Coming Clean!

When I was working I had a cleaning company that came once a month. They are a family company and very good. When I retired I cleaned myself but quickly discovered that I was spending more money at the chiropractor from all the bending,etc. So now I hire them to do the bathrooms and floors once a month. During the in between time I use my robot vacuum and mop.
 
Floridatennisplayer said:
I hired this cleaning service called “Hot Maids”.

Uh, I guess I misunderstood.
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They sent you this maid?

man-french-maid-300x219.jpg
 
Rather than hiring a cleaning service, why not have a good, long talk with the person who is making the mess?
 
I've been thinking about it. Good way to blow a little extra dough since our portfolio could support a lot higher withdrawal rate than what we're doing right now (2% withdrawal rate).

I have worries along the lines of what others have expressed here. Finding a good cleaner. Getting the job done right. Not stressing over the service and details or spending more time managing the service compared.

We tackle the cleaning tasks jointly and have the kids help out. We're okay with "acceptably clean" and don't require perfection so it's not too hard to DIY ourselves and there's zero management overhead of a service.

Another task I've considered outsourcing is mowing the grass. It would be nice but when I've hired it out a few times when we went out of town all summer, it ends up being a hassle. Minor damage to stuff, following up on scheduling, etc.

So for now while I'm young and healthy I figure I can do a little work myself. It's good exercise and I don't mind it much. Plus I notice little things here and there that I can optimize or take care of that hired help probably wouldn't care as much about.
 
We have had a cleaning service for over 25 years. We hired a guy based on a referral from a picky person I knew who was much wealthier than we are and she said he was very trustworthy. We kept him for 24 years, during which his business grew considerably and he went from being a guy who cleaned houses with his wife to a guy who had a van, employed several people, etc. Unfortunately this increased his costs considerably and he recently went up to an amount we felt was unacceptable, so we terminated his services.

Our new housekeeper who is starting at our place on 10/31 was also referred by a friend whose place is immaculate after the housekeeper comes. The new one is going to charge 33% less than what our former service had gone up to.

Having a housekeeper would be one of the last things we would cut out of our budget. We are fussy about cleanliness and the time and effort it would take us to do it ourselves would far outweigh the benefit of saving the money.
 
We've always had cleaning people, since we married. At first it was because we both worked. Then it was because we had a baby and then toddlers even though I was a SAHM for several years. Then it was because time is worth more than money. Then it was because I like a clean house but I hate to clean. I look forward to the day when the cleaning people come. My current service has been with us for over 10 years and I see no deterioration in the "clean factor". In fact this week I walked into the kitchen while one of the cleaners was working and realized she was cleaning the inside of the refrigerator. YES!!!! She even asked me for a toothpick so she could clean the stubborn areas along the edge of the glass shelves. This is my idea of a "clean house".



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Good call JMP. No risk, if it doesn't work out just cancel. What about hiring out the yard work? I tried it for a while, but then realized I kinda like doing it my self.
 
I've had a cleaning service for 15+ years, and it's baked into my retirement budget. Cleaning service was a referral from a friend who values a clean home. Same person 15 years. Does a great job. :)
 
One benefit of having a cleaning service is it motivates us to put away / throw out clutter before she arrives so she has clear surfaces to dust / polish / vacuum, & since we know she's coming back, it's a motivation to keep it that way.
 
razztazz said:
I had hired a guy to pick up the leaves in my yard this year. I don't mind mowing the lawn in Summer but for some reason I don't like the raking and bagging. But it dawned on me in August that I am in my 60's now and the world wouldn't end if I actually spent the money and jobbed out one of my least favorite chores.

The guy never showed so I ended up running the mower over the yard and just mass-mulching the leaves.
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i call that creativity ( am not big on raking the lawn either )
 
jmp470 said:
I'm 43 and retired while the wife is a 39y/o stay at home mom.

AND WE DECIDED TO GET A MAID SERVICE :D
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Be sure to watch (or rewatch) Downton Abbey for some tips on properly interacting with your new maid. You will, of course, expect her to address you as "m'lord" and your wife as "m'lady". :D
 
I bought my first condo when I was 23 years old. I spent the first two months trying to keep it clean when I learned quickly how much I hate cleaning houses. I couldn't afford to eat out, take a vacation, or splurge on virtually anything. But I still hired a person to come in once every two weeks to clean my house.

Now, almost 30 years later, I still have a house cleaner come in once every two weeks. The cost is nominal, and the thought of scrubbing toilets and mopping floors is so awful that I really don't care what it costs. I've always been an LBYM person, but I have my limits.

Funny, I thought almost everyone had a house cleaner. This thread has made me realize otherwise.
 
Well, for one thing, the cost is not "nominal" for everybody. House cleaners are very expensive here. I suppose a small condo is not that much, but it's also not hard to keep a small condo clean, so...

Another reason we have never had a house cleaner (except that one bad time) is that they expect floors and surfaces to be practically bare. In other words, we could not live as we choose. We like our stuff.

Ready said:
I bought my first condo when I was 23 years old. I spent the first two months trying to keep it clean when I learned quickly how much I hate cleaning houses. I couldn't afford to eat out, take a vacation, or splurge on virtually anything. But I still hired a person to come in once every two weeks to clean my house.

Now, almost 30 years later, I still have a house cleaner come in once every two weeks. The cost is nominal, and the thought of scrubbing toilets and mopping floors is so awful that I really don't care what it costs. I've always been an LBYM person, but I have my limits.

Funny, I thought almost everyone had a house cleaner. This thread has made me realize otherwise.
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It's one of those things I've always thought i would like, but never could bring myself to do it. Not the least of my reservations is the cost, estimates around $85 for a visit every 2 weeks? That's not nominal to most people if that's an ongoing expense.

Plus I know myself well enough. I'd be the kind of person that cleans before they come, that would nag at DH to pick up and put stuff away in prep. Also the whole there's-a-stranger-in-my-house thing.

And when I've seen cleaning crews show up at other neighbors houses, when I'm out on a walk in the morning, often they seem to all be smoking as they get out of their cars. If someone showed up to clean my house and they smell remotely of smoke, that would not go well.
 
Thanks for coming clean, JMP!

I'm been contemplating doing this for a long time but haven't pulled the trigger. A friend told me decades ago that she hired a housecleaner when she first became a lawyer, which seemed extravagant to me at the time, but I often think maybe she was onto something. I can easily afford it & don't hate cleaning, but when I'm busy or just feeling lazy sometimes it doesn't get done for much too long.

Reasons I haven't done it: I have a small home so I COULD do it in a couple of hours, & my parsimonious relatives (including deceased ones) would be shocked & disapprove.

Terrible reasons, I know, but it's hard to escape that perspective. I'm gonna do it -- one day.
 
Yes you need to pick up before they come so they can clean and don’t waste their time moving stuff. Now that I am retired I do my own dusting and cleaning kitchen counters, etc, But having them do bathrooms and scrubbing all floors on their hands and knees is priceless. I only have them come once/month.
 
We have a cleaning team come twice per month and it's been the same two ladies for 4 years. DW is HANICAPPED and can't do the heavy or intense stuff. I pick up the clutter and they do the rest.

We pay $140 a month and they do everything you can think of including washing the bedding and towels. Plus, they make the beds up. The two ladies are here for about 2.5 hours and we sometimes leave to go to breakfast while they are cleaning the place.

They clean a few homes in the area in our 55+ community and are highly recommended.
 
The only estimate I got was $650 a month for basic cleaning. Our home Ian' t small but neither is it a mansion.
Aerides said:
It's one of those things I've always thought i would like, but never could bring myself to do it. Not the least of my reservations is the cost, estimates around $85 for a visit every 2 weeks? That's not nominal to most people if that's an ongoing expense.

Plus I know myself well enough. I'd be the kind of person that cleans before they come, that would nag at DH to pick up and put stuff away in prep. Also the whole there's-a-stranger-in-my-house thing.

And when I've seen cleaning crews show up at other neighbors houses, when I'm out on a walk in the morning, often they seem to all be smoking as they get out of their cars. If someone showed up to clean my house and they smell remotely of smoke, that would not go well.
Click to expand...
 
I've never used a house cleaning service. i do have one friend whose granddaughter did work for one for a time as a second job to earn extra money to help pay for a a nursing course at a local college that she started after quitting the housekeeping gig. And yes she reports most of her housekeeping colleagues did smoke a lot, but not while actually in the houses they cleaned. It was no fun for her riding in the vans with them.

I may have to get a maid service once I get to the point of being totally unable to bend or get down on the floor (or get up again). But for now I have to do a lot of both to care for my pets, so it seems a waste of money. Keeping clutter down to prep for their visits would be a hassle now, but probably wont if/when I start getting rid of stuff as I age anyway.
 
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