Recently, as we were getting our house ready to put on the market, my husband and I were struggling with what basic home improvements to tackle ourselves and what we should pay someone else to do. Hubs, God love him, has many talents but handiness is not one of them, so it was clear that any major fix-it jobs should be parceled out. We really struggled with the painting, because any painting that had already been done, we did ourselves (BEFORE we had kids or when grandparents were visiting to help with the kids). It was really frustrating to us to have to pay someone to do work that we knew we could do ourselves. Of course, we couldn't do it with three kids hanging off the side, so if we did it ourselves we'd have to pay a sitter to look after them while we did it. Talk about no-win situation.
In the end we went with a hybrid, hiring painters to do difficult areas and making touch-ups ourselves. It took so much time and energy that in the end I wish we'd just hired them to do it all.
Ditto with our yard service. When we moved into our home, the homeowners association mandated fees to pay a neighborhood yard service. We grumbled, knowing that we were perfectly capable of doing it ourselves. Three kids later, I'm happy someone else does it because otherwise we'd be living in a jungle.
We've struggled with other opportunities to outsource over the years and I've gradually come to terms with the drycleaning bills and the housekeeper (who comes twice a month and is something we added when I started working part-time). I tried working with minimal childcare, but it's impossible for my job so I adore my babysitter that takes such great care of my kids so I can work. In my next house, I've learned that I need to keep a handyman on speed dial so that ten years worth of minor repairs such as falling towel racks don't pile up on us.
In the constant battle of time vs. money and with many small children in the mix, Baby Bunching wants to know - what outsourcing have you found to be most valuable in helping you get it all done?
The housekeeper. We only hire one to come twice a month during my husband's really busy months at work, but it is worth every darn penny. I also consider the dryer "hired help," because the eco-friendly girl in me feels guilty when I run it instead of putting the clothes on the line...but sometimes we need dry socks and undies ASAP!
Posted by: Janelle | Apr 13, 2010 at 09:05 PM
Cara! It's Kristen (Brown) Supan. Your mom told my mom about your site (and book?) a while back and I had checked it out, but a lot more so lately. I'm 28 weeks with baby 2...they'll be 16 months apart. Loving all the great advice! Glad to know there are others out there who made this crazy decision to "bunch".
Posted by: Kristen | Apr 22, 2010 at 09:28 PM
Kristen! Hello! I'm so glad you here - congratulations and welcome to the wonderful world of Baby Bunching! Just checked out your blog and Cassidy is adorable - she looks so much like you! Just found you on Facebook so we can stay in touch outside of Baby Bunching, too. : )
Posted by: Cara Fox | Apr 22, 2010 at 11:29 PM