housecleaner....

[backtobasicsmum]

My awesome DH wants to budget some money this year to get something that I really could USE....and has suggested having someone come in once a week (??) to do some cleaning for me. He realizes how much I have to do, espcially b/c we homeschool.

Anyone have experience with this??? How much can one person accomplish in, say 2-3 hours, once a week? What sorts of things do you have them do? What do you pay them?? (I've looked in our local paper and several ladies have ads, both for $12/hour)
Do they always do the same thing each week?

[hopeforchange]

[malakoa]

We had a housekeeper when I was too ill to do the work myself and also when I was working. I figured I made $35 an hour and they cost $35 for four hours work, so it was a wash - I'd just take on another client.

Mine cleaned the whole house, then went back for her pet projects - eventually the whole house was immaculate.

it's totally worth it.

[JellyBean]

I have had a housecleaner come here and there through this pregnancy when I need it most. She charges 10/hr and she mainly does things like clean toilets, mop floors, etc...things that aren't getting done since I haven't placed them my highest priority lately.

And very nice of DH!

I have one and I adore her. Make sure you get personal references. I'm not sure I'd get someone out of the paper though. We had someone when we were first married and were both working a LOT and now we have someone since we have a young baby and a high needs 5 year old. She comes every two weeks. We pay her $70 a visit. She dusts, mops, changes sheets, makes beds, cleans baths, etc. We have about a 2300 sq ft house. I totally trust her and feel comfortable leaving the house while she is here. If she finds a penny on the floor she puts it on the counter. It is hard to be in the house when she cleans though just because I feel like we are in her way. If we aren't going out, I will stay upstairs while she cleans down and then switch. TOTALLY worth it. I do feel like there are certain things I still need to do but all of the basics are covered!

I have someone come clean when my DH is deployed. I went through a company (kind of like Merry Maids, but local) and 2-3 ladies come every two weeks and do bathrooms top to bottom, kitchen top to bottom, dust, sweep, vacuum, and mop, and change the sheets. It's a big load off and I love them! They will also fold laundry and do dishes (in reasonable amounts).

I would really like to get one person who would kind of cater to my specific wants and do occasional little projects here and there, but this particular company I have now just does the basics. They take about 2 hours to do my house and I pay $160/month. I think you can do better price-wise with a single person rather than a company.

[klpmommy]

We had one every other week for quite a while until we had to tighten budgets. It was *so* totally worth it b/c one day every other week the whole house sparkled. I loved it. It was expensive b/c we have a large house, but well worth the money. She dusted, vacuumed, mopped, etc. She did not fold clothes or move things to clean under them, she worked around any mess I left, but that helped me, too, b/c it meant that for her to really be worth it I couldn't leave piles everywhere.

I wish we could afford one again.

[Blue Aurora]

The company I tried here does a set amount for your house. It's 115 once a month for ours (4 bedroom/2bath) which is a little bit above my price range for regularly. It is on the top of my list of things to get though especially once we're pay off some more debt.

[knitlove]

this tread has me wanting to get a quote for one for a lest a bit after the baby comes

We've had a lady and/or her sister clean our house years ago. She did the upstairs (1300 sq ft) and cleaned the entire thing. Bathroom, top to bottom, including the mold that would always grow int he corners of the shower ceiling and she'd wipe down the walls, which would have water marks since we didn't have a fan in the bathroom. She'd do the kitchen, top to bottom, even finish the dishes. She'd mop, sweep, windows, etc. It was great! She charged $12/hour and would stay for 3 hours. So we payed her $36 dollars each time. She'd come every 2 weeks or so.

It was very worth it, but it's not something we could afford right now. Maybe again in the future!

[backtobasicsmum]

Thanks for all the information, ladies!

We live in a small town (like 1000 people) so I'll be able to ask around and see who is reliable or not.

I was thinking having someone come once a week and do basics to my upstairs only (our basement is not used very much and frankly, doesn't get much cleaning either. ). It is 1200 sq ft. Probably vacuum, wash kitchen and bathroom floor, clean bathroom, dust...maybe windows.....and I'm hoping I can get someone who would also take on a pet project each time as well. Like one week wipe out my fridge, one time wash walls in one room.....etc. Kind of what is bugging me the most at the time, ya know? Do you think that would be okay to ask about?

[backtobasicsmum]

Just bumping for any more input!

[newday]

Originally Posted by backtobasicsmum

Thanks for all the information, ladies!

We live in a small town (like 1000 people) so I'll be able to ask around and see who is reliable or not.

I was thinking having someone come once a week and do basics to my upstairs only (our basement is not used very much and frankly, doesn't get much cleaning either. ). It is 1200 sq ft. Probably vacuum, wash kitchen and bathroom floor, clean bathroom, dust...maybe windows.....and I'm hoping I can get someone who would also take on a pet project each time as well. Like one week wipe out my fridge, one time wash walls in one room.....etc. Kind of what is bugging me the most at the time, ya know? Do you think that would be okay to ask about?

I would rather go with a private person than a company. In a company they won't be paid as well and they usually have to hold to certain rules. Also, some bring their own cleansers which is a big no, no in my house.
I do agree that it is a great investment (I would opt for a clean house over a dinner out. Goodness, if it's clean I can make dinner myself and clean up in half the time and ENJOY it!!) I hope someday we might work this back into our budget.

Very Cool - go for it!

[MamaPepper]

Wow!!! That is AWESOME!!!!

[AdrienneQW]

The housekeeper is the very last frivolous expense that would be cut from our budget if we were belt-tightening... I'd give up just about every other non-essential before I'd give up the housekeeper. I told DH that if money becomes tight, I will give up the housekeeper the day AFTER he cancels his USC football and Lakers season tickets. He *lives for* those events, so he knows how serious I am.

We have a mother/daughter team; they come every two weeks and charge $65/visit to clean our 2000 sq.ft. 3br/2ba house. They will do, or not do, anything I request. They do all the basics (deep clean the kitchen and bathrooms, change the bed linens, sweep/mop the floors) every visit and I have no problem asking them to do whatever particular project is on my mind - for example, two visits ago they took everything out of the fridge/freezer and steam cleaned it. At my request they do not touch the laundry (I'm weird about my laundry) so they just fill a laundry basket with the dirty sheets and towels and leave it in the laundry area. They also don't touch my kids' toys at my request; I don't want my kids thinking that people come in and magically pick up your toys. (As it is, they act like it's Christmas every other Friday when they don't have to make their beds.)

This mother/daughter team has been with us for four years, and with my MIL for two years prior to that. I trust them completely and recently gave them a key to the house so we don't have to worry about being home to let them in. We are *very* lucky to have them - they're really nice people.