anyone here use a house cleaning service?

[Lathum]

If so what do you pay?

We are thinking of getting one.

[Izulde]

I imagine most guys use their wives as the cleaning service.

[Karlifornia]

My mom owned her own house cleaning business at one time...It was usually a weekly or bi-weekly visit that commanded less than $100....this was a decade ago, though...

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Karlifornia

My mom owned her own house cleaning business at one time...It was usually a weekly or bi-weekly visit that commanded less than $100....this was a decade ago, though...

kind of what we are looking at. Someone to come every other week and do deep cleaning

[Icy]

Originally Posted by Lathum

kind of what we are looking at. Someone to come every other week and do deep cleaning

I'm curious to see the price differences between USA and Spain. We have a woman that comes once per week to clean our house and she is paid at 8€ (around $11) per hour, that is the standard price for that kind of service.

[Schmidty]

I'll ask my butler. He has connections.

[Raiders Army]

Originally Posted by Izulde

I imagine most guys use their wives as the cleaning service.

It only took one reply!

[tyketime]

We have a cleaner come to our house every two weeks. It usually takes 4-5 hours to clean, and we pay $80.

YMMV.

[CraigSca]

$90, every two weeks.

[gottimd]

We did, but we decided we needed to cut back on spending so we axed that service. We were using one of the major chains and it was costing $90 every other week.

[Schmidty]

Some lazy-ass people on this board.

By the way, do you pay for the cleaning supplies too?

[Kodos]

If your house is too big for you to clean yourself, you're probably in too big of a house.

[chesapeake]

We pay a little more than $100 to get our house cleaned every two weeks. The service we use brings their own supplies, including a vacuum. If you want them to use something specific, you can supply it yourself.

The cleaning service, in my estimation, is worth every dime. My life is finite and I hate cleaning.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Some lazy-ass people on this board.

Bitter and poor is no way to live your life, my friend.

[VPI97]

$80 a week...our equipment and supplies.

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Some lazy-ass people on this board.

Shrug...I'd rather my wife and I spend that time taking care of our three kids.

[wade moore]

I think this goes to a general thought I am growing to have...

"How much is my time worth?"

If you get to the point where you feel your time is worth more than what it would cost to have someone else do something, then hire someone else to do it.

I've considered a cleaning service, but haven't made the move. It's something that I may do down the road when we have a little more disposable income.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Subby

Bitter and poor is no way to live your life, my friend.

I'm not bitter. I'm just cheap and manic!!

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by VPI97

Shrug...I'd rather my wife and I spend that time taking care of our three kids.

I don't think it's a bad thing at all. I only have one kid (we make a game of cleaning), and also have a pretty small house; however, if I had a lot less time on my hands, I could see myself getting a cleaning service.

[Mustang]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

(we make a game of cleaning),

Put away those legos it's.......

CLEANING TIME!

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Mustang

Put away those legos it's.......

CLEANING TIME!

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Hey, it's just as much fun to play with a neon pink, googly-eyed toilet brush as it is to play with Lincoln Logs. Actually you can do both, except the Logs are a bit more squishy!!!!

[Toddzilla]

Originally Posted by chesapeake

The cleaning service, in my estimation, is worth every dime. My life is finite and I hate cleaning.

+1,000

We pay $75 every 2 weeks, and the day I come home from work and my house is clean as a whistle, smells nice, fresh sheets on the bed, is the best.

[Schmidty]

Damn. You guys are tempting me, especially if the normal cleaning products are included in the price.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Some lazy-ass people on this board.

One of those reminders of how much more well off we are (or at least lest stingy) than the previous generation.

[path12]

We do just once a month, $100 to do the crap we don't want to and she provides the supplies. Worth every penny.

[gstelmack]

We really miss the woman who used to do our house. Haven't found anyone we trust enough yet to take it over again, but yeah with 2 kids and both working fulltime the house isn't nearly as kept-up as we'd like it to be...

[Dr. Sak]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Damn. You guys are tempting me, especially if the normal cleaning products are included in the price.

Stick to your guns Schmidty! Don't give in...

[Young Drachma]

Originally Posted by wade moore

I think this goes to a general thought I am growing to have...

"How much is my time worth?"

If you get to the point where you feel your time is worth more than what it would cost to have someone else do something, then hire someone else to do it.

I've considered a cleaning service, but haven't made the move. It's something that I may do down the road when we have a little more disposable income.

+1

I'd rather do it myself, mostly because I know I'll do it right. But I have someone else do my lawn care, because I'd rather not bother with it.

[Kodos]

I could maybe justify having someone come clean the bathrooms, but everything else, if you just do some daily maintenance, is no problem.

[Subby]

Originally Posted by molson

One of those reminders of how well much more well off we are (or at least lest stingy) than the previous generation.

I think it's pretty awesome that you edited your post and still came up with that.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by molson

One of those reminders of how much more well off we are (or at least lest stingy) than the previous generation.

I'm not sure I agree. The previous generation would have had 1 parent at home all day, essentially doing the jobs we now pay for (cleaning, child care, etc). I actually think that single-income families are worse off than a generation ago.

I should note that I do not have a cleaner, but I can see the appeal and may be convinced once we have kids and life gets too hectic. If one of us quits to stay at home with the kids some day, then a cleaner would obviously be unnecessary.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by tyketime

We have a cleaner come to our house every two weeks. It usually takes 4-5 hours to clean, and we pay $80.

YMMV.

Same here. She brings a helper or 2 each visit and our house is over 3,000 Sq feet.

[SnDvls]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Damn. You guys are tempting me, especially if the normal cleaning products are included in the price.

depends on the service/people

we provide all the basic supplies (cleaners, vac. ect)...she brings her own mop & gloves (she likes her mop better than ours I guess.)

[molson]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

I'm not sure I agree. The previous generation would have had 1 parent at home all day, essentially doing the jobs we now pay for (cleaning, child care, etc). I actually think that single-income families are worse off than a generation ago.

I should note that I do not have a cleaner, but I can see the appeal and may be convinced once we have kids and life gets too hectic. If one of us quits to stay at home with the kids some day, then a cleaner would obviously be unnecessary.

That's true.

I was thinking about a greater theme recently though, about the kinds of things we spend money on. Last generation, you took took books out of the library. Now, you just buy online. Last generation, if an appliance broke, you'd have it repaired. Now, you just buy a new one. Last generation, you would never finance an entire car. Now, that's pretty standard.

A cleaning person, though, ya, I can see the difference you've pointed out. (At least until the kids are old enough to clean the house for you.)

[Draft Dodger]

I don't want some stranger to see my messy house

[Kodos]

If I have someone clean my house, she better wear a cute little french maid outfit to make it worth my while.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by molson

That's true.

I was thinking about a greater theme recently though, about the kinds of things we spend money on. Last generation, you took took books out of the library. Now, you just buy online. Last generation, if an appliance broke, you'd have it repaired. Now, you just buy a new one. Last generation, you would never finance an entire car. Now, that's pretty standard.

I'm not sure how financing an entire car makes us better off? Being in debt up to our eyeballs as a society might give that illusion, but its a false reality that eventually has to come home to roost.

That said, I do agree that we spend our money on many more 'things' than the last generation (which I am defining as the baby boomers). Ipods, 50" televisions, etc. Of course, we pay for it by having two workers per family, working longer hours, and by carrying far more debt.

I've never done any real research on it, but my gut feeling is that we are not as well off as our parents in terms of purchasing power per hour worked per person. I should probably do some reading on that though, might be interesting.

[Kevin]

We pay $15 an hour plus tip to a friend to do our house weekly. We provide the supplies. She is worth every penny as she is a blur of motion and thorough. I am always amazed at she accomplishes in just 3-4 hours. We were her first clients, but our word of mouth has gotten her a very full weekly schedule including offices as well.

[gkb]

We had been using Molly Maids, but we dropped them recently. We're trying to find someone else to do the cleaning and will probably avoid one of the major outfits. The problem was that they seemed to have different teams that would show up. It was always obvious when we had gotten the "A" team and when we hadn't. The inconsistent quality was bothersome...

[Senator]

110 a week - 4 times a week. Supplies included.

[Vegas Vic]

Most of the professional cleaning services charge by the size of your house. There's going to be a significant fee difference between a 1200 sq. ft. townhouse and a 3,500 square foot, 5-bedroom house.

[GreenMonster]

$80 every two weeks supplies included. Helps clean the mess in the basement after a poker night or UFC fight.

[Aylmar]

$65 every two weeks - all supplies included. Mostly hire it out because I hate cleaning bathrooms, but I agree that it sure is nice to come home a sparkling place every other Wednesday.

[FrogMan]

My mother in law retired last year after working crappy jobs for most her life. She didn't have much set aside so we decided to pay her to come help out in the cleaning department. She's at our home whenever she's sees it needs it and we pay her $50 a week. I see that it's pretty much in line with the numbers people pay every couple of weeks, maybe a bit more, but she's family and it helps her.

FM

[digamma]

If by cleaning service, you mean sort of dumpy hispanic woman, yes.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by wade moore

"How much is my time worth?"

there you go. When you factor in the crazy schedules that come with kids who play sports, the workday, playing with the kids a bit, then add a bit of sports for yourself, I find that I'd rather have someone else do the cleaning and pay for it...

Matter of choice.

FM

[Toddzilla]

FWIW, stuff "goes missing" all the time the day the cleaners are there. Now whether that has to do with stuff being put away in a place we don't expect, or they get put away in the trunk of the cleaner's car, I don't know for sure.

But the battery in my PSP disappeared on cleaning day a month ago, and the power supply to my laptop disappeared 2 weeks ago. My cleaning lady must have a real problem with power sources.

[gstelmack]

I'd say put up a webcam to get some evidence, but then she might be in the market for a webcam...

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Draft Dodger

I don't want some stranger to see my messy house

Actually, that's very common. I saw a study quoted somewhere or other that showed that most people actually clean up before their cleaner comes over. Oh those crazy humans.

[tarcone]

Part of my kids chores are cleaning their bathroom, the basement and their rooms. We pay them $5 a week (they have more chores, also). Hoping to teach them responsibilty and to earn their money.

Plus, my wife is too anal to let someone clean her house. She goes behind me when I help and re-does everything I did.