I haven't cleaned my house for years (really!)

[smashradio]

I bet you're thinking, "good lord! The man is a slob!" right about now. 

Hold your horses. Let me explain. 

How much time do you spend cleaning and on chores around the house per week? 

Let's draw up some examples: 

• Cleaning floors: 30 minutes
• Dusting: 10 minutes
• Dishes: 3 hours
• Changing bed sheets: 10 minutes
• Carrying our garbage: 15 minutes
• Doing laundry: 15 minutes
• Sweeping: 10 minutes
• Cleaning toilets: 10 minutes

That adds up to 4,5 hours per week. (I rounded it down from 4,6 for simplicity).

Your mileage may vary depending on the size of your home and family, how much of a slob you are and other things. 

My point is: we spend a considerable amount of time per week doing chores around the house. 

Let's add those 4,5 hours together to see how many hours we spend per year. 

4,5 x 52 = 234 hours. That's almost ten full days. Or roughly 2.7% of a year. 

Now let's see what you can earn if you work 234 hours more per year. 

Let's say you earn, on average, 25 USD per work hour. By cleaning, you've lost out on 5850 USD in revenue per year. 

But hey – you schlump of a couch-potato sluggard Mr Smash – you might say. If you don't clean, someone else has to do it. 

That's what my housekeeper...*cough*... I mean cleaning and laundry attendant... is for. 

Let's say this service costs you 40 USD per week. That's 2080 USD per year. 

That means you've earned 3770 USD per year by not cleaning your own house. 

So I don't. And if you earn more per hour worked than the cost of a Cleaning and laundry attendant, you shouldn't, either. Even if you earn the same as their salary, at least you don't have to clean. 

I don't know why I felt like writing all of this. The idea just popped into my head today while sipping on my drink, eating a steak dinner and watching my housekeeper do her thing: I no longer have to excuse my laziness. I can simply say it makes perfect financial sense. And it would be the truth*. 

* For my secret method of never cleaning yourself to work, steak dinner may or may not ruin the math. Your mileage may vary depending on how many asterisks you need behind "truth" for this to work. 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by smashradio

[katakatica]

We have a cleaning service come by twice a months (so dishes are still something I suffer from though usually not so bad!) and honestly, just the stress it saves me from is worth it. 

It's obviously a luxury but it just feels so nice! 

Another life hack i realized IS true (though I am almost certain I've read about it on here before!) is that some fancy hotels will let you work from their lobbies for free. 

Again it feels like such a posh thing to do (so does writing from a cafe for me to be honest) but the view was absolutely worth it!

 

[theratypist]

31 minutes ago, smashradio said:

• Dishes: 3 hours

What dishes are you washing that it takes 3 hours, or do you mean this is an estimate of all the times you clean the dishes for the day? 🤣

[smashradio]

8 minutes ago, katakatica said:

We have a cleaning service come by twice a months (so dishes are still something I suffer from though usually not so bad!) and honestly, just the stress it saves me from is worth it. 

It's obviously a luxury but it just feels so nice! 

Another life hack i realized IS true (though I am almost certain I've read about it on here before!) is that some fancy hotels will let you work from their lobbies for free. 

Again it feels like such a posh thing to do (so does writing from a cafe for me to be honest) but the view was absolutely worth it!

 

I travel a lot and I usually stay at rather fancy hotels, since I'm a sucker for that type of luxury. You sure do feel important when working from a large chair surrounded by chandeliers and expensive golden furniture.

If you're tired of your apartment, that can certainly be great for your mental health. But I prefer to work from home or the hotel room, to be honest. I get easily distracted. 

When it comes to having a housekeeper, I don't view it as a luxury. I view it as a sensible thing to do. The pleasure of watching someone else clean my house is one thing, but I'm actually getting more time to work, meaning I earn money from having the housekeeper here.  

Next step: A butler! 

Edited June 15, 2022 by smashradio

[smashradio]

3 minutes ago, theratypist said:

What dishes are you washing that it takes 3 hours, or do you mean this is an estimate of all the times you clean the dishes for the day? 🤣

Per week for a familiy of three, eating four meals per day. One of us being a baby. I don't think 3 hours per week doing dishes is that unrealistic. Maybe madmoiselle could time herself doing dishes, to see how we would compare? 😄

Edited June 15, 2022 by smashradio

[theratypist]

4 hours ago, smashradio said:

Per week for a familiy of three, eating four meals per day. One of us being a baby. I don't think 3 hours per week doing dishes is that unrealistic. Maybe madmoiselle could time herself doing dishes, to see how we would compare? 😄

Hahaha, actually it makes more sense now. I misread the part that it was a per week estimate - not per day! 

[ozan_erdi]

Interesting topic

I live alone, and here are my solutions for those.

• Cleaning floors: 30 minutes: I got a robot that does that. Preparing the robot for that takes 5 minutes.
• Dusting: 10 minutes: I have 4 horizontal planes in my home. Kitchen counter, dining table, work table, and something to fill the void in the middle of the living room. Aside from kitchen, rest takes like 3 minutes of dusting. I do not care about the little corners of the windows and such to be honest.
• Dishes: 3 hours: I mostly dont eat at home. Breakfast and lunch at the office, dinner is ordered from outside. At weekends i prepare a good breakfast. I love a slow morning with huge breakfasts. And that does not take 3 hours, that takes 15 minutes+kitchen counter dusting.
• Changing bed sheets: 10 minutes: I do that every 15 days.
• Carrying our garbage: 15 minutes: It takes 3 minutes for me, we just leave at the front door nicely sealed, and someone comes and picks them up
• Doing laundry: 15 minutes: Same
• Sweeping: 10 minutes: Robot does that
• Cleaning toilets: 10 minutes: Same

 

So i guess i do not make as much money as you do. But i still make some.

I hire someone for every 3-4 months to take out the corners or fridge and stuff like that. So what i make by not cleaning goes to that person. I think i am even.

[teamandromeda]

11 hours ago, smashradio said:

 

I bet you're thinking, "good lord! The man is a slob!" right about now. 

Hold your horses. Let me explain. 

How much time do you spend cleaning and on chores around the house per week? 

Let's draw up some examples: 

• Cleaning floors: 30 minutes
• Dusting: 10 minutes
• Dishes: 3 hours
• Changing bed sheets: 10 minutes
• Carrying our garbage: 15 minutes
• Doing laundry: 15 minutes
• Sweeping: 10 minutes
• Cleaning toilets: 10 minutes

That adds up to 4,5 hours per week. (I rounded it down from 4,6 for simplicity).

Your mileage may vary depending on the size of your home and family, how much of a slob you are and other things. 

My point is: we spend a considerable amount of time per week doing chores around the house. 

Let's add those 4,5 hours together to see how many hours we spend per year. 

4,5 x 52 = 234 hours. That's almost ten full days. Or roughly 2.7% of a year. 

Now let's see what you can earn if you work 234 hours more per year. 

Let's say you earn, on average, 25 USD per work hour. By cleaning, you've lost out on 5850 USD in revenue per year. 

But hey – you schlump of a couch-potato sluggard Mr Smash – you might say. If you don't clean, someone else has to do it. 

That's what my housekeeper...*cough*... I mean cleaning and laundry attendant... is for. 

Let's say this service costs you 40 USD per week. That's 2080 USD per year. 

That means you've earned 3770 USD per year by not cleaning your own house. 

So I don't. And if you earn more per hour worked than the cost of a Cleaning and laundry attendant, you shouldn't, either. Even if you earn the same as their salary, at least you don't have to clean. 

I don't know why I felt like writing all of this. The idea just popped into my head today while sipping on my drink, eating a steak dinner and watching my housekeeper do her thing: I no longer have to excuse my laziness. I can simply say it makes perfect financial sense. And it would be the truth*. 

* For my secret method of never cleaning yourself to work, steak dinner may or may not ruin the math. Your mileage may vary depending on how many asterisks you need behind "truth" for this to work. 

 

Just genius. We also always had housekeepers and cleaners and those times where better than without one. Sooo once I can afford it again, will definately go that way too haha 

[visualstudios]

Dishes - the machine does them.
Floors - the roomba does it.
Laundry - the machine does it.
Taking out garbage - I do it, but that's like 10 minutes a week lol

I think the real pro tip here is: don't have kids. 

[miiila]

13 hours ago, smashradio said:

How much time do you spend cleaning and on chores around the house per week? 

No idea. I do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. 

[prettydice]

10 minutes ago, corsogr said:

I pictured this as well. 

 

[smashradio]

3 hours ago, ozan_erdi said:

Interesting topic

I live alone, and here are my solutions for those.

• Cleaning floors: 30 minutes: I got a robot that does that. Preparing the robot for that takes 5 minutes.
• Dusting: 10 minutes: I have 4 horizontal planes in my home. Kitchen counter, dining table, work table, and something to fill the void in the middle of the living room. Aside from kitchen, rest takes like 3 minutes of dusting. I do not care about the little corners of the windows and such to be honest.
• Dishes: 3 hours: I mostly dont eat at home. Breakfast and lunch at the office, dinner is ordered from outside. At weekends i prepare a good breakfast. I love a slow morning with huge breakfasts. And that does not take 3 hours, that takes 15 minutes+kitchen counter dusting.
• Changing bed sheets: 10 minutes: I do that every 15 days.
• Carrying our garbage: 15 minutes: It takes 3 minutes for me, we just leave at the front door nicely sealed, and someone comes and picks them up
• Doing laundry: 15 minutes: Same
• Sweeping: 10 minutes: Robot does that
• Cleaning toilets: 10 minutes: Same

 

So i guess i do not make as much money as you do. But i still make some.

I hire someone for every 3-4 months to take out the corners or fridge and stuff like that. So what i make by not cleaning goes to that person. I think i am even.

Living alone clearly changes things up. In my house, I would have to have at least 6 robots. We have a big house and a baby, so that obviously adds to the workload. 

Your garbage situation sounds very nice, though! I envy you. 

2 hours ago, visualstudios said:

Dishes - the machine does them.
Floors - the roomba does it.
Laundry - the machine does it.
Taking out garbage - I do it, but that's like 10 minutes a week lol

Dishes: you have to put the it in the machine and take it out again. 

Floors - I'd need six Roombas just to vacuum and they would run constantly. Did I mention we also have three cats? 

Laundry - Duh! But you have to sort it, put it inside the machine, put detergent in it, then take it out, dry it (or put it in the drier) and then fold it and put it back into your closet. 

Garbage: That adds up to 8,6 hours per year spent on garbage. 

So if you spend five minutes a week on the Roomba (4,3 hours per year), 10 minutes on dishes per week (8,6 hours per year), 10 minutes on laundry (8,6 hours per year) and 10 minutes on garbage (8,6 hours per year), you're spending 30 hours on chores around the house per year. So it adds up. 

2 hours ago, visualstudios said:

I think the real pro tip here is: don't have kids. 

Lol 

 

Edited June 16, 2022 by smashradio

[ozan_erdi]

Just now, smashradio said:

Living alone clearly changes things up. In my house, I would have to have at least 4 robots. We have a big house and a baby, so that obviously adds to the workload. 

Your garbage situation sounds very nice, though! I envy you. 

Yeah Living alone of course makes it easier for the most part. My place is about 80m2 2 bedroom, kitchen+living room. A small and a big bathroom (I use small bathroom as a big closet)

For a bonus, i have a little garden. Which there are 5 cats living rent free. I forgot to add those, i spend about 10 minutes daily for them. Taking out their poopies, refreshing their food and drink. And once every 2 weeks i got to clean the garden because they bring some leaves, sticks and whatnot, making a little mess.

For garbage situation. Almost every apartment has a janitor in İstanbul. They clean the common areas like the halls, stairs, take out garbages and take care of the garden. They do some repair jobs too if its not something extreme. In the past, like several years ago or something, when online shopping wasnt a thing, they sometimes go out for shopping for the elderly and such. Good utility. We used to call them "doorman" Now its considered somewhat rude and we call them "apartment attendant". 

But not having baby changes everything. I dont suddenly feel the urge to throw some stuff around like babies do, usually. I cant imagine what a dog would do.

 

[smashradio]

29 minutes ago, ozan_erdi said:

Yeah Living alone of course makes it easier for the most part. My place is about 80m2 2 bedroom, kitchen+living room.

We have 350 m2  (living room, kitchen, hallway, stairway, 1 en-suite master bedroom, two regular ones and one of them is my office, home theatre room, laundry room and garage + rooftop terrace (60 m2) + back yard. Sometimes I do envy people living in small apartments. Less work!

Cats ❤️ 

Edited June 16, 2022 by smashradio

[ozan_erdi]

Just now, smashradio said:

We have 350 m2  (living room, kitchen, hallway, stairway, 1 en-suite master bedroom, two regular ones and one of them is my office, home theatre room, laundry room and garage + rooftop terrace (60 m2) + back yard. Sometimes I do envy people living in small apartments. Less work!

Cats ❤️ 

My man, you dont need 4 robots to clean that house. You need Optimus Prime and TI1000 to clean that. No wonder why you dont clean your house ever. Screw that.

[prettydice]

4 hours ago, ozan_erdi said:

I hire someone for every 3-4 months

I love this idea and do the same! My household can manage weekly removal of everyone's hair/fur as well as trash and dishes. These tasks have become a routine for me and my partner so we don't have to think about it and we also share the time cost. Laundry is more difficult but but we are always discussing improvements.  Also we do not have children 😉

I appreciate hiring help for deeper cleans prior to an event or at least once or twice a year. It can be too much to get done if there is a hard deadline with other factors involved (which there always are). I cannot afford constant assistance and don't want it, but I do hire for projects that would cost me more in personal time and energy than in dollars. 

[only1kader]

I help my Mother and wife with Cleaning and washing at home. I take it as an interval from work. It helps my brain to take a break and do some physical exercise. 

[smashradio]

3 hours ago, marilynplumm670 said:

 I won’t say that I am a big fan of cleaning, but I really like to make different things for decor, and in a dirty house it will not be so beautiful.

The idea is to have someone else do all that for you. 😄

[psykkopatte]

I can relate, my rubbish is full of banana skins, yoghurt pots, any kind of other things, my desk is full of beer bottles and metal caps, dusty aswell on screens and shelf.
I just clean the ground but I have to admit it doesn't look like a working place 🤣

[smashradio]

22 hours ago, psykkopatte said:

I can relate, my rubbish is full of banana skins, yoghurt pots, any kind of other things, my desk is full of beer bottles and metal caps, dusty aswell on screens and shelf.
I just clean the ground but I have to admit it doesn't look like a working place 🤣

Did you read the post? My house is spotless. The thing is: I don't do it myself. 🤣