Night Elf Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 My dd19 is home from college this summer. She got a part-time job that is stressing her out completely. So for medical reasons, she's quitting. However, she was working to save up money to have when she goes back to school because she doesn't work while in school. DH has suggested I pay her to help me around the house. She already helps with superficial stuff like tidying, but I've never had my kids help with bigger jobs like deep cleaning. DH suggested we offer her $100 a week for her to do those bigger jobs and to help me with the daily running of the house. Dd feels bad when she takes money from us so I don't think she'll go for us spending that much money. So I'm thinking maybe I should treat it like I'm hiring a cleaning service, but I don't know what they charge. Any ideas how I can present this as fair? For example, in the living room right now: the shelves hanging up high on the walls along with everything on them needs to be dusted. Curtains need to be washed. Window sills and baseboards need to be wiped. Cobwebs removed (very high ceiling requires us to use a ladder). Ceiling fan cleaned. Everything needs to come off the mantel and dusted and wiped down. Turn the couches upside down and vacuum underneath. How much is fair to charge for that? Forget that she's my dd and should be helping me out anyway. What would a maid's service charge? I also need to clean out the attic (not very big). It's got stuff in there we don't need anymore like old school papers and kid's books that they didn't want to give up before but now that they don't care for, like ds's Hot Wheels cars board books and old gaming magazines. Plus I need to open all the storage bins and take inventory of what's in them. I can see this being a job that lasts at least 2 hours, but it won't be a breeze. How much should I pay for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I pay my boys $10/hr. for things like that. I would be paying a housekeeper $15-20/hr if I found one at a good rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarlett Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 I would pay her $10 an hour. You would probably have to pay more to a service, but $10 is more than fair for your college kid who needs some cash. If she needs $100 a week hat is only 10 hours a week of work which is not much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 I was thinking $15/hr for the deep cleaning. It's only two rooms and shouldn't take long. She also agreed to do the attic which I'm going to pay $20-$30 depending on how long we're in there. Then $10/hr for regular housework and cooking. Cooking is my least favorite and she and DH want to experiment with new recipes. More power to them! I can help out but I'm not going to do it all myself. She normally helps clean up the kitchen after dinner and occasionally dusts the living room. She does her own laundry. There just isn't much to do in my house really. I usually do the bathrooms because I'm fast and don't mind the environment. She's going to have to learn to clean her dorm bathroom though. She's in a dorm that doesn't have housecleaning this year and it's an apartment style dorm. Thank goodness she's only sharing with one person but still, it needs to be cleaned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TX Native Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 in addition to things around your house, would she be up for putting her name out there for a babysitter, pet sitter, and housesitter in your area? Those jobs opportunities are more available during the summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 (edited) I would make a comprehensive list of everything you want to accomplish this summer, then divide the chores by weeks, then days. I'd then decide the weekly amount I'm willing to spend and apply that to each week's tasks. If you're spending $100 a week, but you're totally cleaned and organized in 8 weeks' time, that could be a win-win for everyone. I'd LOVE to throw $200 at my basement and have it organized and sparkly at the end. You could also delegate a few meals a week or some grocery shopping or errands. Eta: I'd probably break down the jobs so they can be accomplished in 2-3 hours a day then let her schedule her own 10-12 hour work-week however she'd like. If she wants longer days/more money, I'd add a predictable daily light housekeeping list to this to add another hour to each day. Edited June 14, 2017 by KungFuPanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 Writing it all up beforehand might be a good thing. I bet it looks overwhelming though! We have 5 weeks and I am sure I don't have 10 hours a week for each of those weeks. When I do my regular cleaning using my Flylady lists, I'm done with my daily chores in less than 30 minutes a day. We can do the bigger jobs in 2 days of a 2 hours each. I'm thinking she can earn $50/week with my daily lists and bigger chores and that's without any of my help. That's light cleaning and cooking. Her room is a wreck. DH wants to have her clean her room as part of our household work but she said she won't take money for cleaning up her own space. That's fair. She won't clean it anyway. She's just not a tidy person. Neither was her dorm roommate. The two of them in that small dorm were a nightmare. There was no room to walk! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 ds had done some work at amount that a service would charge... but he wasn't doing a professional service sort of job. So he is now working at $9.75/hour with possibility of a raise when merited. Would yard work be something you might have that could give your dd more hours? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 We have a very low maintenance yard. Basically DH mows. Occasionally we need to weed the front garden bed that only has hastas in it but he did it recently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaz Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 I'm trying to think outside the box.... Other things my daughter or her friends do for money around the house: massages pedicures car washes How about paying for her to learn to clean the bathroom? I pay my kids for training. They work with me. I can make corrections and have them redo things without any frustration as they know it's paid training. Could you pay for her to read something important to you or for her to learn another skill? We've paid for reading books we recommend and learning skills we view as important. Does she know how to budget? Could she learn computer skills or coding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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