Wherever you live on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, be it Elanora Heights, Ingleside, North Narrabeen, Narrabeen, or Warriewood, you are likely to be blessed with a lovely home.
However, no matter how picture-perfect your property’s potential is, there is always a buildup of household chores to keep it organised and looking its best.
Here’s our list of helpful hacks to minimise the workload and stress related to chores:
How to take control of weekly household chores
1. Grocery shopping
If the thought of walking the supermarket aisles feels overwhelming, stop doing it. You can side-step your weekly trip to the shops by ordering home delivery or click and collect from one of the major supermarket retailers.
Shopping online lets you track what you’re spending so you don’t overbuy. You can also create lists and select items from your last shop if you’re not feeling inspired.
If you need it now, check out apps like Milkrun and Instant Food and Grocery which provide an Uber-style delivery service for grocery deliveries.
Your other option is to subscribe to a dinner service like Dinner Ladies, which delivers home-cooked, frozen meals on the Northern Beaches. Hello Fresh and Marley Spoon are other helpful shortcuts to save you from deciding what to cook and shopping for it.
2. Dust & vacuum & clean bathrooms
Dusting and vacuuming take up a lot of time that could be better spent working or enjoying time with your family. Hiring help does not have to break the bank. Check out Gumtree, Airtasker, or local Facebook pages, and you can find cleaners for as little as $20 an hour.
3. Clothes washing
House cleaners can be housekeepers as well. If you have a regular cleaner, talk to them about helping with things like washing and folding laundry. The extra half-hour or so that you gain back in your week in so many different ways, even if it is only to have some peace and quiet while you curl up and watch Netflix.
4. Pet care
Lots of pet care responsibilities can be outsourced too. This includes dog walking, clearing up pet mess, and even pre-ordering pet food.
Domestic help can clean up pet mess, and there are lots of pet grooming and walking services based in the area. You can even schedule a regular delivery of human-grade food for your pup from a local Northern Beaches provider.
Monthly household chores
In the days of the infinite to-do list, outsourcing is the answer.
- Washing the car
You can queue for way too long when you take your car to a carwash. On the other hand, doing it yourself can take even longer. Why not try a mobile car washer? They will come to you and clean your care without the hassle of heading to a carwash or doing it yourself.
- Mowing the lawn and weed the garden
Mowing the lawn has to be one of the most time-consuming tasks there is. Don’t waste your time. Hire a gardener and forget about mowing the grass yourself.
A garden full of weeds is an eyesore; let your gardener come in and deal with weeds as well.
- Housework – deep cleaning tasks
The best cleaners tackle one or two larger or less frequently-required chores each time they visit, such as organising the pantry or taking on the dirt under the fridge. Make a list for them to work through so your house gets deep-clean jobs done throughout the year as well as vacuuming etc.
- Paying bills
The simplest way to pay bills on time is to set up direct debits for all your services. This way, your accounts are settled, and you don’t have to deal with making the payments yourself. If you have more complicated finances to deal with, outsource to an accountant, bookkeeper or bill paying service. This can save you money by reducing late payment fees.
Seasonal house and garden maintenance
Those bigger jobs that only need doing once or twice a year can be a pain if you don’t get them done at the right times.
Here are the best times to do some of these seasonal chores:
1. Outside household jobs
- Window washing and driveway pressure washing are best done twice a year, just before summer and just before winter.
- Cleaning the gutters should be done at the end of autumn after the leaves have fallen but before the winter rains.
- Removing or pruning back trees should happen twice a year.
- Planting, on the other hand, is best done at the end of winter, ready for spring growth.
2. Indoor household jobs
- Carpets are best cleaned once a year in the summer. Having them cleaned in the hotter months makes it easier for them to dry.
- It’s a smart idea to clean ovens and barbecues at the end of spring. Ovens often see more use in the winter when you cook healthier meals so the end of spring is the best time to clean them up. And, naturally, the start of summer is when the barbecue comes out, so the end of spring is the best time to get it clean.
Beat household stress in postcode 2101
The best way to take the stress out of dealing with all the above jobs is to organise them for the same day whenever possible. Get it all done in one fell swoop, and book the next visit before your helpers leave. This will save you from that sinking, “I have to call that person” feeling that is always hovering when you’re a busy professional.
Need help to find reliable household services providers? We know all the names on the Northern Beaches. Contact us for referrals.