Anyone get rid of their cleaning people/person ~ was it manageable?

[Anjelica]

Ok - so my husband has proposed we cancel our cleaning people. A few years ago I would have said no but recently I am open to the idea. We don't need to do it for financial reason at all but my husband likes to save money (I'm the spender) and he's making a case we can do it ourselves (which we can).

For those that have canceled their cleaning people/person - did you find it maneagable transitioning back into cleaning yourself? One of the benefits we had with cleaning people/person was that we got to spend more time as a family out and about doing things together (i.e. going to the park, swimming pool) so I am a bit worried that we won't have as much time to do those things. (Both my husband and I have full time jobs).

 

[luvmy3jewels]

Last year, our cleaning lady got rid of us (she was having back problems and our house was too big for her to clean). I've been putting off hiring a new person, but am planning on trying to find someone this summer. Honestly, I really miss having the convenience of coming home from work to a clean house. Dh and I are very busy with work and our kids, and we don't really make the time that we need to in order for it to stay as clean as it should be. To us, it is worth the money every month to have someone come and do it for us!!

 

[tink_lover]

Well, we stopped our cleaning crew (2 young women) around the end of the year last year. I thought that all of us could handle it. What I found is that we spend so much time just doing the basic stuff that they were doing, that all the other stuff didn't get done - the deeper cleaning like wiping doors, baseboards, tops of door frames, window frames, cleaning out closets, refrigerator, etc. We have a large house and it is just taking too long to do the basics. For that reason, I'm going to find someone again. They can do the basic stuff and that leaves us to spend some time doing the "other" stuff. I work full time and travel during the week and really don't want to spend my free time over the weekend cleaning. Yesterday, on our first really nice day in a long time, I had to be inside from 10-3 just doing the basic - bathrooms, dusting, vacuuming, laundry. YUK!

 

[Crystal824]

I don't have a cleaning person. I would like to get one someday. I don't have any kids yet, but I will tell you that DH and I both work full-time professional jobs. We don't do too much cleaning during the week becuase by the time we get home and have dinner, it is time to go to bed. Our entire weekend is really spent cleaning, laundry, doing yardwork, and running errands. We often complain that we don't spend much quality time together because by the time we take care of all of that stuff, there is no time left. Really, it is up to you. I think you will find that doing those things yourself takes alot more time than you remembered.

We have a baby on the way, I hope to get a cleaning service within the next couple of years.

 

[PlaneJoy1]

When I left corporate and took a pay cut to become a teacher the one thing that my husband said we could not reduce in the budget was our cleaning lady! He knew how stressed out I would get because I would not be able to keep up the house myself the way I wanted it.

If you can afford it - I would keep it. It really does free you up to do other things!

 

[thebeesknees]

If you are sure you want to do it yourself, I'd recommend going to the FlyLady website. She has a rotating schedule that allows you to do things in 15-minute chunks, and still get the major and minor cleaning projects done over the course of a month. It does take some getting used to, but it has been a great help to me. I sometimes feel like my kids follow me around all day messing up what I have just cleaned, but this system has allowed me to keep everything presentable and to have people drop in on short notice and not be embarrassed about the state of my house.

That said, if DH would pay for a cleaning lady, I'd take him up on the offer in half a second!

 

[vsimeone]

I got laid off from my job in May of 2008. The first thing we cancelled was the cleaning service. I was out of work all summer so I was able to keep up with the cleaning (but hated every minute of it!).

When I got a new job in September 2008, the first thing we reinstated was our cleaning service!

I, too, love the convenience of coming home to a clean house and not having to worry about spending my weekends cleaning. I want to spend it doing family activities or even just relaxing!

Best wishes with your decision!

 

[katied]

If you can afford it, this is one thing I would NOT cut. Cleaning makes me unhappy, and since I have different standards than DH, the cleaning falls to me if we don't have someone in to do it (DH would think that toilets can go for months without being cleaned, and who needs to sweep/mop a kitchen floor?). I don't want to spend hours every weekend scrubbing bathrooms, floors, dusting, vacuuming, etc. I work all week, and I want to spend time at home with my family.

Yes, I still have to spend some time cleaning, but really just a quick wipe down of things if people are coming over or a clean up for a toddler accident, etc.

So, having someone in to clean is a MUST for us. I know it's not in everyone's budget, but there are many things I would go without before this.

 

[Cjmuma]

I know it may not be easy when you are used to having one... but I just finished grad school while working 12 hour shifts 5 days a week. If I can do it, anyone can. You just learn that some small messes are liveable....

 

[tinkarooni]

No. I have not found it to be manageable. Both DH and I work full time, and have two kids, I work at home but have no time to clean the house. As with other posters I find that I am the one stuck inside on a nice Saturday cleaning the house. It has really affected the free time I have and has made me really unhappy. I had a cleaning lady but she decided to start raising her prices and lower her standards. I let her go but after months of this craziness will be looking for somebody new. Anybody have any recommendations?

 

[Sinderelly]

We/I have never had a cleaning person/service. I am used to just doing it myself. I work FT and have always just set aside a couple hours per week for cleaning. If you keep things "picked up" it doesn't take that much time...really. We do laundry as we get a full load so that it doesn't pile up. I do deep cleaning in the spring and again in the fall windows, closets, etc. Our house is very clean.

I am surprised at the number of people that hire someone to clean. I would rather save the $$ for Disney.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

Talk to your cleaning lady and see if you can negotiate a new LOWER price....right now work is slow and she may be willing to negotiate with you. If she is trustworthy and you are pleased with her work she would be hard to replace if you decide it is not a job you want to do yourself.

 

[littlbugmom]

If you don't have to cancel for financial reasons, I wouldn't. Why? Is there something else you'd use the money for? It sounds like DH just likes to save where he can....I'd tell him to focus his savings jones on another area.


We don't have cleaning people. We do it ourselves. We both work full time. We have 2 kids and a dog. It would probably be great to have someone else do it because unlike my Mom, I do not "enjoy" cleaning. That said, we don't miss out on family time and we don't spend our weekends cleaning.

We put "cleaning day" on our calendar on Saturdays because it helps the kids to know that on Saturdays, they need to clean their rooms well. DH or I also do one deep cleaning job every Saturdays. This past weekend, I focused on the kitchen. Took me an hour. Our park time didn't suffer, we still played outside, relaxed etc....we had an enjoyable weekend.

Everyone does what works for them but we just keep things picked up and DH and I clean something every day. It takes me no time at all to clean a bathroom while the kids and DH clean up the dinner dishes. When it's time for bathes, the kids automatically pick up anything that belongs to them and take it up to their rooms before getting into the shower/bath.

As much as I'd prefer someone else to clean my house, I don't even think about it taking up too much of my time. It doesn't even register, kwim? It never really gets all that dirty because we have a consistent routine and everyone keeps the house clean. I can see how it might seem overwhelming though to someone who has always had someone else clean for them. Without a routine down that works for you, it would seem like a lot of work.

If I had a cleaning person, I wouldn't get rid of the service just to see that dollar amount saved. No way. If I didn't need that money for something else, I'd absolutely use it to pay someone to do the cleaning.

 

[DrMomof3]

We just cut back from once a week to every other week. We're both professionals who work long hours and we have 3 little kids. I've been using flylady.net to help me stay on top of things. I've also been giving the kids a little bit of $$$ for each "chore" that they do. When we made our new budget, we had to make some cuts. I really wanted to keep our August Disney trip so we cut back on cleaning. With flylady and help from my kids, it's really been ok. Our house isn't spotless but it isn't terrible either. When our finances improve, I'll probably go back to once a week but this is do-able.

Amanda

 

[Pigeon]

I don't have a cleaning person, but I sure wish I did. Dh has never been on board, and I'm not organized enough to do all the pre-cleaning (picking up for the household) that needs to be done. If I could afford it and it wasn't an issue with him, I'd have a cleaner in a heartbeat.

Dh and I both work full time and have two kids in various activities. I have very little free time as it is, and I hate spending most of it cleaning the house, on top of all the other chores and errands that need doing. Our house is usually a mess, to be honest.

 

[Gigi22]

DH and I are recently retired, and we have kept our cleaning lady. There is no way I would try to economize by getting rid of the cleaning lady. If I had to cut somewhere to make ends meet, I would cut our entertainment budget first. And, I know if we were to cut the cleaning lady, I would be the one stuck doing the housework. No way for that!

 

[ForTheLoveofDisney]

I don't have a cleaning lady but I would love, LOVE, LOVE to have one. I hate cleaning but my hatred wasn't as bad when I was home full time. Now I'm working full time and I'm exhausted when I get home at night. Often, things pile up out of sheer exhaustion and not taking the time to put it away. It's like what another poster said, work until evening and by the time you have dinner, it's time for bed. I HATE spending my Saturdays and/or Sundays cleaning up and being stuck inside. It's like a second job!

I don't know how to go about getting a cleaning person.

Any recomendations of how you found yours?

 

[m&m's mom]

My husband said we would cut electricity before our cleaning lady.
She is PHENOMENAL!!!
Seriously, no hurt feelings or fights because I know a lot of it would fall to me. In all fairness, DH is a great straightener and I stink at it but he does virtually no real cleaning.
We tell people that Leticia is cheaper than marital counseling so she stays!

 

[Priorityonecb]

I say if you can afford it, keep it! Or perhaps go to every other week instead of weekly. We always have a cleaning lady when I was growing up. I only work part time, and I enjoy cleaning my house. But, if I didn't and it was taking away precious weekend time with my family...I'd hire someone in a heartbeat.

 

[disneyfans95]

Never seen the needs to hire one. Too us it is a huge waste of money.

We have two kids with the full sports schedule and we both work full time jobs. Like anything, just have to manage your time and stay on top of the chores.

Everyone chips in and it is not a huge deal. Sure it can be a drag doing the yard work at 4:30pm on a Saturday, but if that opens up Sunday for us to something as a family, we do it.

The whole idea of spending money for this just seems friviolous (spelling on that?).

Sorry but even with our FT jobs and two kids, there is enough time to knock out the housekeeping duties.