One of my favorite things about traveling is that I'll go out and work during the day and when I come back to the hotel room it's all made up and clean. It's so awesome!

So one of the best decisions I've ever made was to get a housekeeper. :) It's amazing. Seriously. You have to try it. It took me two years to actual get around to it but now that it's happening I'm in heaven.



Yesterday I was in LA hanging with J* :) and I came home and my place was spotless! My clothes, my sheets, my towels were all washed and folded, my dishes were cleaned and put away...


and they even organized the refrigerator (which is important - otherwise I wouldn't be able to find things)

Outsource!

:)
DJ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Opensourcep.../outsource.html

Rachel and I got a housekeeper too...starting last year when we realized our time was at a premium. It's an amazing time saver.
Of course, we don't go as far as DR, who has all of his sheets hand-pressed by his housekeeper! Wow, that's luxury!

You two need to talk to my husband! I absolutely hate cleaning, but my husband doesn't like the idea of some stranger coming in a messing with our stuff. He is not a shovinest (sp?) about it or anything...he helps out a lot, but then again he doesn't do it all....

I will PM his phone number to both of you! haha!

Well once you introduce your husband to your new housekeeper they won't be strangers anymore!

Andrew - that's freaking hilarious about Reggie!!! He has his sheets pressed! That's awesome!!!

Andrew - that's freaking hilarious about Reggie!!! He has his sheets pressed! That's awesome!!!
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The guy cracks me up... Just don't tell him we told ya

I sooooo need a housekeeper. Do I need a real house for a housekeeper? Is there such a thing as a small apartment keeper? LOL

I still need one. Desperately. There is just NOT enough time in the day.

Hey Sarah,

Rachel and I actually live in a loft...so I guess we officially have a "loft-keeper!"


You should get a condo-keeper, or an apt-keeper!
It can sure be a time saver.

Best to you guys,

Andrew

Yea! I just have a one bed apart so I guess mine is a mini-apt-keeper!

Wow - I thought I was the only person (out of college) with a fridge that empty. If you replaced that milk with Silk, ours would be identical. very sad! I guess you outsource cooking like I do!

How long has that chinese food been there, mister out-of-town? Your bedroom is very nicely decorated. How often does the cleaning service come? I would need 5 times as much as you, except for laundry. I have 10X as much laundry, (my kids were three outfits a day, it seems.)

Housekeeps DO ROCK! I have one come to my apt the day I leave for a trip and when I come back my house is so nice and clean and fresh sheets and everything. Love it! And totally worth the $50 I pay them! Mine comes every 2 weeks or so!

$50 for a housekeeper? Per hour or overall?

I hate cleaning (that's why I'm not taking a shot of my room! Too much stuff, too little space.) Weirdly enough I kinda enjoy ironing.

In Sweden only upper class/wealthy people hire house keepers. They've had a huge debate if taxes on such services should be lowered ur not so more can afford it. Many find it degrading to be a housekeeper & if you hire one you're a lazy snob who's too posh to do your own housekeeping. It's all very political over here. Dunno why, it creates needed jobs & I'd happily hire one if I had the cash & need.

how'd ya'll find your housekeeper???? i need one badly!!!

Overall! I think Luke's housekeeper was around $60 overall. We both live in one bedroom apartments though!

Wow, good price! I think that's what a white market house keeping company charges per hour here. I'm all for outsourcing stuff like that if it'll give you more quality time with family or to concentrate on work.

I finally convinced my husband we needed one two years ago.... I was working three jobs and he worked fulltime too and the housekeeping never got done unless I got sick of it:) so instead of arguing over it I told him we should split the cost..... $70/ 2 weeks for a 1600 sf house..... the house is clean and the cost is worth it to me:) although we don't have them do our laundry just come in and clean the bathrooms and everything.

Heather

SAME!!!

Yea - mine are $20 an hour...I think that's reasonable.

DJ- I guess if you got seriously hungry, you could make do with some buttery milk. You should really do something about that fridge But cool furnishings though!

I have a housekeeper too, shes not that great though, and shes always complaining and procrastinating and shes horrible at the laundry. Not a very good cook either,but a darling personality. Id love to replace her, but she works real cheap and shes great with the kids, but sometimes shes a little too friendly with the hubby.

Oh and she looks just like me.....wait a minute....it IS me!!!!





I would sell the family silver to have a housekeeper at this point. Your a lucky cus.

I didn't see much silver at your house.

Wow, DJ! And I thought I had a bachelor fridge!

Bravo! It is noticeably cleaner than the average fridge, though! Kudos to the 'keeper!

Have a great week!

BF

Try googling "Tampa housekeepers" and see what comes up. Probably Merry Maids or something like that. I've used private housekeepers AND Merry Maids in the past and, overall, I was pretty pleased with Merry Maids in comparison. The best part is when they fold your toilet paper into a little point and put a gold seal on it!!! Tres chic!!! *****

. . . . . . .

(and, yes, I do know I need a life)

Do you get a piece of chocolate on your pillow as well?

We looooooooooooove Merry Maids!

Good One

OK I really meant the family "tupperware".

No . . . but, don't think I didn't ask for it! Ha ha!!!

It's a fantasy of mine to reach into a draw full of mated socks instead of digging through a laundry basket looking for match, not actually sure if it's a basket of clean or dirty clothes.

i called them. they wanted $300 for an intital cleaning! i was like damn does our cleaning suck that bad?

i'm trying the competetion i think.

our housekeeper quit and went to teaching full time and because we live in a very old farm house out in the country surrounded by cotton fields, well, it's hard to get someone to come and clean.

I've been doing it since July and not very well, either I might add.

LOL

WE are just so darn busy. I think eating together is very important so I spend most of my extra time cleaning the kitchen after cooking. DJ? My fridge is soooo full you can't find the beer!

Yeah, we just figured we couldnt afford a houskeeper we would have a kid to do all the work. So Molly is 6 months now, how long do you think until I see some return on our investment in the form of some sleep and a clean house

LOL!
About 17yrs, 6mo, when she's GONE and not there to MAKE messes -- that's when you'll see a cleaner house! Until then, just be prepared to live in laundry, clothes, missing socks, unwashed dishes (or empty pizza boxes waiting to go out to recylcle), ... I could go on, but I'd need to self-medicate first!

Late last year when my 2nd business was taking off and requiring more time, I had my housekeeper increase from every other week to every week. I LOVE HER! Actually, you can see her kids on the Gina Alexander home page -- the kids in football uniforms -- that's the purse I gifted her for Christmas. She says she feels like a rock star when she carries it around -- she gets such a kick out of seeing her purse on the internet She's so sweet, such a nice lady. She's AWESOME!!!! She's almost a member of the family now, and so GOOD at what she does. I've tried the services like Merry Maid$, and such, but they're just so dang EXPEN$$$IVE! Claudia charges me $50 a week. I was paying her $60/cleaning when she was coming every other week.
I think just finding someone good who you like is the way to go. But it takes some work & asking around to find someone good!

I would be needed SERIOUS self-medication without Claudia!!!! (and I think she knows that!)

~Carey

Yours is very funny and I can very much relate.........it sounds like me!
Seriousely as my photography business has picked up and is keeping me very busy, the folding laundry and cleaning the house is not happening as well as I would like. I think if I had someone come once every two weeks, we could keep up with the in between stuff.

Nouna, it is funny to read your take on it. As a Swede my self, I still have that mindset (jante lagen...)even though I dont live there anymore. So it has taken me this long to realize we do need help and it will be so worth to pay someone to do the cleaning part. I can get some much needed work done. Now I just need to find the time to hire someone I trust. I probably should ask my clients if they have someone they recommend. Down here in the south a large % of families (at least middle income and up) hire out their cleaning.

Anna-Karin,
Well, everything in the Swedish attitude boils down to jantelange, doesn't it? Don't be better, don't be more successful, don't think you're better either. If you got money, success or looks - don't flaunt it. My parents aren't overly keen on it, as well as of cours being victims to it to some extent. They worked very hard to earn money when they worked. They became successful, but as they're down-to-earth people (and financial advisors!) they don't flaunt it, and if they occasionally do it's usually to make a point to someone they're mad with. lol

Mom is from Thailand and over there it's very common to have maids and helpers around the house. Different culture. Sometimes when she's cleaning and is really fed up with it she'll mumble (in good humour) "Damnit, I wasn't brought up to do this type of work! I wish we had someone else to do it." At the same time she'd never do it as she hates the idea of a stranger being in the house without her knowing what's going on.

Thats would kill me!