I've gotten a lot out of reading this discussion, but I will toss out the additional suggestion that some tasks you think are necessary may not be. A particular home and/or lifestyle may impose certain tasks and making other choices may reduce those tasks. One obvious example: A house with a large yard requires more maintenance outside than a house with a small yard. But there are lots of things most people take as a given which aren't. If you really just can't find the time, maybe you should track where your time is going and explore the possibility of making some lifestyle changes which might free some of that up. (As for the yard: I recall reading an anecdote once that some guy that had been a devoted gardener discovered golf and basically paved over his yard so he wouldn't have to fuss with it anymore. :-D)