[Mr.PD]

Allow me to preface this with some background on myself.

I'm 48 years old and have only lived alone once since I moved out of my parents house when I was 18. That one time was 1983, and I stayed drunk the whole three months I lived alone. The rest of the time I either lived with a girl or was married.

Now I am alone again. My wife left about a month ago. We are not getting back together.

So, what kind of schedule do I need for house cleaning? I've got the place fairly well cleaned, but maintaining it is a mystery. Do I need to dust every day? Should I vacuum every day? What about the nooks and crannys? Maybe once a week for vacuuming under and behind the couch? How often do I need to wash the bedding?

What about cooking? Does anyone have any recipes to share?
I like cooking but my skills are limited. I hate doing the dishes though. The other day I made a nice breakfast of hamburger steak and eggs with hashbrowns and toast. It turned out great, but it took longer to clean up the mess and do the dishes than it did to cook it. The next day I went to a restaurant.

Does anyone have any tricks for clean up and dishes?

What am I missing here? I got the laundry thing in hand. Of course, any tips you would like to share in that department would be appreciated.

Yard work is something I don't know if I will have time to do or not. Right now the lawn needs mowed, and the leaves need raked. Also I need to do doggy detail, but I haven't had the time.

So, c'mon guys (and gals) share any house keeping tips and tricks you may have.

 

[Figo]

As a solo college student in an apartment, I may have some tips for you.

cleaning:

I try to leave saturday daytime for general cleaning, 4 hours worth or so where I put in the laundry (bedding every week), while that is washing I vaccuum everything and mop/totally clean the kitchen. I do spot cleaning as needed.

for food, i really recommend buying a rice cooker/steamer. you can get one at walmart/target for 20 bucks. It makes cooking 10000 times easier. Just go to a local asian market if you have one, buy a 25 lb bag of rice (lasts a few months) and frozen veggies/dumplings. It takes 20 mins and almost no work to cook a full meal. Just add rice/water in the machine, flip the switch a blamo! restaurant quality rice that has a million options as how to dress it up. almost no cleaning too! i eat steaks/chicken/fish that I broil with some butter and veggies along with that often. a salmon steak broiled and set over a bed of rice with soy sauce is quite delish!

as for yardwork i used to have to do it when i lived at home.. no need to separately pick up leaves and mow, just mow over the leaves as you cut the grass.. good fertilizer

good luck and i hope things look up for you

 

[YamiTenshi]

I do the laundry once a week, or whenever I run out of clothes. I wash the bedsheets once every month. Dust the house about once a week. Vacuum twice a week ; my roommate has a cat, so maybe once a week is enough for normal people.

Don't forget the bathroom! That place gets dirty fast if you neglect it. I clean it about once a week to keep stuff from building up.

As for food... being a student most of my food is instant so there's not much to clean up. My suggestion is not to cook too often if you are just one person. Making one serving of anything is difficult and a pain to clean up longer than it takes you to actually eat. Maybe cook meals that last more than one meal so you'll only have to reheat. Dishes are best done right after you use them, otherwise the food gets dry get stuck and hard to remove.

I don't do yardwork since I live in an apartment. But back at home the lawn was mowed depending on weather. In the summer time it was once a week, in the winter about once a month or less.

Again everything depends on your style of life. Some people can stand to be dirtier or are more anal about their homes. I say do what works for you. But once you've set up a schedule it's important to keep it up because dirt, scum, and stains have a way of building up and the longer you neglect it the harder it'll be to clean up later.

 

[ls20]

i can only share things i have stocked in the pantry and fridge at all times:

tabasco
worcestershire
balsamic vinegar
sherry cooking wine
sugar
coarse sea salt / kosher salt
fresh peppers
extra virgin olive oil
salted european butter (plugra)
shallots
garlic
onions
lemons
asparagus
romaine lettuce
orange juice
milk
brocolli
red potatoes (small)
back up rib eye steaks
back up stew meat
2 lb ground beef/chuck
chicken breast
pasta sauce
bag of peas
various pastas

get a cast-iron skillet and sauce pot w/ steamer insert

these items i have stocked ALL the time because i use them pretty much everyday or every other day. easy, quick clean up meals would be chicken breast or a steak on the cast-iron, veggie sides either steamed or sauteed in butter, with some store-baked bread. spaghetti sauce w/ ground beef is another easy, quick cleanup meal. fish is extremely easy to cook... just throw it under the broiler for 10 minute per 1" max thickness of fish. do it alone or season/spice to taste. for "special" meals i buy the items as needed


i clean and organize as-needed

 

[bhd812]

Dude your single!!!!

run around the house naked screaming "i am FREE"

she left a month ago? you should still have some money still..

buy a vette,suit,ect

go thru an early mid life crisis now!

drink,smoke,etc now


then hire a maid to clean up on saturdays...lol

thats my advice, the maid part..hehe

 

[Scotty757]

Honestly, if you just stay up with keeping things picked up and vaccuming, you only need to dust every other week or so. (I'm a clean freak and this pretty much keeps me happy).

And do a through bathroom cleaning every sunday. Its a great tradition!

 

[lmilhan]

Haven't been a bachelor for 5 years now (married), but when I was I used the following techniques (sad, but true):

Clean the house when it needed it. You will get a good feel for when it 'needs it'.

Do the laundry when it needed it. You will get a feel for when it 'needs it'.

My diet consisted of microwave meals, bag salad, or take out. Whatever was simple and fast was where it was at for me.

Used paper plates and plasticware so I could just throw them out when I was done with them (so I didn't have to do the dishes).

Used the same cup over and over and over again for drinks. Rinse the cup in between uses. Only cleaned it when it got funky. I saw no need to use many/multiple glasses for drinks. Cuts down on how much you have to clean.

Had 3 pairs of pants and 5 or 6 shirts that I would rotate regularly and wear to work. I could go upwards of 3 weeks using this technique without having to wash any of them. But then again, I am blessed with the gift of hardly sweating, and when I do, I don't stink. Of corse, the underware must be washed regularly

As for lunch at work, I would brown bag it with anything that was fast and simple to prepare (I have a microwave available to me at work).

As for buying groceries, I learned where everything was at that I was interested in in the grociery store. I would buy the same items every time. The goal was to go shopping during 'off' peek shopping hours so you can get in and get the ****** out as quickly as possible. My opinion on coupons - to hell with them, to much effort and hassel for me.

Good luck with your new found freedom!

 

[jpelg]

Quote:

Originally Posted by lmilhan Haven't been a bachelor for 5 years now (married), but when I was I used the following techniques (sad, but true): Clean the house when it needed it. You will get a good feel for when it 'needs it'. Do the laundry when it needed it. You will get a feel for when it 'needs it'. My diet consisted of microwave meals, bag salad, or take out. Whatever was simple and fast was where it was at for me. Used paper plates and plasticware so I could just throw them out when I was done with them (so I didn't have to do the dishes). Used the same cup over and over and over again for drinks. Rinse the cup in between uses. Only cleaned it when it got funky. I saw no need to use many/multiple glasses for drinks. Cuts down on how much you have to clean. Had 3 pairs of pants and 5 or 6 shirts that I would rotate regularly and wear to work. I could go upwards of 3 weeks using this technique without having to wash any of them. But then again, I am blessed with the gift of hardly sweating, and when I do, I don't stink. Of corse, the underware must be washed regularly As for lunch at work, I would brown bag it with anything that was fast and simple to prepare (I have a microwave available to me at work). As for buying groceries, I learned where everything was at that I was interested in in the grociery store. I would buy the same items every time. The goal was to go shopping during 'off' peek shopping hours so you can get in and get the ****** out as quickly as possible. My opinion on coupons - to hell with them, to much effort and hassel for me. Good luck with your new found freedom!

OMG! I am living your old bachelor life!

 

[1911]

you answered your own question..go to the local bar and get a new woman....your history has attested to the fact that this is the way of life you prefer...

 

[Old Pa]

Sorry for the circumstances you now find yourself in, Pauly. SWMBO has had ample reason to boot me out or leave herself, but it hasn't come to that yet. Bache-ing it is what I get to do on the spaniels' spring and fall vacations, and since I'm with them by definition I'm not alone. So first, I'd recommend you get a dog.

I do the cooking around here, but I can't get enthused about production cooking for myself alone. So in camp this fall, I'll be eating mostly frozen low fat dinners with 250 to 350 calories a shot. Costco and my grocery store have these available from four or five total producers. I like fresh fruit and raw vegetables to snack on, along with low fat microwave popcorn (I like Orville's) and instant oatmeal (I like Nature Valley). The most exotic deal I've gotten into is a snack sandwich of a Thomas' Multigrain light english muffin around a split slice of oriental or italian flavored baked tofu. Healthy Choice makes some pretty good canned soups. And you can get individually wrapped frozen turkey burgers and salmon burgers that grill up in under ten minutes on my gas grill and I have in Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat buns. Costco's got dandy rotisserie chickens that will feed you for about a week. Just nuke up some green vegetables for five minute in a covered glass pan and have them with four to six ounces of cooked skinned chicken and a big glass of skim milk.

I do the laundry around here anyway, and vacuum the downstairs and the stairs Sunday mornings. If I had to do all the housecleaning, I think I'd probably do it then and get it over with. I prefer to live without rodents loose, things growing where they shouldn't or any particularly "ripe smells," but that's just me. I guess the SWMBO and I have been lucky that we tolerate about the same degree of filth and clutter. I'm sure guilty of only rinsing some dishes that only I use before using them again, but everything gets washed well at least once a week (whether it need it or not

).

I try to mow before the grass is twice as long as I am cutting it back to, and since I mulchmow, that pretty much takes care of the leaves, too. Garbage and recycling goes out once a week on their own schedule. I take anything I know is going to get ripe in the trash under the sink out to the garage right away, thereby avoiding surprises that would gag a maggot. I try to shovel snow before it get driven over, because it's just a lot easier that way.

Come to think of it, 1911's probably right: your best course of action is to re-chick. Wash all your clothes, take a bath (with soap) and get a haircut, trim your nose and ear hairs (both nostrils and ears) and head on down to your local. No need to bring a gun along. Smile a lot, don't get too loaded, and nobody ever wants to hear about my problems so my guess is they don't want to hear about yours. Another place for hunting might be if your local junior or community college offers a photography course in the evening. You like to take pictures and are pretty good at it anyway. Fewer drunk chicks in the photo course, too. Good luck.

 

[wanderman]

what clean today what you can clean tomorrow.
the floor is the biggest shelf in the house.
blame roomates for the mess.
fridge should only contain alcohols and a jug of milk.

 

[plainsong]

Getting another girl at the girl-store seems like a good idea on the surface, but if you really honestly have no idea all that stuff your wife was doing to run the house, what the schedule was, how she did it, or anything, then perhaps you're going to be doomed to the same pattern of taking for granted the next one that comes down the line.

No, go ahead and do the bachelor thing for a while and run the place as you see fit. Get into your own routines, you'll figure out when you need to eat aor when the place needs cleaning. When you know how to live with yourself, then when you meet someone else, it will be so much easier on both of you.

 

[Wmcmanus]

My advice is to start becoming a serious headphone collector! It will help to take your mind off of being alone.

You'll soon discover when to clean or to hire a cleaning lady. My helper comes about 1 or 2 times per month and that's all I need her for. She's a nice Christian lady so that's when I listen to all my Christian CD's (I've got some pretty good ones in the mix somehow... dunno, just bought a bunch of them at randon once and lucked out). I've also got a couple of guys who cut the grass. They come every other week. I could do these sorts of things myself, but I'm pretty lazy. It's also nice to be able to help out people who need to do such things for a living. But for the grace of God...

I do my own laundry since that's pretty much a no brainer. When the stack gets too high, take some of it off the top of the dryer and put it in the washer. No color charts needed, really... just remember to keep the light and dark colors apart from each other and you'll be Ok. If not, throw away whatever you've managed to ruin and make a mental note of whatever you did wrong. When bold colored cotton shirts are new, they tend to bleed like crazy, so wash them seperately for a while.

Listen to more music and become more physically active. If you've got a few pounds to lose, now would be a good time. It really helps when you are going through these types of changes.

 

[PinkFloyd]

best way to keep your house tidy is ensure a woman never enters it. They are so messy and untidy it beggars belief. My latest "girlfriend", for example, would go to the fridge, take out some stuff, make a sandwich and leave all the stuff out of the fridge... just leave it sitting there. She would then go have a bath and dump her clothes over the floor. She even had the cheek to turn my system on with her greasy hands and then call me a "dictator" when I told her to wash her hands before touching my gear.... nope, that lasted all of 3 weeks, I just can't have the clutter that is a woman in my house. Even the "tidy" ones mess the place up with their mops and cleaning accessories.

The key to keeping you house tidy is a place for everything and everything in its place. I practice what I preach and have a place for everything. A tidy house equates to a tidy mind... if my house isn't tidy then I'm stressed up to the eyeballs, there's no need for piles of dishes to be hanging around, piles of clothes, piles of.......... totally unnecessary. If you live on your own then carry one set of everything.... 1 knife, 1 fork, 1 plate, 1 cup.... that way you can't possibly build up a load of dishes that need cleaned. Every time you stir the sugar into your tea you use the same spoon, not 50 spoons over the period of a day.

It's simple to keep things tidy, a place for everything and everything in its place.

EDIT: for the attention of "OLD Pa" that was meant to be tongue in cheek.

 

[Old Pa]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong Getting another girl . . . it will be so much easier on both of you.

Geez, Kim, do you have any idea how offensive you can be when you're right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by PinkFloyd "dictator"

What I hear around here in similar circumstances is "bully". What?! You don't like finding vacuum attachments left on the dining room table??!!