Necessary Home Maintenance should only take a couple hours a week and that includes the inside and outside of your home. If you manage your time well you can multitask and that will help you get more things done at the same time. In addition to your weekly maintenance you will have larger projects that might take half a day every few months but for the basic needs you should only be spending a couple hours once a week.
Outside Weekly Chores
Outside cutting your grass and trimming weeds and then cleanup shouldn’t take you more than about 90 minutes. Sometimes it will be less and sometimes a bit more. The most important time saving tip is picking the right size lawn mower to get the job done quicker. I suggest you choose either a push mower that has power assisted drive wheels that will mean you aren’t pushing the mower it will do most of the work or a small riding mower like a Rear Engine Rider with a 30 inch blade they cost less and the are small enough to handle once you get use to them. Riding mowers will also make it much easier on your body. If you have a larger property then you will need a larger riding mower. The main thing about sizing the riding mower is the size of your property. What you are trying to do is pick an option that will let you get the work done in about an hour and then have another 30 minutes for details, trimming and cleanup. Knowing when to cut your grass is also an important thing. There are often HOA or County rules on how high your grass can get before you have problems with your neighbors but you should never let it get that bad because it means a lot of extra effort. Pushing a mower or cutting it with a riding mower is much easier when it isn’t taller than 6 inches. I normally look out the window and if you can see the grass blowing in the breeze it means its time to cut it. That and just walking through it and how high it is above your shoe.
Inside Weekly Chores
For inside you need to dust, vacuum and clean the floors, kitchen countertops and bathroom. How well you keep your place clean throughout the week will result in less time doing this stuff all at once. I normally pick one evening to do this and do my wash at the same time and then I eat while the rest of the clothes dry and I put them away. If I have more time I will put together my shopping list and maybe pay some bills and home related paperwork.
Not having pets that shed a lot of hair or cause messes makes this much easier but if you take on the responsibility of a Pet then you also take on the added responsibility of cleaning. This is your choice but like anything else there are ways to reduce your time required to take care of all of this. When you go out you should have a dedicated room for your animals to stay in. This will reduce any damage caused while you are out. Often people use their mud room for this and you can set up pet beds and auto feeders for them so they will have water and food while you are out. This limits mistakes they make and it will actually make life much easier by giving them a place of their own. You can set up a camera to watch them remotely and being in a room you design for this will mean they are safer and not pushing over lamps or breaking things that could cause them injury.
Cooking a weekly meal that can be used throughout the week is also another way to save time. The main thing is to find things that take time whether you are making a small amount of it or a larger amount. A lasagna or casserole will provide a few days worth of meals but you can also freeze some for an emergency meal. Making a large bowl of salad that will last a few days instead of a smaller one means that you have fresh salad ready to go and you can have it with a meal, add it to sandwiches or add chicken, tuna or cheese to it and have it as a meal in just a few minutes. There are many recipes that work well for this you just have to find the ones that you enjoy.
Final Note
A lot of first time home owners aren’t use to caring for their homes themselves. This is especially true if you were brought up in a home that didn’t have many maintenance requirements. The truth is millions of people get through this every week and it really isn’t that difficult to do.
Multitasking is a big thing and catching things before they become problems is going to reduce your overall effort.
Many times we will try to emulate our neighbors but you have to take their effort into consideration. If your neighbor has children then they are distributing the tasks throughout the family or if they are retired then taking care of their home is their job so seeing them outside working all day many days a week is not what the average person has to do.
Remember maintenance is about maintaining your property in a good condition. From time to time it might get out of order or maybe everything is blooming and perfect, we all live for those days. In general though you are putting in a general amount of effort that keeps everything about the same and in good condition.
Larger jobs will take a day or two or maybe longer to accomplish such as sealing your driveway, cleaning the siding on your home of mold, pressure washing your deck or fence or painting. Those things should be scheduled and you can accomplish things like that all at once or over a few weekends.
And a big thing to remember is there are professionals that can help. Lawn Care companies or even a cleaning company to clean your carpets once a year with professional equipment is pretty normal if you can afford it. On the other hand anything you can do yourself saves you a lot of money and you can give up the Gym Membership and still stay in shape.