I don't need to pay someone ...

I don't need to pay someone to come in and clean! I just need 6 days in a row and I can do it myself!!

The most exciting thing to me about getting paid again (new job) is to get my cleaning lady back! Can NOT live without her

Before I went off work sick, I had someone coming into clean twice a month.

Unfortunately she had a fall and broke her shoulder and couldn't come anymore. Then I went off sick and couldn't afford to have someone come in and clean. And I wasn't able to do it myself. My long term disability company finally pushed me to let homecare come in and help me because I just couldn't do the cleaning myself. All of my energy was going into trying to clean and I had nothing left for anything else.

I had homecare for about 2 years. I ended it in the middle of December because I returned to work. The girl that was coming was supposed to continue privately with me paying her. However she hurt her neck just before Christmas. I haven't heard from her since. So I don't know if she is still planning on coming or not.

All I know is that it takes too much out of me physically to do it myself. It shouldn't take 6 days to clean a one bedroom apartment, but I have to pace myself. I find cleaning to be physically harder for me than a day at work.

If I don't hear from her by the beginning of February, I'm going to go ahead and hire someone else. I don't want to spend my monthly 6 days off cleaning, and with 2 cats and allergies, my apartment needs to be vacuumed weekly. With someone coming every two weeks, I was able to manage once every 2 weeks vacuuming. The rest of the cleaning I left for her to do.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

I don't need to pay someone to come in and clean! I just need 6 days in a row and I can do it myself!!

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Same here Linda...My apartment hasn't been properly cleaned in months due to lack of time!

Well, I bit the bullet. My last homecare girl, Janet, was supposed to be coming privately after I ended homecare. But she hurt her neck just before Christmas and I haven't heard back from her.

So in the meantime I still need someone to come. I sent an email to that first girl from homecare that was coming. The whiney, complaining one. I did tell her that it was temporary. She will be coming on Saturday the 31st at 1pm for 3 hours, and then again on the 13th or 14th. If I don't hear from Janet by the end of February, I'll go ahead and look for someone else.

I can relate to needing a few days with absolutely nothing else to do in order to clean. My Dad always says, "If you're gone all the time, how can your apartment possibly get dirty." I just laugh -- he has no idea!

Wish I were in Winnipeg -- I'm good at cleaning and organizing other people's stuff. My own, not so much.

I wish I could afford to pay someone to just clean the bathrooms. That is the ONLY part I hate doing, especially our shower and our son's toilet. GAG!!! I can clean the rest of the house, I just want someone to do those.

I don't spend anywhere near the amount of time cleaning I should [about 1 hour a month] and with allergies to cats, dogs and dust mites it should be about 1 hour a day

Mom used to pay someone... but two of the four hours she was pd for she spent talking and eating.... When mom passed I was unsure of the $$$ so I did not ask her to come ... well surprise in about 3 hours a week ( small slots at a time ) I can do a better job and save $$

Originally Posted by laureen227

i just hired a housekeeper/maid for once a month cleaning. i plan to vacuum in-between times.

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Yeah, that's what I'm planning, only she will come every other week and I'll vacuum the week that she's not here. This way vacuuming and dusting will get done weekly, and my bathroom and floor mopping will get done twice a month. It's the vacuuming, the floors and cleaning the tub/shower that I have major problems doing. Once a month vacuuming and dusting with my allergies just doesn't work. By the time a week goes by I'm sniffling and sneezing.

heh I have a great house cleaner..MY FIANCE!!!

(he's a super neat freak....and I'm not) I told him that if he didn't like the amount or the way i cleaned the house then he could do it himself. And he does!!! And we;re much happier because the things I HATE to do he doesn't mind and i do the things he can't stand. PLUS the house is cleaned up to HIS standards and I find its easy to just pick up after myself. ANd when my friends ask me about what vacuum I have my answer is simple...I have no idea...my fiance does all the vacuuming!!

I have someone come in once a week and clean house. It's normally on Wednesday and I love going home every Wednesday evening after work.
It's just so nice. DH told me I might have to give it up if things get tight. I just told him I would tighten up somewhere else.

This reminds me of an old roommate I had.
I cleaned, I was the only one that cleaned. He came from a rich upbringing, whereas my parents were under the poverty line.
At that point I wasn't a very good cleaner, I was 19 and hated it.
The one day, he came up to me and said "we should fire the housecleaner, shes not doing a very good job"...
I was in shock.

What I wouldn't give to be able to hire a cleaner!!!

I'd even be happy to hire someone just to sweep, vacuum and mop the downstairs floors and the stairway every day. With (formerly 9, until Willi died almost 2 weeks ago) 8 cats, you can imagine the fur, esp. with 4 Maine Coons.

Actually, I enjoy cleaning (usually), but it frustrates me that I can't keep the house up to my picky standard. I have a peeve about seeing what I call "tumbleweeds" of fur lying around! The surfaces don't get dusty much, but the floors get furred-up fast. I really should do them every day--I at least pick up the tumbleweeds, or use the Dust-Buster on them every day. The stairs drive me nuts. They must fight on them, as I find chunks of fur. I just can't stand to see dirty steps! (They are wood, so it shows more than on carpet.)

DH can't understand why, when I'm sick, I'm up, cleaning. "Just let it go!". Right. I tried that once when I had the flu; I let it slide for 2 extra days, and it was AWFUL. It just took me twice as long to do my weekly cleaning later.

Thankfully, we have most of the litter boxes in the garage, which helps with the floor messes.

My weapons of choice: wet mop Swiffers, Clorox-type wipes, a rubber pet-hair brush, and the Dust-Buster. I highly recommend them for cat owners! You can wipe up a mess fast with the Swiffers, and they leave a nice scent--great for when you have company arriving very soon. A swipe with a Swiffer can make it seem as if you did a thorough floor-cleaning. The Dust-Buster is the best $35 I ever spent. I can suck up dry cat food from the floor so easily, and also the tumbleweeds.

I am a member of Flylady.net and the Flylady yahoo group. (both totally free)

This lady did so much for me I can never tell you. My life used to be dominated by CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome), but she taught me these little, simple things and encouraged me over and over, even though she didn't do it personally her method still made it feel like she did.
Now I can have company over, I have a place for everything, and housecleaning does not feel like such a daunting task anymore.

Everyone has the same amount of time in a day. Some people manage to keep a clean house and work and/or study and/or care for/homeschool their kids.
I thought I never had time enough, so I wouldn't start certain big cleaning tasks because I wouldn't have time to finish them anyway. Flylady teaches you to break down your house into manageable zones and to break down every task into 15 minute bits. And to let go of your perfectionism. An imperfectly cleaned toilet is still better than a toilet that hasn't been cleaned at all !

I've been following this program for two years now, there are certain things that have gotten incorporated into my daily routine and they are lasting improvements, other things I only do occasionally. I also take better care of myself and feel better about myself as a result.

It only takes me a couple of hours or so to dust, swiff, vacuum and wash the floors and bathroom, and i live in a house!

As soon as i get home on a thursday, i get the duster out straight away and get cracking without stopping, ending with the floors being washed with the power mop.

I'm shattered after it, but feel so much better afterwards. I don't want a cleaner because she probably won't do it to my expectations because i'm fussy