When your life gets overwhelming (isn’t it always?), it’s time to outsource. These days, you can outsource just about anything, from adulting (now officially a word, according to the Oxford Dictionary) to registering. We found a few ways to simplify your life.
Outsource: Adulting
They’ll do it Outsourced Adulting
What they’ll do for you They shop for groceries (and put everything away), prep meals, change sheets and towels, fold laundry and put it away, drop off and pick up dry cleaning, pick up and wrap gifts. Basically, they’ll do anything that comes with being an adult. “I had seen a number of moms posting about their guilt surrounding having their kids in day care all day, coming home and trying to get dinner on the table all while pushing these same kids away,” says owner Beth Cohen-Dorfman. “Then a friend posted a picture of her couch covered in a mountain of clean laundry—this is totally mom life, and I’d love to help make it easier.”
Cost $50 per hour with a one-hour minimum.
Outsource: Annoying tasks
They’ll do it Fancyhands.com
What they’ll do for you They will do anything that doesn’t involve them leaving the office. So they’ll research flights, sort out your cable bill, shop online for birthday gifts, book restaurant reservations or anything else you would be doing during naptime aside from binging on reality TV.
Cost Starts at $29.99 for five requests per month.
Outsource: Potty training
They’ll do it Oh Crap Potty Training
What they’ll do for you They can do everything from creating a personalized plan to hooking you up with other parents going through the same thing. The owner has a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering from Northwestern, and she was an environmental, health and safety professional—so we’re pretty sure potty training isn’t the hardest thing she’s conquered (hopefully?). Now, she devotes her time to raising her children and helping hundreds of parents get through potty training. She knows all the tricks.
Cost Starts at $120 for 60 minutes of phone support.
Outsource: School lunches
They’ll do it Wise Apple
What they’ll do for you They deliver ready-to-eat school lunches to your door. You can choose from the current menu or you can customize your own meals for pickier eaters. Lunches can include such things as sliced green apples with sunbutter, barbecue chicken tacos, pita pizza, mini pasta shells with cheddar cheese sauce and chocolate veggie brownies (with carrots and spinach hidden inside.)
Cost Starts at $34.95+shipping for five lunches. The more you order, the lower the price.
Outsource: Finding a camp for your kid
They’ll do it Camp and Teen Travel Consultants
What they’ll do for you They know everything about sleepaway camps. Seriously. They live and breathe sleepaway camps. So when you meet with these experts and tell them that your child would love to learn about horses and glassblowing next summer, you can rest assured that they’ll be able to tell you exactly which sleepaway camp will be perfect.
Cost Free.
Outsource: Babyproofing
They’ll do it A&H Child Proofers
What they’ll do for you Babyproofing a home is overwhelming because if you do it wrong, it can have serious consequences. The experts will come to your home and do the measuring, the buying and the installing. They’ll tell you what you need for every room of the house, they’ll customize it for your home’s décor—and you don’t need to lift a finger.
Cost The average price of these installations is about $2,000.
Outsource: Baby registry
They’ll do it Chicago Mommy Concierge
What they’ll do for you They’ll do the entire thing, researching and registering for everything you’ll need based on your personal style.
Cost $325.
Outsource: Furniture assembly
They’ll do it Task Rabbit
What they’ll do for you They will put together the crib, the dresser, anything from Ikea ever. They’ll also do home repairs, yardwork and packing. It’s almost like Uber for handymen, but you get to choose the person by seeing the percentage of positive reviews and the number of tasks they’ve done to date. You plug in the date you want the work done, and the people who are available will pop up.
Cost Each handyman has a different hourly price, and it can range from about $35 to $75 per hour.
Outsource: All annoying stuff that comes with moving
They’ll do it CMF Transitional Organization
What they’ll do for you They’ll pack your stuff in the old place, unpack it in the new place (the owner of CMF Transitional Organization has an interior design background, so you can leave her alone and let her work her magic) and even sell and donate the items you don’t want anymore. But they don’t stop there. When you arrive at your new home, the last thing you want to deal with is setting up the cable, the internet and all those other tedious tasks. So they’ll do that for you, too. Even your fridge will be stocked by the time you step foot in your new home. Moving will be as easy as driving from one home to the next.
Cost About $90 per hour.
