How much domestic help do you have?

[MyDiamondSparkles]

I work from home more hours a week than I'd care to admit. My husband works just as many hours. I'm a neat freak and I can not live in an unclean and unorganized space.

For my husband, college aged daughter who lives at home (while attending college) and myself:

I have someone who cleans the house once a week--does laundry, cleans, changes sheets, organizes or whatever I need. I usually hire her for an additional day 3 times a month to clean the basement, organize, put away (or hang up) seasonal decorations, or whatever I need. If she'd come twice a week, I'd be thrilled! Daily? Even better!

I pay my college aged daughter a weekly salary to do whatever else I need on a daily basis: help me with work, fold laundry, unload the dishwasher, walk the dog, start dinner, cook the entire dinner--whatever I need she does it.

My husband LOVES any kind of outdoor tree trimming, lawn mowing, planting or whatever so he does that.

If I knew of a good cook I'd hire him/ her/ them in a second. My husband tires of having what he calls "Something and chips"...such as a Subway sub and chips, tuna fish sandwich and chips, hamburgers and chips--- easy to make meals and chips. I love to cook, but I am just too tired at the end of the day to be creative with food.

On costs:

The person who cleans the house once a week charges $25 per hour (and I also have her come about 3 times a month additionally)--she is usually here between 3 and 8 hours depending on what she is doing.

My college aged daughter: weekly salary of $200 a week.

The chef: not hired yet. Let me know your "house" specialties and your starting salary. Ha!

 

[Autumnovember]

My husband has a had a lady come since forever for 90-100$ for a 1300 sq foot home and that is North Jersey right outside of Manhattan.

 

[soocool]

I remember my mother working with my dad in his shop 8 hours a day, cleaning a 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bathroom house, sewing our clothes, cooking all the meals, helping in church, playing cards one night a week with dad and another couple, taking me and my sister to scouts and dance classes and still spend time on the phone in the evenings talking to friends or watching a favorite tv show. She somehow managed to do it all.

I myself can clean my entire house, all 3000 sq ft since I have it down to a system. But then again I never allow the house to get disorganized to begin with so it is not difficult to clean. I do a deep cleaning twice a year, which means I clean out all the closets and shelves. Who knows, maybe I learned from the best.

 

[anne_h]

None.

We both work full-time and we have three kids aged 7 and under. I am also doing an MBA part-time. We live far away from any family.

We make it work by having a schedule. We do laundry, cleaning, groceries and cooking on weekends. Like a PP, we cook for the week all in one shot and reheat every night.

The name of the game is we have very little personal free time. And we're tired. Also, our house is never spotless.

We can afford help, and we probably need it, but we've just never decided to hire any. I have some kind of complex telling me we should be able to take care of this ourselves. Also, I've so far felt unable to trust a stranger with the contents of our home. lol

I think if you want help and can afford it, get it.

Anne

 

[DiaDiva]

I think so long as you can afford, you should get all the domestic help you need. Growing up and living in Asia, I don't really understand what appears to be some sort of guilt for having domestic support, correct me if I'm wrong but that's the sense I'm getting here. Whether you work or stay at home, have kids or don't have kids,I don't think there's anything wrong with having domestic help especially if you can afford it. You're providing others in that field, a job.

 

[junebug17]

I was a sahm so I didn't have any outside help (but I'm not judging sahms who do, everybody needs to do what's best for them and there's nothing wrong with having help if you need it)...but I think if a working mom can afford outside help, by all means she should do it! Anything that will make life a little easier. There's no shame in getting a little help when feeling really overwhelmed and stressed. Working full time, taking care of kids, doing all the cooking, cleaning, laundry - it's just a lot for one person to handle.

 

[yennyfire]

We don't have any domestic help. We did have a landscaper for a while, but we stopped using his services several months ago because DH decided he preferred to do everything himself. We had a cleaning lady come to the house to do a deep cleaning twice during my pregnancy, and while it was very nice to have a clean home, it was very uncomfortable for me and I didn't like it.

Sharon, I pay $90 each time they come. Haven, it is definitely uncomfortable for me too. I hate having someone in my home working while I'm "not". I usually let them in (she comes with a partner) and I go and do errands for a couple of hours until they leave. Do they do everything the way I would? No. I always have to straighten pictures, pillows, re-arrange the kids rooms, etc. but it's worth it to not have to deal with scrubbing 6 toilets (don't ask...the house we bought has more bathrooms than bedrooms....we could easily do with 2-3 fewer bathrooms!).....

 

[diamondringlover]

Me and hubby work full time, we have 1 teenager at home, I have no help, I know at one time we thought about getting someone to come in once a week, back when my teenager was a toddler and my oldest was a preteen but money never allowed for that, so its just me. My house it not virtually spotless, however it is decently clean...I can live with it...I would love to have someone come in about once a month to do all the yucky stuff that I hate doing...

 

[Missy]

I think so long as you can afford, you should get all the domestic help you need. Growing up and living in Asia, I don't really understand what appears to be some sort of guilt for having domestic support, correct me if I'm wrong but that's the sense I'm getting here. Whether you work or stay at home, have kids or don't have kids,I don't think there's anything wrong with having domestic help especially if you can afford it. You're providing others in that field, a job.

This 100%. When we were cutting expenses due to change in career I discussed this with my dh. It would have saved us a good amount of money but my dh didn't feel right about cutting our cleaning person because she relied on us for a good amount of her income. I agreed with his line of reasoning and we kept her through that financially difficult time. And I'm glad we did.

 

[Missy]

We don't have any domestic help. We did have a landscaper for a while, but we stopped using his services several months ago because DH decided he preferred to do everything himself. We had a cleaning lady come to the house to do a deep cleaning twice during my pregnancy, and while it was very nice to have a clean home, it was very uncomfortable for me and I didn't like it.

Sharon, I pay $90 each time they come. Haven, it is definitely uncomfortable for me too. I hate having someone in my home working while I'm "not". I usually let them in (she comes with a partner) and I go and do errands for a couple of hours until they leave. Do they do everything the way I would? No. I always have to straighten pictures, pillows, re-arrange the kids rooms, etc. but it's worth it to not have to deal with scrubbing 6 toilets (don't ask...the house we bought has more bathrooms than bedrooms....we could easily do with 2-3 fewer bathrooms!).....

And this is why I am never home when the cleaning person(s) comes. I don't care for being there when they clean. My dh doesn't mind though and sometimes he works from home and he is there when they come but I prefer not to be.

 

[aviastar]

We don't have any domestic help. We did have a landscaper for a while, but we stopped using his services several months ago because DH decided he preferred to do everything himself. We had a cleaning lady come to the house to do a deep cleaning twice during my pregnancy, and while it was very nice to have a clean home, it was very uncomfortable for me and I didn't like it.

Sharon, I pay $90 each time they come. Haven, it is definitely uncomfortable for me too. I hate having someone in my home working while I'm "not". I usually let them in (she comes with a partner) and I go and do errands for a couple of hours until they leave. Do they do everything the way I would? No. I always have to straighten pictures, pillows, re-arrange the kids rooms, etc. but it's worth it to not have to deal with scrubbing 6 toilets (don't ask...the house we bought has more bathrooms than bedrooms....we could easily do with 2-3 fewer bathrooms!).....

And this is why I am never home when the cleaning person(s) comes. I don't care for being there when they clean. My dh doesn't mind though and sometimes he works from home and he is there when they come but I prefer not to be.

The times we have someone come in I will save a couple of baskets of laundry that morning and fold while they clean; keeps me in the house, not feeling like a slacker, stationary so I am not in their way, and productive to boot.

 

[zoebartlett]

I think so long as you can afford, you should get all the domestic help you need. Growing up and living in Asia, I don't really understand what appears to be some sort of guilt for having domestic support, correct me if I'm wrong but that's the sense I'm getting here. Whether you work or stay at home, have kids or don't have kids,I don't think there's anything wrong with having domestic help especially if you can afford it. You're providing others in that field, a job.

I feel like at our place, it's my husband's and my mess and we should be the ones to keep it tidy, clean, and organized. Plus, it's an added expense. That's where the guilt comes in for me.

 

[Scorpioanne]

I work full time and teach a university class on the side, my husband works full time and spends time helping out his recently widowe mum so we are both really busy. We have a single mum come in weekly or bi-weekly to do our cleaning so that we have more time to spend with one another. I can justify it in my head as helping this single mum out but I have to say I am sorry we didn't do this before!

 

[rubybeth]

Gahhh, I wish I had 'help'! I spent about 2 hours last night picking up little 'objets' on my dresser, bookshelves, etc. and being HORRIFIED at how much dust had collected. I honestly cannot remember the last time I dusted... oh, maybe it was in May when my sister helped me to 'get organized'? We live in a small one-bedroom apartment, and will probably stay here for a few more years (esp. if my DH goes back to grad school). I have pretty bad allergies, so I typically limit dusting and vacuuming and leave that for my DH. I am the Laundry Queen and do it all and put everything away once it's clean because my DH works some evenings and I don't so am here during laundry room hours. I am also in charge of generally 'tidying' up, because my husband has a hard time 'seeing' clutter, having grown up with a hoarding-type mother. We don't plan on having children, but if we ever have a house, I am going to budget for a weekly or even just monthly house cleaner to handle the dusty/dirty stuff that is hard for me and maybe lawn care, too. I would rather spend some money to have someone else do that so that I can have time with people I love and doing things I enjoy. I am not going to be laying on my death bed saying, "I wish I had spent more time cleaning! I wish my house had been tidier!"

For the meal thing, there are lots of ways of making healthy, quick meals, and depending on how old your son is, maybe he can help a bit with meal prep. I used to help my mom cook/bake, and it was good to learn those basics at a young age. Even if it's dumping everything into the crock pot, putting the veggies on top of a pre-made pizza crust, it's kind of fun and I think kids like to feel like they are contributing.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Part of my inquiry about what people are paying is trying to give me a guage of what is "reasonable". I'd love help in my home and would have like someone come weekly--but where I live rates are anywhere from $35-75 per hour, and want a 3 hour time committment. Most, do, however, bring their own supplies.

I really don't know what I "should" expect to pay.....

cheers--Sharon

 

[Mayk]

Not Enough.....

Cleaning every other week ($170.00) a bonded service. I've tried private businesses but it was a disaster!!!

Yard Maintenance.. does that count? $200/month.

 

[Rosebloom]

I'm quite surprised how many people do not have help. I really can't imagine not having the help! If I had to scrub the house it would seriously cut into our family play and relax time. But that's in part because I'm very slow (aka bad!) at cleaning! Anyways, whatever the reason, I have help and have absolutely no guilt about it. I've even been thinking about hiring a high school student for $10/hour to come for one afternoon a week to help me organize closets, do my toy rotation (I have a "toy closet" and rotate out the toys once a week so there's less out at any given time for me to have to pick up each night), fold laundry, etc.

 

[kenny]

Wow, this CNN article says 23% of domestic workers are paid below the state minimum wage.
For live-in workers who are closest to their employers, the situation is worse - 67 % of them are paid below minimum wage.

SNIP: "(CNN) – Anna worked seven days a week as a nanny for the family of a Fortune 500 company executive. She lived with them in their 5th Avenue apartment in Midtown Manhattan. Her day began at 6 when the children woke up and didn't end until 10 at night when she put them to bed and cleaned the kitchen.

She cooked meals, did laundry and tended to the children's needs. She slept on the floor in between their beds. She did not have a single day off in 15 months.

She was hired because of the child development skills she learned as a teacher in her native Philippines. Yet she earned just $1.27 an hour."

http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/11/27/the-invisible-world-of-domestic-work-report-documents-abuses/?hpt=hp_c1

 

[Sakuracherry]

My husband and I send out our laundry, but clean our small apartment by ourselves. I know at least a few people who were house cleaners/nannies in NYC and some of them were getting paid like $5/hour. Those were either undocumented immigrants or international students who did not have work permits. I don't think there's anything wrong with getting domestic help as long as you treat your workers with respect and pay them well though.

 

[nala]

Gardner and a pool guy...hubby does most of the house cleaning

 

[Phoenix]

DH and I are the only people in our neighbourhood and amongst our friends that don't have full time help (nor a car).

We used to to have a lived-in helper, but have found that we don't really need someone FT, partly because we're fussy with our food so we tend to do practically all the cooking ourselves and I prefer to do my own laundry, and partly b/c we like our privacy. So now we get someone to come in twice a week to clean the house; and once or twice a month a gardener comes to trim our trees, blow the dead leaves and take them away, and take care of the weed etc..Oh yeah, we also have a pool guy who cleans the pool three times a week.

Our house and garden don't look as immaculate as they used to, but we're totally ok with the current arrangement!

 

[KristyDarling]

I'm an independent consultant and DH has his own business. We both work between 40-50 hours a week. We have two kids under 10, and no family nearby. The only domestic help we have is a weekly house-cleaning. We handle everything else ourselves -- cooking, laundry, walking the dog, errands, gardening, grocery shopping, etc. If we had to cut back, we could easily make do with twice monthly house cleanings, but having her come weekly helps us all keep our sanity. It's amazing how much better one feels when the physical environment is nice and tidy. Soooo worth it!

 

[DiaDiva]

Just realised, I never answered the question.

We have a full-time helper although she doesn't live in our staff quarters and goes home in the evening, a part-time gardener, two security guards (two shifts) and two drivers. But that's only because we live in India. When we go back, we will use a part-time cleaner and drive ourselves, assuming we can afford cars when we go home. It's the norm here to have at least part-time help who come in daily. Most people I know have at least a cook and another helper who does the cleaning and dusting of the house. It's very dusty here so there's no way we can get away with cleaning only once a week, it needs to be done daily. BTW, domestic help here is very affordable, although as foreigners, we pay between our staff 50-100% more than the locals.

 

[zoebartlett]

I know this has come up before but I'm too lazy to find the thread. How did you find your cleaning person? I know the most obvious answer is going to be to get recommendations from friends, neighbors, etc. What if you don't know anyone who uses a cleaning person in your area though?

Oh, and why do you use one particular person or partnership over a bigger cleaning service like Merry Maids or its equivalent? Is one better than another (in terms of service and/or cost)?

 

[Missy]

I know this has come up before but I'm too lazy to find the thread. How did you find your cleaning person? I know the most obvious answer is going to be to get recommendations from friends, neighbors, etc. What if you don't know anyone who uses a cleaning person in your area though?

Oh, and why do you use one particular person or partnership over a bigger cleaning service like Merry Maids or its equivalent? Is one better than another (in terms of service and/or cost)?

For our apt in Brooklyn we got a recommendation from a close family friend. And before that (when I was single) I hired my mom's cleaning man and he was amazing. He could clean my whole apt in an hour and a half!! And did a great job as well. But he went on to bigger and better things so I was very happy for him.

At the beach we had more trouble finding someone. I was going to use the previous owner's cleaning people but the head guy was very unreliable and twice or three times just never showed up and he always had a zillion excuses so enough was enough and then we interviewed a cleaning service but they were crazy expensive- $400!! The thing is, with cleaning services Zoe, is that you are paying for all their overhead and the cut the owners are taking vs just paying the cleaning people directly. And they probably pay the cleaners peanuts at that!

So we came by our cleaning woman (and her assistant(s)) in a fortuitous way. My dh and I were cycling at the shore and about 15 miles or so from home and I saw these women drive into the driveway of one of my favorite homes at the shore. They had all their cleaning equipment with them and that's how I knew they were cleaners. I jumped off the bike and asked her if she would be available to give us an estimate to clean our house. And she came later that day and did. I called her references and they were stellar. The way she came to do this was she used to work for a cleaning service and got tired of working for them while they made all the money. So she started her own business with her favorite clients. Anyway, that's how I found her.

 

[zoebartlett]

Thanks Missy!

I thought that's what the deal was with cleaning companies vs. one or two people. I'd prefer not to use a service for that reason. I did just think of something. We live in a condo development and I could call the manager of our clubhouse and see if she has any recommendations.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

For the past 8 yrs I have someone come in 4 hrs a week to help with the shopping , some gardening and some light cleaning. I have a gardening service bi-weekly that takes care of the lawn. Since my son moved in he helps around the house and once in a while he calls for someone to come in to do the deep cleaning. Oh, i also have someone come in to do windows. I love that service.

My standards of clean have fallen since I was young. Boy, I was clean. Not so much any more.


Annette

 

[chemgirl]

We've been looking in to getting a house cleaner since we've moved to a larger home. It's actually pretty small by most standards, but it is taking far too much time to keep it clean.

Most of our neighbours have cleaning ladies of the unbonded, private business variety. The average cost around here seems to be around $20 per hour with a 3 hour minimum if you provide the cleaning supplies.

I work standard hours and have virtually no commute so I feel silly hiring somebody to do my cleaning. Well I feel silly until hour 2 of scrubbing and then I want to quit and have someone else do it!

A bonded service like Molly Maid costs about double which i feel is a bit excessive.

I feel comfortable with unbonded with references and paying them a reasonable wage helps with the guilt.

 

[AmeliaG]

I sakes areound. My super had the best leads. He recommended a couple who didn't work ou then he recommended his niece who I'm hiring now.

 

[canuk-gal]

We've been looking in to getting a house cleaner since we've moved to a larger home. It's actually pretty small by most standards, but it is taking far too much time to keep it clean.

Most of our neighbours have cleaning ladies of the unbonded, private business variety. The average cost around here seems to be around $20 per hour with a 3 hour minimum if you provide the cleaning supplies.

I work standard hours and have virtually no commute so I feel silly hiring somebody to do my cleaning. Well I feel silly until hour 2 of scrubbing and then I want to quit and have someone else do it!

A bonded service like Molly Maid costs about double which i feel is a bit excessive.

I feel comfortable with unbonded with references and paying them a reasonable wage helps with the guilt.

CG:

You live in ON, correct? Where are you finding services for $20/hour? Nothing in my neck of the woods remotely close to that...

cheers--Sharon