how much are you willing to outsource?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We outsource a lot, but also our HHI and situation allows me to set my own hours (well, I own the business). So every day I stop work at 3pm, nanny leaves, and I spend 2+ hours with DD until DW gets back from work. We go out and do errands or otherwise spend time together. Then, I start working again at 10pm while everyone else is asleep, and I sleep in (DW and nanny takes care of mornings).

What time do you start your day?

10am-3pm, then 10pm-2am

[Anonymous]

I outsourced everything, but could not outsource being a mom and a wife.

So - 2 thumbs up for outsourcing if it works for you. Sometimes though even with outsourcing, it is not enough.

I SAHM now. I think that if you can outsource and get time to spend with your family. It is totally worth it.

[Anonymous]

I hate this throw money at the problem phase. It's stupid, all this verbiage is just so annoying.

[Anonymous]

No outsourcing here (HHI of $240k) with two kids and two FT working parents, other than daycare for the younger one. DH talks about getting a lawn service, but I don't think we really need it. We have an average-sized yard, not a sprawling expanse. What I'd pay for would be a several times a year service to pick up all the gumballs that drop from our sweet gum tree. The kids help with that, but it'd be nice not to waste half a weekend day every couple weeks picking up. I'd also pay for someone to cook our meals, but it's too hard as we have food allergies, so none of the services can accommodate those.

[Anonymous]

NP here. Three kids. Two dogs. Both DH and I work FT. We basically do what the OP does. Except I am more involved with kids' school and activities, and will attend and bake for class parties. To me, that's a priority and makes my kids feel special. Plus I enjoy baking with my kids.

Otherwise, we have weekly housecleaning, get meals delivered from Lets Dish, order peapod for groceries, have daily dog walking, mobile dog grooming, and even have a poop cleanup service for our yard.

I would rather spend time baking with my kids than cleaning up the yard or grocery shopping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm all for outsourcing, but does anyone worry that we're not teaching our LOs how to care for themselves? How will they learn to cook, garden, grocery shop, do laundry, etc., if we don't teach them?

Just because I outsource doesn't mean DH and I don't care for ourselves and our home. Between the cleaning lady who comes once a
week we spot clean, vacuum, do dishes, laundry, and tidy up every single day. We cook ourselves for the most part even though we use Pea Pod. We have a 1x a day dog walker but the dog gets a long morning and evening walk / run in the park every day. We mow the lawn ourselves (DH actually delights in this chore and refuses to outsource it). In sum, we do plenty and our kids see us caring for our things - and for them.

[Anonymous]

Amazon prime, scratchdc.com, relay foods for grocery delivery, cleaning 2x week plus laundry, I also cook a lot because I enjoy it and like quality ingredients but lots of recipes you can freeze.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At some point, with lots of out sourcing it may just be better to SAHM. I think you need to make 100k as in addition to what spouse makes to make working worthwhile.

But what if you like working at a job more than the stuff you would outsource?

[Anonymous]

We are both FT WOH with 2 kids and we outsource all lawn care, once a week house cleaning including laundry, lots of Amazon ordering. We hire people to fix things, do alterations and sew on buttons as needed. I do grocery shopping and cooking because I like that but will order in whenever things are too hectic for me to cook. I prioritize my work as I am highly paid and it is important to me and being with my kids and don't feel any benefit for spending my time cleaning or doing laundry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is "concierge service" at a physician's office? Is there actually a price you can pay to be a VIP? With preferential treatment?

All the other outsourcing - do what works for you!

But if "concierge service" means paying a special fee so that you can oust some other sick person from having a prime appointment slot, that's not cool. Not blaming you, OP, but I am blaming the physician who set this up. And I sure hope I'm wrong.

yes and its getting VERY popular with the area pediatric practices...not sure how i feel about it

It is very popular BECAUSE people are trying to treat the doctor's office like an ER. THAT is not cool.

Everyone I know has left practices who allow sick people to walk in, because even fi they try to charge a fee, the sick people don't stop trying to have "walk in" service. here's a hint, pick up the phone like the rest of us. Because I'm not waiting in a doctor's office, with sick people coughing all over me, for hours while you decide to walk in. YOU ruin it for EVERYONE, but don't have enough brains to figure that out.

And who is this "YOU" you are referring to? Because I've not read anything in this thread advocating not making an appointment. Of course everyone should make an appointment. But I stand by saying "not cool" to allowing patients paying a special fee have, for example, the coveted morning slots, while the minions make do with whatever they can get.

To clarify this is NOT what a concierge practice does. A "concierge" doctor or practice sees ONLY concierge patients. Meaning every single patient in that practice pays a yearly fee to have access to their doctor in a way a regular practice doesn't offer. They typically have a small number of patients and only schedule 1 patient per hour so the patients never have to wait and can spend plenty of time asking all their questions etc. There is no such thing as a practice where some patients get preferential treatment over other patients because they pay an extra fee.

This is also not the same as a doctor who just doesn't accept insurance. A lot of pediatricians are going that route because pediatricians are the worst paid of all physicians. Insurance reimburses next to nothing so a lot of them have just stopped accepting insurance but again that is for ALL patients in the practice or sometimes just ALL patients with certain insurance but it's illegal to take the same insurance from 1 patient but not accept it from another. Physicians also have to charge all patients in their practice the same amount, you can't charge one patient less than another for the same service.

[Anonymous]

I don't really consider Amazon Prime, etc., to be outsourcing. Even in 1914, folks could get the Sears Roebuck catalog and place orders, so that "outsourcing" has been around for over a century.

In the bad old days, the top percent or two lived like Upstairs/Downstairs or Downton Abbey. The next 15-20% or so made do with a maid of all work or if you were maybe part of the 3-4%, you had a man of all work too -- sometimes live-in, sometimes live-out.

Today, that work is spread out among various services -- $150/mo to the cleaning service, $100/mo to Peapod or whoever, X dollars a month to wherever you get takeout, etc.

Then, as now, finding good help is hard to find.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is "concierge service" at a physician's office? Is there actually a price you can pay to be a VIP? With preferential treatment?

But if "concierge service" means paying a special fee so that you can oust some other sick person from having a prime appointment slot, that's not cool. Not blaming you, OP, but I am blaming the physician who set this up. And I sure hope I'm wrong.

yes and its getting VERY popular with the area pediatric practices...not sure how i feel about it

And who is this "YOU" you are referring to? Because I've not read anything in this thread advocating not making an appointment. Of course everyone should make an appointment. But I stand by saying "not cool" to allowing patients paying a special fee have, for example, the coveted morning slots, while the minions make do with whatever they can get.

To clarify this is NOT what a concierge practice does. A "concierge" doctor or practice sees ONLY concierge patients. Meaning every single patient in that practice pays a yearly fee to have access to their doctor in a way a regular practice doesn't offer. They typically have a small number of patients and only schedule 1 patient per hour so the patients never have to wait and can spend plenty of time asking all their questions etc. There is no such thing as a practice where some patients get preferential treatment over other patients because they pay an extra fee.

This is also not the same as a doctor who just doesn't accept insurance. A lot of pediatricians are going that route because pediatricians are the worst paid of all physicians. Insurance reimburses next to nothing so a lot of them have just stopped accepting insurance but again that is for ALL patients in the practice or sometimes just ALL patients with certain insurance but it's illegal to take the same insurance from 1 patient but not accept it from another. Physicians also have to charge all patients in their practice the same amount, you can't charge one patient less than another for the same service.

Two things:

1) There are plenty of doctors who offer a "preferred provider" level within a regular practice. For example, this big practice in Arlington does: http://www.gimg.com/pricing. It's getting pretty common.

2) Physicians can absolutely charge patients whatever they want. Most physicians negotiate fee schedules with different insurers and have a private/direct pay fee schedule. Its one of the many reasons the uninsured get ripped off--if you don't have insurance, you pay the full fee (say, $100), but if you had insurance, the provider would only bill the insurer $55 for the same service, and you would pay 20% of that ($11).

If they accept Medicare, they have to charge all Medicare patients the same fees, which are based on the Medicare fee schedule. Apart from that, they can do whatever they can get away with.

[Anonymous]

I outsource what I can without guilt, every hour I save I spend with my kids...100% focused with them, which I think is priceless.

But I am posting to add a new idea to the discussion: IN SOURCE. That's right...I have started in-sourcing like crazy. Kids are 5 and 8 and I have implemented a weekly allowance and make them to all kinds of extra tasks. This means that 1) it is getting done (and not by me after a long work day) and 2) kids realize that magic fairies do not come and clean after them, clean the bathrooms, etc. They also have tasks that they have to do just because they live here (feed the dog, clean your room, etc.).

This has worked SO well for us, there is more of a team feeling in the house, kids are psyched to get a few dollars, we crank music after dinner and with everyone pitching in (including DH), it's done in 15-20 minutes, but it is now an everyday occurrence.

yeah!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is "concierge service" at a physician's office? Is there actually a price you can pay to be a VIP? With preferential treatment?

But if "concierge service" means paying a special fee so that you can oust some other sick person from having a prime appointment slot, that's not cool. Not blaming you, OP, but I am blaming the physician who set this up. And I sure hope I'm wrong.

yes and its getting VERY popular with the area pediatric practices...not sure how i feel about it

And who is this "YOU" you are referring to? Because I've not read anything in this thread advocating not making an appointment. Of course everyone should make an appointment. But I stand by saying "not cool" to allowing patients paying a special fee have, for example, the coveted morning slots, while the minions make do with whatever they can get.

To clarify this is NOT what a concierge practice does. A "concierge" doctor or practice sees ONLY concierge patients. Meaning every single patient in that practice pays a yearly fee to have access to their doctor in a way a regular practice doesn't offer. They typically have a small number of patients and only schedule 1 patient per hour so the patients never have to wait and can spend plenty of time asking all their questions etc. There is no such thing as a practice where some patients get preferential treatment over other patients because they pay an extra fee.

This is also not the same as a doctor who just doesn't accept insurance. A lot of pediatricians are going that route because pediatricians are the worst paid of all physicians. Insurance reimburses next to nothing so a lot of them have just stopped accepting insurance but again that is for ALL patients in the practice or sometimes just ALL patients with certain insurance but it's illegal to take the same insurance from 1 patient but not accept it from another. Physicians also have to charge all patients in their practice the same amount, you can't charge one patient less than another for the same service.

Two things:

1) There are plenty of doctors who offer a "preferred provider" level within a regular practice. For example, this big practice in Arlington does: http://www.gimg.com/pricing. It's getting pretty common.

2) Physicians can absolutely charge patients whatever they want. Most physicians negotiate fee schedules with different insurers and have a private/direct pay fee schedule. Its one of the many reasons the uninsured get ripped off--if you don't have insurance, you pay the full fee (say, $100), but if you had insurance, the provider would only bill the insurer $55 for the same service, and you would pay 20% of that ($11).

If they accept Medicare, they have to charge all Medicare patients the same fees, which are based on the Medicare fee schedule. Apart from that, they can do whatever they can get away with.

You are right but to clarify, the "preferred provider" level that you provided the link for gives free access to things like prescription refills and past lab reports. It's not giving them special appointment time slots or ensuring they are seen before patients who don't pay for this service as a PP said.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I outsource what I can without guilt, every hour I save I spend with my kids...100% focused with them, which I think is priceless.

But I am posting to add a new idea to the discussion: IN SOURCE. That's right...I have started in-sourcing like crazy. Kids are 5 and 8 and I have implemented a weekly allowance and make them to all kinds of extra tasks. This means that 1) it is getting done (and not by me after a long work day) and 2) kids realize that magic fairies do not come and clean after them, clean the bathrooms, etc. They also have tasks that they have to do just because they live here (feed the dog, clean your room, etc.).

This has worked SO well for us, there is more of a team feeling in the house, kids are psyched to get a few dollars, we crank music after dinner and with everyone pitching in (including DH), it's done in 15-20 minutes, but it is now an everyday occurrence.

yeah!

I love your insourcing and that's something I plan to do when my children are old enough. Right now with 3 under 3 I will continue to outsource as much as I can afford to which for us is an every other week cleaning service, part-time nanny (I WOH PT), lawn service and most recently grocery delivery. I still do the laundry, the majority of the cooking (order out maybe 1 day/week) and daily cleanup.