not to long ago I asked a question about a housekeeper i"m trying for the first time. She didn't tell me her pricing and actually told me that she was just going to "help" me (presumably since she is from my church). Anyhow she is here cleaning. She just told me to pay her whatever I want! Help! She just did my kitchen and three baths for today. I've only ever paid for a whole house cleaning which ranged from $90-$130. What do you all think? I have not seen the work yet, but assuming its good, what do you all think I should pay her?
I tried to pay her $75. She would not take it. I paid her $60 and she insisted on coming back tomorrow to clean the rest of the house for the $60. I told her no way. She felt bad because she was 1.5 hours late and didn't want me to pay her at all today.
I think her offer to "help" seems to be both genuine and her tactic. She seems to be willing to be called on her bluff and clean for people in need it who can't pay. She says she does it because God has blessed her. It is strange. Yes. I take her to be sincere. She cleans for a lot of people in my church. She charges too little, talks to much and apologizes too much. But so far I trust her and that means a lot to me. If she shows up when she is supposed to and does a good job, I'm happy. Granted she used CLR on my lime stone shower, but we'll work out the kinks.
woulda coulda shoulda- spare me the lecture. I tried, I couldn't get to the bottom of it so here we are with the situation at hand, what to pay the lady?!
If you read my previous question this may make more sense. I did try to work it out on the phone, but I couldn't get to the bottom of it. Unprofessional? Yes. But at least she is not a stranger off craigslist. I have lost or let go of many housekeepers and services over the years for various reasons. I'm finding out she keeps her clients a long time and that means a lot (she works for an old college friend of mine). going with someone else means starting from scratch with a stranger that I have no connections with. While we have never met before today, we know a lot of the same people at my church. Sharing a religion and a church family is a lot better than a stranger on craigslist. So I guess I'm willing to see where this goes. But yes, its strange, and unprofessional. I'll give you that.
my priorities are that she show up on the scheduled day, does a good job, and I can trust her to leave her alone in my house.
I have had bad luck hiring housekeeping services that have employees. First off they are underpaid and they don't reflect much joy in their work. They have yet to leave me with a clean house.
So I'm wanting the people who clean to also be the owners of the business so they take a little pride in the work.
Lots of suggestions for minimum wage. I've done housecleaning before. I can't in good conscious pay minimum wage. But thanks for the advice, Its a good starting point.
We paid my SIL once to clean the Kitchen, bathroom (only have 1) and living room. She cleaned the cabinets, counter, floor; all bathroom, and vacuumed, mopped the living room. I think my husband paid her $60. I would pay around $60 to $75 since you usually pay 90 to 130 for the whole house.
My housekeeper and her husband come to my house once a month. They clean appx 4000 SF house and they are here from about 9am until 2pm. Depending on when they arrive, leave and how things are done, I pay an average of $160 for each monthly trip give or take a little. She charges $140 ($28/hr).
Very large kitchen and living area, 5 bedrooms, 4 baths, game room, library and formal areas.
I think $4-$5 an hour would be insulting. My 18 yr old daughter/babysitter averages more than $12-$15 an hour.
At least target minimum wage... CASH
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This should have been worked out upfront so everyone is on the same page with expectations. I would not allow someone to "help" me and not state a rate of pay.
That's annoying. I think you should call a few companies and see what the going rate in your area is for a house your size.
I'd decide if I wanted a housekeeper at this time and even if she seems nice and like she wants to do you a favor, I would formalize a few things because this "Oh, I don't know" and "I'm here to help" is getting a little silly. Either she's a volunteer or an employee and you need to figure out which.
ETA: You need to steer this ship, no matter the common connection. YOU lay out the terms. If my housekeeper was 1.5 hours late I would not be inclined to have her come back, no matter if she went to my church or not. Since she's not being professional and you want to give her a chance, you need to figure out what YOU want and need and tell her - and if she doesn't like that then she can help someone else. Help is not helpful if it's not reliable or causes you issues.
FWIW, our lady (who we have used off and on since before DD was born) is paid about $25/hr or $100 per visit. It is not a huge house, but we do have 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
I'm guessing she was there a few hours. How about $40.
Oh my gosh, $4 -5/ hour or even minimum wage is not going to cut it in San Clemente, CA. No way, no how. I have had my fair share of housekeepers over the years and it is more like $25 -$40/hour, I'm in a similar city.
My 19 year old college student daughter is a server in a restaurant and makes between $18 to $30/hour (her withholding are very high taxing 22% of her food sales).
This should have been arranged ahead of time, language barrier or not.
How long did it take her? Maybe a rate of $4-5 an hour?
Minium wage should be more than fair as I doubt she's going to be declaring this on her income tax return or paying self employment tax. That's a good 15-20% 'bonus' for her right there.
I prefer to go through a company where i know my price structures up front and I know they will declare all their income.
I would pay minimum wage, which in my state is close to $10/hr.
Maybe try to break it down by how long she spends cleaning. My cleaning lady spends 4.5-5 hours at my house and I pay her $80 (she comes once every two weeks). That is the rate she quoted me after seeing my home (approx 2800 sq ft). I think somewhere in the range of $15-20/hour is a fair rate.
75 sounds right. If she said no to that, offer 50. In NY, housekeepers, get 20/hr. If she's someone you know, you have her come look at the home and and name her price and haggle. I have a friend who worked for 10/hr for one woman based on the length of time she was working for her, and charged 90.00 for a 4 room apartment. It all depends.
Housecleaners get over 20 bucks an hour these days, which I think is crazy. I make just 20 an hour and I have college degrees related to my work.
I used to clean privately for a living, Normally my rate was by the hour, or a flat rate for the whole job.
Since you obviously don't want to take advantage of her, I would explain to her that you are either going to A)Pay her by the hour. Period. B) Pay a flat rate and verbalize what you expect to be cleaned for that rate.
Normally my hourly was $20-$25 an hour. Which may seem high but in my area cleaning companies charge $35-40
Another example I used to clean a home where it was just one elderly man. I cleaned his bathrooms, kitchen, living room and dining room and 2 bedrooms. I charged him a flate rate of $75 because the only rooms that were really ever "dirty" were the bathrooms and kitchens. The rest of the house was dusting
Hope that helps!
