Coming Clean!

[NYEXPAT]

I pay $361.00/mth + benefits. She works 60 hours per week. Cleans,cooks changes diapers, goes to the market, serves me coffee in the afternoon, etc. On the plus side she is 22 and easy on the eyes!

 

[street]

Not a bad idea but my wife would say it would be more work to have one then to just do it herself. I don't do much cleaning but I do some. For many years I washed the floors and all outside work. Now I do the outside work and very little house cleaning.

 

[Amethyst]

For that amount, I should be able to buy one of those robots that pick up stuff and put it in bins, along with cleaning!

I can only imagine what the young moms in the $2mill houses up the street (you could put 4 of ours inside 1 of theirs) are paying their maid services. They sure aren't cleaning those giant houses themselves. Actually I should wander up there some time, attempt to get someone to come to the door,* and ask who they are using.

*People never answer the door any more; have you noticed that? I think they are too far away in some other part of the house to hear the bell!

You can lease a new Mercedes for that amount!

 

[Teacher Terry]

How big is your house and how often were they going to come?

 

[harllee]

When DH and I both worked full time (I worked alot --50-60 hours a week) we had a maid, a cook, some one to do the laundry, yard work, etc. It all cost a small fortune. Then we both retired at age 50. Since then we have substantially downsized. No more yard and a small house to keep up and we do all the work ourselves. We have found if we spend 30 minutes a day we keep up with all the cleaning and laundry and it is not so overwhelming. A 1500 square foot house is so much easier to clean than a 3000 square foot house.

 

[Free bird]

This is the Howells thread.

 

[harllee]

This is the Howells thread.

Gulligen's Island??

 

[Free bird]

A brilliant microcosm of the America you find yourself. I'm in the Gilligan category. Labor.

 

[Free bird]

I did hire some Iraqis to install some flooring. Reasonably hard working guys. Pretty good quality. Attention to detail not great. But they appreaciate the opportunity to make some money. I showed them how to improve without offending them. I can't do that type of work anymore. I would if I could.

 

[Chuckanut]

I had a house cleaning service a few years back. They came every other Wednesday. One November they were scheduled to come the day before Thanksgiving. Great, since we were having friends over that year. Alas, the never showed up. :-(

I called and asked what happened and was told that other clients who were hosting Thanksgiving asked for a special cleaning on Wednesdays so they rescheduled me. They never called and asked me or told me if the change was OK. So what about me? To bad. I fired them. Ever since I do my own housecleaning. I bough a Roomba for the price of about 4 months cleaning and that has helped a lot.

 

[Ready]

I pay my housekeeper $15 per hour. She can clean the entire house in 8 hours, including doing all of our laundry. For $120 per visit I consider it a bargain.

BTW, I would never hire a cleaning service. I have always found an individual person who has stayed with me for many years and been very reliable. We treat them very nice and give them a generous holiday bonus to show our appreciation.

 

[cyber888]

I do house chores for exercise. But if you can afford it ..why now

 

[ElizabethT]

In our household, the prohibition is on regarding ANY household appliance as a present. DW made that abundantly clear to me in our first year of marriage.

Sort of like giving DH a new lawnmower, or a trash can, or a toilet bowl cleaner. If it's associated with a chore, it's a no go as a gift. In our household at least.

 

[Scuba]

The only estimate I got was $650 a month for basic cleaning. Our home Ian' t small but neither is it a mansion.

That sounds very high to me unless it’s a huge house.

 

[Scuba]

I pay my housekeeper $15 per hour. She can clean the entire house in 8 hours, including doing all of our laundry. For $120 per visit I consider it a bargain.



BTW, I would never hire a cleaning service. I have always found an individual person who has stayed with me for many years and been very reliable. We treat them very nice and give them a generous holiday bonus to show our appreciation.

Ditto. I appreciate that we have to clean up our clutter every two weeks before the housekeeper comes. Keeps our place looking neat and tidy most of the time.

 

[GravitySucks]

I think there is a law against getting a vacuum as a present. I think the penalty for such an infraction can be severe. You might should just get one before the holidays.

DW insisted she wanted a DustBuster for her 1st Anniversary present. I never even smelled the trap!
She never let me forget it.

 

[Walt34]

I think there is a law against getting a vacuum as a present. I think the penalty for such an infraction can be severe. You might should just get one before the holidays.

My father told me he knew a guy at work that had given his wife a new toilet seat for Christmas. No word on whether she strangled him with it.

 

[Breedlove]

Kind of funny , DW and I always cleaned our house , mowed the grass etc. We just never knew another way . We still continue to do many chores like this ourselves . We have friends that are low on cash but still pay people to mow their grass .

 

[45th Birthday]

I/we have had weekly cleaning people since getting my first real apartment and my first real job. I don't like to clean, and I don't want my wife to have to do something I don't like. We can afford it, so it isn't a burden financially. Current cleaners in both houses are one main person with a few helpers. Paid hourly, varies every week. If we have had guests using bedrooms, or need the porches or garage done, then extra time is involved. We keep the place picked up, so it isn't as if there is anything to do before they come. We do our own sheets and towels.

Same thing with lawn maintenance. Have never owned a lawnmower, and wouldn't have the knowledge to figure out how to keep grounds up. Don't have the interest in learning.

 

[Fireup2020]

As long as it is comfortably affordable within your budget, I salute you! We have cleaning services as a line item in the retirement budget too!

 

[48Fire]

I'm putting this out there to get it off my chest

I'm 43 and retired while the wife is a 39y/o stay at home mom.


AND WE DECIDED TO GET A MAID SERVICE


I feel better getting that off my chest. Bottom line, time is money and we both value our time more than cleaning the house. They will start in December.

We started getting a cleaning service nearly 30 years ago, and we have had it off and on ever since. When we first started, our only child was born, and my wife started having back problems. It was a temporary solution to keep up with the house, but we liked it so much, that we kept it. My wife paid for it out of "her money", so there was no impact to me really, and it was always nice to come home to a clean house. The two ladies who cleaned for her were Amish, so it was an interesting learning experience as well, as we became good friends with these Amish families. My wife ended up attending their daughter's wedding along with 800 Amish

After we moved, we had a couple other services. Some good, some not. We just recently picked up a service again, and we are really happy with our cleaner. We just returned from a long trip to a sparkling clean home. Nice

Again, it's still "her money", so no problems for me.

 

[GlennN]

But, in truth, is "time really money" in your case?

I do have some envy, as my wife still works and I do all of the cleaning!

And all of the laundry and grocery shopping....