Thinking of hiring a housekeeper

[Pooh_Friend#1]

I would love to be able to find someone to come and clean the bathrooms, dust, and vaccuum. The prices you are posting seem pretty average and I was wondering if you tip on top of the price or is it included?

 

[puffkin]

I would love to be able to find someone to come and clean the bathrooms, dust, and vaccuum. The prices you are posting seem pretty average and I was wondering if you tip on top of the price or is it included?

I don't tip. Since my lady is not through a service I feel that her quoted fee is her pay and she gets 100% of that so there is no need to tip. I did leave her a small present for Christmas though this week (some Tastefully Simple items). If she would do something above and beyond one week that I wasn't expecting (once my dog left a real mess between the time I left for work and she arrived and she cleaned it all up) I leave her a little extra the next time she comes.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Sorry I'm not as organized as you are. The babies aren't going to be on a schedule until they're several months old -- they nurse when they need to nurse, for as long as it takes. When DD was young, sometimes that would be an hour each time... and she needed to eat every 2 hours. Around the clock. I may be wrong here, but I'm anticipating it taking a bit longer when I have two to feed.

When I have a few free minutes, I'd rather spend it devoting some much needed time & attention to my daughter than trying to clean a toilet.

I know myself, I know my housekeeping skills, I know the psychological problems I suffer with hormonal changes... I'm going to NEED some help & while I applaud you for being super mom & doing it all by yourself, I'm ok admitting that I'm not that good. I'm happy to find ways to cut our budget to have some help for a few months to get over the newborn hump.

Don't let anyone talk you out of getting a housekeeper. If you feel you need one, get one - no need to justify it to anyone else. I am a stay-at-home Mom and I have the best housekeeper ever! She comes every Friday and we pay her $100.00 per visit. We have 4 kids, 2 dogs, a 5,000+ square foot house and she totally helps me keep my head above water. She has been working for us for 6 years and I don't know what I'd do without her, she'd be hard to replace. I do think word-of-mouth is the best way to find a good housekeeper. Ask friends if they know someone. If a housekeeper is not good, her reputation will follow her/him. We tired a service one time, a number of year ago, and they were VERY expensive and just did basic cleaning.

 

[honeydiane1953]

Never thought those words would EVER come out of my mouth!

Not that I wouldn't love to have one as I loathe housekeeping, but I never thought we'd have the money for it.

We still don't *really* have the money for it, but I'm realizing as I go further along in this pregnancy that I'm going to NEED help once the twins get here.

I'm due July 1 so we're expecting (hoping) they'll arrive sometime in June. I'm thinking of getting someone to do housekeeping work starting in May when I'm going to be too big & tired to keep up with much and continuing throughout the summer.

DD will be in preschool starting in the Fall and hopefully by then I'll have the babies on some type of schedule that will allow me to get a bit done in the morning when she's in school.

I'd prefer to hire just a local person, maybe a mom that wants to make a bit of money on the side, that type of thing, rather than a company. But I have NO clue what to expect. What types of things do they do & not do? Will they clean while I'm still home? What should I be anticipating being charged?

Right now I'm planning on just having someone come once every 2 weeks. We have a 1100 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms & 1 bathroom.

I think u r wise to consider hiring one. IF I could afford it I SURE would! I also would have fresh flowers in my home too. Now flowers would be a luxury but I would love it.

 

[GOOFY4DONALD]

I don't have a regular housekeeper but I do hire someone during special circumstances. My advice to you is make sure you understand exactly what they charge and exactly what they will do and provide. I made the mistake of not doing that last time. I called a woman that said she was part of a 2 person team. Their rate was 20.00 per hour and they do not supply cleaning products. Since most individual housekeepers in my area charge 15-20 per hour, I thought it was no big deal to supply the products for this team. I hired them for 4 hours. They did an ok job but 1 was on the phone quite a bit. When they were done the one said that will be 160.00 before tip. They told me 20.00 per hour but never stated each. They did a good enough job for 20.00 but no way did they do a 40.00 an hour job. I paid them but explained that I wasn't happy very happy paying them to talk on the phone and I did not tip (1st time for me)