Laundry & Maid service is next on my list, though. I figure, if they save me even 2 hours a week, I've already made my money back.

(This depends on whether they save productive hours or idle, underutilized hours)

It sounds cheeky to describe grocery delivery as "life changing" but it really is.

So you can't have it delivered in the middle of the night and fetch it in the morning, but you certainly can have it delivered after work - but not have to hurry home to make sure you get it right as it comes off the truck.

I wouldn't leave them out all day on a hot day, but for a few hours in typical Seattle weather, no problem?

Of course they didn't have fancy web frontends, but they still picked up and dropped off laundry (charged by weight), cleaned the house every week or two, delviered groceries (most UK supermarkets will) Etc.

These things are not expensive and take much of the annoying drudgery out of life.

What pros/cons have you found in using them?

Thanks!

http://www.ocado.com

The minimum order value can be a problem. With their £10/month subscription service, it drops from to £40.

Ocado's customer service is excellent, and they're very good at timekeeping — you just schedule an 1-hour delivery slot.

Pro - food comes to you and you only get what you want (not random hungry puchases). Con - you have to be in when they arrive, unsure what the windows are.

Laundry - I was living in NE London at the time (about 3 years ago) so I used http://www.theironingboard.com/ There must be more of these around in other parts of town.

Pro - somebody washes, dries, folds and (optionally) irons your clothes. Con - ???? (OK so it costs money instead of time, what you think is good value in this department is probably very subjective, and you have to be there to accept delivery, but they did deliver in the evenings :)

Cleaners are an odd one because you're allowing someone access to your property, often when you're not there. It may be best to find a trustworthy cleaner by word of mouth.

Cleaners are £8-£10/hour (in SW London anyway), ours takes 2.5 hours for our 3 bed flat. They'll often do ironing too.

Couldn't ever go back to living without a washing machine though!

Haha, agreed :-D

Is that a joke? A 10 minute cab ride with light traffic can approach $20.

Americans don't realize how cheap they've got it.

Do services like seamless deliver food that follows certain diets. Like Ketogenic/No-Carb, Paleo, Vegan, etc?

Some restaurants do cater to specific diets, yes, especially in NYC. It totally depends on where you are though. I'm pescetarian (and 98% vegetarian) and there're tons of options in this city, and a bunch of vegan places I'll order from sometimes too. There's also a macrobiotic place that delivers to work.

Personal chef makes it sound like it would be somewhat fancy, and thus expensive, but in that post it was just somebody who was cooking at home but make more and bring it to them. That could be something to look into if you're really interested.

edit: I believe it was this post http://sidsavara.com/personal-productivity/the-price-of-my-d... At least that's the idea. (I can't believe there's no date on that post)

I mean, sure, if you want some fancy-pants meal you're going to have to put in some effort. But if you don't want to spend time and still want something healthy, it doesn't take long. (Heck, how long does it take to make a sandwich?).

Frankly, anybody suggesting a personal chef must be off their rocker or living on a different planet than me. It's not hard to cook, even if you're lazy.

Bulk bake some fish, chicken, whatever, for protein (or your favorite vegetable protein source). Store.

One of the healthiest dinners imaginable (quinoa, chickpeas, and lentils are wonderful) is now as easy as placing these two items on a plate and microwaving.

Sure, you'll get bored after a while, but just mix it up next time.

Maybe it's an attitude thing?

Ding, I smell a business idea:

OurChef: You want good dinners, and you want a life. We want to sell you good dinners. OurChef is your personal caterer, with authentic quality ingredients.

Someone has taken the idea and try to scale it since: http://www.facebook.com/cook4food

It's social, it's local, it's mobile, it's cooking!

The only problem I saw was that their meals were typically fairly expensive, to the point where you could probably eat out every day for less money.

UK: housebites.com

Even if you are cooking something relatively hands off in your oven.. how often do you leave your home while your oven is on? You are locked down to that location for the duration of the cooking time.

But still, preparing the food once or twice a day is a distracting pain. It would be great if I could just stop off at street vendors or fast food stores and eat well, but as it is that stuff will kill you.

You don't have to stand over a stove watching stuff fry. You only have to clean one dish. You make enough for leftovers too.