Dh attended a weekend financial seminar in Chicago a couple of weeks ago (Donald Trump was the keynote speaker) and one of the things he heard at several of the workshops was that if you want to be rich then one of the first things you should do is get a maid. The theory being that you can invest all the time you spend cleaning into your business.
So now he is talking about us getting a maid! I love this idea!! We just refinanced our house, so the money would come from there, I guess. SO here are my questions for those of you have a housekeeper (or dream of having one!)...
what do you pay? I looked in the paper and the cleaning services pay $8.50/hr. Should I offer the same or more like $9 or $10?
How often do you have them come? Every day? In my dream world, my housekeeper would do everything except cook. Will I be able to find someone to come for 3-4 hours Mon thru Fri?
I don't know if I should have someone come 2x week to do the regular cleaning (dust, bathrooms, vacuum, etc). I would still have to straighten and do daily dishes plus laundry (I don't intent to sound snobby - just trying to figure this out before Dh changes his mind !).
Okay, share your ideas!!
Well I dont have a maid but my husbands step mom does. Get this its only her in the house and she needs 2 mades twice a week to come. What is up with that. His dad lives out of the country most of the year. I wish I had 1 once a week. But anyways you should pay what the cleaning services pay. You dont want to be giving money away. It depends how many people live in the house and what you can afford. I have a freind (mind you he is rich) They have 2 children and 10 dogs and there maids come every day. So if you have a messy house then let them come once give it a trail run and see what you think is best.
The pay should depend on what she will be doing. You will probably want to pay about the same as a cleaning company. To figure out how often she should come, you should ask yourself a few questions---How many people live in your house? How old are they? Are you usually a neat household? I would say that usually two to three times a week would work.
I had one while I was married. I kept up on the dishes, laundry, etc, but she would do bathrooms, scrub floors, windows, etc once a week. I would leave to go shopping, leave her check on the table, and come home to a clean, fresh house! It was $12/hr but only an hour and a half each week. She also cleaned for parties. GODSEND! Trying to get one again, but want to get the clutter put up first.
We have a house cleaning service. They do laundry, windows, clean out the fridge, stove and microwave when it needs it. They usually just charge a flat fee. The windows are obviously extra and when they do the stove and fridge that's extra but, well worth it. It's really nice. I say since I don't get my hair cut/colored or my nails done this is my one vice that the whole household can benefit from.
VERY GOOD HUBBY!!!!!!!
We had a maid come twice a month when I was pregnant with restrictions and still working FT - got her from referral by colleague at the time because I needed someone who would really DO the job, LOL... everyone I knew who had tried services were very displeased. The maid services tend to charge exorbitent amounts for not so hot results and they would end up cleaning up after the maids left as they didn't do good job.
She was great. I would do dishes and laundry and maintain upkeep as far as possible and she came and did a big cleaning and all the difficult tasks - go over bathrooms and handle any chemicals necessary, etc. She and a friend came and in 2 hours did the whole place top to bottom and even organized the clutter that would build up on my bureau and desk, etc. They asked $60 per visit and was worth every penny. Will call her whenever things get real hectic and need help.
So definitely go by word of mouth rather than papers. Ask around friends and neighbors and coworkers and get referral from them only - you don't wanna pay someone only to do the job over again yourself after they are gone, right? Find someone through referrals, it is worth hunting.
ENJOY this break!! 
I have housekeepers, they were actually here today. The cost depends on the size of your house. Our housekeepers come every other week. They do everything except laundry and windows. My house is about 2500 sq.ft. and it costs $115. It would be this rate whether they came weekly or every other week. I'm sure the cost varies depending on the part of the country your in. Also, most will charge you an initial fee for the first "deep cleaning". I highly recommend getting a housekeeper. I'd get a cooki if I could find one, lol. or at least someone to do my baking so I could just decorate. My DH and I are always saying we need a wife.LOL.
My brother lives in Texas and all his friends have a cleaning lady that come in every other week to do all the things we hate like dusting! One of my friends also has one and she is Texas too!
I guess you can gey people to do your yard work to for $20.00!!
So after I posted this I got my mail and there was a flier advertising a service! They will do a general clean each time and then a "detail" clean of the bathrooms, kitchen, and other rooms on a rotating basis. I called for a quote and got between $66 and $86 a week. They are coming in for a consultation next Tuesday. We shall see!
I have 3 small kids - twin boys who will be 4 next month and a daughter who turned 2 in August. We just moved into a bigger house that has 3.5 baths, 5 bedrooms (although one is dh's office and the other is really small and I use it for a craft room), plus a full finished basement. I feel like I can't keep up at all (what mom doesn't feel like that I'd love to know!), so any help is welcome. Plus, I'd have more time with the kids and to grow my business and help dh with his. He works from home as a real estate investor. I don't get my nails or hair done or have a gym membership or anything. I shop at Aldi's and Walmart for practically everything. So it's not like we're living this extragavant lifestyle - far from it. I'd just love some help!
I am still thinking I might like having someone come in every weekday, if we can afford it. Are there people out there who would be willing to come in for a few hours every day?
I use to work for a cleaning service. She had a lot of business and 98% wher pretty upscale homes. So she charged a pretty good penny for her services.
We pretty much did anything. It was whatever yhe customer wanted. The only things we didnt do was laundry, dishes, or any animal accidents.
Even though she had a pretty good business going, I would not recommend hiring a cleaning service. They do not pay their girls very much. And the lady I worked for promised customers alot.
Well its hard to pay someone minimum wage and expect to hire extra good help. She expected alot from us. It was kinda of like we made the same amount of money whether it was a easy house to clean or one that she had promised to turn someones very very messy and extremely cluttered homes into a brand new one.
And yes, there are alot of rich people who are very messy and nasty. Some have wives that usually do'nt work and expect you to clean 3 day old spaghetti oo'ss off the ceiling.
Also you would'nt believe how many people are nosy and will go through your stuff. I have seen some that has opened the fridge and eat peoples food. I WOULD NEVER HIRE A CLEANING SERVICE TO COME IN TO MY HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
Most people are not going to work very hard for minimum wage and the the girls she hired had no class at all. Now just to say, yes I worked for her but this was my first job almost ever, I didnt go to work until my last child started school. So no I would never do the things that I have talked about that does happen with cleaning services.
Another thing about it is, it is hard work to clean a house to a customers approval, so for minimum wage there is a big turnover rate.
So the girls coming to your house is always somebody different.
You would be so much more happier and satisfied if you could find an individual that you maybe know that could really use the money or that someone could recommend and work one on one with that person. you could work out exactly what you wanted and they would be making most of the profit.
Example: The first time she could bring some help and do a really good deep cleaning from top to bottom.
Then if you want to have her come in everyday or as often as you want and have her do exactly what you want. You two could work up a perfect plan.
Well I will shut up now. Let me know if you have any questions.
I don't have a maid and I don't think I would want one. When I was growing up we had maids. We only had two that were descent and hard working, the others would steal from us. I'm not talking about money left around, I'm talking about clothes, jewelry, silver, things put in drawers that you didn't notice right away. My mother would leave and go shopping so they could clean, only to come home and discover something else was gone. We would get recommendations and still had this problem. I just work to hard to have someone rip me off while cleaning my house.
I have a friend that tried to hire a maid and believe it or not the maid interview my friend. She would open her drawers and closets and inspect them and the children's rooms. If it was not organized, she would not work in your house. She also charged top dollar. Hope you have better luck.
I have a cleaning service she comes in twice a month 100.00 every time she comes in works about 4 to 5 hr.
i think of everything i miss post-katrina, i miss my cleaning lady the most. (not really, but up there in the top 10). once a week she'd come in and mop the floors, clean the bathroom, clean the stove, and wipe down the counters.
my wife's job went 20' under water and now we're po'folks with a filthy floor and dust bunnies from hell. i'm not able to mop (in a wheelchair) and my wife is working 3 pt jobs (and still not making even half of what we were pre-k) & in school full time. so she has no time for cleaning.
i'm certainly thankful that at least we have a houst to be dirty (ours didn't flood by about 6"... the water came just up under the house). but i sure do miss alex the cleaning lady.
So the woman who owns a local cleaning service came today to give me an estimate. As soon as she walked in the door it occured to me that I think I'm definitely going to have to hire an individual. The woman reeked of cigarette smoke. I could still smell it an hour after she left. What's the point of getting the house cleaned if the house is going to smell after they leave?! 
I realize that not all her workers might smoke. But can I request a non-smoking worker?
My intention here is not to offend anyone, but Dh and I can not stand the smell of cigarette smoke.
Plus, they don't do dishes or laundry 
when I was younger back home in Asia, we had five maids, 2 chauffers.
Getting a maid in Asia is not hard to do. My mom made sure we have at least 5 maids.. They all lived with us. They were treated like family, it's just that they do all the work, any time of the day, even when it's
mid -night.
I had a nanny until I was 24 years old. Now I get to do everything, but I like it this way. Those days were nice, but I didn't learn anything. 
I wish I could afford a cleaning lady. I would just love somone to do do my laundry and grocery shop. I love doing my own dished. I don't even have a dishwasher, just my two hands..lol. My hubby always tells me that me doing dishes by hand is like washing clothes with the washing board in the sink, nobody does dishes anymore...But i am anal about them and I like them done a certain way. But do I ever wish someone to just come in and take care of laundry. I think that is my goal for the week...Get the laundry done!!!
My youngest son is 16 and saving for a car. I won't let him work since school is his job. He wanted a way to make some extra money, and we agreed on a list of "weekly chores". Little did he know, he became a maid. He did a really good job and I just loved coming in from work and finding a clean house.
The bubble burst when he got really mad at me (what else is new) and I have no maid now....
I can hardly wait until he has kids of his own and I can tell them that their daddy was my maid. hee hee 
i have a cleaning lady come in once a week at the shop.
she is a Godsend...i pay her 12.50 an hour and she's worth every penny.
after i get my house more organised i'm thinking of having her come here as well.
mocakes, you are too funny 
I have a cleaning lady come twice a month. She only does cleaning (if that makes sense) no laundry or dishes etc. I pay her 80$ per visit. She did come the first time for this "deep cleaning" which was 250$ but NOT worth it in my opinion. They reorganzied all my closets etc. and I spent weeks looking for thing I have 2 little ones so it does free up a lot of time for me.
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