Anonymous wrote:I doubt your cleaning service gets down on their hands and knees to scrub either, hon.

Remember that chapter of "Nickled and Dimed" where the author worked for a cleaning service? They were shooting for the appearance of clean, not actually-clean.

Um, I watch them scrub.

I consider myself a neat freak -- people have always commented on how neat and spotless my house is, even before I got a regular cleaning lady five years ago. It is so much cleaner with professionals doing it. They move the furniture, dust the light fixtures and scrub every inch of my house in a way that I only did occasionally.

$400k HHI, no cleaning lady. When both of us are working, we have one, but I stay at home now and do it myself.

Annual income 250 and 3 kids. We have a cleaning lady once a week and it's worth every penny.

I doubt your cleaning service gets down on their hands and knees to scrub either, hon.

Remember that chapter of "Nickled and Dimed" where the author worked for a cleaning service? They were shooting for the appearance of clean, not actually-clean.

Anonymous wrote:$230K and no cleaning lady. We did have one at $100-150K - the kids were young and, with two working parents, it was tough to keep up. I am glad we did it during that time - it was a splurge that was worth it. Now the kids are preteens/teens and both create less mess and assist with household chores, so it's not necessary to have one.

do any of you scrub the floors, or just kinda sweep and mop it? I find people who don't have cleaning services don't really put in the elbow grease necessary to have a truly clean house.

Anonymous wrote:$90k, single parent. Cleaners come once a month for $90. I've been sick for a week and yesterday was their day. It felt so good to come home from work to a clean house and not have to do anything. On the weeks they don't come I do clean myself, but it's so nice to get a break and I'm so tired of nagging DD to do her chores.

I'm the other $90k poster, also a single parent, with no cleaning person. I think you may have convinced me.

250k dual. Don't want to waste the $$$

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am divorced with two kids and earn 80K. No alimony, so-so child support. No cleaning lady. . . no way. And my house is dirty all the time.

Me too. Four kids. I fantasize about having a cleaning lady. Oh if only ...

350k dual income, 2 kids, no cleaning lady. We clean but definitely not as often as we should, but I guess no one cares about a super clean house.

$90k, single parent. Cleaners come once a month for $90. I've been sick for a week and yesterday was their day. It felt so good to come home from work to a clean house and not have to do anything. On the weeks they don't come I do clean myself, but it's so nice to get a break and I'm so tired of nagging DD to do her chores.

200k, no kids, no housecleaner

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am laughing at the holier-than-thou ness of many of the people in this thread who haven't hired anyone.

How DARE people spend their own money the way they want to!

I think people are just answering the question? I don't see your view.

agreed! where'd THAT come from. a little bit of an over reaction you think?

...

Anonymous wrote:
Oh, my poor dear, you sound so disconnected from reality.

I never had a cleaning lady and probably never will. We are millionaires - which in our world is not saying much these days, but in the REAL world is rather a privileged status!

Most of my friends have cleaning help. But I don't feel the urge to do everything my friends do, you know.

Anonymous wrote:

I wouldn't want someone in my house without me or my husband home (partly because we have wily pets that are escape artists), but I also would feel strange being home and doing other things while someone else cleaned up my mess. But I was raised with a very strong sense of the least you can do in this world is clean up after yourself -- no matter who you are, how smart, how pretty, how talented.

350K, had one or about a year, but honestly they didn't do much so we stopped.

$225k single parent and no cleaning lady.

Like pp, I don't mind it and would rather just do it myself to my standards than be completely annoyed by paying someone and never being satisfied. I used to have one for years and finally realized I'd be more happy just doing it myself. I do a deep clean every other weekend and hit high attention areas, like the kitchen floor and bathrooms, on an as needed basis.

For me, it was the right decision. If I was able to find a cleaning service that performed to my standard, I would pay, but I don't have the time or desire to vet them.