How much would you pay someone........

[momma4fun]

to come to your home for about 45 min to an hour to clean your kitchen and put in a load of laundry/fold what's in the dryer? And they could do a general pick up of the living areas and perhaps something specific that you leave for them?

is it worth 15 bucks a pop? would you consider that more than once a week?

obviously it's different from a more regular cleaning service that does floors and bathrooms once a week, this is more daily maintenance cleaning. this would be like, you just relax and start tomorrow with a clean kitchen and picked up floor.....

would you be willing to let someone do this in the very early morning or later evening to work with her SAHM hours?

[Belia]

I would pay at least $20. But I live in a high COL area and tend to overpay folks who work for me. But you have to factor in the travel time for such a small amount of time in your home- you have to make it worth their while.

As for the hours- I guess I would do early or late hours. It would depend on the person.

Would I personally hire such a person? No. I find the decluttering the easy part of housekeeping. I would be much more likely to hire someone to cook a meal, run errands, or clean my bathrooms.

[momma4fun]

thanks for replying -- cooking a meal, that's a really good idea.....and a quick swipe of the bathroom could be part of the original deal......

i'm feeling as a parent of young kids that it's easier to involve the whole family for a day of mopping and loud music and vacuuming than it is to get the daily maintenance done........i wonder how many other parents feel like this?

[LauraN]

Originally Posted by momma4fun

thanks for replying -- cooking a meal, that's a really good idea.....and a quick swipe of the bathroom could be part of the original deal......

i'm feeling as a parent of young kids that it's easier to involve the whole family for a day of mopping and loud music and vacuuming than it is to get the daily maintenance done........i wonder how many other parents feel like this?

For the first 2 years of my third baby's life, I would have gladly paid $20 a pop to have someone come twice a week and do laundry, mop and clean bathrooms. I don't think that would have taken more than an hour twice a week, but it would have helped me feel human. In fact, I don't know why I didn't think of that. I'm sure I could have found someone to do it for me!

[Shiloh]

Honestly would you do it for only 1 hour?
I wouldn't.
The time it would take to get there, the inconvience, the commitment.
Are you offering a service to do that or looking for a hand?

But I did hire a neighbours 15 year old for $5 bucks an hour.
She played more with the kids while I got stuff done.
She'd come over in the worst hours (that 4:30-6:00 before husband got home)

A cleaning lady might charge $15 an hour but its hard to only do an hour.
Maybe does a neighbour have one? If I were a cleaning lady and I was doing your neighbours house from 12-4, showing up at yours for 5-6 would be simple.

[aprons_and_acorns]

I was just daydreaming about this the other day. How nice it would be to have someone come over early in the morning and tidy, get the laundry started, and put the coffee on so I could come downstairs to a fresh start every morning. That woud be heavenly!!!

[lilyka]

my parents lived ina rual part of a low cost of living area and paid a lady $40 + a couple dozen eggs to come clean for two hours. she mopped, waccuumed did dishes, made beds, changed sheets and generally tidied up. but the house had to be "clean" when she got there. If she had trouble getting to it (if there was stuff on the bed, clutter on the tabler) she skipped it. she maybe bathrooms I am not sure. and they were getting her for a steal.

So I would pay her at least $20.

Also someone who picked up little 1-2 hours jobs I would not do it for less than $20 total or less than $15 an hour. by the time you factor in travel cost ad the hassle of doing it....and I live in a low cost of living area compared to a lot of people.

hours - I would rather have been allowed to bring my kids with me than come in the early morning.

[LiLStar]

Are you offering? I'll leave the $15 on the counter, and you can come over while I'm sleeping

[momma4fun]

Originally Posted by LiLStar

Are you offering? I'll leave the $15 on the counter, and you can come over while I'm sleeping

yeah, i'm thinking of starting a business

i'm trying to fill a purpose other than the standard, having the cleaning person come in once or twice a week for a couple hours at a time

i know many people complain that they have to clean for the cleaning lady to come. i'm thinking along the lines of offering the daily maintenance stuff. obviously i'd do it in a certain radius so gas money wouldn't be huge.....

working at night would work best with our schedule so i'm hoping i can find some families who would value leaving the dirty kitchen and waking up to a tidied home....but i'm sure some people would feel strange having me working downstairs while they're sleeping......

i know $15 sounds cheap, but that's the idea. i'd be aiming for more jobs. there would be days where this pick-up might take the full hour and days when i could speed clean it in 30 minutess. so the idea is $15 for the pop, not the time. it's NOT a thorough deep cleaning, like i said, daily maintenance stuff.......

thank you everyone for your input.

[gmvh]

I posted about this a few months ago! I would totally hire you and pay $20. I can handle getting our bathrooms and floors clean but the daily stuff? Forget it. I can get laundry washed with the best of them but put away? Never. I love to cook but dishes? Ugh. Come to the greater Chicago area and I'll be your first client!

[newbymom05]

I would totally LOVE that and hire someone in a flash! I'm in a supposedly low COL area--N TX--and cleaning svcs here seem to charge a minimum of $100, so $20 for the things I dread the most would be a super deal. I think you could charge more. I have friends who pay $10 an hr for a preteen mother's helper who only plays with the kids, no cleaning at all.

[vtgirl]

it's an interesting idea. first, though i think that sounds like too little $$. i have a cleaning business and i charge $25 and i have friends who charge $30 so i think you could get more - $20 at the very least. make it worth your while.

secondly, i don't know if you have ever worked in someones home before, but i find that it's better and more effecient for me if they are not home (after the first time, of course) - there is something weird for me about being in someones space while they are there. it feels like i have to be more "proper" and while i am very professional even in an empty house, it just puts me a little on edge to have people there. for example, there was something stuck in the vac one time and i had to shut it off and take it apart to fix it - no problem, it just took 5 mins of fiddling and the lady of the house came looking for me saying "oh i didn't think you could possibly be finished vacuuming yet - i thought you were taking a break!" oookay! anyway, some people are annoying and constantly monitering your progress - so i tend to shoot for clients who are not home when i come. just a thought....

also, the hours seem a little weird to me - that just seems like the times when most people want to be alone with their families (first thing in the AM and last thing in the evening). i think if it was possible, most people would like help before dinner or if you happen to live in area with tourists (think 2nd homes) you could make a killing getting homes (or even dinners) ready for the out of towners to come and then, of course, you could do it on your own preferred schedule.

good luck with your new venture!! have fun with it and don't be afraid to drop clients that don't work for you (personality or otherwise) because if you are good at what you are doing there will be many more to take their place!

[Eman'smom]

The "daily maintance" is what kills me. I don't mind the in-depth cleaning, it's getting the house clean enough to do it that is the problem. I would definately pay someone 15 bucks and hour for that. Around here cleaning people start at 20 dollars an hour and go up from there.

[lilyka]

when thinking about cost keep taxes in mind. Self employment taxes run about 40% of your profit. (of course you could deduct milage) its freaking brutal. I used to babysit for a church until they called us independant contractors and it cut our income in half. it was a bunch of moms who really needed that $20 a week. However it cost me $5 in gas because it was 6 miles away and my car only got 10 miles to the gallon (We were all driving old mini vans...) and now they were reporting us to the IRS and calling us independant contractors (so they didn't have to pick up half the taxes - pretty low thing for a chiurch to do really) so about $10 of what we were making went to tax. we all quit on the spot. the program completely shut down (it was a bible study that served probably 100 women with over 100 kids) after like 30 years. I needed to leave with $20 so they needed to pay me enough to cover all my expenses for doing this.

[laohaire]

I don't know if this helps, but I was just thinking yesterday I'd love to pay someone to come and spend an hour a week looking for things that I don't see. (OK my "e" just brok - I copid and pastd that last... ) I am vision impaird but also just oblivious. I'd lov somon to notice - ah, cool, here's my "e" back - the smudge near the light switch and wipe it off, or see that nobody has cleaned the kick board in forever, and do it for me. Of course I wouldn't think they'd need to be cleaned weekly, but just in general would love someone to just look at my home critically and say "oh dear, her windows need a bit of a washing" and do it. And next week, dust off the fan blades. Etc.

Honestly, and this is just me, I'd LOVE for such a woman to bring her kids. DD would love to play with kids and I'd be glad to keep an eye on them while she's cleaning. Even though my budget can't even support a cup of coffee right now, if I knew the right woman with nice kids around DD's age who would come with them for $15/hr, I'd sooo do it.

[Seasons]

Originally Posted by Eman'smom

The "daily maintance" is what kills me. I don't mind the in-depth cleaning, it's getting the house clean enough to do it that is the problem.

We should get married - I'm exactly the opposite! My house is easily always tidy, but I hate the deep scrubbing of carpets, windows, baseboards...

OP: Intriguing idea; good luck!

[dbsam]

I am not a WAHM but saw this on the new posts. I have often wished I had someone who would come daily for approx 1-2hours and basically clean up after us. (sort of like our own Hazel!)

I have friends who pay $20/hour for 4-5 hours of cleaning one/day/week. I would rather pay $20/day for a 'clean-up service' and my husband and I would do the deep cleaning. I feel like a bit of looser being a SAHM and still wanting cleaning help; but I feel like I miss so much quality time w/my children because I am trying to keep things in order.

[pixiekisses]

Nope, I'm very private and couldn't have anyone around while I was sleeping. And the early morning/late nights are times we wouldn't want ppl over either.
I love my cleaning lady, and wouldn't want to change what she does for anything. Every thursday she cleans floors, bathrooms, kitchen, dusts etc., change the beds, fold dry laundry and hang up the wet stuff. It's genius. She charges around 16-17 dollars an hour, and it's so worth it. (I'd easily pay 25/hour.)

[broodymama]

I'm with pixie about not wanting someone over early morning or late nights. But either right before lunch, or early afternoon, having someone come over and clean the kitchen and maybe bathroom would be wonderful.

[pumpkin]

I would pay $15 pretty easily. Probably 20, though then have fewer visits in the week.
If you are in my area I might actually hire you for this because I'm doing some part time consulting work right now and its cutting into my time to do a general tidy once a day. I already have a cleaning service that comes every 2 weeks to do the actual cleaning.
For our family it would have to be someone who came in the afternoon or evening because DD is a night owl and I don't risk anything waking her up before 10am.