Secretly Hiring A House Cleaner

[TrueNorthTreasures]

I think rates vary a great deal. Sometimes you really do "get what you pay for". My parents have someone come to their apartment once a week for 3 hours to clean, as they are in poor health and cannot manage it themselves. She has always found wonderful women to help her clean, through word of mouth. Their rates have ranged from $18-25/hour (this is in Halifax). When I was at a tea shop there, I noticed an ad that was posted. The woman offered cleaning services and house sitting. She charged $30/hr. If she was good at what she did and reliable, I am sure she had no problem getting work in South End Halifax, even at those rates.

To be perfectly honest, if I didn't have a problem with my back, I would seriously consider cleaning for a living. You could be kept going 24/7.

[RebeccaRYoung]

I hire someone to clean my home whenever I am having a party. I don't mind doing the day to day cleaning since I'm at home, but when we're having a party with lot's of people, I prefer someone else to come in and do it. I find it takes some of the pressure off of me because they clean the windows, bathroom, vacuum, etc. This helps me to do some of the decorating and de-cluttering. I find if I have them come in the day before the party that means I can go out and get the groceries and whatnot.

[frugal50]

same here... i'm too cheap to hire a cleaner, rather do it myself and get the job done right!

[Lynn49]

Our DD and hubby have a cleaning lady come every Friday...they both have high-pressure jobs and would rather spend time with their little guy, they said, than house-clean. We had a service when I had two in diapers....if it's affordable for couples, why the heck not? It's wonderful!

[blueeyetea]

We had a service when I had two in diapers....if it's affordable for couples, why the heck not? It's wonderful!

No doubt about it. Everyone should spend their money as they see fit, but it comes to a point where they get trapped into working more/longer because of the conveniences they get accustomed to.

If someone works 35 hours at $20/hour, they compare this hourly rate to what it costs to hire a cleaner. If the cleaner costs $60 for 4 hours, i.e. $15/hour, the person doing the hiring thinks it's a good deal because they earn more than this. The problem with this reasoning is that they don't work more at their job in the time they give up for cleaning. They do something else that isn't bringing any money. So, the cleaning is just another expense that prevents saving money and and it's reducing their hourly rate. If they'd did, they'd do the cleaning themselves, save their money, with the goal of stopping to work sooner.

[avoncallingu]

In our town there is a service called "CHAPS" which provides help for people to stay in their homes as they get older. The rates that people charge are less than retail companies and the people are "vetted" by the CHAPS organization. They provide access to a variety of people who will provide a variety of services from grass cutting to snow shovelling to dog walking etc. We hire a person through this service.

[Zhioldas]

I don't think it should have been done secretly, though - it's something her husband should know about, that she's feeling overloaded.

[Kelly5]

I don't think that paying for a service should be done secretly. There is money being spent and it should be discussed with your spouse beforehand. If you're feeling that overloaded then a discussion might be in order about how to solve that problem. Perhaps the spouse could help out more, or if the children are old enough then they could be given tasks. If giving a child a task you should make sure that it's age appropriate and doesn't interfere with their homework or extra curriculars. It's still important for kids to be kids.

[K8's Fate]

I don't think that paying for a service should be done secretly. There is money being spent and it should be discussed with your spouse beforehand. If you're feeling that overloaded then a discussion might be in order about how to solve that problem. Perhaps the spouse could help out more, or if the children are old enough then they could be given tasks. If giving a child a task you should make sure that it's age appropriate and doesn't interfere with their homework or extra curriculars. It's still important for kids to be kids.

I'm not feeling overloaded, but thanks for your concern. This was posted awhile ago, and I really thought it'd be fun to just imagine having a house cleaner. I wouldn't go behind my spouses back (too bad I don't have one), or overload my children (that I don't have either). I'm lucky enough to have a great dbf who helps out a lot around the house. I'd still love to have a house cleaner though lol!

[Brooke_]

I have never personally hired someone to clean for me, the closest I've been is having someone else wash my car -- and I was NOT satisfied. That is the day I realized I prefer to do the work myself. It is both cheaper and done to my own standard.
However, I decided that when my boyfriend and I do move in together I will have to make a deal with him. He has to budget X amount of dollars for a weekly cleaner, wether I hire someone or do it all myself because he's so messy and doesn't know how to clean. Lol.

[bluerose]

house cleaning can be hard work when you consider that they are doing the whole house in about 4 hours top to bottom, and those house cleaners most likely realy need the money to feed there own famlies. I think a woman working a full time job and has children deserves a house cleaner and tell the cheap other part there paying half.

[suziehenderson]

Does her husband really not know that she is doing this? I think it would be easy to catch on