Peter says: How much will you spend to get an extra hour each day?

Lisa and I, as I’m sure you know, are two busy parents who work full-time to pay the bills and buy the things we need and, well, like. (Lisa works insane hours — more now than ever before since she left the office and decided to freelance.) With all this work and Addy and Peyps, sometimes things fall by the wayside...like cleaning.

I recently suggested that maybe we should get one of those iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaners that do the vacuuming automatically. (We have hardwood on our main floor and, as much as we love it, it looks dirty about five seconds after it's cleaned.) The idea didn't go over too well with Lisa. I think (read: I know) that she took it as a dig at her and her lack of cleaning lately. Of course that's not how I meant it, and, funnily, I'm the one who's supposed to do the vacuuming in the house. But with both of us busy with work during the day and with the kids in the evening, is having an automatic vacuum really that much of a luxury? Lisa has mentioned that many of her mommy friends have cleaning services and pay a couple hundred bucks each month so someone else can come in and get the cleaning done. It's not something Lisa is interested in; she'd rather save cash wherever we can.

When I brought up the automatic vaccum again tonight, Lisa said: "We already have an automatic vacuum that doesn't work. You." (Ha.)

I don't know about you but I'd rather go for a walk with my family than spend an hour vacuuming. I don't see anything wrong with buying time. 

What kinds of niceties (like an automatic vacuum or cleaning service) do you take advantage of to free up more time to spend with the family?