Best use of money to make life / parenting easier?

[Anonymous]

We recently found out we're expecting our third. (Yay! Yikes!). My partner and I work full time, with busy but semi-flexible jobs. Our commutes are very manageable. The kids are in daycare / pre-K near home or on the way to work. I've been trying to brainstorm the most effective ways to spend a little money to make life smoother with the new baby. What has worked for you??

Ideas so far:
Increase housecleaning to weekly (from bi-weekly), include laundry.
Hire mother's helper --- if so when? To do what?
Hire assistance with dinner prep --- is this even possible? I'd love to take some pressure off the 5:30-7:30 pm window.
More meal delivery? (Are there any services people love?)
More grocery delivery or other outsourcing of chores? What services are good?

What works for you? What doesn't work for you? Thanks in advance!!

[Anonymous]

Housecleaning for sure.

[Anonymous]

Definitely more housecleaning assistance
Instead of dinner prep help, I'd look into Galley Foods (if you're in the DC area)
Definitely grocery delivery - I love Fresh Direct, though I hear Amazon's new Whole Foods delivery service is great too
The mother's helper thing might be good if there are times when your partner can't help out or the two of you need a break, but I'm not sure you need that on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

Can you hire someone to do several of these tasks for you? Like a house manager ( not sure what the title could be?)
Someone could cook, clean and do grocery shopping?

[Anonymous]

We only have two, but having a nanny and cleaning people twice a week is perfect for us. Our house is never 15 minutes away from being company read, and often it's closer to five minutes.

[Anonymous]

Instead of weekly house cleaning, could you swing for housekeeping help 20 hrs a week (4hrs M-F)?
The house keeper could:
1. Clean the house on a weekly schedule - linens/bedrooms on Monday, Bathrooms on Tuesday, Kitchen on Wednesday, etc.
2. Tidy toys and sweep floors daily
3. Do dishes, unload dishwasher
4. Do laundry
5. Sign for grocery delivery
6. Basic meal prep, chop veggies, put a casserole in the oven, have a snack ready when you get home with kids
7. Do some food prep for other meals - clean and chop fruit for example.

[Anonymous]

If you find the right nanny they are priceless.

[Anonymous]

HOUSECLEANING WITH LAUNDRY!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Instead of weekly house cleaning, could you swing for housekeeping help 20 hrs a week (4hrs M-F)?
The house keeper could:
1. Clean the house on a weekly schedule - linens/bedrooms on Monday, Bathrooms on Tuesday, Kitchen on Wednesday, etc.
2. Tidy toys and sweep floors daily
3. Do dishes, unload dishwasher
4. Do laundry
5. Sign for grocery delivery
6. Basic meal prep, chop veggies, put a casserole in the oven, have a snack ready when you get home with kids
7. Do some food prep for other meals - clean and chop fruit for example.

That's got to be $500/week

[Anonymous]

With three kids, I would have a nanny instead of daycare. When kids take a nap she can clean up (tide up) the house. I am also expecting a third and we have Jd the same nanny since my first was born (5 years ago). She also cleans (we pay extra) on Saturday. And tides up a lot during the week. Makes food for ge kids, etc. I bet it might also be cheaper than paying for 2 daycares...

Also, our nanny is amazing with the kids so we are VERY lucky

[Anonymous]

OP: Really appreciate the suggestions; keep them coming!

For those who recommend a housekeeper solution, how much work have you found it takes to get someone up to speed, and to do week to week management? I'm sure it depends on the person you find, of course, but tips on basically downloading my mental to do list to that person would be appreciated!

[Anonymous]

I'm in a similar boat. Currently, I outsource most grocery shopping with Instacart and Amazon Prime Now. This mostly works really well, with the exception of them being out of a particular product or surprise produce.

We have a regular sitter who helps some days with pickup from daycare. This allows me to stay at work later when necessary or catch up with friends during the week.

I want to increase the frequency the cleaners visit, but a more regular housekeeper with additional duties sounds amazing!

I've seen a few notes on MOTH about chefs that help with meal prep. Galley is OK from time to time.

[Anonymous]

Full time nanny who cooks and cleans and leave older kids in daycare. I used to have a FT nanny for the baby and send my older to daycare. DH and I both had flexible jobs. Nanny would come before I left for work so she made kids breakfast. She did the dishes. Tidied up. Laundry and made dinner. We had housecleaners come clean biweekly.

Now I have 3 kids and I stay home. I have a weekly housecleaner and a babysitter 2x per week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you find the right nanny they are priceless.

This.

[Anonymous]

I’m in Boston, so I can’t help you, but I am self employed as a home manager. I work for 6 different families and come anywhere between 1-3x/week doing all laundry, meal prep (cutting up fruit and veggies for kids lunches, marinating chicken or throwing something in the crockpot), organizing projects (tossing old stuff from the fridge, straightening up the pantry etc), and any local errands (grocery store, prescriptions, dry cleaning).
I do charge on the higher end ($25-30/hour) but I pay a buttload in taxes, have no PTO or sick time, no benefits etc, and have to deal with cancellations and scheduling issues, so I have to charge at the higher end.

My point is - we exist! And I think it’s something you’re looking for.