Fed up with the mess, new baby on the way, so I say "Let's get a cleaner" and he says...

[violentviolet]

"I'll do it"

This is the man who barely lifts a finger to help with anything apart from maybe the dishwasher once or twice a week. The man who hangs his clothes on the floor, steps over mess, leaves toenail clippings on the arm of the sofa, teabags in the sink and nappies next to the bin.

You can understand why I might be feeling a tad skeptical regarding his offer. He has no intention of actually helping, it's just that he's so tight he squeaks when he walks!

Anyway, how do I go about getting a cleaner? I've called an agency for a quote, they haven't got back to me yet but I'm assuming that's the most expensive way to go about it. I can't do word of mouth, no-one I know has a cleaner. Any ideas? thanks

have you checked in local shop windows etc?

Haven't seen any advertised, no.

Try asking on your local forum .

i usually got my jobs from the local paper

or from noticeboard in Tesco etc

Gumtree.com Look in the jobs wanted or post cleaner needed and say how much you want to pay, we have had a few cleaners from there before.

We put an advert in our post office window and the phone never stopped ringing with folk desperate to clean our house. We live in the middle of nowhere too.

an agency will supposedly check refs and many have some sort of insurance, if the cleaner breaks something or loses the keys...they will also find a replacement if your cleaner is on hols etc..

Personally, I think it is worth paying a bit extra for that..

We had a cleaner a couple of years ago (can't afford it now) who was recommended by our landlord at the time, but she wasn't very good for a number of reasons and I was too scared to bin her as I didn't want to offend her. I would go for an agency cos then you can complain or stop the cleaning service without it feeling too personal. I have a few friends in London who used a company called Extrahand and found them very good, if you're in that area.