To explain the quiz...

Well, I have questions for all of you, and stick with me 'cause this will be a long post.

I'm heading back to work in a matter of a few days and will now be full time (I've pretty much always worked full time before last year...and I only took the 80% appointment with the idea that I would be full time in the future). Anyway. I recently got a brochure in the mail for a cleaning company. I kept it, thinking that maybe I'd call to see how much it would run for every other week. Pre-Molly, when I was first out of grad school and working long hours 45 minutes away from home, we indulged in a cleaning service for several months. It was nice, but we stopped after noticing that things weren't always getting done (that we were paying for), plus I found out I was pregnant and freaked out about the cost of daycare, diapers, etc.

A few weeks ago, I was at a home visit (at a very, very nice home that was at least 2500 sq. ft.) and this cleaning service was there. I asked the mom how she liked it and she chatted it up...even told me how much she was paying without me actually asking - $80 biweekly! That's what I was paying at the old house for 1000 sq. ft.! Naturally that piqued my interest. When I called, my phone estimate was $65-85 biweekly. I just need to have the in-home estimate to find out a firm price.

More recently, I was talking with someone (my therapist) and mentioned the cleaning service. then I mentioned that, even more than cleaning, I'd LOVE to find someone that would maybe once a week prepare/assemble meals that could be frozen and brought out later for dinners. And...she told me about this place called Alicat Kitchens, which is a place where you can go and assemble your own meals using their food, etc., but you can also have them make them for you to pick up. The place isn't really close to my house, but it's right around the corner from my husband's office. Now, I really hate grocery shopping (unless it's at Whole Foods, and we don't have any around here *sob*) and I'm not very good at it. We end up running back to the store a few times per week for 1-2 things. Or we say "screw it" and go out to eat. For 12 full meals (that serve 4-6 people; we're only 3) that include meats and two sides each, it would be $180. When looking at the cost of running back and forth to the store, going out to eat, and the time, we probably spend at least that. I'm going to look at the numbers to make sure. Since the meals are larger than we need, we would have leftovers for either another meal or for next day lunches. The only thing we'd need is a chest freezer, and we were planning to get one anyway.

Hence the quiz. What do y'all think about my dilemma? Now, I know that these things sound incredibly spoiled, but believe me, I don't buy myself a lot of other things...I don't spend hundreds of dollars on purses or shoes (well, except a couple pairs of Danskos that I own), I shop sales a LOT, and most of Molly's daycare clothes are consignment or Target's Circo brand. We don't go on big, expensive vacations. (And just because I need to get this out, you know the neighbor that I referenced earlier this week? She spent $1600 on a Prada purse so she could have it for her 10 year class reunion. Six.teen.hundred.dollars. Oh HELL no.) And we don't buy alcohol. These things would absolutely be luxuries for us, and I think it would cut down on my stress level and help me feel more like spending time with my family. (I would not be telling my siblings about this, either. They would never let me hear the end of it. Ever.)

Thanks for sticking with it! And take the quiz down below!