How long should this take two adults?

[MovinOnUp]

I had a cleaner to do (most of) this list until recently but now BF is moving in soon and we are trying to cut costs.
Previous cleaner is my friend so we spent a lot of her time here drinking coffee and chatting so I've no idea how long the actual cleaning took.
Both of us working together, How long do you think this would take...

Cleaning list for Saturday

General
Open all windows and put rug out to air (Weather permitting)
Strip bedding and put on to wash

Kitchen
High dusting
Top of fridge, Metal splashback and high cabinets cleaned.
Appliances cleaned (Mixer, Kettle, Toaster and Microwave)
Windowsill, Sink, Cabinet fronts and Fridge freezer cleaned.
Floor hoovered and mopped.

Livingroom
High dusting.
Glass doors, T.V and patio doors cleaned.
Surfaces dusted and polished.
Sockets and Skirting boards dusted/wiped down
Hoover and mop.
(Rug to be beaten outside and replaced when floor is dry)

Bathroom
High dusting
Shelves dusted/wiped
*clean cat trays
Shower walls, accessories, glass screen and tray cleaned.
Sink and toilet cleaned (including bases and back of sink and toilet)
Skirting boards dusted/wiped down
Floor hoovered and mopped

(Hoover and mop bedroom floors before starting on the hallway)

Hallway and Front Porch

High dusting
Doors and handles wiped down
Pictures and mirrors cleaned
Sockets and Skirting boards dusted/wiped down
Cat trays emptied and cleaned out (*rinsed in shower before cleaning bathroom)
Floors hoovered and mopped

Also is there anything I'm forgetting?

This is what I (on a good day) do daily...

Daily

Morning

Rubbish out & cat trays emptied
Cats fed & watered
Laundry hung up
Dishes done and away
Kitchen wiped down and hoovered (mopped if necessary)
Living room tidied (Sort sofa etc)
Living room dusted & hoovered
Bathroom wiped down and hoovered
Hallway dusted and hoovered
Front porch mopped

Evening

Rubbish out & cat trays emptied
Cats fed & watered
Dishes done and away
Kitchen wiped down and hoovered (mopped if necessary)
Living room tidied (Sort sofa etc)
Living room dusted & hoovered
Clean laundry away
Wash on.

@MittsMajuna I don't leave for work as I work from home, But I start and 10 and finish at 5.

I've brought a pup into my home with two cats before, 13 years ago. The cats hid on top of the freezer for a couple of weeks then gradually spent more time at floor level with the pup. They were all cuddled in together after about 3 or 4 weeks.

My cats will be going nowhere, Nor will the pup.
If they don't get on then the cats can stay out of the dogs way and we'll just manage.

Robot hoover won't track cat/dog shit around if you don't let it do automatic cleans in areas they are without you. Ours doesn't do automatic ones but still replaces 95% of our regular hoovering - we only get the "big" hoover out for spills or breakages, or awkward areas you need the pole thing for.

Ah! thank you @mrsmuddlepies I had a strange feeling reading OP's cleaning list - kind of panicy and as though there wasn't enough air. A feeling of a need to escape. Now I know that it was cleaning list induced claustrophobia

I'm a slovenly slattern it seems. That list induced terror!

@BeyondMyWits I do actually have a monthly list AND a quarterly list.
Best not post them here though :)

Why is it organised mum? Why can't dads be organised?

Some people don’t know how to keep a house. I like living in a clean home.

That's true @meccacos2. However, most people who also like living in a clean house, are able to get the balance right.

Blimey! I was exhausted just reading the list! Think I’ll have to have a lay down now!

@MovinOnUp Are your DCs with you every weekend?

I was also about to ask how combining households means you need to cut costs, when normally that would free up more money. However you’ve explained that you want to boost your savings (for a wedding maybe?)

If (like you) your boyfriend shares your standards of cleanliness and is happy that boosting your joint savings means that he has to spend his Saturday mornings cleaning then just give it all a go when he first moves in and see how long it takes. You can refine things from there (and even get a cleaner again if it doesn’t work out).

Only you know how much more quickly your savings goal will be reached by adding the cost of the cleaner to them, and whether there are other things you can cut.

Personally, I’d keep the cleaner and have her come when I was at work as I love coming home to a sparkling house once a week. I would then sit in my sparkling house and plan how to cook on a budget, mend clothes instead of buying new, collect discount codes for shopping, research holiday deals etc etc.

You sound surprised that “most people” don’t do a big clean every weekend. I really don’t think it’s that standard and to many it seems over- regimented. What if you wanted to go for a day out- would you worry about leaving the house less than perfect?

I'm in awe. How do you have time to go to work? Also, did you mention that you have problems with your joints?... I'm not surprised.

Yeah OP I have a v tidy and clean house and even I will admit that list is ridiculous!! I think the Saturday list should take an hour and half if there’s two of you. Choose 2/3 areas each as such.

The daily list just happens as you go along surely?

@BenWillbondsPants alternate weekends

Also @BenWillbondsPants I'd say seven hours cleaning vs The entire rest of my free time relaxing was fairly balanced in 'relaxings' favour.

If you and your BF are happy with the list, then surely you just get on and do the jobs and you will then find out how long it tskes the pair of you ?

Asking how long other people think it ^should" take is odd as people work in vadt6ly different ways.

You spend enough time doing housework to be sble to work out how long it would take you. How long it would take you and your bf will depend on how proficient and motivated he is.

If I were you, I would read some of the threads on the step parenting area of MN. I am not a step parent and I think some of the threads are useful for helping an existing parent gain awareness of some of the pitfalls of moving in a new boyfriend.

@MovinOnUp Are there any of the bigger jobs (cleaning windows/glass doors etc) that you feel you could do every other weekend when your DCs aren't with you?

That would free up more time on the Saturdays they're there? Or if they're older they can have a coupl of chores when they're there and cut down on all the cleaning time.

Get a cheaper, better cleaner and enjoy your saturdays.

Or get some therapy. That list is wild!!!

Also @BenWillbondsPants I'd say seven hours cleaning vs The entire rest of my free time relaxing was fairly balanced in 'relaxings' favour.

@MovinOnUp not sure why you're telling me, this but ok.

I'd be very interested in reading updates of how this goes when BF moves and settles in.

Can I move in as well OP and you can whip me into shape? A training camp for slatterns!

Having a second wage-earning adult in the household surely means that overall finances for the household are much greater. I'd have a cleaner.

Don't be suprised if he starts calling you Miss Hannigan OP

OP you need to send your BF the cleaning list and discuss and agree the daily/weekly rota with him BEFORE he moves in.

Also, it seems strange you're wanting to cut down on your expenses by canceling the cleaning service, but you're planning to get a dog which will up your expenses and add to the already ridiculously long cleaning list.

Keep the cleaner, forget about the dog.

I'm trying to think how I'd feel if I was the boyfriend. I can understand how if are enjoying your relationship you want to make it closer so you can be together rather than going on dates. And he'd like to make you happy.

But essentially it's your house, your kids and your rules. Nothing wrong with any of this.

Only how does it feel to move in with someone and have little input into how things are run. I'm not suggesting he should immediately act like some 'Dad' figure or seek to overturn well-established routines.

But what's going to happen when he's had a busy week at work, and has spent Friday night helping one of the kids with their homework or biting his lip as you attempt to deal with some issue one of the children is having, when he'd like to express a view. Then he wants a lie in wit you or to go for a run, or to see one of his mates. (Also the kids are moaning, because he's stopped being the fun friend who is just about every now and then. He's the one saying, ''Now I need to get into the shower and shave so 'Hurry up. And you're really hoping they don't moan to the ex about this.' Then on Saturday you say, 'Come on get up, it's time for the big clean. I need to have the house gutted.'

@BenWillbondsPants Sorry did I get you muddled with another poster, I thought I'd read a post from you saying that I didn't have the 'balance' right. My apologies if that was someone else.