How do you clean your house?

[prncess674]

This is assuming that you're working 24/7 and that you're hourly and not salaried.

It assumes that I have a finite amount of time to work/rest/play. Housekeeping = work in my life and I am only going to work X amount of hours in the day. I work so I can afford to do things I enjoy in my rest/play time. I don't work so that I can do chores that I dislike in my rest/play time. I am not willing to sacrifice work time that nets my $$$ to do something that I can pay someone a fairly small wage to do.

I am salaried, but salary is only a small component. The rest of my income is bonus which is generated based on a formula of billable hours, work sold, performance factors, etc. I refuse to take 6 hours from my play/rest time to save $100. I also refuse to use my "work" time doing something that is only "worth" $100 when those 6 hours could be used to advance my billable hours, selling work or doing other items that contribute to my bonus.

 

[RitaE]

I'm just not that complicated. I figure that if I have time to DIS, then I probably have time to wash the sheets.

 

[SaraJayne]

It assumes that I have a finite amount of time to work/rest/play. Housekeeping = work in my life and I am only going to work X amount of hours in the day. I work so I can afford to do things I enjoy in my rest/play time. I don't work so that I can do chores that I dislike in my rest/play time. I am not willing to sacrifice work time that nets my $$$ to do something that I can pay someone a fairly small wage to do.

I am salaried, but salary is only a small component. The rest of my income is bonus which is generated based on a formula of billable hours, work sold, performance factors, etc. I refuse to take 6 hours from my play/rest time to save $100. I also refuse to use my "work" time doing something that is only "worth" $100 when those 6 hours could be used to advance my billable hours, selling work or doing other items that contribute to my bonus.

Aren't you single? It takes you six hours to clean your house when only one person lives there?

 

[kt_mom]

It assumes that I have a finite amount of time to work/rest/play. Housekeeping = work in my life and I am only going to work X amount of hours in the day. I work so I can afford to do things I enjoy in my rest/play time. I don't work so that I can do chores that I dislike in my rest/play time. I am not willing to sacrifice work time that nets my $$$ to do something that I can pay someone a fairly small wage to do.

I am salaried, but salary is only a small component. The rest of my income is bonus which is generated based on a formula of billable hours, work sold, performance factors, etc. I refuse to take 6 hours from my play/rest time to save $100. I also refuse to use my "work" time doing something that is only "worth" $100 when those 6 hours could be used to advance my billable hours, selling work or doing other items that contribute to my bonus.

Don't forget low value right? That's what you said, its low value work.

I think that's what people take such offense at. The idea that you are somehow better than the person doing what you call "low value" work.

The value of many jobs is not represented in the pay that person receives.

 

[Lorelei Lee]

Don't forget low value right? That's what ysaid, its low value work.

I think that's what people take such offense at. The idea that you are somehow better than the person doing what you call "low value" work.

The value of many jobs is not represented in the pay that person receives.

The new corporate trend...everyone from the CEO to the guy in the mail room is eligible for a performance bonus, based on his/her contributions to the corporation's profitability. The CEO could not do her job if the IT people didn't keep her laptop and Blackberry running and if her direct-reports didn't properly report and if her support staff didn't properly support her. The guy in the mail room doesn't earn what the CEO earns, but his work is important, too.

 

[Tara922c]

If I make $150 per hour and it takes 6 hours to clean my house, why in the world would I spend the equivalent of $900 to clean my house when I can hire someone for less than $100 to clean my house? It would be a net loss of $800 to take pride and do it myself. I would be doing my family a disservice by wasting my time cleaning when I could be earning a far greater amount of money in that time. No, a degree doesn't always equate to more earning power, but in my case, I specifically picked a degree that would provide a lucrative salary and I choose to spend my money on housekeeper so I can spend my free time on items that I value more, such as spending time with friends and family.

On the flip side, I love grocery shopping and cooking. Yes, it is a task I could easily hire out and since I value spending time on those activities I choose to spend some of my free time doing those activities.

I don't believe anyone said that you should clean your own home even though you can afford a housekeeper. Good for you that you can afford a housekeeper. I am thinking about having someone come twice a month to do the heavy cleaning myself. It is the way you delivered your message that is so offensive. Had you said, "I don't have a cleaning schedule, but I do have a housekeeper come once a week," no one would care. You basically created a bragging post and put down every person that cleans his/her own home or cleans home for a living. Having a degree or a job that pays well, doesn't mean you are above cleaning your own home or better than people that do clean their own home, but it does mean that you may not have to.

 

[NHdisneylover]

You are completely missing the point of my post. I never said I don't clean or don't know how to clean, I stated that I don't need to have a cleaning schedule. Just as you admit to having a housekeeper who does all the usual house cleaning maintenance. Of course I know how to run the washing machine or mop a floor but I don't have to do such tasks, since my job affords me the luxury to pay. I am sure somewhere in your many studies you learned time value of money. I am assuming you are an attorney and have admins and paralegals who can assist you, since as an attorney your time is better suited doing high value tasks to the firm ,verses running to the post office to mail an invoice.
If I drop A jar of spaghetti sauce, sure I pick up a mop and clean it up, no I don't just leave it for the housekeeper.

I think YOU are completely missing the point. I doubt anyone here takes issue with someone hiring a housekeeper. The issue is the, for lack of a better word, snooty way you explained your position.

If you had said "I hate leaning and am lucky enough to be able to afford to hire a housekeeper, so I have no schedule) no one would have really cared.

Instead, you sounded very much like you look down on those "low value" people who do "manual labor" and feel you are better than them because you chose (and had some sort of circumstances that allowed that, not everyone even has that option really) to earn a degree in a field that pays well. You acted like you feel you are a better person than a housekeeper.

THAT is what people are responding to, and the point you are missing.

 

[NHdisneylover]

Oh, and BTW, the one time I had regular housekeepers, they were two degreed women who left other, lucrative, careers to run their own housekeeping business.

They loved working together and loved the freedom that t gave them and the shorter hours--and did pretty dang well financially to boot.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Oh, and BTW, the one time I had regular housekeepers, they were two degreed women who left other, lucrative, careers to run their own housekeeping business.

They loved working together and loved the freedom that t gave them and the shorter hours--and did pretty dang well financially to boot.

That's an important point. Some people may find more value in having their own business, a less stressful job, or more free time than making lots of money or being able to brag about a big house. There's no reason to look down on someone because they do not place the same importance on things that you do.

 

[sunshinehighway]

If I make $150 per hour and it takes 6 hours to clean my house, why in the world would I spend the equivalent of $900 to clean my house when I can hire someone for less than $100 to clean my house? It would be a net loss of $800 to take pride and do it myself. I would be doing my family a disservice by wasting my time cleaning when I could be earning a far greater amount of money in that time. No, a degree doesn't always equate to more earning power, but in my case, I specifically picked a degree that would provide a lucrative salary and I choose to spend my money on housekeeper so I can spend my free time on items that I value more, such as spending time with friends and family.

On the flip side, I love grocery shopping and cooking. Yes, it is a task I could easily hire out and since I value spending time on those activities I choose to spend some of my free time doing those activities.

Some people may look at that 6 hours and see something other than time away from earning money. That's 6 hours you can spend with your family, teaching your children to clean up and take care of themselves, teaching them to be adults. Is it fun family time? No. To some people, its valuable family time though.

 

[snapppyd]

DH and I hire a landscaping service to mow the lawn and do related gardening tasks. We suck at yard work and it's a huge yard. We also hire a pool service for the same reason. We can afford to have someone else do those jobs for us and we don't care to do them ourselves.


And I've managed to tell you that without telling you what I do for a living or how much DH and I earn.

We hire painters for the same reason, we suck at painting and I make a huge mess. When the professionals leave the house is neat and clean, job over.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

If I make $150 per hour and it takes 6 hours to clean my house, why in the world would I spend the equivalent of $900 to clean my house when I can hire someone for less than $100 to clean my house? It would be a net loss of $800 to take pride and do it myself. I would be doing my family a disservice by wasting my time cleaning when I could be earning a far greater amount of money in that time. No, a degree doesn't always equate to more earning power, but in my case, I specifically picked a degree that would provide a lucrative salary and I choose to spend my money on housekeeper so I can spend my free time on items that I value more, such as spending time with friends and family.

On the flip side, I love grocery shopping and cooking. Yes, it is a task I could easily hire out and since I value spending time on those activities I choose to spend some of my free time doing those activities.

Ignoring the fact that I'm surprised you can find a good housekeeper to work 6 hours for $100, you again are trying to deflect attention from the issue of your original post, which implied a lack of respect for manual labor and, honestly, was quite arrogant. Also, from an economic point of view, I'd point out that most of us do not do our cleaning during our working hours, for which we are paid, but rather during our personal hours, which does not actually result in a reduction in our incomes. By doing so, from a net cash flow perspective, it actually increases wealth because you have the income without the offsetting expense. Your point, i.e. that you don't want to allocate your time in that fashion, is logical, understandable and fair, but it gets lost when you wrap it in all of your initial arrogance and faulty economic theories.

Again, I understand the value of having a housekeeper. My point is that having a housekeeper doesn't say anything about my wife and me other than that we have chosen to allocate our resources in that fashion. It does not say that having a housekeeper was the reason I went to college and it definitely doesn't say I think I'm better than a housekeeper!

 

[Lorelei Lee]

I mean, I understand the "time vs. money" analysis.

The reason a bag of prepared salad greens costs more than a head of lettuce is that someone else did the work for you.

If I go to the supermarket and buy the groceries, come home and cook a dinner from scratch I will spend a good deal of my time. If I order dinner from the Chinese place down the street and have them deliver it, I will have saved a lot time, but I am likely to be paying more for the food than if I did it myself.

But doesn't justify a snooty attitude towards the guy who delivers the food.

 

[beaucoup]

I stumbled upon this one day though, and it intrigued me. (and doesn't require shoes!)

www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/cl...eaning-in-20-minutes-a-day-for-30-days-131142

thanks for the link.
flylady is too much for me

 

[beaucoup]

Aren't you single? It takes you six hours to clean your house when only one person lives there?

And that's a huge house with a lot of baths & bedrooms for 1 person. Why do the extra beds need to be stripped weekly & extra baths cleaned?

 

[BeachLove]

If I make $150 per hour and it takes 6 hours to clean my house, why in the world would I spend the equivalent of $900 to clean my house when I can hire someone for less than $100 to clean my house? It would be a net loss of $800 to take pride and do it myself. I would be doing my family a disservice by wasting my time cleaning when I could be earning a far greater amount of money in that time. No, a degree doesn't always equate to more earning power, but in my case, I specifically picked a degree that would provide a lucrative salary and I choose to spend my money on housekeeper so I can spend my free time on items that I value more, such as spending time with friends and family.

On the flip side, I love grocery shopping and cooking. Yes, it is a task I could easily hire out and since I value spending time on those activities I choose to spend some of my free time doing those activities.

Wow, your house cleaner is paid really poorly. Have you given any thought about a raise? I know around here $100 buys you cleaning for a two bedroom condo (1000sq feet). You can also buy a decent condo for 100k. Pretty sure the DC area has a higher cost of living. And you're paying even less than $100? Did she give you that price or did you haggle it down? For such a large home I'd pay at least $200 a visit in my area. Judging from your income it seems like you could afford it. Easily.

 

[Zandy595]

How do I clean my house?

I clean my house when it gets so dirty and cluttered that the only word I can use to describe it is "pigsty". It's at that point right now and I can't stand it.

First I declutter countertops, tables, and floors. Then I wipe/dust all countertops and tables. Then I vacuum all floors. If I have time after all that I will mop=Hoover Floormate the kitchen tile floor. I'm getting started on all this tomorrow morning, along with laundry. If you couldn't tell, I'm a procrastinator. My theory is - it looks cleaner when I'm done, if it's REALLY dirty to begin with.

 

[ImDMous]

I pretty much clean when it needs it. I try to not leave clutter as I go, although my husband still hasn't learned this skill so I do have to de-clutter after him. I would much rather spend 15 minutes when I get home from work cleaning off counters, picking up socks, stocking TP, etc than wait for the weekend and spend an hour or two picking up a weeks worth of stuff.

Laundry I do whenever I have enough for a load. Sheets and vacuuming usually get done on Saturday or Sunday morning before whatever is planned for the day. I'm just not a neat freak and would rather do something fun.

My house is always company ready because my friends like me for me, not my cleaning skills. Anyone I know well enough to invite over knows me well enough to not expect a museum.

 

[LiveYourLife]

Aren't you single? It takes you six hours to clean your house when only one person lives there?

In the very wise words of Fat Amy from Pitch Perfect: "Whoop! There it is!"

 

[prncess674]

And that's a huge house with a lot of baths & bedrooms for 1 person. Why do the extra beds need to be stripped weekly & extra baths cleaned?

While you may think you know me, you have no idea about my living situation or family under my roof. Marital status is no indication of home occupancy. Besides, who are you to judge? Are you paying my mortgage? Are you asked to pay my utilities? There is no square foot per person limit anywhere in the constitution. I have only given you the square footage of my home and number of bedrooms.

For those who think I am stingy in my pay, the home I am referring to is in Houston, TX and my wage is generous for the area. My housekeeper is a lovely lady and seems pleased with the pay and was thrilled with her Christmas check.