Living on a budget and staying within our means doesn’t always have to mean that life is boring or we never get things that most of the world would consider a luxury. Sure, we have forgone certain things (like sticking with our laminate countertops vs. replacing them with granite like I truly adore!) but there are some things that are worth a few extra dollars in my opinion.
We have a teenager that babysits for us for a regular date night (which I highly recommend if you can squeeze it in at all!) But that’s only part of it. We have her arrive on the later side- around 7- so there’s only about an hour and a half of actual babysitting before the kids go to bed. Then- then!- she folds our laundry. ALL OF IT. It’s usually like 8-10 loads and of course it’s something I could do myself but I HATE putting up laundry for some reason. She puts up everyone except mine and Ben’s so it takes me all of 5 minutes to do that. And if she finishes that, she’ll even clean up the kitchen, too!
It may seem like something silly, but the amount of stress and (mostly) dreading that it saves me, we absolutely love it! Now be sure that if you hire someone to do this, be upfront! Don’t surprise them after they show up for the first day of baby-sitting and say “Oh, you have all this to do as well!”
When presenting it to our sitter, I told her that we needed a mother’s helper and that sitting, cleaning, or any combo of the 2 could be involved. And she’s very happy! We pay her $8 an hour which is slightly below average for our area, but like I said, she is young and lives at home and doesn’t have bills and was very happy with this wage. (Oh, and her mom told us not to overpay her. Nice, huh?)
$30 a week is not a ton of money for us, and it helps our sitter save for different things like a car and a choir trip she wants to go on. It’s truly a win for everyone!
Oh- and since I’m talking about laundry- you should totally check out Grove’s new offer for new customers. You get FREE
- Seventh Generation Free & Clear Laundry Detergent
- Seventh Generation Free & Clear Stain Remover
- Seventh Generation Free & Clear Fabric Softener
Um yes please! Free laundry detergent is always a win. Click here to create your Grove account and automatically add this offer to your account! *You do have to spend $0 to get this offer, but I assure you you’ll have no trouble doing that. Check out their glass spray bottles, Acure hair products, or even their clearance section!
(I started this post a while back and didn’t finish it, so things look a bit different for us now, but still something I highly recommend!)
More laundry tips here:
About Kelli Hays
