To ask if you’re a higher earner, what do you outsource to give you more time?

We're a high earning household. We had a housekeeper/helper who basically looked after the house, did laundry, cleaning, school pick ups, ferried kids to appointments/activities, walked the dogs etc.

The only thing I couldn't outsource to her was the actual appointment making stuff and we generally would take kids to medical appointments if they were sick.

The kids are older now and we have relatively flexible hours so can manage pick ups etc. I just have a cleaner for 6 hours a week.

We live on a small island so there's not much else I need to outsource as most things are close by and I don't iron - the only thing we have mountains of is laundry (sports activities ALL. THE. TIME!) which we do on a rolling basis and the kids put their stuff away.

I totally agree. Far better to have it done in your own home with your preferred products and dried how you want erc. Using a service creates more admin, whereas if you have someone in regularly they empty the laundry basket, sort it, strip the beds, wash it, iron it if needed, put it back in the cupboard/drawers or back on the bed. I genuinely dont think about laundry, it just magically happens. Plus they can get on with other stuff whilst it's in the machine. Much better value and a better service.

A PA (needs to be physically present) to take care of the humdrum of admin and household management.

I have a friend who comes 2 days a week and she does:

Tidying, organising, decluttering, creating systems (ie files for paperwork, different baskets for cleaning, make up organisers etc) and doing things like cleaning, organising and reminding whats going out of date in the fridge and creates shopping lists of what’s running low (and reminds me to stop buying certain condiments I have 17 of) she manages all the laundry and bedding and makes sure things match like we have a grey bathroom set and a white one and she swaps them over this is my fave it’s like being in a hotel) put clothes away and organises the closets and drawers. She files all the paperwork away and leaves out nothing urgent for me. Does the dishwashers, mops the floors and wipes the sides etc. She loves all this sort of stuff and has 3 under 5 so it works really well for us.

I have a gardener, a tree trimmer man, a valet and used to use a driver / chauffeur for airports and concerts and big nights out and task rabbit app for building furniture and odd jobs but I am married now and he is v handy so don’t need that any more.

Before I had my friend I used a laundry service including a service where you drop the suitcases off from holiday and they clean and fold and return it in the right cases, that was so good!

I have a cleaner come in to deep clean sometimes. A daily dog walker.

I have my own business and have a Virtual Assistant who is my PA and she does some personal stuff for me like booking appointments, buying regular things like contacts and foundation, manages my personal email and fills out forms and things for me. She reminds me about things in my diary that are personal as well as business. She books all my day to day travel biz and personal.

I have a travel consultant who books all our travel and checks us in etc. She has been doing this for so many years now I just let her make a couple of suggestions within budget and pick one.

I’ve got 2 teenagers of my own and they do their own rooms and laundry and have done since high school. I have two step children who don’t but they’re not here full time. Am working on it!

I invest in things that give me headspace eg a digital door entry so I don’t have to find my keys or worry about who needs to get in, have subscriptions to every TV package, subscribe and save int things we use regularly like toilet roll and cleaning and hygiene products. So we never run out of anything and I don’t have a mental to buy list going on.

I pay for 121 coaching in my sport and have top package at the gym so I can go to anything anyone to suit and have a PT.

Basically I am ruthless about outsourcing anything and everything I can so I can focus on two things - growing my business and spending time with my family - and do things for me too!

It makes much more sense to have a cleaner who also does laundry. Especially stuff like towels and bedsheets. I prefer to do my own clothes since I like to hang some things and tumble dry others.

Laundry services seem very expensive for what they are.

A cleaner with initiative is even better.

I think that if you had a oerson, cleaner/housekeeper/PA come to your house twice a week for a few hours would help. You could get them to e.g. put up Christmas decorations, do some deep cleaning, research if there was an item you needed to buy.. They may also do recycling of glass bottles, take old clothes to charity shops.

Automate as much routine purchases as possible. L'Occitaine and amazon allow you to do this.

Have a regular window cleaner and gardener.

Use a travel agent for holidays.

Just do things to allow you to cut down on cleaning/tidying/researching.

I literally do sweet FA theses days. Outsource or delegate as much as you can. Life is too precious to spend any of it with a toilet brush in your hand.

You can get a personal/virtual PA Service to do a lot of your home admin for you if this is the area that sucks up a lot of your time

We outsource the following:

Laundry/Ironing (you need 2 weeks of full school uniform for this to work)

Cleaner - as well as cleaning, ask that they pack away the clean laundry. This was a game changer for me!

Gardener - saves arguments

Meal prep - We use Hellofresh and it saves so much time thinking about what to cook/shopping.

For life admin put everything you can on to Direct debit and subscriptions including car tax, insurance etc. For school books, order online, even if you have to click and collect. For car servicing sign up to a service plan and opt into any reminder service, they will contact you. Yes get cleaner to do laundry including ironing and putting away, also get them to put out the bins. A cleaner doing a couple of hours 3x a week is better than one 6 hour slot. A cleaner can also put away your food shoping if you time it to arrive when they are there. Get gardener, even if you like gardening, they will keep it tidy when you dont have time. Get a private dentist it is much easier to get an appointment and make appointments 6 months + in advance, they will text you a reminder near the appointment time. Same for hair, book miles in advance and get a good relationship with the reception team , should you need to change. I use an ipad for everything so reminder emails show up and I can deal with stuff in my lunch hour.

You don't have to be a high earner to pay others to do tasks. It's about having money to pay someone for something you feel worthwhile them doing to free up your time.

Are you stealth boasting or just being mean ?

I have someone to cut the grass. This leaves us to do some gardening as a leisure activity but keeps it looking tidy.

I have teenagers who are learning to do their own life admin. You need to look at what you are doing and see if it can be done differently (a lot can be planned for and not instant except medical stuff). Put aside an hour to do this rather than try and do it as and when.

Not in this position now as we are both retired and have plenty of time. But back in the day, the first thing we outsourced was ironing. We had jobs which required us to dress fairly smartly so this tended to mean the sort of clothes which did need ironing. All those shirts! The ironing lady would collect them from the house and bring them back the next day. Perfect.

The cleaner came next. This was after DD and when I was about to go back after maternity leave. I was returning to work four days a week, but I wanted to spend my additional day off doing things with DD not catching up on chores, so we got the cleaner to come in on one of the other days to do the bulk of the housework.

We did try having someone to cut the grass for a while but that didn't really work out so we stopped that after the first year.

We had a cleaner but don't anymore. It was just slightly more hassle than the benefit gained.

We outsourced laundry, but again, hassle, it's easier just to do it. Plus, there is almost no recourse if they ruin things (a set of bedding returned with unknown stains, and as we no longer had the receipt for it, they paid £20 as goodwill, the bedding cost over £150).

We have the cars valeted - that's worth it.

But I highly recommend a personal accountant and a financial advisor. Doing taxes is a PITA, and I don't have time to learn about investments from the ground-up.

I also recommend a mortgage broker (not just advisor), that saved us literally £1000s per year. Obv you don't need on of these all the time.

I also outsource tree pruning, hedge cutting / big gardening work.

I'd like a day to day gardener for weeding.

Other things that make life easier:

Meal / recipe boxes.
Therapy (even if nothing's actively wrong).
Physio/osteopath.

If you have grass then a robot mower. Best thing we bought to get time back. Agree a good cheaner for more time with a longer list of jobs is needed. Local handyman on speed dial. A PA/VA would be great but I am not sure how that would work as I can't imagine how I would pass on family stuff. Trust is necessary.

This woman needs a different job title! She sounds amazing. 🤩

1. Cleaner / housekeeper - someone who will keep on top of your laundry + ironing for you - get someone who can come for 2/3 hours twice a week vs one big chunk - much better for generally staying on top of things. Would suggest you use care.com or similar to find a well reviewed individual rather than a cleaning service - you’ll get a much more bespoke service as long as you pay well and ask directly - then all those little jobs like sewing school labels and walking the dog etc can be covered in one!

2. valet car clean as needed.

3. if you’ll be too busy to eat well then consider something like ‘prep kitchen’ or ‘frive’ - fresh microwaveable balanced meals

4. gardener / mowing service

Same as @Bemusedandconfusedagain minus the dog!

We have 2 full time high pressure jobs so we consider it to be essential.

The game changer for me is our amazing nanny housekeeper who just finds things to do, and as a result the house is tidy, the airing cupboard is organised and the ironing is done. She wraps Christmas presents, collects orders, takes things to the charity shop, sorts school uniforms....

Some of my colleagues use virtual PAs for things like Christmas shopping, party planning, holiday planning etc.

Lloyds Direct is good for prescriptions.

I also find private healthcare and paying for a private GP as needed removes a lot of hassle.

Oh, and all DIY, odd jobs, decorating etc outsourced too.

I'm the queen of outsourcing.

• Cleaner who does a full day once a week. Extremely thorough.
• Housekeeper who comes for a few hours a day Monday to Friday. She does laundry, ironing, top up cleaning, tidies, top up cleans, runs errands as needed and leaves dinner on the hob
• gardener - once a fortnight
• window cleaner - monthly
• car valet - monthly
• food shopping - weekly delivery. Housekeeper adds things as needed
• as much as possible done by subscription e.g. loo roll, cleaning products
• dog walker a few times a week

Yes, it's expensive, but my annual bonus covers it, and I'd not be able to do my high paying job without it so it is worth it financially. My house basically runs without me.

Cleaning. Laundry/ironing. Window cleaning. The dull parts of gardening (grass cut every fortnight, annual cutting back shrubs etc) Patio pressure washing. Car valeting. Use dishpatch for meal kits when can't think what to eat when friends are coming round.
You could also hire someone to do basic financial admin, collating invoices etc once a week to keep on top of it

I work with the very wealthy and if you have the money it is possible to outsource absolutely everything.

PA for life admin.
Nanny for any childcare plus child admin (even just for teenagers).
Dog walker/pet sitter/pet service
Laundry and ironing service
Gardener
Odd job man
Cleaner/housekeeper
Cook/food delivery service/caterer if you're having a dinner party
Driver

Between them they cover everything.

I'd say you probably need a housekeeper -PA, that would cover almost everything you need. And maybe a cleaner for the heavier duty stuff.

A virtual assistant or part-time PA would cover the life admin stuff, that'd be what I'd do if I could afford it. As a PP has said, the handover to make sure they know what needs doing would be quite involved, but after that you could send them a voice note with what needs doing and they'd handle it.