I don't like any of it but if budgeting and paying bills is a household chore I actually do like doing that. I think of household chores as cleaning. I pay someone to do just about everything at home - not laundry. DH and I both do laundry and I don't mind that. I rarely iron anything. We have a weekend lake place and I do all my own house work there - where I happen to be on "vacation" this week. I've spent nearly two full days doing all that stuff I despise. Vacuuming, dusting, cleaning bathrooms, cleaning carpet stains, washing windows, plus grocery shopping for holiday entertaining, laundry and some yard work. At least I'm getting some exercise plus I get to do it in a great setting. And I'm all done now except for cooking and entertaining guests and I like that part.

I'm coming in late, but since I just received estimates for moving, this may help. To get a sense of what it will cost to move, per pound, ask an agent for a major moving company to give you a complete estimate. It will state the estimated total weight and the estimated total charge. Just divide the price by the weight and you will be close enough. Keep in mind that the time when you want to move will make a difference. I'm moving from Los Angeles to Boston, more than 3,000 miles. There is some seasonal variation in rates; the time I'll be moving is neither the most nor the least expensive season. The destination is one that does not have any special charges. (There are sometimes surcharges for destinations that do not have about an equal amount of stuff being moved out.) The estimates I've been given all work out to slightly less than 90 cents per pound. So this means that if something weighs 100 pounds, it is worth paying to move it unless I could replace it for $90 or less, provided that I would replace it. This means that I will be keeping some heavy furniture that is in good condition and that I like. I am not keeping anything that is broken or nearly worn out, or that is no longer to my taste. For example, I will replace a sofa that is structurally sound and in fairly good appearance, but that's because I want a different style in the new place. I'm simplifying some things, e.g., I'll move only one computer printer, the newer and lighter one, even though I currently use both. I have more than 1,000 pounds of books. I'm going to pack them all myself and send them as Media Mail, which costs about 41 cents a pound regardless of the distance. If the mover's per-pound rate were 50 cents rather than 90, as it could be for a shorter distance, I probably wouldn't do this.

What a fun thread! All this talk of cleaning toilets brings me to contribute my favorite toilet cleaning tool: a toilet mop. DH first used these in college when he cleaned the 3rd floor dorm bathrooms as his work-study job. (The guys loved him, they had the cleanest bathrooms in the whole dorm!) He begged me to find a toilet mop when we were fist married, but I only found the bristle styles in stores. He said the mop style worked so much better. A few years later I heard about toilet mops in Don Aslett's cleaning books, but, again, I could never find one locally. Then I was swayed by Flylady hype and ordered "rubba swishas," and sadly, hated them for their intended purpose. After waiting for the scrubba to die, grumbling each time I used it, I finally broke down and looked for toilet mops on Amazon, and came across the Fuller Brush model. It works great, and I really like the flexible plastic cover that can be used to squeeze out the excess water after using it. I plan to put a command hook on the side of the tank and hang the mop by the hole in the handle. (I also tried a mop with a nylon type fluff head and didn't like it nearly as much as the Fuller Brush one.) Fuller Brush Toilet Swab Now I see Amazon has a Don Aslett model, but I've not tried them.

Lucy, now it's my time to scold. Do not ever stand on a chair whether you are 5 or 75. That's a recipe for an injury. Please, please buy a folding step stool with handle for balance and use it for light bulbs, shower cleaning, reaching those things in the top kitchen cabinets. I've got one in a closet at each end of the house. I have my very own 6' lightweight step ladder too. All mine. It's never behind several things in the garage when I want it, or out in the garden shed where someone else has put it away. At 5'2" there are lots of things I can't reach. When I need to reach, I want to be able to do that efficiently and safely.