Jana Says

A few years ago, at the recommendation of a co-worker, I read Tim Ferriss’s “The 4 Hour Work Week”. To be honest, I hated the book. I thought that he came off as pompous, rude, snobby and kind of douchey. Most of what he discussed could in no way, shape or form be applied to my life and my situation. Except for one idea. Outsourcing.

Quite frankly, I love the idea of outsourcing the unpleasant aspects of my life. I would love to be rid of the chores that I can’t stand so that I can focus on the things that I do love and want to cultivate. And, if I think about it, I already do outsource some things—haircuts, dog grooming, trash and recycling pick up, and car maintenance. I don’t mind paying for these services because they are convenient, make my life easier and honestly, no one wants me cutting his or her hair. Or working on a car.

The problem is that I want to outsource household chores. I’m not the most domestically inclined woman around. While I do enjoy some things like cooking and baking and child care and general errands, there are certain things I cannot stand. Those are the ones I would like to eliminate. But the cost for outsourcing those chores is way too expensive for my budget. Or is it? I decided to do a little research and come up with an amount that I would have to pay each month to outsource the 3 things I hate the most:

Laundry

Dane Cook once joked that the only way to completely have no laundry is to wash your clothes naked. Sadly, he’s right. Laundry is a cruel joke, especially when you have a child and dogs. I am forever stuck in a cycle of wash, dry, fold, put away. Repeat the next day. I think I spend a minimum of 10 hours a week doing laundry for my family (fortunately, my husband does his own laundry. This is a huge blessing). While I’m able to complete other tasks while the washer and dryer are running, it’s still annoying to be in the middle of a task only to have to stop to attend to the laundry. Not to mention that I hate the whole laundry process. So I wondered what it would cost to have someone do my laundry for me.

I looked around and there are services that will wash and fold my clothes. Here’s the info on the                   cheapest company I found:  $1.25 a pound with a minimum of 10.  That’s just for your standard wash, dry, fold that is supposedly done according to my explicit directions. They claim to have no extra fees, including delivery. Let’s assume I have 25 pounds of laundry per week. That’s a minimum cost of $125 per month. However, they don’t say how long it would take to complete the service, and I have to schlep my clothes to the place and pick them up.

The verdict? Not worth it. I’m not really saving any time by having to drive back and forth to the place, it’s expensive compared to doing it myself and I’m basically a slave to their time frame.

Cleaning

I’ll admit it. I’m a terrible housekeeper. My house would never be deemed uninhabitable as I insist that beds are made, bathrooms are tidy and there are no dirty dishes all over the house. However, I’m lazy with dusting and vacuuming, my kitchen floors don’t gleam, toys are usually all over my living room and laundry is usually everywhere (see above about how I hate laundry). My husband and I do the best we can but my house never looks quite clean enough. I would love to have one of those houses that sparkle. But with me in charge, it’s not going to happen.

Enter a cleaning service. These are pros whose job it is to make my house sparkle in that commercial, TV show way. I did use a cleaning service last year, just prior to Thanksgiving, in order to get my house respectable enough to have company. That service cost $220 for 2 hours but I figured it was expensive due to the fact that it was an initial, deep cleaning. If I remember correctly, it was approximately $100 per week for regular home maintenance, based on the size of my house and what would need to be done.  Let’s say I have the service come 2 times per month. That’s roughly $200 and I would have to stay home (I have extreme paranoia issues and can’t stand when people I don’t know are left unattended in my home).

The verdict? It’s a possibility. I loathe cleaning and I’m not good at. Additionally, a cleaning service would free up time for me to work on my blog or other projects.

Food shopping

There is nothing that makes me more anxious than the thought of a supermarket on a Saturday or Sunday morning. The small aisles, the shopping cart collisions, the wrath at the deli counter, the agony at the register. It all makes me grimace with displeasure. Unfortunately, this is the one chore per week that I cannot put off (have I mentioned that I purposefully have 3 weeks of clothes and underwear so that I can go that long without doing laundry?). I’d send my husband but he loves supermarkets like I love MAC and I fear for our budget. So each week, armed with my budget, my list and my body armor, I trudge to the supermarket for what is the worst hour and half of my week. And every week that I’m there, I wish there was a way to avoid this horror.

I have learned that there is! Apparently, my grocery store has a service where I can order my food online and then a refrigerated truck will deliver the groceries right to my front door! This is fantastic! After the first delivery, which is free, there is a delivery charge which is based on the amount of food ordered (<$150 has one set of fees, >$150 has another) and the time frame in which the food is delivered. However, like the cable companies, your food has a delivery window and the delivery charge is based on the window you pick. Let’s say I pick the 4 hour delivery window. That would run me $3.95, for a total of $103.95 each week.

The verdict? I’d give it a try for free. Although I am freaked out by the thought of someone else handling my groceries, it might be worth it to avoid having the headache of food shopping. Besides, while I’m waiting, I can always do laundry or clean!

Do you outsource any household chores? What value do you get from it (besides time)?