For those who hire housekeepers.........

[Kelly1730]

May I ask what jobs they do for you and how much you pay them? After reading through the "homeschooling's too much" thread, I was amazed at how many of you hire cleaning help. And may I also say, I am trying very hard not to be jealous:blush:. I really enjoy homeschooling, don't mind cooking or laundry and the vacumming and dusting manage to get done. It's the bathrooms (3) and the mopping of the hard floors I would outsource in a minute. I once mentioned this to dh and he acted so surprised that I would be willing to pay someone to do this for me. But I would. Just not too much. We live in the northeast so it may be more pricey here than other areas, not sure. Well, I could go on but I have bathrooms to clean :tongue_smilie:

[Slipper]

We live in Alabama in a rural area where cost of living is low. We pay $10 an hour for three hours a week, each week.

 

My needs are different each week. If our kids are having a rough week due to medical reasons, sometimes the place is a disaster. In that case, I ask her to make paths through the house and thoroughly clean the kitchen and bathrooms. If the house is tidy, she sweeps/mops, vacuums, bathrooms/windows, ovens and stovetops. About twice a year, I work alongside her and we clean out cabinets, go through storage areas and delve into dark corners of the garage.

 

Always, always - I put something in the crockpot on the days she is here so I can extend my sense of "everything's done for the day".

[*Michelle*]

It's the bathrooms (3) and the mopping of the hard floors I would outsource in a minute.

 

That's precisely what we have done, three bathrooms and our whole downstairs flooring (wood and tile).

 

ETA: I'm in Florida and pay $30 for two hours.

Edited April 27, 2012 by *Michelle*

[nono]

Kelly, I'm in the Northeast too. Being at the coast, folks are pretty flexible about what they'll do here in terms of cleaning. I had* a woman come in weekly to do the bathrooms, dust and mop the hardwood (about 1/2 of the first floor). That's the things I was having trouble getting to on a regular basis. She charged $60 for 3 hours worth of work. I know a friend of mine, who lives inland, has not had luck finding someone to just do her floors (vacuum and mop, mixed surfaces). Everyone near her wants all the cleaning responsibility or none.

 

*Well that went away when dh got laid off last year. The good news is my kids are older and have been helping my dh and me pick up the slack.

[Alice]

We pay $100 each time, they come biweekly. It would be more per visit if they came monthly and less per visit if they came weekly. We don't have them do the whole house, only the main living area, bathrooms and bedrooms. We live in a really high cost of living area and this is the second service we've used with about identical prices so I think it's fairly standard. I think an individual would be lower but we've chosen to go with a company for various reasons.

 

When they come they are here for about 2-3 hours. They do the bathrooms, all the dusting, empty trash, vacuum/damp mop everywhere, clean the kitchen, they pick up stuff that is on the floor, they make the beds. We've used two companies and the one we just switched to came and took notes about what we want done. For example, I told them not to worry about the Legos on the boys' floor.

 

I do the maintenance daily cleaning (wiping the bathrooms- especially after the boys, cleaning after meals, sweeping/vacuuming as needed) but if I keep up with clutter it's pretty much clean from them. Overall, they do a much better job than me as I've never been all that good at cleaning. I am good at being neat and getting rid of clutter but not cleaning so much. They don't do bigger jobs like washing windows, cleaning the fridge, etc.

 

My husband was not enthusiastic at first. He also felt "why would we pay someone to do what we can do". I told him I needed help somehow. Either I had to work less (not really feasible for us financially), we had to change homeschooling or I needed help with the house. Just recently he confessed to me that he's getting to really like the cleaners. :)

[Dolphin]

We pay $100 for once every other week. Two ladies are here for 2.5-3.5 hours. They do the whole house deep cleaning. They remake the kids beds (mine too if I didn't do a good enough job:D) We have 4 bathrooms (which is 1 to 2 too many), they move everything off the kitchen counters, vacuum the couches and chairs. Just all that really deep cleaning stuff.

 

It also helps as every other Saturday night we have to put everything away before they come. It helps us not get too cluttered.

 

I was feeling bad being a stay at home mom and having a cleaning lady until DH pointed out that homeschooling the kids is a job, and I am saving us private school tuition, so we are still saving money overall, and he likes me being less stressed in the evenings, I have more time for him:001_smile:

[wtrmlnlabs]

How old are your kiddos? Any of them old enough to help out? I hate cleaning my bathrooms. I realized DH8 (now 9) WANTED to clean the bathroom and I was being silly not to teach him! :001_huh: It's now "his" job and he does great, not complaining. I have him do it usually twice a week. If I feel it needs a "good cleaning" at some point I'll go over it, but he's really done a great job. For me, if it were just bathrooms and mopping I'd have them helping out. Well, the new house we're moving into I'm getting a robot vacuum gadget thing to do the floors for me :D, DS can still clean the bathroom!

 

As much as I'd love to have someone clean my house for me, I have a terrible aversion to it. Just the thought of what they can do wrong drives me crazy...I have a hard enough time letting DS do it!

[AmyontheFarm]

I spend 6-7 hours a day in the dairy barns. I'm on call to drive vehicles to fields or run for parts constantly. I homeschool 2 at the elementary level. One in high school and the eldest is working through her online college. I would hire someone to come in to clean in a snap! My kids help out a lot and they usually do a great job, but there are just weeks when I wish I could just play with the kids instead of chasing them to finish their jobs. I feel like a traffic cop or the chore police way too often and I wish I could just be the "fun" parent for 3 hours a week.

[TravelingChris]

I have a cleaning service that comes every two weeks. Right now, they are doing all the public rooms and all the bathrooms. That is $123 which is less than I was paying in Northern VA. They will add the bedrooms and office soon like within the month and then the price will rise to 140. I have a large house= three bathrooms they clean, large kitchen, dining room, great room, florida room, family room, second kitchen. This is two women coming for two to three hours- oh and my house doesn't have carpeting so the whole place must be mopped after being swept or vacuumed. More work for them.

 

I have been using cleaning services since my dh became a major and I could afford it. So on and off, that has been for 13 years. I have two chronic illnesses that preclude me from doing heavy cleaning- arthritis and asthma.

[Twinmom]

I have a cleaning woman and her adult daughter who come as a team biweekly. They are here approximately 3.5 hours and basically do everything. We pay them $100 each time they come. We have a house that is large...approximately 3800 square feet and that is occupied by four completely berserk (but precious!) kiddos with special needs and who don't have an sense of "aim" in the bathroom, a golden retriever, two guinea pigs, a work at home DH, a homeschooling classroom and a therapy room that is in full swing while they are here. Frankly, I think they deserve twice that amount or a medal!

 

To make this possible, I send the kids on a biweekly pick up frenzy the day before they get here. We pick up and organize all the toys, get crap out from under the beds and off the closet floor, make sure the laundry is done, etc. We also have cleanup time twice daily (meaning that kiddos are responsible for picking up their rooms and/or other kid debris and I handle vacuuming, mopping and kitchen duties). Somehow it all stays at a manageable place with everyone's help and an occasional freak-out cleaning binge by Mom! ;)

 

Honestly, I couldn't manage without the help. Four special needs kids, at home therapy, homeschooling and cooking is more than a full time job. With the extra help, we still get to have a life! :D

[mudboots]

We had four kids within 38 months. I feel like I'm running a miniature preschool. They're all still too little to do much of anything without my direct input, and most of the things they try to do themselves end up in a big mess.

 

Right now, the housekeeper comes once a week. She's expensive ($25/hr in a low COL area), but she also coaches me on maintaining things better myself.

 

I really don't want to spend our money this way (although DH is fine with it). I look forward to having her come less often, as soon as I can manage things better myself.

[lauracolumbus]

I pay $180 1x/month. It was $140 2x/month (cheaper the more frequently they come). That includes sales tax of $20. I only paid $80/month a few years ago, but had to file a 1099 for an independent contractor (and she of course had to claim the income--she eventually quit). I like paying a service rather than individual b/c of the tax issues (although of course I dislike paying the tax). They are also more reliable than when I had to find individuals.

 

A team of four comes in and gets everything done in about 1.5 hours, which is important b/c I don't like having to be out of the house for the 4-6 hours it was taking when we had just 1 person. They do the basic deep cleaning that everyone here has mentioned. They are not perfect. I often notice large swaths that they have missed.

 

And there is a cleaning frenzy that goes on b4 they get here--I'm still nagging my kids to p/u their rooms and elsewhere.

 

I often debate whether it's worth it, but it's like doing an online class--it keeps me accountable. I know I will do the major clean b4 they come, and then their major clean gets done every month.

 

Laura

[kewb]

The going rate around here is $80-$110. The higher range ones usually will also do a couple of loads of laundry while they are cleaning.