Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is what I don't understand...my house is actually very, very clean. I can't imagine ANY housecleaning chore waiting for 2 weeks. You don't wipe down your range and microwave every time you use it. What in the world are you leaving stuck to your microwave and range for 2 weeks?!? We clean off all the food, then sanitize with a cloth. I use mats in my oven so I literally pull them out every so often and rinse them off and back in the oven they go. I run the self-cleaner every so often, but even when cooking every night an oven doesn't need a "deep clean" every 2 weeks if you use the mats. As for floors, we run the vacuum and steam mop several times a week - again which we rotate usually doing a different floor of the house each day. And I have to tell you I actually spit out some of my drink when you said you can't wipe down a tub the way 2 cleanings ladies do! Okay, okay, you didn't actually say that, but do they have a magic wand that I don't know about. Throw some cleaner on that sponge and "wipe" the tub down. Do you think they sit there scrubbing your tub for hours? It's really not that hard to clean a tub well in under a few minutes.

Maybe if your parents had actually taught you how to clean you would be a little less afraid and a little quicker at it.

PP who is amazingly clean and wakes at 5 to clean and is super efficient at it and grocery shops in 30 minutes a week and cooks all her meals and runs the vacuum AND steam mops a few times every week AND runs the self cleaner on the over every so often AND has mats in the oven that she takes out to clean and rinses them out AND has evening activities with the kids AND works full time....

WOW, you so win at this game!! But you do sound a little OCD. Are you? Because if so, you have an unfair advantage in this competition so you shoudl really bow out!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...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.

We do have after school/evening activities, but so what difference does that make?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:...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?

You wouldn't believe me if I told you because we're all "lazy asses" according to this board! I have the energy because I exercise every night and go to bed at a reasonable time.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
This is what I don't understand...my house is actually very, very clean. I can't imagine ANY housecleaning chore waiting for 2 weeks. You don't wipe down your range and microwave every time you use it. What in the world are you leaving stuck to your microwave and range for 2 weeks?!? We clean off all the food, then sanitize with a cloth. I use mats in my oven so I literally pull them out every so often and rinse them off and back in the oven they go. I run the self-cleaner every so often, but even when cooking every night an oven doesn't need a "deep clean" every 2 weeks if you use the mats. As for floors, we run the vacuum and steam mop several times a week - again which we rotate usually doing a different floor of the house each day. And I have to tell you I actually spit out some of my drink when you said you can't wipe down a tub the way 2 cleanings ladies do! Okay, okay, you didn't actually say that, but do they have a magic wand that I don't know about. Throw some cleaner on that sponge and "wipe" the tub down. Do you think they sit there scrubbing your tub for hours? It's really not that hard to clean a tub well in under a few minutes.

Maybe if your parents had actually taught you how to clean you would be a little less afraid and a little quicker at it.

PP who is amazingly clean and wakes at 5 to clean and is super efficient at it and grocery shops in 30 minutes a week and cooks all her meals and runs the vacuum AND steam mops a few times every week AND runs the self cleaner on the over every so often AND has mats in the oven that she takes out to clean and rinses them out AND has evening activities with the kids AND works full time....



WOW, you so win at this game!! But you do sound a little OCD. Are you? Because if so, you have an unfair advantage in this competition so you shoudl really bow out!

Anonymous wrote:I used to do mow my lawn and yard work until I realized it took me almost an hour where a company could do it in 20 minutes. Instead of mowing I started consulting at home to make some extra money that pays for mowing and more.

Anonymous wrote:
This is what I don't understand...my house is actually very, very clean. I can't imagine ANY housecleaning chore waiting for 2 weeks. You don't wipe down your range and microwave every time you use it. What in the world are you leaving stuck to your microwave and range for 2 weeks?!? We clean off all the food, then sanitize with a cloth. I use mats in my oven so I literally pull them out every so often and rinse them off and back in the oven they go. I run the self-cleaner every so often, but even when cooking every night an oven doesn't need a "deep clean" every 2 weeks if you use the mats. As for floors, we run the vacuum and steam mop several times a week - again which we rotate usually doing a different floor of the house each day. And I have to tell you I actually spit out some of my drink when you said you can't wipe down a tub the way 2 cleanings ladies do! Okay, okay, you didn't actually say that, but do they have a magic wand that I don't know about. Throw some cleaner on that sponge and "wipe" the tub down. Do you think they sit there scrubbing your tub for hours? It's really not that hard to clean a tub well in under a few minutes.

Maybe if your parents had actually taught you how to clean you would be a little less afraid and a little quicker at it.

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.

Then your house never really gets cleaned well. There is a difference between spot cleaning and deep cleaning. We have two cleaning ladies come every other week and they spend at least 3 hours cleaning, so 6 hours total cleaning hours twice a month equals 12 hours. If you divide 12 hours (720 minutes) into 30 days that is 24 minutes per day of cleaning. I would give up a lot of things before I gave up a cleaning lady. You can't sweep and mop a bathroom or kitchen well in five minutes. It takes time to clean a kitchen well. Wiping down the kitchen is not the same as cleaning the range, the microwave and the oven, etc. There is a difference between how I wipe down a tub and how two cleaning ladies scour a tub that two boys under five use. So great that it works for you, it would not be enough in my small house. So back to the original question, DH and I are 91% and we outsource cleaning every other week.

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.

Anonymous wrote:...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 wrote:...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?