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House cleaners / cleaning maids - quite shocked to find out how many people are doing this.

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  • Aug 11th, 2022 3:11 pm
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Deal Fanatic
Jun 24, 2015
7852 posts
2620 upvotes
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House cleaners / cleaning maids - quite shocked to find out how many people are doing this.

I come from a European background where we were poor and my parents and us kids did all the cleaning in our house and I always thought it was normal for families to do their own cleaning.

The one time we had a holy communion party and had ordered a catering service to come to our house to provide the food, we were quite shocked when they offered to do the cleanup in our kitchen at the end of the nite, we really were shocked, we never expected it and it felt weird but they insisted cus they used some of our serving dishes and trays and promised to clean up the mess, they even washed all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen spotless.

I'm all grown up now and been living in my own home for many years. Throughout the years I've been doing the cleaning, vacuuming, mopping, etc. I always thought it was normal to do this, especially the chores like cutting grass, cleaning the windows etc but damn I must be living in another planet or another dimension???

After speaking to quite a few neighbours, it seems like OVER 50% of the people on my street hire people to do routine cleaning on their house? is this a new thing? I feel I am doing fairly decent in life but I never felt that I am making enough money to pay people to do things I can easily do myself.

We live in a middle class community, people are not rich in my neighbourhood, I always knew that rich wealthy people had cleaners and people to to take care of their house, but I never put myself into that category. is this a new thing? It feels kind of weird paying for someone to clean my house once a week, Who are the people doing this? do they have busy lives like maybe their surgeons or doctors or lawyers? and maybe they work a lot? but it cant be, I am hearing of people who have normal jobs who work at home depot, or canadian tire or loblaws who are hiring house cleaners too.

Do you guys have house cleaners? and if so, is it something you NEED or just have the money to spend and are too busy to clean your homes?
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94 replies
Deal Addict
Jan 5, 2003
4940 posts
4803 upvotes
Toronto
I would never do it myself and thankful that the rest of the family has been trained up to live with a certain amount of mess, but I know a lot of people that use house cleaners and they aren't rich.

It just comes to a point in a busy household where all the adults work during the day that they want evenings and weekends to be personal/family time, not chore time, so they can justify the cost. A couple of generations ago (and still the norm in some places) where only one spouse worked, then the other spouse had time during the day to clean.

Take a typical four person family nowadays: kids have swimming, ballet, soccer, hockey, etc. Adults want time for workouts, yoga, internet trolling, etc. There's not a lot of time left to vacuum and scrub bathtubs.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Oct 16, 2008
10502 posts
4749 upvotes
Maple
Because they are busy with careers, kids and some cookings. They rather spending time with family. These days are different, there are many services available, people has no time doing it themself.
...
Deal Addict
Sep 22, 2009
3272 posts
2152 upvotes
Markham
Welcome to 2021....a lot of people don't clean, cook, parent, fix house, fix vehicle, mow lawn, etc.
I know many home owners don't even have a tool box with the "basic" tools.
Why....maybe a combination laziness, lack of responsibility, and easy credit...life is easy.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jul 4, 2009
1656 posts
1055 upvotes
Windsor, ON area
We are not rich by any stretch of the imagination, but my husband and I hate cleaning. I went through intense chemo a few years ago and I tire very easily and have a lot of chemical sensitivities, so my husband has to do the majority of the cleaning.
He grew up upper middle class in a poor country where labour is extremely cheap so he's always had maids. A few years ago, we decided to get a cleaning lady come in every other week and it was awesome. We had her for 2 years then she moved out of the area so we had to go back to cleaning our house. It was great having the cleaning lady, but we decided that we rather save the money.

And I see nothing wrong with people having cleaners. We rarely go to restaurants, we never go to bars, we don't buy expensive clothes etc...people make choices on what they want to spend money on. If we didn't go to a restaurant, that would pay for one cleaning.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Jul 15, 2003
3536 posts
1007 upvotes
Ontario, Canada
I used to wonder too why people spent this money.
But then I became part of a household where both parents have full time careers and there are kids with multiple activities. Free/family time becomes a luxury and you have to make the decision if you're willing to pay for more of it.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Dec 4, 2009
8317 posts
4248 upvotes
When you pay someone to do things you can easily do yourself, you're not only "buying" a service, more importantly you're buying time to do the things that are more important to you.

Personally, I place value on my time more than anything else. When people reach the end of the line, they usually wish they had more time, not more money.
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Lucky
Deal Addict
Sep 22, 2009
3272 posts
2152 upvotes
Markham
I teach my kids to clean up all the time.....one toy at a time. Be responsible for your own mess at early age. Minimize the amount of mess.
Deal Expert
User avatar
Aug 9, 2004
22119 posts
779 upvotes
Newmarket
I’m old school, Eastern Europe values, my parents were cheap AF (even buying precut veggies seems stupid to me), so not into hiring ppl for things I can do myself, but know a lot of ppl that hire cleaners and “landscapers”… not sure why they’re called landscapers, they’re gardeners at best. At least half the people I know.

I wouldn’t have a problem with cleaners, say, every month or 2…but not sure I trust strangers in my home, and I’d feel like I have to tidy up so much before they come, I may as well finish the job lol

I actually enjoy cutting my lawn and take pride in its appearance. Nice to be outside in the warm weather. And we don’t get enough snow to justify a plow contract.
Last edited by stealth on Jul 25th, 2021 11:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
Deal Addict
Mar 27, 2015
1550 posts
674 upvotes
Thornhill, ON
Because people have different priorities now and would rather spend their days in front of the tv, playing video games and partaking in entertainment outside the home. In the past, your home came first, you did the chores and THEN you relaxed. There is very little pride of ownership anymore, just look at most lawns/gardens/properties over the GTA, they're neglected. As to cleaning, I'm really anal. No one can clean as good as I can, so I'd only hire out if I was physically unable to do so. Plus I don't like the idea of someone coming in and touching all my stuff.
Deal Addict
Dec 24, 2007
1981 posts
505 upvotes
Toronto
It all comes down to what’s more important in your/family life.

Cheers!
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RFD priceless!
Deal Fanatic
Nov 21, 2013
8128 posts
9304 upvotes
Montréal
GoodFellaz wrote: I come from a European background where we were poor and my parents and us kids did all the cleaning in our house and I always thought it was normal for families to do their own cleaning.

The one time we had a holy communion party and had ordered a catering service to come to our house to provide the food, we were quite shocked when they offered to do the cleanup in our kitchen at the end of the nite, we really were shocked, we never expected it and it felt weird but they insisted cus they used some of our serving dishes and trays and promised to clean up the mess, they even washed all the dishes and cleaned the kitchen spotless.

I'm all grown up now and been living in my own home for many years. Throughout the years I've been doing the cleaning, vacuuming, mopping, etc. I always thought it was normal to do this, especially the chores like cutting grass, cleaning the windows etc but damn I must be living in another planet or another dimension???

After speaking to quite a few neighbours, it seems like OVER 50% of the people on my street hire people to do routine cleaning on their house? is this a new thing? I feel I am doing fairly decent in life but I never felt that I am making enough money to pay people to do things I can easily do myself.

We live in a middle class community, people are not rich in my neighbourhood, I always knew that rich wealthy people had cleaners and people to to take care of their house, but I never put myself into that category. is this a new thing? It feels kind of weird paying for someone to clean my house once a week, Who are the people doing this? do they have busy lives like maybe their surgeons or doctors or lawyers? and maybe they work a lot? but it cant be, I am hearing of people who have normal jobs who work at home depot, or canadian tire or loblaws who are hiring house cleaners too.

Do you guys have house cleaners? and if so, is it something you NEED or just have the money to spend and are too busy to clean your homes?
I am really shocked to read that you did not cooked the food yourself... Are you kind of lazy? You don't know how to cook? You did not have time? Haaaa, maybe you did not have time to cook all this food for a big party... Maybe it's the same for your neighbours who hire a cleaning service or landscaping service... .Please don't judge your neighbours, you just don't know what situation they are in...
Deal Addict
Oct 19, 2020
1047 posts
673 upvotes
GTA
It's not a bad thing - provides employment.
For anyone doing real physical labor all day, can be a great relief.

A matter of personal preference.
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Deal Addict
Sep 22, 2009
3272 posts
2152 upvotes
Markham
Like I said in Post #5, the world is changing.
Many drivers can't change their flat tire or boost a battery. Everything can be solved by a quick call to CAA. They can say their life/time is too preciously to change tire / battery.
Deal Expert
Jan 15, 2006
20507 posts
21813 upvotes
Richmond Hill
BDSL wrote: Like I said in Post #5, the world is changing.
Many drivers can't change their flat tire or boost a battery. Everything can be solved by a quick call to CAA. They can say their life/time is too preciously to change tire / battery.
You must be fun at parties.
Deal Fanatic
User avatar
Dec 27, 2009
7829 posts
5345 upvotes
Victoria, BC
It is all about priorities. My biggest issue is that every cleaner I've hired has started out good enough but always turns to shit. I find this with office cleaners at work, and residential cleaners. When I did have a cleaner it was because I worked full time, had a couple part time side gigs, and was going to college 3 nights a week - all while trying to also raise a teen. I wanted a clean place, but I didn't want the stress of doing it all myself. That was 11 or 12 years ago, and even then I was paying $25/hr here in Victoria.

Would I hire one again? If money were no issue and I could actually find a GOOD one (trust me, they are few and far between and worth their weight in gold).
Sr. Member
Feb 27, 2007
628 posts
483 upvotes
EP32k2 wrote: You must be fun at parties.
He's not wrong though. Just look at the number of posts here on RFD that could have easily been solved with a quick Google search - people want easy.

I'm not judging, especially if they want to pay for the privilege. I certainly do for certain things.
Deal Addict
Sep 22, 2009
3272 posts
2152 upvotes
Markham
EP32k2 wrote: You must be fun at parties.
What is wrong being self sufficient? I rather spend 5-10 mins changing a flat tire or boosting a drained battery than waiting 30 mins (or more) for a CAA truck just to show up.
Deal Addict
Sep 22, 2009
3272 posts
2152 upvotes
Markham
If one is incapable (i.e. no time or physical limitation) of doing it, then sure.
But from what I have seen, that is usually not the case just like a lot of things. They rather play with their phones and keeping up with the jones.

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