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Hi Kathy,
I'm 78 and clean my own home. I do the laundry, scrub the floors, wash the windows, cook meals, dust, vacuum etc. I also do the gardening and take the garbage out. All of this "exercise" makes me feel good. I did pay the neighbor who is a landscaper to clear off my roof of debris. I'm a little too old to manage heights. It all depends on your physical health and your income. House keepers are expensive!
PML
Replies to "Hi Kathy, I'm 78 and clean my own home. I do the laundry, scrub the floors,..."
How about cleaning your bathrooms? No one seems to mention that. Once a month cleaning of bathrooms would not suffice.
@pml Such a great response ❤️🩹
Good professional cleaners, gardeners and odd job people ARE expensive.
I don’t think this is just a 70’s or 80’s issue. I think we all struggle with it at any age, if we are able to afford them: Whether we “should” or “shouldn’t” do as much as we can ourselves.
During my chemo treatment I did get in a gardening service because I physically couldn’t do everything that was needed. I chose to do my home (I stayed pretty isolated because my immune system was so poor and I also value my privacy - something that has always been a factor when weighing up what I wanted done for me).
We may or may not qualify for government assistance.
We may or may not have family members or neighbours who can provide some limited assistance.
We may or may not have the physical ability to do everything needed.
We may or may not appreciate the kind of exercise that cleaning and gardening provide and may not get satisfaction from them.
We may or may not mind foregoing some privacy.
I am glad to be back to doing everything myself - for the moment - except for odd jobs. I’ve found a wonderful contractor who does my odd jobs. He is expensive and I need to wait for an appointment but he is extremely good, honest and thorough so has a massive client base.
There are a lot of factors and no right or wrong decision. It’s what suits each person from time to time when weighing up all sorts of factors.
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Hi pml, I'm 70 and do my own housework as you do, and I work two days a week. I hope I can manage as well as you do after another 8 years! You're an inspiration. I know I'm lucky to be as healthy and strong as I am at this stage of life. I'm grateful and hope the good times continue. Housework is not fun, but it certainly gets you moving and bending and lifting, etc! Every little bit helps. I used to wish I could afford a housekeeper, but now I'm glad I can still do the work, It's a perspective change.