Those of you with a housecleaner

carmelbride05 · May 2011

I am now (right this minute) having a housecleaner clean our entire house, like baseboards, fans, the whole nine yards. I did this once before we moved into our house and maybe 2 years ago my mom did it for us when baby was born. So this is my first "real" time. I am thrilled but wondering if we can budget for it on a regular basis. A friend of mine made the point, if you do it only monthly, does it really make much of a difference? You still have to do the weekly toilets, vacuuming, etc, so is it worth it? So please talk to me and tell me your thoughts. I really don't think we can swing adding $140 per month in order to do it every 2 weeks.

hersheykiss · May 2011

Honestly, we have our housekeeper come once a month and that is the only time the toilets and floors get cleaned. Even with a toddler in the home, the house doesn't get too dirty just cluttered. Yes I wish we could afford the cleaner to come twice a month like she used to, but it is fine at once a month.

danandkelly · May 2011

I have a gal come once a month, if I could afford 2 times a month I would.

I think it is totally worth it, she does all the big stuff and all I have to do is the in between stuff, sweeping, counters, toilets etc. It also makes us keep up on that stuff more since we're paying for it.

spicy-mustard · May 2011

My toilets and showers only see the housekeeper monthly, I do still vacuum/sweep and dust weekly, but the mopping, baseboards, deep cleaning is no longer on my list! WooHoo

pkw · May 2011

We decided before we moved we were getting a bi-weekly housecleaner. We got CRAZY lucky and when we were signing our lease found out that that service comes with the house we are renting.

But basically we sat down and did a cost to time ratio.

And ultimately decided it was worth it for us. I am swamped with school and EJ and DH is swamped with work and EJ. We were failing miserably with housework....this was shown to us when we realized there was a ring in our toilet and something was growing in one of the corners of the shower in the last 2 months we lived in our condo.

When we put our place on the market I had to keep it impeccably clean; it came at the expense of me feeling guilt over EJ getting upset over the lack of time and things we were doing together. That sealed it for me. DH agreed to it when I said "this is what we are doing because we both like how clean our house is....I cannot keep it this way."

So, my advice, figure out what it means to you, and what you can afford if you feel you need/want the help. Then you can find a housecleaner and schedule that fits your budget. Perhaps start with once a month and so you only spend $70?

My.ABC.Life · May 2011

I'm not sure where you are, or how big your house is... but $140 seems like a lot. You should ask, but that might be the "one time only" fee for a deep clean. I'm guessing if you had them come twice a month, the price would be reduced. Either way... you should be able to find something for less than $100 for twice a month.

mandy0505 · May 2011

We have a housecleaner come every two weeks for 120/per visit. IMO it is so worth it. I'm a complete neat freak and dh is very messy. For me, I justify it by the amount of time it would take me to clean it all myself. I work full time and so does dh, and I feel like since we both work really hard it just doesn't make sense to come home at the end of the day and scrub toilets or even do it on the weekend when we could be spending family time.

I don't clean the toilets or showers in the off weeks, they just don't seem to get very dirty. I will however clean them if they are dirty or we have company coming over.

2bearichards · May 2011

My.ABC.Life:
I'm not sure where you are, or how big your house is... but $140 seems like a lot. You should ask, but that might be the "one time only" fee for a deep clean. I'm guessing if you had them come twice a month, the price would be reduced. Either way... you should be able to find something for less than $100 for twice a month.

I agree with Alison. Is that $140 total for the month with two visits or $140 each time?

We have a pretty large house and our cleaning lady only charges $100 each time.

kala1682 · May 2011

Ours comes once a month, and does everything. I do the small things when she is not here like the toilets, shower, vacuum. But the tile floors, baseboards and major stuff is saved for when she comes. I wish we could afford every 2 weeks but its not possible right now.

SFAug07 · May 2011

We have our cleaner come once every three weeks and do a very thorough clean of the entire house. I do small things in between, but not the deep cleaning. It works out perfectly for us.

mrs.meteowrite · May 2011

We have someone come every other week and it's $115/visit. If we only had them once a month, it would be more per visit (I guess because they assume the place would be dirtier..) For me, it's soooooooo worth every penny. Not only because I don't have to clean, and not only because we have to tidy up every two weeks so the cleaners can clean (we usually open two weeks worth of mail the night before the cleaners come) but mostly so that DH and I don't have to argue about cleaning, and so that I don't waste time feeling resentful about who's doing more cleaning. Worth EVERY penny.

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