Housework

Maureen43

Thanks for all the replies. Interesting!

Eldest is 13 and goes to bed when I do (!!) so no chance of getting stuff done when she is in bed.

My standards are quite high currently and I can see they will have to drop!

I think is is a question of setting priorities from high to low i.e. Food (incl cooking and shopping), laundry, other stuff (paperwork and bills), cleaning and gardening at bottom of list.

And, if I had to prioritise cleaning, then kitchen and bathroom top, with hoovering next and other stuff not really on the radar at all!

I'm pretty good a multi-tasking generally but it all seems rather daunting at the moment.

poppy_f1

i would get the 13 year old to help out with some housework
at that age i was doing things like cutting the grass, hoovering the stairs to get extra cash - bribery worked with me and it also made me learn that i didnt get money for nothing - doing odd jobs helped bump up pocket money

krlyr

I'm sure you'll find ways to cut the work or spread it out more efficiently. Getting the kids to help is a good idea too.

Stuff like ironing while watching your favourite TV shows - you can chill but you're getting a task done too. Have the kids sort the socks into pairs and underwear into who's is who's - it's a job my mum had us doing while she ironed.
Could you do your food shopping online or less frequently? Can you go without the kids, e.g. on your way home from work, to save faffing?
Can you take your paperwork into work to sort in your lunchbreak? There's not much to do in my office so sometimes it's quite refreshing to bring in a task I need doing from home and sit doing it in my lunchbreak, be it a bit of sewing, sorting paperwork (handy to make use of the work shredder too) and so on - uses that spare 30 minutes I'd otherwise spend doing not very much.
Getting a wide airer could help with the laundry - we have a Minky one that fits two washloads on so we can have a bash away when the weather is nice, but if it starts to rain or get cloudy we just lift the airer indoors. Not confined to only do washing when the weather is guaranteed to be nice, that way.
Get a jug and rinse the bath down every time you let the water out so the dirt doesn't get the chance to build up, wipe the sink down and clean the taps while you're brushing your teeth, wipe the kitchen sink down just after you've finished the washing up..takes 30 seconds and it's done for the day.
If you're cooking, plan what stuff can be frozen or used the next day. Making 6 portions often isn't any more time consuming than 3 portions, and reheating the extras takes a lot less time than cooking from scratch. Stuff like bolognese can be bulk cooked and frozen and used for various meals - served with pasta, spaghetti or rice, on top of a jacket potato, made into a lasagne, etc.
Maybe look at ways to make the garden less work - my mum has a garden full of flowers but it's low maintenance because it's a semi-wild cottage style look - she just has to weed once a week and trim a few things back. She's had half the lawn replaced with artificial turf too (mainly because grass struggled to grow, but it does make it less maintenance too) - small offcuts can be gotten hold of cheaply if there's not a huge area to cover. Mowing regularly can make it less work than leaving it to get really long and then struggling with the lawnmower, or you may find a teenager who does some basic gardening for cheap if you really don't have the time.

Tupperware_Queen

krlyr wrote: »

Maybe look at ways to make the garden less work - my mum has a garden full of flowers but it's low maintenance because it's a semi-wild cottage style look - she just has to weed once a week and trim a few things back.

once a week!!! Crikey, my garden is lucky to get weeded once a year!!!!

Dunroamin

FBaby wrote: »

What is your expected lstandard of cleanliness? When I was a single mum of two young children working full-time, I set my cleanliness level at tydying, doing the basics (washing clothes, bedding, vaccuming, cleaning worktops, floors etc..),.

That's the basics? It's my idea of a thorough clean!:o

cutestkids

Hi

the thing is to get into a routine so devote one weekend to getting everything in the house in order then it is just a case of keeping on top of things.

For example wipe round the bathroom when you are in there getting ready anyway, pick things up as you see them and pop them in a basket ready to go away that way things dont get left lying everywhere.
When you are cooking get into the habit of making double when you can and freeze it that way you have meals ready so do not have to cook from scratch every day.

If your children are 11 and 13 then they should be taking on a bit of the household chores, my kids are almost 7 and 11 and they do the following in the house.
They are responsible for tidying their own rooms
They have to bring their laundry to me to have it washed
They both hoover their own rooms
They both wipe over their own rooms
They can earn pocket money for thing over and above that such as
Drying dishes.
Hoovering the other rooms in the house
Oldest brings the laundry in when it is hanging out
Setting and clearing the table and wiping down the kitchen surfaces.
They both help in the garden with things like raking up leaves, youngest loves to help wash down the patio, path and deck.

Also at the age your kids are at get them to help with the cooking.

It is amazing how much help they can be around the house and it soon becomes habit for them.

krlyr

Tupperware_Queen wrote: »

once a week!!! Crikey, my garden is lucky to get weeded once a year!!!!

Ditto, I didn't inherit her passion for gardening :rotfl: but I think she only spends 5 minutes here and there. Little and often, catching the weeds while they're small, so obviously stuff that wasn't there last week may have surfaced this week.

Spendless

I'm a Mum of 2 kids aged 9 and 12, currently working in a f-time job (temp position). Though I have a husband, he works long hours and isn't always around (away o/night with work) and he def contributes to the mess! As I hadn't worked f-time since going on maternity with eldest, I started a similar thread and I have to say the advice on there was spot on. You can have a read here

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4038865

Def laundry and meals are the key areas. I found a huge difference one day this week when I came home to a meal ready and tea-time was out of the way by 6pm. In my case hubby made it, but you could rope in the teenager to help you, even if it's just to put in oven a pre-made dish or use a slow cooker. I've found if meal-times inc pots washed and laundry is organised you have enough time to do the other odd jobs.

Sambucus_Nigra

I think it would be worth getting a white board up [if you haven't already got one] - writing down all the chores that need doing daily, weekly and monthly and get the kids to choose one or two of each daily, weekly or monthly chore that they are responsible for. Then put your name to the rest and try and reduce those tasks. For example, ironing, only my work t-shirts get done by my OH - all the rest I can live with being slightly creased - and I make sure they are dried and folded flat in the first place.

Dunroamin

Spendless wrote: »

I found a huge difference one day this week when I came home to a meal ready and tea-time was out of the way by 6pm. In my case hubby made it, but you could rope in the teenager to help you, even if it's just to put in oven a pre-made dish or use a slow cooker. I've found if meal-times inc pots washed and laundry is organised you have enough time to do the other odd jobs.

Nothing is worth eating your evening meal in the middle of the afternoon!:)