Yes, me! I don't trust others to do as good of a job as I would do, and I don't want anyone messing around with my things. Plus, I'm cheap and don't want to pay someone a lot of money to do what I can do better!:)

I once thought that I didn't want to pay someone to do what I could do better. Over the years I've found that the right house keeper is worth it for the bathrooms and kitchen alone. My free time needs to be just that. That said I'll say I've had several levels of competence over the years. You have to be vigilant in who you hire and willing to let people go who just don't do what you need done.

I do. She is wonderful. She comes every three weeks and does the entire house…takes about 5 hours. That relieves me of the mundane stuff and I attack the issues that drive me nuts. I have an in house vacuum system because I want the bag contained in the garage.

I still clean everyday, and I focus on what needs to be done “my way”.

My favorites: Bona for floors, Pledge, purple Lysol for the bathrooms, and no outside shoes in the house.

PS I have a kitty and she gets brushed every day with the Furminator!

have cleaning lady who comes one morning every two weeks. wife and i did it until she took ill. we still do quite bit....including cleaning for the cleaning lady. cleaners dont deal well with clutter.

Ditto bluenan. We had a wonderful lady who cleaned our Victorian when we both worked. She was priceless but didn't want to go to our current area when we moved. Tried a couple of young ladies when we moved here but, they never seemed to do things like I did. Couldn't justify paying for something that I could do better myself. Same with my lawn!

I have a housekeeper.....ME!

I'm too anal-retentive to put that on a housekeeper. But I did train daughters well enough they were able to make extra money helping the new college professors' families each year when they moved to our college town. They made good money at it and many of the women marveled at how they knew how to fold towels and linens just right and how to organize cabinets just right. Their answer was their mom was anal ;-D

To me a cleaning lady, ladies actually, are well worth it. True, we declutter before they come, but that means that it gets decluttered at least every two weeks. It is wonderful to come home to sparkling floors and freshly vacuumed rugs, dusted shelves, and everything just so. Of course, some of the deeper cleaning I still do--For example, I clean the refrigerator the day before the cleaners come so that they clean the floor the next day.

Yes! Highly recommend. I have the privilege of having the same woman work for me for the past 10 years--she is a gem. She has never had an off day. Worth every penny.

I had a cleaning lady one time. She was my daughter's friend & cleaning lady. Even though my house was smaller than my daughters, she charged me significantly more. The extra fee was because they had to remove things from the tops of dressers, etc to dust. I came home that day and saw that not only did they just dust around the outside of the dresser tops (nothing was removed from anything), they also pulled a towel rack out of the wall... she probably leaned on it with all her weight. End of cleaning lady.

I've had the same cleaning lady every other week for the last 26 years. It is so great to come home to a clean house after a long day of work. It is even more wonderful since I have retired. I don't have to clean the bathrooms, the kitchen or dust & run the vacuum. Sure no one cleans as good as you do, but as you grow older, you find that the eating off the floor mentality doesn't mean as much. I do heavy duty cleaning during the year. Cleaning drapes, sealing granite counter tops, cleaning out the refrigerator, cleaning the hutch & curio cabinets & washing windows are things I do.

Three "angels" come to my house bi-weekly. we do de-clutter before they arrive. Yes, they have broken a few items, but not cleaning the tubs and doing all the hardwood floors etc. is worth it. They are here about 1.5 hours and gone. I go around and straighten all the crooked pictures on the wall ( I think they do that so you'll know they dusted them) and then I'm good except for a quick dustbuster and toilet cleaning, until they return.

I've had one in the past and fully intend to do so in the future - it's just much easier for me to know that all of the physically harder jobs like scrubbing the bathroom will get done even if I'm having a series of bad health days so I can't do it.

My mother was a 'domestic worker' just like the movie' The Help'. She was excellent and beloved by all of her employers! They treated her like one of the family members! It was a great part-time job for her...of course, she was in the North in the 70's...obviously, housekeepers were treated differently in the South.

My mom always had a cleaning lady and I used to think "what a complete waste of money". I don't mind cleaning (maybe I even like it!!) so I have always looked after my house and cottage myself. We are planning to move to a much larger house and I have decided that this is my year to finally hire someone. I have a very busy full time job and three active kids and since my mom recently passed away, I am now cleaning her house too! I am getting too old to spend so much of my down time cleaning. I realized how much time all my cleaning sucks up when my 13 year old got me a fridge magnet that says "another mum fights the dust". I took this as a sign that maybe there are more important things I could be doing with my very limited down time. My hubby of course still thinks it is a waste of money but I have gradually worn him down too. Now, all I have to do is learn to let it go,,, maybe it won't be as hard as I think!

I wish! Couldn't afford one, because my house would require one every day of the week.

Escolar, your statement regarding " housekeepers were treated differently in the South." is very thought provoking. Being Southern and having taken care of many domestic workers
while a practicing RN, I have to say most everyone of them loved and were loved and appreciated by the families they worked for. The movie, The Help, may have portrayed a different view, I don't know as I haven't seen the movie. As with everything, a blanket statement can give a wrong impression.

Long time in past, hubby and I were both working full time and I hired someone to come in every two weeks and clean the bathrooms and the kitchen. She did a fantastic job, I'd pin her money to the fridge in an envelope.... I got used to that really fast, come home and things would be clean. 3 of my 5 days a week's pay went to pay for her but it was so worth it.

Things changed, I left that job; no more affording her. Oh well. In turn (earlier in my life) I had done cleaning for others; so I knew what it was like too; and got her everything she preferred to use and the oven was always NICE.

Yes. Husband and I both have full time jobs with kids at home. My money is well spent to provide more free time at home.

When my husband and I both worked full time we had service once per week. It was so worth it! It was so nice to come home to a sparkling home and guaranteed clean sheets every week. It was less expensive than our dry cleaning bill. Since we're semi-retired my guilt won't allow a cleaning service. Plus, my husband is very helpful.

A woman I know complained her husband doesn't help AT ALL and was a big household argument. They are far more affluent than we ever were, so I suggested a once a week cleaning service and now they live happily ever after. : )

Like a lot of people that have replied to this, I, too, am rather anal about a clean house. Personally I've had ladies come in on occasion to clean when I just didn't have the time when my husband's illness got worse (he's passed away now). It helped to have them clean, but it was never as good as I would have done. I usually don't have clutter, so didn't have to 'clean' before they came to clean. I'd do it again if the need arose. At least the basics get done and if there is anything else that needs doing it's a snap.

A friend of my mother's and mine, in her early 70s, does cleaning for several families. (usually 7 days a week) She's been with these families for coming on 15 years and they love her. She goes above and beyond the call of duty, changing sheets, doing laundry, cleaning fridge (and even tossing old food), washes dishes, cleans out cupboards, lectures kids, cleans windows and washes walls. She treats each house and family as if they were her own.

In return she gets huge gifts at Christmas, vacations with the families, and lots of hand-me-downs that are practically new. Not just clothes but household things, too. This Christmas one family gave her tickets to see a concert. Not just one ticket for her, but for my mother AND me., so she wouldn't have to go alone.

This lady tells interesting stories about these families and how they live. One family has two kids that listen to her more than the parents. Another single man is so clean and tidy she almost feels it's a waste of her time and his money for her to go. Yet another family is so untidy and actually dirty it takes her half the day just to be able to reach surfaces to clean them. Then there is the husband and wife (he's 82 and she's 81). He is bound to a wheel chair and is very ill. She works full time (can you imagine at that age?) and leaves him at home alone all day, and some evenings, too. They have lots of money yet the wife will not hire a nurse or someone just to be with her husband to help him with simple t hings like go to the bathroom or get his insulin shots ready, or get him some lunch or water. Poor guy just sits there in his chair with what small snacks and glass of water the wife leaves in the morning. Apparently the house smells terrible, hit and miss bathroom visits, if you know what I mean. Now the man is in the hospital. Who knows what the outcome will be.

If I needed someone this is the lady I would choose. I'm not working now, so have no need. She's come over while I was cleaning and just pitches in. Like they say, it's not what you know, it's WHO you know :-)

Whoa... I've written a novel. Sorry. :-)

We had a housemaid and yard boy when we were overseas for 5 years.. It was great. Of course we couldn't afford it when we came back from overseas and it really spoiled the kids since they didn't really have any chores until we came back to the states. But for Christmas hubby hired his cousin to come and clean once a week. I love it. Hope I don't get laid off because then I think he will expect me to do it instead.

Oh..My 83 year old mother has a young woman come in and I'm appalled there is cobwebs on the curtains! I told her she needs to point out to "Dee Dee" on some items that needs attention. My mother is too "polite" to say anything. I try to tell Mom..you don't have to insult, just ask her to take care of the curtains first this time! Grrrr. I'd do it myself but she lives almost an hour away.

Hearing the chorus of "I can do it better myself" here reminds me of my late mother, who'd say the same thing (she was, in fact, obsessive compulsively insane about cleaning). That, plus, she felt odd having strangers go through her stuff. Then, as her health deteriorated, she relented. That first day, we all waited with bated breath for her to have her typical crazy lady fit. Cleaning ladies arrived at 9am. Anxiety built...we were waiting for the explosion. It was only a matter of time before they did something wrong. It didn't take long, at 10 am, the phone rang.

Me: Hello mom?

Her: this cleaning lady thing...this is NICE. I LIKE it. I'm in.

(I miss my absolutely insane, recently deceased mother.)

grobby, I'm sharing the viewpoint of domestic workers who cleaned houses in the 1960's -70's in Alabama. Montgomery, Birmingham...it was very 'different' when compared to Ohio in those days .Today, of course, everything has changed and there always are appreciative families who treat 'the help' very well...everywhere.

Love my maid...never seen anyone that loves cleaning so much.

Not currently but thinking of it in the future with our new home, once we are in and settled.

Years ago a friend of mine cleaned for me when she was in the business. I loved it because we could visit and I felt I was helping her. I knew I could trust her too, which means a lot. There were times when I would be at work and I knew that I could rely on her.

She didn't clean my whole apartment, just the bathroom, kitchen and living room. Having her dust and do the floors was a huge help.

I like the idea too because I tend to clutter and it makes me concious of not doing so. In other words, I declutter, then I have someone clean. A win-win situation. :)

I think that many people could benefit from spending some money on cleaning help. I was co-owner of a cleaning franchise in the past and many of our clients were living in some pretty bad conditions due to both parents working. No one wanted to clean after working all day. I was mystified that many didn't have their children doing some of the tasks. Teenagers lounging around while the maids cleaned seemed wrong to me. I am the housekeeper now since I am retired. A cleaning service every two weeks is about right for most families.

I am the housekeeper.

If I could afford it I would have one for sure.I work full time and i would love to have someone else do it instead of myself. Hubby is against it (beacuse he is not the one who cleans the house ) but I told him once I change my profession and when I receive my first commission I will hire cleaning lady.

@Marilyn Wilkie - When I was a kid, my friend's family had cleaners come in every two weeks and to keep my friend from just sitting around, they had it as her job to go around and tidy up before they came (moving things back to their proper homes, gathering up laundry, etc.) Then the weeks they didn't come, she had to vacuum some of the rooms. (I think hers and one or two others, but I can't remember.) That has always seemed reasonable to me - she wasn't working herself silly in addition to school work, but she got the idea of cleaning being a thing you do regularly, and they also avoided paying for cleaning time when the maids weren't actually CLEANING. (Because you can't vacuum a floor or clean a counter that has stuff all over it. So you have to move the things first.)

I have had housekeeping for about 10 years. I started with two (will remain un-named) companies that charged outrageous amounts, didn't do work they agreed to. Then I found a lovely lady I had for 6 years. She came on public transit once every other week. I moved to an area where there is no public transit so she couldn't come with me. Fortunately where I live now, four others in my building have a fabulous lady and she took me on as a client. She has a list of what I like to have done. She has been with me for 3 yrs, once every other week and is indispensable. In addition to "usual" chores she often does something extra; this could include pulling out the fridge or stove to clean under/behind, in the spring she removes window screens and cleans them. She even cleans up cat puke.

It is convenient to have a maid, but I don't like the thought of having someone going through my things... not to mention the fact that 90% of them out there get paid a pretty decent price for not doing that great of a job. It is like going to a carwash... almost never is it done as well or to the satisfaction if you were to do it yourself.

I have tried hiring a housekeeper.
This was when my husband & I were working too many hours each week. She had terrific references and was, as promised, wonderful the first three weeks.
After, I noticed, a few missed areas.
Then I couldn't find a few of our accessories?
On her last day, we came home to messy master bedroom linens and a broken wine glass under the bed.
Yuk, Yuk and Triple Yuk!
My Best Friend cleans (before) her housekeeper is scheduled. (What up with that?)

Mostly, I think, I just refuse to ask for help.
Apparently, I need more guilt.

Yes, but I stay home so really I am cleaning all the time. I vacuum every other day along with glass cleaning, dusting etc. Having little ones and on the go all the time, when I need a little break (once every 2 months). It gives me a little break and although not perfect I can get baseboards or other more jobs done.

We used to years ago, a "service." Every time someone new was out to the house. Then they started forgetting to do the laundry room or some other room. I didn't like the fact strangers were always in the house while I was gone working, so I quit the service. One time I couldn't find a ring and wondered where it went, but I couldn't be sure if they took it or not. It was gold and diamond. If they took it, they would have had to go into the master closet and dig for it. Never found it. After that I did my own cleaning.

I will never have one after seeing what my mother went through with various cleaning services. First off, they had "requirements" for the home owners so my mom was always cleaning like mad before they came. They started off cleaning well, but gradually she couldn't tell that the cleaners had even been there. They ruined her hardwood floors by spraying who knows what on them and broke an expensive clock. The final straw was when they started stealing food.

My parents worked a lot of hours and we had the same cleaning lady my entire life. I then used her and often cleaned along side. She was like family. She doesn't clean regularly anymore but when we leave out of town she stays and cleans and watches the dogs etc. The key it to find someone you trust. We may her to stay and for cleaning. It is a gift of time and peace!

I have a cleaning gal once a week. It is a gift to myself to free me for other things.i still do all the laundry, ironing cooking, and tons more

Oh my word! Imagine a hungry woman stealing some food while she should be scrubbing your toilets. Bless your heart! That's just awful!!!

Yes, you need to be careful. I gave my mother a diamond ring from a previous marriage (it looked more like a cocktail ring). My current husband didn't want me to have it. I asked mother to leave it to my daughter in her will. Her handyman stole it and never saw him again. It was about 8-10k down the tubes and my daughter lost her bequeath. Damn.

I don't have a cleaner, but have a great cleaner story...

I lost a pearl drop from an earring at work on the last day before I went on leave for 3 weeks. A colleague and I searched but couldn't find it. 3 weeks later, returning from leave I felt something small under my shoe. My pearl! Clearly whatever vacuuming they do is pretty sketchy, but this time I am grateful for it :-)

Could I do a better job than our housekeeper? No. Nor do I care to. Many years ago I decided that I had enough of spending my weekend doing the housework. We hired Melody to come in one morning a week. One of my joys in life is to come home from work one night a week to a beautifully clean house. There is still lots that can be done on the weekend as far as reorganizing, cooking, and other household tasks, but it is great to have the basics done. If you add up all the money that we have spent over the years it would be considered a poor financial decision, but if you add happiness and household harmony into the equation it is the right choice. It also helps our housekeeper who is working really hard to support her family here and extended family overseas.
A win win for all.