean, it’s rather easy to maintain. Everyone can maintain a clean house. The trick is to start with a declutterred, clean slate.

Re: Therapy - You only need therapy if you have legit mental health issues. Most people can thrive once they realize they are the only person who can control their happiness.

Invest all the money you can in travel. Set a goal, spend time researching via fun YouTube videos, and count down to your fabulous trip. Buy some cute new outfits. It’s amazing what a trip can do for your overall mood.

[Anonymous]

Housecleaning

[Anonymous]

Nobody can clean your house the way you want it to be cleaned, so you will be frustrated that you are wasting money on subpar results.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody can clean your house the way you want it to be cleaned, so you will be frustrated that you are wasting money on subpar results.

you haven't met our cleaning lady

[Anonymous]

Therapist. You can clean your own house and exercise on your own but a therapist will work with you in a way that can’t be duplicated.

I am unmotivated at working out and find that I get a much better workout with classes. It might not be quite as good as a personal trainer but it’s a good compromise for a lower cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody can clean your house the way you want it to be cleaned, so you will be frustrated that you are wasting money on subpar results.

you haven't met our cleaning lady

True.

But perhaps your standards are lower than mine?

Bottom line: even the best cleaner can’t improve your mood if your house is a cluttered mess. They scrub floors and toilets, but they can’t provide the reset someone needs when they’ve let their home get out of control.

[Anonymous]

I would find a therapist that takes your insurance so that you're only paying the cost of the co-pay - a lot of the online programs take insurance.

Then with the remainder, I would get once a month house cleaning or pay for something like Peloton/Apple Fitness/iFit/etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A therapist. A clean house and a thin waistline will not make you happy. Go to therapy, find actually happiness, then worry about the other two.

Therapists are waste of money.

A clean house --that didn't involve me cleaning-- is an actual tangible thing that would make me happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nobody can clean your house the way you want it to be cleaned, so you will be frustrated that you are wasting money on subpar results.

you haven't met our cleaning lady

True.

But perhaps your standards are lower than mine?

Bottom line: even the best cleaner can’t improve your mood if your house is a cluttered mess. They scrub floors and toilets, but they can’t provide the reset someone needs when they’ve let their home get out of control.

OP didn't say her house is out of control.

For me having a cleaner is about having someone in my life who takes care of me I'm the way I often take care of others. I'm always cleaning up after my kids and while my DH mostly cleans up after himself, he's less tidy and organized than I am so I'm still cleaning up after him while he doesn't really clean up after me.

So coming home after my cleaner left and seeing she wiped down my makeup area (and even cleaned the jars and things there) or moved everything out if the pantry it wipe it all down and then put it make really tidy and organized? It makes me feel mothered and tended to in a way that few other things do.

My house would be clean without a cleaner, but the joy of not always having to be the one to clean it is psychologically pleasurable in a way that few other things are. Even when we don't have regular cleaners, I usually hire someone to come on my birthday because I love the feeling of coming home to a clean house I didn't have to clean. It just feels like TLC even though obviously I'm paying for it. I really value it.

[Anonymous]

I’ve paid for all 3. The only one I’ve kept for 10+ years is the cleaners and I like to clean!

They will dramatically change your life. I still clean daily between visits but as I said, I like to clean daily.

You can do a lot of training on your own and can find so many apps and videos online for free.

I’ve found therapy to be a waste of time and money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nobody can clean your house the way you want it to be cleaned, so you will be frustrated that you are wasting money on subpar results.

Speak for yourself. Before I had a cleaner, I had (at most) one part of my house clean at a time. I also cleaned less frequently because of lack of time. Frankly, I rarely mopped the floors, much less all at once. Now my entire house is cleaned top to bottom every two weeks. It’s much cleaner than before and significantly adds to my happiness.