what do you outsource?

[Cumberland]

I am a major tightwad and hate to pay for anything I cant do myself. However, when we moved into our latest fixer upper, I told DH that I cant work, have a toddler, be pregnant and keep the house clean. I love to garden so I told him I would do the yard if I could get someone to clean the house. Ilove it and never plan to go back. It is the best feeling in the world to come home to clean sheets, a mopped floor, a toilet with no ring around it.

Other than that, we do 95% of the home projects- and there are always home projects going on around here. I do all the yard work bc it is kind of a hobby for me, and I swear working in 90 degree 100% humidity Southern heat is how I lost the baby weight with DD1.

[SuzySunshine]

We do almost all of our own stuff but this year we hired a lawn service for fertilizing, DH could never get it done when it needed it last year and our yard looked terrible so we took the plunge. I'd love to have a cleaning lady, I'm not sure how much that would cost around here but I should find out.

My problem with a cleaning lady is our dog, I'm not sure what to do with her while they are here. She stays in her crate when we're not home and she hates vacuum cleaners.

[Phoebe]

Since living here, we hired a contractor to finish our basement, update our kitchen and an electrician to do some lighting (we had outlets, but no overhead lighting on our second floor). We also hired a painter in the beginning because we had a painting allowance from our house purchase. Oh yeah, we did some landscaping too. So we have outsourced a lot.

We do the little things. I used to have a cleaning person, but I don't anymore and we have used a lawn service a handful of times when our lawnmower was broken.

Jennifer

[Tenacious_D]

This is going to sounds pitiful but in college DH and I (when we were dating) sent our clothes to a laundry service. Our friends thought we were crazy but it was so nice to drop off our laundry and pick it up the next day nice and folded. We also went to college in Maine so prices were quite reasonable. We are back to doing everything on our own now that the budget in NYC is so darn tight. Once we get enough money, I will certainly have someone help with the deep cleaning of the house/apartment (bathroom and kitchen esp.).

I pay a 12 year old to mow the lawn, and other random jobs (I had him help me clean out the car once and gave him 10 bucks). Now that we're FINALLY unloading the Cleveland house, I intend to hire a cleaning service for AT LEAST once a month ... for the deep clean. We have a lawn service do the fertilizing, etc. All of the dry cleaning gets picked up and dropped off (no extra charge). My dh does minor home repairs -- when I can nag him into it.

I paid for a pooper scooper service for one month, but I had to cancel it. Even I couldn't wrap my mind aroudn $50 for something THAT simple.

[Vishenka69]

I believe in outsourcing as much as possible (within reason). Right now we only outsource cleaning, dry cleaning and occassional laundry. We haven't yet had to hire anyone to do painting or handy work because I was able to bribe my dad and some of our friends with food and alcohol. We also have a friend who fixed our computer. Once we buy our own place we'll either hire people to have everything done (if we stay in this are and I'll be working) or I'll learn how to do stuff myself (and have an excuse to buy cool looking tools for women). I love renovation and design shows and would like to do stuff myself but not after a 12-hour work day.

[alison]

Dh doesn't believe in outsourcing--his mom was one of those German Hausfrauen that you've only read about or seen on tv. Think ironing kitchen bar mops, underwear and jeans!

We'll be moving to a new apartment at the start of next month and we've got to work on the days we're moving (I in the mornings and he all day). I suggested that we hire someone to at least clean the apartment that we're moving out of in order to lessen the wear and tear on us, and dh scolded me "you always want to hire someone to do stuff that I can do." At least he said "I" not "you" (as in me!).

We've NEVER hired anyone to do ANYTHING other than dry cleaning.
I even do the touch-ups on dh's haircut so that he can wait an extra 1-2 weeks to go to the barber.

Now that I read the above, I see that we're penny pinchers! I guess this is where the money is coming for the $400 bridesmaid dress!

Tax preparation. I outsource that. HATE math.

I think it definitely makes sense to outsource some things, especially when it is a trade-off between spending time as a family versus cleaning or something like that.

We found a reasonably priced dry cleaner to do DH's shirts. They do a better job pressing them than either of us ever did.

We pay someone to mow the lawn. We don't even own a lawnmower. There is no way our little pushmower we used to have could tackle this grass. Given the price of a mower, gas, getting the mower serviced, and paying $4 per bag for the clippings to get picked up I think it makes sense. And it takes two people 1/2 hour with commercial mowers. The rain makes everything green but wow does it grow fast!

When I work, the house gets cleaned at least once a month or every other week. Despite my last childcare fiasco and moving in a little over a year, I'm tempted to work again just to get the house cleaned.

DH can do most minor electrical and plumbing. We do most painting, any other yard work.

Pre-med school:

Dh's shirts...wash and medium starch. I do NOT iron shirts. Much like I do not bake cakes from scratch, from the actual ingredients. If you want concrete, ask me to bake a cake. If you want burn marks and ironed in wrinkles, ask me to iron a shirt.

Anything involving plumbing.

Anything involving hvac.

Fireplace work

We hired a contractor to deal with our basement build out

deliveries of bulky items

Dh and the boy's haircuts

Eyebrow waxing for me and haircuts

Now:

Fireplace work

Anything on the home warranty in hopes that they will say it needs replaceing

My haircuts

As you all may have noted from my "ode to our housekeeper" posts, I am a strong believer in extensive outsourcing! DH and I decided a few years ago that unless we were paying the helper more money than either of us could make per hour, we were going to outsource everything we didn't enjoy as a matter of financial efficiency and marital harmony.

OK so the list is: all housecleaning; all lawn and outdoor work; all sewing and alterations - - including replacing buttons which my mother is aghast at; all tax work; all painting and handyman tasks; all haircuts; monthly massage and some spa type treatments on occasion; and some meal preparation is outsourced to catering type places for dinner or holiday parties. BTW, If you think this list is bad, two of my colleagues have hired personal assistants who run their errands for them!!

In addition to direct outsourcing, I have found quite a few ways not to deal with time-consuming errands: all drugstore items purchased from drugstore.com; shoes usually purchased from zappos.com which has free shipping and free returns; clothes frequently ordered from bluefly.com; books from amazon with enough at once so I qualify for supersaver shipping; all of dh's clothing is ordered from the internet; all wedding and shower gifts are ordered from the internet; house supplies bought a few times a year in bulk at costco; AND my all-time favorite we only buy non-iron shirts for dh (good experiences with brooks brothers and a london shirtmaker called charles tyrwitt) - - while the shirts are initially more expensive we have saved untold money and time as we never have to iron or dryclean.

I don't trust anyone with my non-dry cleaning laundry and I like to cook fancy meals once a week and deal with our retirement/portfolio, so I do that.

[samssugarmomma]

Wow!

We do almost everything ourselves. Lucky for us DH is very handy and likes to fix things!

[SueC]

Not a ton--I do have somebody clean the house every other week and I have the dog groomed once a month. I also take my packages and mail to a mail place where I have an account. It costs a little more, but I don't have to think about postage or packaging and just pay the bill at the end of the month.

[mommax3]

We have someone to mow/edge our lawn, and a lawn treatment place that comes every other month or something and puts stuff on our lawn to keep the weeds out. Our lot is almost an acre and we would need a riding mower to do it, which is not cheap. The people that currently mow it charge $30, and they come about once a week. When our boys are a little older and we have more debt paid off, we will probably spring for the riding mower and have the kids do the lawn, but for now.......DH's weekends off are too precious for him to spend a couple hours on the lawn......and the lawn needs mowing more often than he has weekends off! I guess I could do it, but so far, I would rather pay the 30 bucks.

We take our dog to the groomer when he is pitiful looking, about every three months, BUT we keep him clipped very short, so it isn't as bad as it sounds. We outsource all of our haircuts.....mine is the most expensive, of course. I get a pedicure maybe 3 times a year, otherwise I do it myself. I never get (or give myself) manicures.....they get ruined right away and it just isn't worth it.

If we need major home repairs, we hire someone. DH put in a new water softener the other day. I am planning to strip wallpaper and paint a bathroom this summer, but I think we would hire someone to do painting if it were a lot of rooms. The parts of the outside of our house that aren't brick need painted, and we will hire someone to do that. Neither DH or I would take on any major home rehab project ourselves.

I don't send anything to the cleaners regularly, and I don't iron DH's shirts, either. He wears scrubs throughout the day when he can get away with it and otherwise, wears his shirts right out of the closet or irons them himself. (I do make a point to get things out of the dryer right away and spray things that look a little wrinkled with that wrinkle release spray, which really works well.) I do NOT enjoy sewing, but I will sew on buttons without complaining, and will repair tears in clothes that are on a seam, but that is about it. If something doesn't fit me correctly, I just don't buy it. My MIL is a wonderful seamstress, but she lives far away. I have a sewing machine, inherited from DH's grandmother, and it is a nice one, but it hates me and I feel like I will lose my mind when I try to use it. It currently resides in our garage. I would pay someone to make window treatments, but currently that is not an issue. I would pay for a decorator, too, but again......not currently an issue due to lack of $$$! We don't have a housecleaner, and we have a pretty big house (over 3000 square feet) so that is something I wish for sometimes, although I have been cracking the whip on the boys and they are helping out more. If I could just hire someone to clean the bathrooms once a week, that would be heaven......

We eat out once or twice a week. Other than that, we cook and eat at home. The boys and I make their lunches in the morning.....they are allowed to buy once a week. DH eats whatever the drug reps bring for lunch.

I guess you could say I "outsource" the kids' education, including preschool.

That's about it!

Sally

If you want burn marks and ironed in wrinkles, ask me to iron a shirt.

Ironing is not one of my fortes either. Last weekend I managed to create sticky, iron shaped indentations on my basement carpeting while sewing sashes for my dining room curtains. I laid the iron down on the carpet while folding a seam, picking it up only AFTER it had managed to melt the carpet glue and it seeped through the carpeting. Bad enough it happened once, but there is a 2nd spot as well. I simply should not be allowed near an iron.