Now we're into maintenance too

For a while, we had no maintenance and were only focused on moving ahead with remodeling. Now we have a lot of maintenance on things like appliances and landscaping. All the appliances - washer, dryer, dishwasher, water heater, trash compactor, garbage disposal, etc - need regular maintenance and cleaning. We also have high maintenance plants outside - a ficus tree that needs professional trimming yearly, bamboo that I trim monthly, ivy I'm still trying to get to a maintenance-only state, and palm trees that drop branches, berries, and husks in huge quantities. We only picked the bamboo - everything else was already here. We routinely generate more yard waste than we have space for. I am hoping once I get the ivy cut back, that we will be able to live within the limits of our city yard waste bin that is picked up weekly.