kittensaver
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Post by kittensaver on Jan 23, 2015 15:12:51 GMT -5
My housekeeper cleans better than I do because if I had to do it, it wouldn't get done . End of story.
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Peace Of Mind
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Jan 23, 2015 15:20:19 GMT -5
Ha! My train wreck brother is like that! He brags about all these great deals he gets and they never are. He's a financial train wreck and doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. And he loves giving my other brother and I advice on "what we should have done" and we have more than enough stuff and money than he'll ever have. It's hilarious! I got where I just say "Oh, please tell me what I should have done Oh Wise One who owns nothing of value." He finally stopped doing it with me. I know I have the best house cleaner of all time because I'm the house cleaner. People always ask me if I will clean their houses for them. I always have to explain to them that I don't necessarily like to clean but love a clean house. Plus with my allergies I need to breathe so don't really have a choice. Back when I worked I've hired 2 different people to clean for me and I always had to clean after them. I have a really good landscaper but he's not the best. He's better than most though and many neighbors and friends have also hired him. I've had a really great guy who was the best (that I've ever hired) and he hated landscaping with a passion so he sold the business to the guy I have now who is pretty good but not great. How weird is that? He was great but hated doing it. I still miss his work and bitch about him quitting all the time because he was so damn good! I wish I knew somebody who could get me great deals on cars, boats, houses or whatever by doing the negotiating for us. I hate negotiating and arguing over money but I hate over paying more than negotiating so I do it to try to get a good deal. DH did find a great deal on the car we have now but it was pure luck. A brand new car with all that we wanted was $39K. Somebody at the dealership told us that the exact car we wanted, color and all, just came in but it was a year old. The dealer was asking $29K. DH happened to be looking at the Sunday paper (yes, it's been that long ago) and saw a car with everything we wanted but for $25K. They were running specials trying to unload stock. We got there and it was the $29K car. We wrote a check on the spot. It had 12K miles on it if I remember correctly. I felt that was a great deal and probably the only one worth mentioning or that we'll ever find again for a vehicle. We feel we got a great deal on this house because we locked in before the crazy market boom came to town but we didn't get the best deal because it was already starting when we signed. People were calling and knocking on our doors to buy our house for $150K+ over what we paid. That kind of boom was insane and I doubt we'll ever see something like that again or be in a position to benefit from it. I didn't see the point in selling because we'd just have to turn around and pay the insane prices for another house so we said no. We had just moved in and there was no way we were moving again! 1 or 2 deals out of a dozen transactions aren't that noteworthy in hindsight.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Jan 23, 2015 15:51:47 GMT -5
My wife is part of this local facebook group where people can ask questions about stuff in the area. I’m not sure what this would be called or why people do it, but it’s almost like people want to be able to make a strong recommendation so they really pump up their choice. I didn’t really notice this in action until I saw all these discussions on preschools. There are basically 2 very popular private preschools/daycares in my area and people tend to RAVE about them. Having sent my kids (at various times) to 3 different preschools (including those 2), I know they aren’t that great. I mean, they put on a nice presentation and can speak intelligently about education, but there is really no difference in the end result and the price is literally 2x the price of park district or church based preschools. I’m not some preschool snob either, I think I’m just expecting more based on a higher price tag . Yet, people just go on and on about how great the program is to the point where people probably say “Wow, I have to have my kids go there!”. I’ve noticed this with other things on there as well. My daughter took gymnastics at this private facility and it cost like $130 for 6 or 8 weeks. The facility was ok, nothing really all that special but that’s ok. The biggest thing was that there were so many kids jammed into a room that the “instructor” (college kid) spent a lot of time roaming around trying to figure out the next thing they should do. To me, this seems like it would be obvious to anyone that is actually watching the class, but people RAVED about this as well. I think it comes down to me expecting when I pay for “premium” services. For my $60 cleaning lady, I just want the surfaces cleaned, vacuum, and toilets clean. She’s not great, but for the price she is “good enough”. If I’m being pitched on a premium gymnastics facility and paying 3x more than the park district, then I expect it to be a better experience overall. Maybe other people don’t consider the cost when giving their review? I think sometimes people look at other factors that I might not & ignore what I would look at when making certain reviews. I remember when the Humane Society built a brand new building here & people kept talking about how awesome it was. I went (was looking for a dog, not just to see it) & the building itself was magnificent, awesome design & really cool. But, the dogs were in little dinky cages that IMO were totally unimpressive & a really sad design. So I personally would have never raved about how awesome the place is because for me it's primary function is to house animals & it does it poorly. Others seemed to overlook that fact & were taken in by the really pretty lobby.
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tskeeter
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Post by tskeeter on Jan 23, 2015 16:59:55 GMT -5
I got bids to do the move-out clean for the AZ house yesterday. DH about had a stroke when I told him that they price it based on $25/hr. I think they charge extra for my zip code because I pay less for a lot of services in HCOLA San Diego and VHCOLA SF Bay Area. I identify with you. When we moved from Anaheim to Reno, we ended up paying nearly 25% more for house cleaning. We've also had similar experience with lawn service prices. I had expected those services to be lower in a smaller town with a lower cost of living. I guess all those folks moving in from the Bay Area are willing to continue to pay Bay Area prices, so that sets the standard. Probably have some of the same CA influence happening in Phoenix. The up side is that for you the cost is a one time expense, not a couple of times a month.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 17:07:57 GMT -5
I got bids to do the move-out clean for the AZ house yesterday. DH about had a stroke when I told him that they price it based on $25/hr. Whatever you do, don't tell him I'm paying $60/hour. That is for 2 women though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 17:49:26 GMT -5
I never had a good cleaning person . . . only ok. I have high standards that even I can't always meet.
However, my lawn guy IS awesome. I had a small garden home in a subdivision when I found him. He did a great job. Then I moved here, which is actually closer to where he lives, and asked him to take on this half-acre. I told him he didn't have to do stuff like edging, etc. He quite simply told me that he couldn't do less than his best.
I will cry when he no longer does this. He's been doing it for me for 15 years now, but he's slowing down. He's only doing a few houses these days, his wife said, but we are still one of them. I won't ever find anyone as good.
We also had a maintenance guy that was a perfectionist. He took longer (we paid by the hour), but it was perfect even by DH's standards. We lost him when the recession hit, and he lost his job. He had to start working nights.
So some of your friends, Thyme, are telling the truth: they found someone much more awesome than yours. But I'm sure some of them are also lying.
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Artemis Windsong
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Jan 23, 2015 17:52:28 GMT -5
No cleaning lady except me. Get with it self.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Jan 23, 2015 18:33:13 GMT -5
I got bids to do the move-out clean for the AZ house yesterday. DH about had a stroke when I told him that they price it based on $25/hr. I think they charge extra for my zip code because I pay less for a lot of services in HCOLA San Diego and VHCOLA SF Bay Area. I identify with you. When we moved from Anaheim to Reno, we ended up paying nearly 25% more for house cleaning. We've also had similar experience with lawn service prices. I had expected those services to be lower in a smaller town with a lower cost of living. I guess all those folks moving in from the Bay Area are willing to continue to pay Bay Area prices, so that sets the standard. Probably have some of the same CA influence happening in Phoenix. The up side is that for you the cost is a one time expense, not a couple of times a month. Interestingly enough our little town is not overwhelmingly CA. You see more Illinois plates here than anything else. Across the line into Far North Scottsdale lots WA plates.
But those are usually the second home folks. I know more year round folks that are former Californians.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 23, 2015 18:53:25 GMT -5
I have a friend who is never satisfied. I've been out with her more times that she sent something back in a restaurant than ate without complaint. She is very particular. She asked about my cleaning lady... We are all friends. I told her I thought she was too busy to take on more jobs... I know I wouldn't want to clean for her!
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Jan 23, 2015 20:29:30 GMT -5
The people who claim to have the best house cleaner, yard service, etc. and claim to always get the best deals over everyone else are simply trying to make themselves either feel better or look better or both. I don't get it. If I hire someone to do a job around the house and it doesn't get done very well (or at all) it doesn't make ME look bad to say, hey, I made a mistake; hired the wrong person/company. Lost some money, but live and learn. Some people think that reflects personally on THEM (DH, I'm talking to you). It's just life stuff. It's not all about appearances. I think the thing that would make you look bad is if your person does a mediocre job and/or you pay too much for them, and that has been going on for 5 years, then you are a sucker.
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Jan 23, 2015 21:48:48 GMT -5
My housecleaner doesn't clean better than I do but she gets less distracted so the overall effect is better. When she sees a pile of paperwork she straightens it up, moves it, wipes underneath it, and keeps cleaning. She doesn't stop and go, "Oh, crap, I need to deal with that, I'm going to stop cleaning and get on the phone, then get distracted by YM, then wonder where the time went." She also has a housecleaner for the same reason. This is why my cleaning is never done. I get way too easily distracted.
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Formerly SK
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Post by Formerly SK on Jan 24, 2015 0:04:44 GMT -5
My housecleaner doesn't clean better than I do but she gets less distracted so the overall effect is better. When she sees a pile of paperwork she straightens it up, moves it, wipes underneath it, and keeps cleaning. She doesn't stop and go, "Oh, crap, I need to deal with that, I'm going to stop cleaning and get on the phone, then get distracted by YM, then wonder where the time went." She also has a housecleaner for the same reason. OMG are you me?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2015 6:52:29 GMT -5
My Ex and I had a housekeeper- he was a clean freak and insisted on it. I was working FT and pretty much doing everything else so he could sit around and be a sloth, so I didn't object. They always started out on a good note and did good work, but eventually slacked off. Current DH refers to it as "vacuuming the center of the room". No more moving furniture to vacuum under it or behind it, for example. I'm getting a bit better at cleaning since I retired but my tactic has been to clean the heck out of an area when I notice it's getting grungy, so at any given time some spaces look really good and some don't. I also try to keep the clutter down.
As for deals- there are very few times I get deals worth bragging about. We bought our last 2 cars off rental at Enterprise and loved the experience. Here's the price, feel free to take the car to your dealer, if they find issues we'll adjust it. No BS. The closest I get to deals is the occasional trip to Europe paid for with miles (and now hefty "co-payments", too). I try to make the best use of them in terms of $ value per points spent. Many of those points were accumulated through "churning" the credit cards to get initial bonuses. I know that over the years we've gotten tens of thousands of dollars worth of travel this way. I'm also well aware that there are costs to the points- credit card fees, foregone cash-back we might have gotten through other cards, staying at Hamptons/Fairfields on our road trips instead of cheaper places that don't award points, etc.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 24, 2015 9:43:07 GMT -5
My cleaning lady is perfectly acceptable. Not stellar, nor bad. She will do whatever I ask, does a little extra, and brings toys for the pets in the houses she cleans, and sometimes brings something for the kids.
She even removes the live, half dead, and dead critters my friends cat drags into her house. You can't put a price on that.
She was alsoa huge supporter during my campaign.
I pay her $20 an hour in a VLCOLA area.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 24, 2015 9:47:43 GMT -5
Ha! My train wreck brother is like that! He brags about all these great deals he gets and they never are. He's a financial train wreck and doesn't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of. And he loves giving my other brother and I advice on "what we should have done" and we have more than enough stuff and money than he'll ever have. It's hilarious! I got where I just say "Oh, please tell me what I should have done Oh Wise One who owns nothing of value." He finally stopped doing it with me. I know I have the best house cleaner of all time because I'm the house cleaner. People always ask me if I will clean their houses for them. I always have to explain to them that I don't necessarily like to clean but love a clean house. Plus with my allergies I need to breathe so don't really have a choice. Back when I worked I've hired 2 different people to clean for me and I always had to clean after them. I have a really good landscaper but he's not the best. He's better than most though and many neighbors and friends have also hired him. I've had a really great guy who was the best (that I've ever hired) and he hated landscaping with a passion so he sold the business to the guy I have now who is pretty good but not great. How weird is that? He was great but hated doing it. I still miss his work and bitch about him quitting all the time because he was so damn good! I wish I knew somebody who could get me great deals on cars, boats, houses or whatever by doing the negotiating for us. I hate negotiating and arguing over money but I hate over paying more than negotiating so I do it to try to get a good deal. DH did find a great deal on the car we have now but it was pure luck. A brand new car with all that we wanted was $39K. Somebody at the dealership told us that the exact car we wanted, color and all, just came in but it was a year old. The dealer was asking $29K. DH happened to be looking at the Sunday paper (yes, it's been that long ago) and saw a car with everything we wanted but for $25K. They were running specials trying to unload stock. We got there and it was the $29K car. We wrote a check on the spot. It had 12K miles on it if I remember correctly. I felt that was a great deal and probably the only one worth mentioning or that we'll ever find again for a vehicle. We feel we got a great deal on this house because we locked in before the crazy market boom came to town but we didn't get the best deal because it was already starting when we signed. People were calling and knocking on our doors to buy our house for $150K+ over what we paid. That kind of boom was insane and I doubt we'll ever see something like that again or be in a position to benefit from it. I didn't see the point in selling because we'd just have to turn around and pay the insane prices for another house so we said no. We had just moved in and there was no way we were moving again! 1 or 2 deals out of a dozen transactions aren't that noteworthy in hindsight. Ill bring DH with me the next time you want to buy something. He isn't jewish for nothing!! I'm serious. I've watched him and I have to walk away because it's shocking. You should have watched him annihilate Comcast. That poor woman. You should see the deals we get on car rentals. I've already negotiated a good deal and he gets an upgrade and a better price. I LOVE my JEW!! He laughs when I say that. It may embarrass me while he's doing it but the results are awesome!!
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Jan 24, 2015 9:51:51 GMT -5
I'm getting a bit better at cleaning since I retired but my tactic has been to clean the heck out of an area when I notice it's getting grungy, so at any given time some spaces look really good and some don't. I do kind of the opposite. I almost never scrub out an area. I clean whatever I happen to notice is dirty right then and there, but that's it. Like last night before my shower I noticed the toilet bowl had a slight ring so I pulled out the brush and cleaned it real quick. As a result everything is decently maintained, but I never have a whole room or house scrubbed and sparkly at once. Maybe that is why I liked the cleaning service so much. It was the equivalent of me scrubbing hard for 3 hours, which I never do, so everything looked fantastic all at once.
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tloonya
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Post by tloonya on Jan 24, 2015 11:00:26 GMT -5
What I had learned from this thread that is every member who should be cleaning their house themselves are PAYING others to do it. So membership of YM doesn't mean anything anymore?
And yes, everyone cleans better than I do and no one cleans better than my Mom. But if you ever wanted my Mom to clean for you - she needs to move in with you. Because she can spend 3 hours in tiny bathroom wiping ceiling and polishing every bottle with whatevers...she is insane like that. It hurts to watch.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jan 26, 2015 13:39:15 GMT -5
I will relate this only to cleaning services. I would guess that many people who hire cleaning services do so because they hate to clean. I would also guess that many of these people, as a result of hating to clean, do not have the highest standards of cleanliness (I fall into this, i don't care if there is dirt on my floor, I just don't want huge messes I cannot look past). Quality is often based on expectation and standards.
If I expect that "clean" is basically the big messes picked up, and I come home to find the floor mopped at all I probably think the cleaning service did a fantastic job. It's so amazing! Likewise, if I hate to clean, I likely place a premium on the service, which means I'm willing to pay more than what someoen who likes to clean would. So now I feel like I got a great deal because I paid less than I would have, AND it got cleaner than I would have expected even if I'd paid double the price. So if my cleaning service is average, it appears as if I not only got a great deal, but that they also did an amazing job!
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jan 26, 2015 13:42:37 GMT -5
What I had learned from this thread that is every member who should be cleaning their house themselves are PAYING others to do it. So membership of YM doesn't mean anything anymore?
And yes, everyone cleans better than I do and no one cleans better than my Mom. But if you ever wanted my Mom to clean for you - she needs to move in with you. Because she can spend 3 hours in tiny bathroom wiping ceiling and polishing every bottle with whatevers...she is insane like that. It hurts to watch.
I can't afford NOT to hire a cleaning service. I figure I'm worth about $41,666/hour (based on the fact I have a million-dollar idea once a day, $1M/24 hrs), it takes 6 hours to clean my house, that's $250,000 just to clean my house. If I can hire it out for $100 I'd lose my YM membership card if I didn't.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 13:50:46 GMT -5
I will relate this only to cleaning services. I would guess that many people who hire cleaning services do so because they hate to clean. I would also guess that many of these people, as a result of hating to clean, do not have the highest standards of cleanliness (I fall into this, i don't care if there is dirt on my floor, I just don't want huge messes I cannot look past). Quality is often based on expectation and standards. If I expect that "clean" is basically the big messes picked up, and I come home to find the floor mopped at all I probably think the cleaning service did a fantastic job. It's so amazing! Likewise, if I hate to clean, I likely place a premium on the service, which means I'm willing to pay more than what someoen who likes to clean would. So now I feel like I got a great deal because I paid less than I would have, AND it got cleaner than I would have expected even if I'd paid double the price. So if my cleaning service is average, it appears as if I not only got a great deal, but that they also did an amazing job! You have way overthought this
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Jan 26, 2015 13:54:26 GMT -5
I will relate this only to cleaning services. I would guess that many people who hire cleaning services do so because they hate to clean. I would also guess that many of these people, as a result of hating to clean, do not have the highest standards of cleanliness (I fall into this, i don't care if there is dirt on my floor, I just don't want huge messes I cannot look past). Quality is often based on expectation and standards. If I expect that "clean" is basically the big messes picked up, and I come home to find the floor mopped at all I probably think the cleaning service did a fantastic job. It's so amazing! Likewise, if I hate to clean, I likely place a premium on the service, which means I'm willing to pay more than what someoen who likes to clean would. So now I feel like I got a great deal because I paid less than I would have, AND it got cleaner than I would have expected even if I'd paid double the price. So if my cleaning service is average, it appears as if I not only got a great deal, but that they also did an amazing job! You have way overthought this I see it without a cleaning service. My wife stays at home one day, I come home and am like "Holy shit, did you spend all day cleaning? It looks amazing in here". And her response is typically "Umm, I vacuumed and swept the floor for about 20 minutes". Same for cooking really. "Oh my god, this is delicious, what did you do to the chicken?" "Put some ranch on it".
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Jan 26, 2015 14:09:59 GMT -5
On cleaning, I totally agree that people hire it out because they either hate to do it, or want to spend the time on something else. I gave in and we started with a cleaning lady. DW has finally acknowledged that despite her high standards, she herself is not willing to do the work to meet them. She knows I'm not either, so we pay.
Regarding cars, I think that one gets more interesting. What is a "good" deal. Do you want to pay less than you thought? Do you want to cripple the dealership? If you were expecting to pay $20k for a car, and got it for $18k, is that a great deal? What if you found out that thanks to volume and kickbacks, the dealer breaks even at $14k. Did you still get a great deal? Is the dealer ever going to sell the car for $14,100 (at least, before the car starts to cost too much sitting on the lot).
I think it feels good to be helpful and thought highly of, and being able to advise people definitely feeds that. Sometimes yes, it IS satisfying to have gotten a better deal than someone else. Although in many cases, there are also so many factors behind that price, that is it really a fair comparison?
ETA: also sometimes people omit that crucial one-in-a-million detail that makes the difference. Like if THEY got the same car as you for far less, but only because their great Uncle owns the dealership.
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kittensaver
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We cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa
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Post by kittensaver on Jan 26, 2015 14:36:04 GMT -5
I would guess that many people who hire cleaning services do so because they hate to clean. Not really, at least for me. I hire someone because I work FT and so does DH. It's enough just to keep up with meals, the dishes, the pets and the laundry after a long day at work. Many moons ago (when I was a young bride ) I can remember dreading coming home on Friday just to face a Saturday cleaning house. I'd get to Sunday night and be exhausted and wonder what the h*ll happened to my weekend. When DH (as a young husband) finally had the courage to admit that he didn't want to clean either, we got a service. And we've never looked back.
I actually don't hate to clean, I just hate that it swallows up such a large portion of my precious free time. I'm willing to pay for it. It takes a huge amount of stress off of both of us. It's totally worth it. I think that's VERY YM - making good use of your money .
And of course, as always - YMMV.
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beergut
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Post by beergut on Jan 26, 2015 14:42:35 GMT -5
I think some of y'all know a lot of 'toppers'. Whatever you did or story you tell, they can top it.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 26, 2015 14:45:03 GMT -5
I would guess that many people who hire cleaning services do so because they hate to clean. Not really, at least for me. I hire someone because I work FT and so does DH. It's enough just to keep up with meals, the dishes, the pets and the laundry after a long day at work. Many moons ago (when I was a young bride ) I can remember dreading coming home on Friday just to face a Saturday cleaning house. I'd get to Sunday night and be exhausted and wonder what the h*ll happened to my weekend. When DH (as a young husband) finally had the courage to admit that he didn't want to clean either, we got a service. And we've never looked back.
I actually don't hate to clean, I just hate that it swallows up such a large portion of my precious free time. I'm willing to pay for it. It takes a huge amount of stress off of both of us. It's totally worth it. I think that's VERY YM - making good use of your money .
And of course, as always - YMMV.
Throw in some kids, some OT at work, some sick parents, and I just couldn't keep up.
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 26, 2015 15:26:58 GMT -5
I think some of y'all know a lot of 'toppers'. Whatever you did or story you tell, they can top it. I've worked with at least two, and could probably think of more if I wanted to give it that much energy.
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swamp
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THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 26, 2015 15:53:16 GMT -5
I think some of y'all know a lot of 'toppers'. Whatever you did or story you tell, they can top it. I've worked with at least two, and could probably think of more if I wanted to give it that much energy. I've worked with 3.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 18:00:14 GMT -5
I have a cleaning person because I hate to clean. I'm sure I could find the time to clean but if it's a choice of cleaning or sitting on the couch watching NCIS reruns, Leroy Jethro Gibbs has no competition. I do enjoy organizing the hell of things though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2015 18:07:20 GMT -5
I clean better than my cleaner, and better than everybody else I've ever met. But at this point in my life, I'd rather pay someone, and I'm OK with "good enough".
I had a really lousy cleaner, for years. But she was very honest, we'd known her for many years decades, and my kids were extremely attached to her, and her to them. She got heavier and heavier, and had a lot of trouble moving around, and the list of what she would no longer do just grew and grew and grew.
She really let the house go. I DO realize I was complicit in that, because I let her get away with it. When I was off I'd deep-clean it myself. I gradually really grew to resent it, but I couldn't bear to fire her, after knowing her for 30 years, even though I know I should have, because she was more like an "auntie" than the cleaner at that point. If we were out for the evening or working late, and one of my kids was unwell, she'd come back in the evening to spend time with them and make sure they ate. You can't put a price on that kind of thing.
But I was SO THRILLED when she finally retired (once they were older). This time, I got a MUCH better cleaner!
Unlike Thyme's friends, though, I was honest. I'd tell my friends, we have a lovely cleaner, I could leave a million dollars on the floor and she wouldn't touch a dime, she loves my kids, my kids love her, but frankly, she cleans like shite. She did drive though, and that was a big help too, and another reason we put up with her lack of cleaning (because she did DS3's afternoon carpool 2X a week).
When she retired (for the second and last time!) we got a new cleaner, who we've had for 15 months now. DH and I realized, OMG, the house really was filthy at the end! We hired the new cleaner double-time for 6 weeks until the entire house was really clean.
Now she maintains it with 6h per week, although I really should cut her hours down to 4 (here we pay per hour). But she does such a good job, we keep putting that off.
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Formerly SK
Senior Member
Joined: Feb 27, 2011 14:23:13 GMT -5
Posts: 3,255
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Post by Formerly SK on Jan 29, 2015 0:38:38 GMT -5
I don't mind cleaning, and when I do it I do a perfect job. The area *will* be immaculate. So yeah, I'm always frustrated by the housekeepers I hire. I mean, if they say they're going to wipe the frame around the door, I should be able to run a rag along it afterwards and have it come out clean, right? But, I see I have to let that go. They WON'T do as good a job as me. But they can get to it more often than I can, and them doing what they do allows me to focus on other bigger projects that I can't hire out (like cleaning out my pictures or recipes or drawers). So I settle for that and I try not to be too grumpy. Last week I finally got all our board games cleaned out and organized and stacked away so they are easy to see and grab. That would not have happened EVER if I still had to clean toilets or mop. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Did I mention my board games are all organized and neatly put away?
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