I don’t know about you, but I hate cleaning. I see lots of blogs about keeping our nests clean and tidy, about how to be retro mummies, or how to clean your house like a demon – but I don’t read them because I loathe anything to do with housework.
I avoid it at all costs.
Perhaps I should be reading them? Because my ironing stacks up like the leaning tower of Pisa. The floor which I vow to vacuum and mop properly early in the morning gets a quick five minute once over while the dinner is cooking, just before I hang out the washing which has been sitting in the washing machine all day long.
Please don’t tell He Himself.
I also spray the house with a nice aromatic fragrance just before he walks in the door.
Gah, I’m hopeless. I would like to be better, but there’s just so much more I want to do with my short time left on this earth than spend time cleaning up and dusting the furniture.
I need to learn how to save money and afford to hire a cleaner I reckon.
In a podcast interview I did at YTravel Blog about the pros and cons of bringing up children as global nomads , I hinted about how important it is to grab life by the horns and take responsibility for what we do and what we want in life.
So thinking about money and happiness, having more time to work on my blogs, and spending less time on the domestic drudge, I’ve been plotting to find a way that I could legitimately afford a cleaner.
I’m taking charge. Yes, I’d like to live the good life.
What do you think? Cut out all the little extras that add up?
Are you with me?
7 ways to save money without really trying too hard
- Borrow books, DVD’s and magazines from the library instead of buying or renting them.
- Quit the cappuccionos and brew our own coffee (remember to take a flask to the beach and watch the sea or the scenery from a park bench instead of watching it from a cafe for instance)
- Get organized and make and pack lunches – ours, husbands, older children’s (if we still have them around).
- Once a month cook a gourmet meal at home, and have a romantic night in instead of going out to an expensive restaurant.
- Buy cheaper cuts of meat and cook meals in the slow cooker during the week.
- Don’t drink wine during weekdays.
- And this one … I already do. Quit the gym membership and buy a bike, some light weights, a yoga DVD and a yoga mat. What I don’t do, and I should … invite friends to come and work out with me instead and have a chinwag over a coffee afterwards.
I guess we could always make sure that our guests bring the wine! Here’s a doormat I saw (ahem, and bought!) at a wine estate recently.
What do you reckon. How much could we save – enough for a cleaner once a week?
Any tips?
The Empty Nest Syndrome and Tips to Help you Set a New Course
Haha, love the mat! I do all these things and still can’t afford a cleaner. I worked up quite a sweat cleaning this morning though and it is lovely once it’s done 🙂
Glad you like the mat! I know, when it’s done if feels so good – and it’s great to use it as a work out if you can 🙂
OH I have one suggestion to speed up cleaning. My youngest son walked inside with the leaf blower thing that my hubby loves using on the drive way – youngest son wanted to clean my lino floor with it! We had visitors, so I had to say, “Not now.” Sure that would help save on the electricity bill too. That’s help after a while. j-a
Hi Julie-Anne! Ha Ha, I love the idea of a leaf blower – just blow the whole jolly lot up, out, around and out! Great idea ‘youngest son’, and yip, just think what you could buy with the money you save on electricity 😉 Nice one :)!
Hi Jo, I’ve just popped in to take a look at your new site (which is fab btw, and maybe not so new now!), and this post was the first to catch my eye. I need to figure this out! I reeeeeally need a cleaner. I hate cleaning with all of my being, but when you’re a stay-at-home mum cleaning is meant to be part of the package, isn’t it? I’ve come up with all sorts of ideas to try and persuade the other half into getting one, even to do the floors, but he won’t budge. I thought of sneaking one in, but figured it’s best to be truthful. ‘Suppose the trips to the coffee shop and lunches out are going to have to go… maybe.
Hi Linda, thanks for popping by and so glad you like Lifestyle Fifty. Where we talking about it in Melbourne at Problogger in 2012? Gah, cleaning, yes I guess it’s in the stay at home contract isn’t it? We do need to find creative ways to get it done in a hurry or creative reasons why we desperately need a cleaner!
I love all of your suggestions, Johanna! I’m a big proponent of cutting costs. Anytime I get coin change in my pocket I will go home and put it in a big container. Every three months it has really added up and I cash those coins in for often well over a $100 or $200 sometimes. You would be shocked. I don’t mean to get blown off the lifestylefifty landscape but I always suggest to women to do their own nails….huge savings. I make a list of errands I need to run and do them all at once in a geographic order to save gas for going all over the city multiple times over a period of days. I work hard at keeping the lights off when I don’t need them on in any given room. But, I won’t give up beer during the week! 🙂
Thanks Mike, some great tips there. Really like the one where you plan out your errands!
no, don’t think I can do #6 Jo – but I really should do #7 – exercise I mean – I don’t have a gym membership – never enjoyed going to a gym. I keep planning to start an exercise regime but never quite get to it. I hate cleaning – I had a cleaner once and someone to do my ironing. My hint is to train your husband to clean bathrooms and toilets and mop floors – works for me!
Wow, Jill – is your hubby for hire? Ha Ha, mine is pretty good, but we divvy things up and the house has always pretty much been my responsibility. As for the exercise regime – gah, don’t worry, it’s on/off for me too! No 6 is a big sticking point for LF readers it seems 😉
I was with you until #6 – no can do! I stopped stressing about housework this year, at 52 it’s no longer important, as long as the boys do their own laundry and keep their bathrooms clean – I’m a happy camper!!!
That number 6 is a sticking point for quite a few of us, I reckon, Antionette! I’m with you though, housework is not all that important as long as cabbages aren’t growing in the corners – lol!
Going from working all week and cleaning on the weekends, to being retired was a real change in lifestyle. I’ve tried breaking down the chores to clean a little bit each day, but that didn’t work. I’ve even tried tricking my husband in to wanting to do the cleaning for me – nope that didn’t work either. Then there’s the trick of making cleaning part of an exercise routine. I’ve just grin and bear it. Love your door mat!
I think that’s is really the best option Neva. Put some loud music on, trainers on, work-out gear on, and go for it as if it’s time spent at the gym or pounding the streets. That door mat has been quite a talking point – especially when friends DO NOT bring wine! Ha ha, we love them anyway x
Oh Jo, I wholeheartedly agree, life is too short to waste too much of it on cleaning!!
I already do several things for your list but just before I read your post I broke your rule #6 unless you have any way of making Wednesday into the weekend.
Being in a different life phase my big dream is that next year when I don’t have to pay daycare fees any more I will use that money for a cleaner (especially as school hours are scarily shorter than daycare hours).
From this day forward Amanda, Wednesday is officially weekend 🙂 I’ll vouch for that! Yes, I think your plan is a good one, because those free hours will skip by with a life of their own and you don’t want to spend a minute of them at the beck and call of a vacuum.