Two full time parents - what services do you buy in?

[Grannyannex]

Both work 45-60 hours a week. Kids. Need to buy in services to create balance/ reduce stress.

What services do you buy in and how’s often? What difference has it made?

No kids but we get someone to feed the horses each morning, and live in a pigsty.

We have someone come in to do our ironing for 2 hours once a week, which makes a massive difference. I would also like a cleaner for 2 hours a week. I think these are the things that take up most of my time when at home.

Cleaner for 3.5 hrs pw
Ironing lady in the village I drop off as and when
Window cleaner on a bj monthly basis inside and outside. He also does the ovens once a year and will do the driveway if I need it done.
Gardeners - - 12 hrs every 8 weeks march, April, may, June sept and Oct. we inherited a big beautiful garden from the previous owners who were retired and loved for their garden. It's beautiful and we want to continue it.

Lots of online deliveries etc. Two big chest freezers and lots of batch cooking

Cleaner - 2 hours per week

Gardeners - every other week from March to November

Dry cleaners that collect and deliver and iron all the work shirts.

Online Tesco shopping.

DH and I both work 90% so almost FT. We pay for childcare (all kids at school these days so not a lot), cleaner (4h per week, including changing and washing sheets), window cleaner every 4 weeks. We should get a gardener but haven't sorted it. Also wonder about an au pair rather than wrap around care so more of the daily washing etc could be done.

None now though we dont work as many hours as you.
Paid for childcare when the dc were smaller.

Wraparound care
Cleaner
Gardener
Tradesmen as required

After school club
Cleaner
Ocado Smartpass
Amazon Prime
Other online deliveries

When DCs were small did online food shop weekly, to be delivered first thing Saturday, gardener 2x weekly in summer, after school clubs. DH in charge of the laundry meant that all clothes washed, dried, pressed and put away every Saturday. My Dad in charge of daily dog walks. Also mobile hairdresser every 6 weeks first thing on a Saturday, did whole family.
Now just the hairdresser and laundry :)

Oh we have a mobile hairdresser for the DCs. He's very good with SEN kids.

I have a childminder for after school care, a cleaner and shopping delivered. I’m planning to get a window cleaner and someone to put my garden to rights. DH works fill time, I have a part time job and run a small business so effectively work more than full time hours.

Cleaner 3 hours a week.
Ironing 1 hour a week.
Gardener 2 hours a week.
On line food shopping.
Window cleaner monthly.
Always pay for decorating as DH hates it, but he will do most other DIY.

I'd probably go with a cleaner once a week and maybe a regular nanny or reliable babysitter on call?

And deffo online food shopping!

Cleaner for four hours a week. She alternates upstairs and downstairs two hours at a time.
Shopping delivered.
DH runs a maintenance and refurb company so all DIY and decorating etc is done by his team as and when.

I work ft but am a single parent.
Online shopping, cleaner, ironing and mowing the lawn in summer.

My parents had a live in Nanny, 2 gardeners, a cook that came every morning, did lunch for all and left supper, and a cleaner that came 9-12. They had 2 cottages. Cleaner lived in one with her family and the cook in the other. They also had 3 grooms, who ate in the house at lunch and lived in a 3 bed flat above the horses. All off my dads salary and various inheritances I think.

Basically only the Nanny in the house and everyone gone by lunch time. At 7 we went off to boarding school. My mum had so many car crashes they really should have had a driver too. She died when the youngest was 7 and was sick for a long time. 4 kids.

In the interest of balance - none. Done all ourselves.

Just about to have first DC so probably a bit different and fully aware I might be naive... But we both worked similar hours before my mat leave, and did everything ourselves other than window cleaning (we'd need to buy some pretty serious ladders to reach some of our upstairs windows!). If continuing to work these hours then I was looking at adding a weekly cleaner, fortnightly gardener and possibly ironing too as I didn't think we could still do everything ourselves with a baby and working those hours.

However just wanted to echo a pp upthread and suggest looking at reducing the working hours rather than outsourcing more. We have ended up choosing to do this and taking a financial hit to do a year of shared parental leave. We will then both go back PT so that we only have to put DD in nursery two short days a week until she is 3. We can afford this but only just and there won't be spare cash for stuff like a cleaner or gardener. Obviously this won't work for everyone but just wanted to give another approach. Mainly neither of us wanted to have small DCs and still be working long hours and I felt it would just be so stressful particularly trying to manage nursery pick up and drop offs etc. It might turn out not to work and we both go back to FT but we'll see!

Cleaner for 2.5 hours a week. They also change the beds.

Weekly ironing collection and delivery service.

Gardener (every other week)

Window cleaner (roughly every six weeks)

Odd job man who does things like cleaning the gutters, fixing things in the house, and a bit of painting and decorating. He tends to come about once a month or so.

I use an ironing service, online grocery delivery, window cleaner and handyman.
I would love a cleaner but my house is tiny so could never really justify it to myself

Cleaner 3 hours a week (also does ironing)
Gardener as and when
Window cleaner
And my favourite: Amazon Prime, the 4th emergency service!

none. both work but can't afford hired help

Weekly cleaner
Weekly supermarket delivery
Shirt ironing service twice a month
Au pair provides school wrap around care
Window cleaner every other month
Handyman as and when required

Online deliveries of groceries and other goods are not a “bought in” service IMO, unless delivery charges are high, which in the UK isn’t the case for supermarkets etc.

Weekly cleaner for the house. Window cleaner. We take the car through the car wash.
I would like to hire a lawn service next year.

I meal plan and set up click and collect grocery orders that I can add to whenever. It’s not exactly a bought-in service, but it saves me a lot of time. We have some set nights (Monday is always pasta) and some nights I vary, depending on the available time.