To want a cleaner when I work part time

[Cleanqueennot]

I am currently on maternity leave and baby is now 6 months old. I am finding that even though I’m not working at the moment I am struggling to keep up with cleaning. Baby is very needy and we have a large 4 bedroom house. Just hoovering alone would take more than 45 mins (when I do it) and knackers me out so badly and baby doesn’t even nap for that long during the day. I am wondering how on earth I will manage when I’m back at work soon. I will be going back to work part time 3 days a week. So if I’m struggling now I’m off work I think I will struggle once I’m back to work.

Also, I used to work 5 days per week before I went on maternity but one reason I’m going part time is because I want to do stuff with my son on those two days. Our library doesn’t open weekends so I’d like to take him to library once a week and just do generally nice things together like go to the beach etc. not spend those 2 valuable days cleaning the house while he’s watching peppa pig all day! Weekends would also take the pressure off my husband and me, and we could spend that time as a family rather than taking shifts to clean the house.

AIBU to want a cleaner every week/fortnight? Money is tight at the moment on statutory mat pay but once I’m back to work we will be about £1000 better off each month than we are now. It’s a lot less than what I used to earn full time but I think still affordable? I probably wouldn’t want the cleaner in our master bedroom or the office/box room so it would be like cleaning a 2 bedroom house house really (well a large 2 bed house with 3 reception rooms!)

Never heard of roomba but it is the hoovering and cleaning the kitchen and bathroom properly that I would want. A bit of dusting too maybe.

Roomba = generic name for a robot vacuum and mop

Weve had a cleaner for 20odd years. In that time we’ve both worked full time, one of us has been full time and one part time, I’ve had maternity leave and now I’m not doing paid work at all.

But we’ve always had a weekly cleaner who does the whole house and some ironing.

Obviously we could manage without, but it makes a massive difference to me and to all of us. In that whole time, we’ve only had five cleaners. Our current cleaner is absolutely brilliant, I would be very sad to lose her.

It’s pretty immaterial what your mum or people on here think. If you want one and can afford it and your husband thinks it’s a brilliant use of money, go for it. What does he reckon? Is your household earning an extra £1000 a month once all childcare has been paid?

Its fine but be aware cleaners are around £15 an hour now.

Id be more worried about the fact that 45 mins pushing a hoover round is knackering you out so much. Most babies the noise of the hoover going sends them to sleep & keeps them asleep - try hoovering with the baby in a carrier!

Go for it, it's the best thing I ever done! My little girl was terrible as a baby she wouldn't sleep or settle if put down, I had to walk and pace hold her against my stomach all day and all night. She's now 2 and tbh I don't have a cleaner now I set my self targets of what I need to do house work wise! X

We are retired with a 21 year old at home, we have nothing to do and all day to do it, we have someone to clean and do the ironing and someone else to do the garden every two weeks, we have always had a cleaner and someone to do the ironing.

We tried once or twice down the years to manage all invariably fell to me, it doesn't now.

I think only you can decide whether the outlay is worth it in your position. You say all bills and food etc are covered, do you have enough to enjoy the free time you have? Looking back at when mine were small we could not afford it at all and we felt we had no time to ourselves after working full time, long commutes and children. We would have had the money if we didn't go on holiday to see DH's family every year but understandably that was a priority for both of us.

If we had it to do again and had the funds after all the expenses and saving to see DH's family I would definitely get a cleaner and oh my god the ironing. We would have been less tired and able to enjoy our free time with the kids more. A pp said how nice it is to come home to a clean house and I've heard that from others too. Think of that feeling compared to the feeling of walking in from work with a list of things to do and looking at a house that needs cleaning.

I’m not sure any cleaner would agree to 2 hrs a week in anything other than a 2 bed flat / dinky terrace to be honest. More like 3-4 for then to do it properly. Get her to do the master bedroom - it’s so nice having that all clean & tidy too.

Yes, the number of hours will be agreed together. We have a 4 bed house and they said it needed to be a min of 3 hours weekly or 4 hours fortnightly.

We get 3 hours a week and it costs £48. It felt like a lot at the start but we budget for it and both agreed we would rather cut back on some treats and not think about cleaning anymore,

Absolutely do it. I'm a SAHM and we have a cleaner!

Husband has been open to it in the past but I was working full time then. We haven’t discussed it since having the baby. I wouldn’t bring it up now as we are skint and I don’t think he can see past the here and now. When I’m back at work we will have £1600 disposable cash but that does need to cover food, travel, baby stuff etc. I don’t know if that’s leaving us a comfortable amount to live on?

We won’t have childcare costs as MIL will looking after baby during my working hours.

Well husbands salary covers only the bills, not food, travel or baby/house shopping. So I will be earning £1600 and that needs to cover food, Petrol anything else we need to buy. The money for the cleaner will need to come out of this.

Why not trial it and see if you are happier for it? How would you feel if with more cost of living increases you lives it hit had to cancel it? Would it have been better to have it while you could and enjoy this precious time or would you resent having to cancel more than not having had it in the first place?

Are your incomes likely to increase or expenses go down- childcare/ mortgage etc. You mentioned your mums comments, I think given my mums background and her personality she would have felt very uncomfortable with a cleaner and would have stressed herself out running about cleaning before she came! My DH is from another country and his parents, siblings and all extended family have cleaners (and more) and within their circles it's entirely normal. They would prefer having a cleaner than cutting that back on that and maybe others things to have for example an annual holiday.

It sounds like you're in a position where you'll have discretionary income, but of an amount where you'll need to be sure it works for you, if that makes sense. Like you'd be choosing between a cleaner or some other treat, you won't be just having everything you want. So that's a value judgement. Would you prefer the cleaner or more meals out, nicer holiday etc?

I don't have a cleaner but that seems a personal call to me, basically about what treat you want. There won't be a right answer in the abstract, only your right answer.

If I knew that we wouldn’t be able to afford it in the near future and have to cancel I would probably regret trialing it because I know I will love having the cleaning done. Husbands income is due to go up in April with a pay increase, not sure by how much yet though. He has it written into his contract that he will be earning a certain level by March 2024 so if his increase isn’t much this year, it will increase by about £4k next year.

Our mortgage has been fixed and I think the fixed term runs out either this year or next year so it may mean that mortgage will increase but it’s likely husbands salary increase should be able to cover any increase in mortgage.

You’ve hit the nail on the head! Thank you. The way you’ve put it has made me think of it differently.

I don’t think I would be willing not to have a holiday at all just to have a cleaner. I would still want us to have some trips as a family and eat out occasionally. I think I will wait until I am back at work earning said money and seeing how we feel then. If we feel like we are living relatively comfortably then we can look into it. If we feel like we are having to be very careful still, then maybe a cleaner isn’t affordable for us.

Just do it.

i work full time and do it. But when DS was younger both DH and I worked 4 days per week to spend a day with DS. And we had a cleaner then. Best money spent

I think @SirMingeALot has put it better than I did. I think in your shoes I would go for it even if you can only stretch to doing certain priority areas of your house.

Absolutely! We've always had a cleaner, even before kids. Means our weekends are spent doing things we enjoy and no squabbles. Is so nice to come home to a clean home after a rough day at work 😊

I had a cleaner previously- no childcare to worry about, just demanding jobs. She charged me £20 a week (2018, Belfast) and it was the best £20 a week I've ever spent. You are buying yourself time and it's a brilliant investment if you can afford it. Plus, the feeling of coming in from work every Friday to a sparkling house was amazing.

Sounds like a good plan.