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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask if money gets tight will you cancel your cleaner??

216 replies

Tootsey11 · 09/03/2022 13:09

I am a cleaner, and with prices of everything rising, I'm wondering if or when the cancellations will start coming.

Will you prioritise a clean house and cut back on other things?

At the moment I am not short of work, but may need to increase the hourly rate for my furtherest away clients. I'm holding back as I'm worried about pricing myself out. I charge between £10 and £11/hour. There are people in my area advertising cleaning for £8/£9 an hour.

If you have a cleaner, will you keep them on or needs must and get rid

OP posts:
Libertybear80 · 09/03/2022 17:03

I'm not planning too. I've cancelled other things.

readyshreddiescook · 09/03/2022 17:08

My husband wants to give it up now in preparation but I said that it would be the last expense to be sacrificed as it'll just be me that will end up doing the cleaning - hence getting a cleaner in the first place!

Malteser71 · 09/03/2022 17:12

I’d give mine a pay rise

Telebonn · 09/03/2022 17:17

@Malteser71

I’d give mine a pay rise
If you were struggling with money?
RachelGreeneGreep · 09/03/2022 17:19

@readyshreddiescook

My husband wants to give it up now in preparation but I said that it would be the last expense to be sacrificed as it'll just be me that will end up doing the cleaning - hence getting a cleaner in the first place!
A very good point, imo.
Gemmathecat · 09/03/2022 17:19

Don’t think you need to worry. May be a recession but either way people need to bring the money in, and these busy working people just do not have the time to clean to a great standard as your own.

nokidshere · 09/03/2022 17:20

No! I'd eat beans on toast every day before getting rid of my cleaner. She's worth her weight in gold to me.

AlexandraPeppernose · 09/03/2022 17:22

It would be the last thing I give up.Having a cleaner stops so much household tension.

NorthFaceofthelaundrypile · 09/03/2022 17:22

I will keep my cleaner for as long as I can.
I can afford the luxury, more than she can afford to lose clients.
She’s cleaned for me for almost ten years. Is hard working, honest and reliable. It would put her in a horrible position to be losing clients.

nokidshere · 09/03/2022 17:22

I’m just amazed at how many people have good enough incomes to even afford a cleaner in the first place, I feel so poor!

My cleaner costs 20 quid a week. (1.5-2hrs). I don't have tons of money, I would just rather go without other things in order to have the cleaner.

Woollystockings · 09/03/2022 17:23

I’m quite surprised so many people have cleaners. I wonder what the proportion is in the U.K. I’ve never had one. We both work full time and have DC. I don’t know anyone who has had one, really. Apart from short term , after an operation or something.

Nogoodusername · 09/03/2022 17:31

No, would be one of the very last things I would cancel. Gym membership, takeaways, beauty treatments, hair cuts and colour would go long before my cleaner

Jellycatspyjamas · 09/03/2022 17:34

Nope, my cleaner is worth her weight in gold, there are many other things I’d cut back on first.

JustAnotherBoringUsername · 09/03/2022 17:34

Yes just did it actually

caringcarer · 09/03/2022 17:43

I have cleaner twice a week because I have a bad back and can't really stand long to do it myself. I would not like to lose her. As it is DH does a lot of tidying and some cleaning too. He works full time. I suppose if I had to I would cut back to 1 day but would increase time a bit on the one day. I hope it won't come to that.

Hillary17 · 09/03/2022 17:54

No. For me it’s not even a luxury - I don’t have the time to do it and my cleaner does an amazing job. It would take poverty for me to cancel her.

peboh · 09/03/2022 17:58

I don't have a cleaner, however I think it depends on your client base.
DH's parents have a cleaner once a week, and unfortunately that would be the first thing they'd cut costs on, as it's a job they both know they're capable of doing themselves if necessary. Whereas DH's grandparent has a cleaner twice a week, and it would be only be the worst case scenario that she'd get rid of the cleaner. She cannot really do much herself, and would struggle to keep her house clean without. So it's really swings and roundabouts, some clients will absolutely cut cleaners first, others would keep on for as long as humanly possible.

ukborn · 09/03/2022 18:04

Yes I'd probably consider reducing her visits to every other week, but around here it's £15/hour.
I don't have a cleaner currently as I've been renovating but will be getting one soon - but might do every other week to begin with see how it goes.

MsDataPotata · 09/03/2022 18:10

I won't cancel my helper. No way. I work 50hr weeks, intense job, lone parent of teenagers & like my social life. The teens are great; do own laundry, surface clean, pick up after themselves, care for the pets, do the shopping, gardening etc but my cleaner organises things, directs the teens, meal plans, does the cleaning that's beyond surfaces & literally keeps the home functioning. I'd be knackered, have no life other than work & my home would just be a house without her.

Loyaultemelie · 09/03/2022 18:12

No we have skipped haircuts or any luxuries and I have done without buying food for myself (not DH or DC) to keep my cleaner. I'm disabled and unwell so do need help but my cleaner has become a genuine friend, she has worked extra hours here for nothing but some food (we are veg farm) and takes my DC for walks and spends time with them like an aunt. She is sending all her money to her family on the border with Ukraine and her brother, OH and Dad may have to go over to fight so I will do anything to keep paying her as long as possible.

TheMagpie · 09/03/2022 18:20

I wish I could still afford a cleaner - I'm disabled and sleep 16 hours a day so my home does get messy very quickly. Unfortunately, on ESA and PIP + rising prices I just can't afford it.

Original poster
Tootsey11 · 09/03/2022 18:45

My client base are mainly young professional couples with and without kids. A couple of older clients as well.

OP posts:
BellaVita · 09/03/2022 18:54

Nope, definitely will not be cancelling her. I would rather cut back on something else.

I am in Yorkshire and pay £13 per hour.

TheSmallestGiraffe · 10/03/2022 01:27

@Tootsey11

I am a cleaner, and with prices of everything rising, I'm wondering if or when the cancellations will start coming.

Will you prioritise a clean house and cut back on other things?

At the moment I am not short of work, but may need to increase the hourly rate for my furtherest away clients. I'm holding back as I'm worried about pricing myself out. I charge between £10 and £11/hour. There are people in my area advertising cleaning for £8/£9 an hour.

If you have a cleaner, will you keep them on or needs must and get rid

I won't. But that's mainly because I have health problems so what my cleaner does is essential from my perspective.

Even if I wasn't ill though, it wouldn't be the first "non-essential" I'd cut. Because provided you earn more per hour than you pay your cleaner, you are effectively buying free/ family time that you don't have to spend doing those jobs. Which is worth a lot to me.

Obviously if it came to a contest of food or heating or mortgage versus cleaning, that is a different matter. But many people do very much value what you do and what cut down other things before letting their cleaner go. Especially of that cleaner uses the time well and does a good job.

GiraffesInScarfs · 10/03/2022 02:10

That part about doing a good job is really important! So many cleaners do at first and then... it gets sloppy, or they often don't turn up. Despite being paid well over market rate! I've always said to mine if it takes longer that's fine, I'll pay, but I want it done properly. Sooooo many times they don't, when they've been great initially. I'd say the best way to keep clients is: a) be reliable; and b) be as thorough as you would on the first day on the job.