Dependable House Cleaner?

Our house cleaner recently moved and we're looking for a dependable one that vacuums, washes counters, cleans floors, washes clothes, folds, etc for under 80.00. Anyone have one that they recommend?

Thanks!

 

If you find one under $80 - you have made a deal.

 

I agree, hberg. We pay $120 every other week for ours (4 BR, 3.5 bath SFH). She does a great job, though.

 

That's what I pay too and that does not include laundry. How long have you had yours and what does she clean?

 

That's crazy...you can't save $240/month and do it yourselves? Not to mention having a stranger everywhere in your home is just creepy to me.

 

I pay 85 every other week, and they do a decent job. But no laundry. They do a very nice job however.

And yes, I could do it myself. But no, I won't. I work all day, and I don't mind spending some money so I have free time when I don't have to be at work.

M.

 

I work all day too, so does my wife. If you are mindful of keeping your house clean during the week...maybe spending 15-20min per night doing a little cleaning/sweeping/dusting/laundry each day, it'll stay clean and you'll have plenty of free time. I couldn't imagine having a totally clean house once every two weeks, but I have OCD and I'm a neat/clean freak.

 

Wow, brim. I'm shocked you have judged us (in my best deadpan expression). She's no stranger. We've known her for years -- she cleaned our townhouse in Alexandria before we moved. She has babysat our children. She even gives them Christmas gifts.

I won't even bother trying to justify to you how we choose to spend our time and money.

hberg: she cleans the entire house. She doesn't do laundry, but if we leave sheets out she will make up the beds. She does what you would expect from a routine cleaning -- it's no "spring cleaning" deep cleaning, but I wouldn't expect that anyway.

 

I'm not trying to judge, that just seems like friviously spending a lot of money on a menial task that would be easily accomplished yourself, especially if you have kids to help you.

 

For a SFH (2900 square feet)I pay $70 to clean to whole house (not laundry) and $50 to clean the main level. I have her alternate, one week she does the whole house and the next week she does the main level only. That way at least main floor of the house is always clean.

Sound to me like guys are paying way to much money and need to renegotiate.

 

Here's a tip for you: if/when you have children, you will spend a lot more than 15-20 minutes a day just trying to clean up after them. It doesn't leave a lot of "extra" time for "optional" cleaning as you suggest.

Everyone's situation is different. There's no need to call us crazy because we do something differently than you would.

 

Yeah, my 2 year old and 1 year old would love to help clean up around the house. Not sure the house could take it though...

 

We pay $75 every two weeks, for all of the above except washing and folding clothes (wow, you were lucky!). That's for 4Br 2.5 Ba, no finished basement. I think we get great value - dusting/vacuuming top to bottom, windows windexed, freshly made beds, and scrubbed kitchen and bathrooms.

 

I didn't call anyone crazy, I said 'That's Crazy' in reference to the figures being tossed around for housecleaners.

I don't want to hijack and turn it into another 'kids' thread, but perhaps I'm just cheap/frugal...if I had kids I would be trying everything I could to save money and keep spending down. Having a kid is expensive enough with all the specialized formula, food, toys, furniture, etc...not to mention daycare/nanny if you have to have that service as well. I'd rather do the cleaning myself and put that $240/mo into a college fund. A little quick math shows you'd have $51,840 (before interest) saved up by the time the kid was 18. That's just my take.

 

I've been using Best Maid Service (BMS) for almost 2 years now. Their rates vary on how often you use them. Weekly service is $65/week but does not include any kind of laundry service. They are efficient and thorough. (703) 817 9889. We also have a 4br, 3.5 ba SFH.

Service here is not like India though where I was able to have a live-in who worked 6 days a week and included laundry, shopping as well as taking care of my cats for $100/mo -- which was considered a very good salary.

 

I'm glad you don't mind spending your time cleaning house. Good for you. I choose to spend my time on a list of things I like to do, and housecleaning is not on that list, so I don't mind spending the money that I earn on paying someone to do what I don't like to do.

And by the way, if all you do each day is 20 minutes of picking up, you can't be that much of a neat freak, because that's what I do to keep my house clean in between throughout cleanings. It takes hours to scrub every toilet, every bathtub, dust every surface in the house, mop all the floors, change the sheets, clean off the ceiling fans, etc etc etc. You don't do that in 20 minutes a day.

Marianne

 

Thanks for the post, Marianne. You were much more diplomatic in your response than I would have been. I don't need anyone telling me how to spend my money, unless they want to work my 12+ hour workdays for me.

 

You don't clean the entire house in 20 minutes...you clean the toilets one day, do laundry another, dust another, etc. A little each day...

Spend your money on whatever you like, I just like to feel I've accomplished something in my spare time instead of paying people to do things I could have easily done myself (clean, change my oil and minor vehicle maintenance, projects around the house, etc). Perhaps it's a regional thing, but people around here are just waiting to give money to people to do things for them...like the posts about someone that wanted someone else to nail up some latice work or install a garage door opener or whatever.

 

As "frugal" as you sound Brim, I am sure you will have your wife breast feed till your child cuts their adult teeth!