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We outsource childcare and major home projects. I wish we could afford lawn service again! That was AMAZING and I loved coming home to a perfect lawn.

this is a small thing that you might already do, but last spring I started using Amazon Pantry (and regular Prime) to buy all of our cleaning supplies and a lot of dry goods/household basics, and we never have to waste an entire Saturday morning going to Target anymore. Plus, Prime remembers what you bought, so you can just re-order the same paper towels and stuff when you run out.

We eat out a lot on the weekends but I am trying to cut down on that this year. I bought a pressure cooker recently and hoping to speed up my cooking. I wish I could outsource home cooked meals. I have a meal train going on from family and friends until February since we just had our DD2. It's so nice not to have to worry about cooking for a month!

@Mrs Green Grass: when DS2 starts part time school in the fall, we will do the same for afternoon care. Have nanny pick him up, put him down for a nap, do housework then pick the older up from school and do their after care.

I've been there with the drowning feeling. We outsource a few things but I took a really hard look at what we need, what we can put up with mess-wise, and what it would cost us to hire people to do even more - delayed retirement? fewer vacations? etc. I tried to really come up with systems that would help streamline the day to day mess that is generated. Do you need a better organizing system for toys, so there aren't toys everywhere after bedtime that require more cleaning? Do you have too many dishes that require hand washing? Not judging here, just listing some of the things I came up with in our home!

As for suggestions, I don't know if amazon pantry has been mentioned and I haven't tried it myself but I've heard good things from others. It wouldn't eliminate the need to grocery shop but would at least cut down on the time it takes, and ensure a supply of quick meals that are still relatively healthy and allergy-appropriate. We try not to eat packaged food but have started keeping some items around that are easy to throw together for a quick dinner. I've heard great things about personal chefs as some have mentioned above - for example, one person I know said they come over once or twice a week, prepare several dishes at a time, and clean up after themselves.

My biggest issue was (and still is) the little day-to-day stuff. Unloading/loading dishwasher, wiping all the counters, putting away everything that accumulates on the counters and kitchen island after a day of activity, folding laundry and putting away, etc. It is so tedious and time consuming. I mentioned to a coworker that I hate doing this stuff every day and she actually asked her cleaning lady if she would be willing to come over to tidy up each day and the lady said yes. Point being, you can always find someone to do what you don't want to do. If you already have a cleaning person, maybe ask them, or ask around for references on a person that is trustworthy. I second nextdoor.com as we've found that to be a valuable resource. A great nanny as has been mentioned is also a valuable asset. Sorry this post is so long but I totally feel your pain and still struggle with this myself!

So far the only thing we outsource is childcare. That's already so expensive for us that we can't afford to outsource anything else without drastically changing our spending/lifestyle/travel habits, and we'd rather keep that stuff and clean our own house, do our own laundry, etc.

I do buy a lot of convenience foods for dinner--not necessarily unhealthy processed foods, but I'm always totally willing to be already washed/chopped veggies or frozen veggies that just have to be microwave steamed. And I only cook 2-3 times a week, but bigger batches and we eat every meal twice.

@MrsH: you didn't offend me, but I do think there's a common misconception that if you WAH you have the freedom to do whatever you want. Don't get me wrong, it's easier in a lot of ways than working out of the home (I've done both) but if you do your job correctly you don't have all that much free time! It also may be different than others' experiences - I solo parent quite a bit (every morning until our nanny arrives) and many nights I have to do everything alone.

@MrsH: With regard to the nightly rush...this was killing me...I do pick up at drop off and hated that the minute I walked in the door I had to immediately cook dinner if I had any chance of us eating "homemade" (seriously using that term very loosely). I made a small change a few months ago and it has been HUGE...on Sundays I make a casserole...something easy and that I know K wont fight with me over eating. I walk in the door at 5:45 and if I have just had a bad day and dont want to rush through fixing a nice dinner I know I have good food for K to eat and I can fuss over DH and I after decompressing for a minute. Usually its pasta bake, mac n cheese, enchiladas - something that re-heats well and at least makes me personally feel better than easy mac. (I dont think there is anything wrong with easy mac) I also try to cook one veggie on Sundays for the same reason - having something on hand!

With regard to the clutter. K is 2.5 now - so we make her pick up her own toys. She knows before bed she has a "chore" of picking her toys up. I bought a bunch of sterilite plastic bins for our family room and she puts all her toys in them at night.

As for counter clutter - I read a blog post once that was about taking 5-15 mins of time each night to sort the house. I think the blogger had older children who could handle better chores but a couple things I took away from it was that she has a bin on her kitchen counter that collects the "crap" (i.e. mail, kids homework reports, etc). On an ongoing basis - you just throw it in so yes the bin is a mess but the counter is clear. Then once a week or every few days she goes through the bin. She also had baskets on the stairs, one for each family member, and at the end of each day she could walk the house collecting the items that found their way downstairs and needed to go back upstairs...

I have used both of these techniques and they have both helped me feel better with "quick" fixes. I try to spend 10 mins on my feet after LO goes down just re-grouping the house...its helped a ton...

@Mrs D: bins on the stairs are awesome. We did something silica growing up, and our chore was to clear the stairs.

I do the same thing @Mrs D: does (make a big meal on Sundays). That way I know I could walk in the door on Monday, heat up dinner and that would help so much with the night time rush.

I also got in the habit of meal planning and meal prepping on weekends or the night before. It made the after work rush so much easier when I had to just put something in the oven or heat on the stove vs prepping an entire meal.