OK, OG blog readers—do you remember link ups?
I’m talking about the back in the day era (2011–2014) when bloggers would all write on the same topic, then link their posts together so you could hop around the internet reading everyone’s take. It was such a fun way to find new bloggers in your little corner of the internet. This was pre-Instagram, pre-TikTok—when blogs were primary connection points.
It’s where WIAW (What I Ate Wednesday) originated (shoutout to Jenn from Peas & Crayons), and I even hosted a monthly link up dedicated to what we were feeding our kids called Munchkin Meals. Probably not the most thoughtful name, but apparently I’ve always been a sucker for alliteration.
All that to say: when I saw that Shay was hosting a monthly link up called Let’s Look, nostalgia gripped my heart and I couldn’t resist. Each month has a different topic—she writes about it, others can too, and then you link your post to hers so readers can peek into how different families do XYZ.
January’s topic is: Things We Outsource Without Regret.
Things We Outsource Without Regret
A More Thoughtful Look at Outsourcing
Outsourcing has a bit of an image problem. It can sound indulgent—like something reserved for people with unlimited budgets—but that hasn’t been our experience. For us, outsourcing has been less about luxury and more about clarity: understanding our limits, protecting our energy, and choosing where our time is best spent.
In many cases, it actually makes solid financial sense. Freeing up time to focus on work we do well, reducing stress-fueled mistakes, and avoiding the “we’ll just do it ourselves” spiral that ends up costing more in the long run. It’s a delicate balance of being capable and realistic—of recognizing when doing it all quietly costs more than we think.
Outsourcing is about opting into a life that feels more sustainable, more present, and more aligned with what matters most. Also, it helps support other businesses, often local small businesses. By bringing in an expert to knock out a task they’re good at, it supports them and frees us up to work on the things we’re good at. Win win!
Outsourcing Choices That Support Our Family
House Cleaning
Every other week, I’m grateful to have help with house cleaning. It’s something we’ve thoughtfully worked into our budget over time, and it hasn’t always been part of our life. For me, it’s less about having a perfectly clean house and more about creating mental space. I love our home, and at this stage, my time and energy are often better spent elsewhere. Knowing the bigger cleanings are taken care by the lovely ladies we’ve worked with for a year now allows me to truly enjoy our space instead of constantly managing it. I still handle the in-between tasks—sweeping, vacuuming, wiping down surfaces, and cleaning toilets—but having that extra layer of support has been a gift I don’t take for granted.
Tax Preparation
This is a big one. Could we do our taxes ourselves? Maybe. Do we want to? Absolutely not. Between business income, rentals, and life in general, outsourcing tax prep gives us peace of mind and confidence that things are being done correctly.
Seasonal Home Maintenance
Exterior house washing, windows, gutters—these are jobs that require ladders, time, and more motivation than I typically have. Outsourcing these once or twice a year keeps our home maintained without becoming overwhelming or unsafe.
Home Pest Control
We have a company come quarterly to spray around the house. We still have gotten a wild amount of ladybugs that somehow made their way in last month, but it sure does help with the majority of creepy crawlers.
Things We Don’t Outsource (At Least Not Right Now)
Handyman Tasks
This one surprises people, but we (ahem, OK, David) actually handle a lot of this ourselves. Small repairs, installs, and projects tend to fall into the “we can do this” category—and sometimes even feel satisfying.
Grocery Shopping & Meal Prep
This is part routine, part preference. I like being in control of what we’re eating, what’s in our pantry, and how meals come together. It’s work, yes—but work that fulfills me and it feels manageable and familiar. Besides it’s impossible to explain the exact ripeness I need of an avocado to another person 😉
Childcare
I’m home most of the time, but our kids are at the age that we can leave for a bit and they’re just fine on their own. Perhaps even prefer it at times? 😉
Lawn Care
Another one we currently handle ourselves. It’s seasonal, predictable, and for now, doable.
Professional Organizing
We haven’t outsourced this…yet. But doesn’t it sound dreamy? Maybe one day.
If you’ve ever felt weird admitting you outsource something—or guilty for not outsourcing something others do—I hope this serves as a reminder that there’s no one right way. It’s all about choosing support that makes your life run better, and supporting others while you do so.
Play along in the comments- what do you outsource? What do you prefer to do yourself?
And if you’re an OG blogger who remembers link ups fondly, hi 🙂 and where has the time gone?!
Lynn Thow says
Just curious as I now have a new puppy, what do you when you travel? Our family has a big trip coming and this is weighing heavy on my heart.
Thank you!
Alyssa says
We LOVED Rover.com. I had a dog who wasn’t a huge other dog person, but was a huge people person. We met with a couple of sitters on Rover, and he ended up staying with a family that had a dog and a kid. We would get videos from walks, from our dog intently watching their kid to see if any of their sandwich dropped, to them playing tug of war. I loved it and felt so much better about it than a kennel.
Brittany Dixon says
We had a very good experience with Rover, too! We often use family because we have generous moms that offer to help with Finley, but when we’ve used Rover, it was a very positive experience. Like you mentioned, great communication, lots of pictures, etc.
Heather says
Love this post! We currently outsource pest control, lawn care, and tax prep. In a perfect world, I would love to eventually add house cleaning, but it’s just not the right timing. I had a cleaner before and believe it or not, it just added more stress. The pre-cleaning required and making sure all toddler toys were picked up beforehand (hello Legos!) just actually was a pain in the butt. One day when my kids are older I would love to have a cleaner, for now we are just…..well lived-in 🙂
Brittany Dixon says
Haha, I get that you mean! I definitely “clean” (declutter) before the cleaners get here and my kids would tell you I’m like a human hurricane.
Laura says
Last week I outsourced grocery shopping for the first time and it was actually amazing. I was on my lunch break and already feeling mentally and physically tired from the start of the semester (trying to learn 120 new names with constantly changing rosters is exhausting!). I really just did not want to grocery shop after school. Sam’s Club does free grocery delivery for executive members for over $50 (and when have I ever spent less than $50?!). Sam’s loads your groceries, and a door dasher delivery type person picks them up. You just need to tip the driver when you place the order. It was amazing, I placed my order online during lunch and by the time I got home at 4 pm they were being delivered! I know this might sound common to a lot of people but for me it was crazy. Days I have to grocery shop I don’t get home until around 5:30 which I know isn’t super late but it feels really late since I leave the house at 6:45 every morning. It was definitely worth the extra 10 – 15% cost/ tip.
Brittany Dixon says
We just got a Sam’s membership and David mentioned this perk to me! It sounds like a pretty sweet set up for a busy week; so great to hear that it was such a smooth process for you. Thanks for sharing!
SHU says
I admit I love Instacart these days! Is it the most cost effective? No. But it’s so easy ,I can make thoughtful choices, and if it means avoiding takeout it’s usually still a better deal!!
Sarah says
Here’s what we outsource:
Grocery shopping (Harris Teeter does it for me via online shopping; no additional fee; I pick up my own order)
Aeration 2x a year (for the lawn) – we handle everything else in between. If we go on vacation for longer than 10 days in summer, we pay our neighbor’s yard care guy to do it while we’re gone to be a reasonable neighbor
Tax service 1x yearly – it’s complicated with self employment and we don’t want to do something wrong
Financial advisor – not truly “outsourced” because we participate in the decision making, but this is a valuable service and sometimes I’ll let ours do the research for me and take their advice
Dry cleaning for my husband’s work shirts and pants
My daughter with ADHD sees someone 2x weekly who works on academic and executive functioning skills like helping her organize her schoolwork and make a plan of when to do what based on her schedule, breaking down upcoming assignments and tests into small chunks, looking at missed questions on assignments and tests and addressing skills we need to build, figuring out when she has missed an assignment, etc. They also work on understanding how ADHD is a strength and how to build on areas of weakness. It’s cut down on a lot of arguments from when I was playing this role. I’m posting this so other parents know it’s an option!
We also see several other types of therapists to address disability and mental health needs and that doesn’t feel like outsourcing but it’s still weekly/monthly expense that is a big help!
Brittany Dixon says
How did you find someone to help your daughter with executive functioning and other skills? That sounds wonderful and like an option many parents would like to know about. How did you begin the search for such a role?
Sarah says
She goes to private school and it is available at her school as an add-on service, but I think the term other parents would use would be executive functioning/ADHD. It’s truly so nice to have somebody with knowledge to teach her these skills that she is willing to learn from, and also to outsource some of the tasks that led to arguments and get to focus on supporting her.
Sarah says
*Executive functioning/ADHD coach
Kelli H says
I’m at the stage where I’d love some help house Cleaning but it’s not in the budget right now. Also with a baby sometimes getting out of the house while they clean is more stressful. We do have a pest service, and we hire a landscaper once or twice a year to do a big clean up because we have so many trees. We also have to hire tree services to trim all the trees once a year. Other than that we’ve had to hire contractors for bigger projects we’ve done. Now that we have a pool we’ve decided to outsource that as well because we want to be able to use the pool for the few months we can out of the year without wondering if we’re doing all the chemicals correctly. We also hire out our taxes now as well since I have my own business and my husband is getting a business off the ground as well.
Kelli H says
Maybe you should do another post like this but ask people what they spend money on for health maintenance expenses. That would be interesting.
Brittany Dixon says
Ohh I love this idea. My list might be long- ha. OK, going to write it!