3 kids under 7, working full time, worth hiring cleaning person for house?

[Anonymous]

I say go for it every other week or every 3 weeks. We also have 3 kids under 7. There are 6 of us in the house (we have an au pair living with us) and we make $225K but can't justify a cleaner as we're paying down student loan debt and trying to build savings. I cannot wait until we're in a position to be able to get cleaners - being able to outsource something like that in order to spend more of your free time doing fun stuff with family instead of chores sounds fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely get a cleaner. We have someone clean every two weeks. They do floors, dusting, thorough cleaning of kitchen and bathroom, change sheets. They don't do laundry, windows, wipe down walls, clean inside fridge or cabinets, although they would if I asked ahead of time.

I love coming home on cleaning day. Best money I spend all month. We pay $120/week for a 3 bd/3 bath house.

[Anonymous]

YES! it is 100% worth it , I have 3 kids under 5 and both work full time .. I would die without it .. and makes the down time much more enjoyable. Every other week is plenty. We pay $175 (4 bedrooms 4 full bathrooms)
Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I both work full time, standard 9-5 hours, we make $260k+ and have 3 kids under 7. I am thinking we now need to consider hiring someone to do deep cleaning of our house.
2 questions
1. How often would be worthwhile? I am thinking once a week is too much, we really need someone for deep cleanings like cleaning bathtub, etc
2. 3 bedroom 2.5 bath rowhouse in Capitol Hill, how much would cleaning lady/service cost for 1500 sq ft?

Thanks

We have cleaning people come once a week. Here is what they do:

Kitchen: clean countertops, inside microwave, sink, stove (run oven clean once a month), wipe down fronts of cabinets and fridge, mop floor, take out trash and recycling
Bathroom: disinfect all surfaces, toilet, bathtub, mirrors, windowsills, baseboards, mop floor, change out towels
Bedrooms: dust all surfaces including windowsills, clean fan blades and blinds, mop floors, change linens
Common areas (living room, dining room, foyer): dust all surfaces, including windowsills, clean fan blades and blinds, mop floors, vacuum area rugs

We pay $100 a week for this, but we have 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom.

[Anonymous]

I have someone come once a week. I could use more!!

[Anonymous]

We have zero kids and have someone come once a month, just to keep us from arguing about cleaning or living in filth. I imagine kicking it up to biweekly once we add kids to the mix.

[Anonymous]

NP here with similar household income and 3 kids (7, 5 and 3). We pay $150 every two weeks but have a larger house. It's worth every penny and liberating. Kudos to you for making it this long.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a housekeeper 20hrs a week and i dont clean my house, do laundry, or grocery shop or meal prep, so you know my answer!

DH and I come home each afternoon and hang out and relax. Worth every penny.

Are you rich?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a housekeeper 20hrs a week and i dont clean my house, do laundry, or grocery shop or meal prep, so you know my answer!

DH and I come home each afternoon and hang out and relax. Worth every penny.

Are you rich?

It probably costs way less than having a nanny who works 40 hours a week, which many people here have. Even if your paid the housekeeper $20 an hour, that is just $400 a week, seem like a good investment to me if you have the money. You could easily spend more than that on a once a week cleaning service, takeout food, instacart fees and such.

[Anonymous]

Once a week is not too much. If you can definitely go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a housekeeper 20hrs a week and i dont clean my house, do laundry, or grocery shop or meal prep, so you know my answer!

DH and I come home each afternoon and hang out and relax. Worth every penny.

Are you rich?

My kids go to public school and we don't have to pay for childcare (they come home afterschool). Cheaper than private school or a nanny/AuPair.

[Anonymous]

Well worth the money if you can afford it. We pay $145 per visit for every 2 weeks - keeps things under control.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely! Every other week works for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a housekeeper 20hrs a week and i dont clean my house, do laundry, or grocery shop or meal prep, so you know my answer!

DH and I come home each afternoon and hang out and relax. Worth every penny.

Cost please, and how did you find her? Tia

[Anonymous]

Definitely go with every other week. If you can swing once a week so much the better.

I don't totally buy the deep cleaning vs cleaning thing. Bathrooms and kitchens should be very well cleaned each time. Not sure how you don't "deep clean" a bathtub every time. Some of the other tasks can be rotated for a more thorough cleaning.