ramot Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 We have 3 cleaners for 1 hour for $80 once a fortnight. As I am a little old grey haired granny it's one of my life's pleasures, not having to mop miles of floor tiles. Well feels like miles at my age!!!! and having just had a house full for the last 3 weeks, as our middle one got married and we had UK family here + others to stay, the cleaners came in more often and were worth their weight in gold, we could all just enjoy the occasion. We also have some one to mow the grass. honestly it's up to all of us how we spend our money, not sure many in this country will have live in staff, which I think the poster was also mentioning, as the cost with minimum wage would make it very expensive, but having been an expat it was the norm for most of us, but when we moved here we much preferred having the house to ourselves. PS I have plenty more of life's pleasures but don't need to include them!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyHeart Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 It actually is liberating to an obsessive person to have a cleaner. When I knew mine was coming on a Friday I wouldn't run around after work with the Hoover or cleaning the sinks...gave me time for other stuff. I like the smoking comparison. Your whole house sparkling for the cost of 2 packs of cigs! What you see fit to spend YOUR money on is YOUR perogative. If its worth it to you that's all that matters! It's like buying a house, you'll pay what's it worth...to you. It's a very subjective thing. $50 bottles of wine are not 'worth it' to me nor are costly clothing items. Target does me....but I still enjoyed my cleaner and I'm definitely not middle class. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johndoe Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 $50 bottles of wine are not 'worth it' to me nor are costly clothing items. Target does me.... Snob! What's wrong with Big W? :tongue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victoriagal Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 We have a live in 'Demi-pair', Demi as in part time. He is a Korean student on a WHV trying to improve his English. In exchange for bed and board he has to do four hours work a day. He gets our boy off to school, does housework, washing and ironing and is back for when school is finished. He also does some part-time work evenings/weekends at a restaurant for extra cash. As we leave the house at 5.30am and don't get back in till 5pm it's a huge help to us. The agency is often looking for host families especially for the lads as some families prefer the girls. The arrangement is normally for 12 weeks and works in with them attending a college to learn English but our guy chose to stay on for longer. He has his own room, a study and his own bathroom, so for him better than sharing a room with two others which is what is friend does. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 We have a live in 'Demi-pair', Demi as in part time. He is a Korean student on a WHV trying to improve his English. In exchange for bed and board he has to do four hours work a day. He gets our boy off to school, does housework, washing and ironing and is back for when school is finished. He also does some part-time work evenings/weekends at a restaurant for extra cash. As we leave the house at 5.30am and don't get back in till 5pm it's a huge help to us. The agency is often looking for host families especially for the lads as some families prefer the girls. The arrangement is normally for 12 weeks and works in with them attending a college to learn English but our guy chose to stay on for longer. He has his own room, a study and his own bathroom, so for him better than sharing a room with two others which is what is friend does. Hope he doesn't exceed his 20 hours a week as an international student if he is working part time as well? Only mentioning it as something to be aware of. sounds a good solution if it works for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Hope he doesn't exceed his 20 hours a week as an international student if he is working part time as well? Only mentioning it as something to be aware of. sounds a good solution if it works for you. They are not paying him. He receives bed and board in exchange for help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 They are not paying him. He receives bed and board in exchange for help. Yes totally my mistake, I should read and concentrate better, I was posting out of concern and did edit my post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 And they said he was on a whv not a student visa. So six month time limit applies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 And they said he was on a whv not a student visa. So six month time limit applies. Not really, because he is not being paid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Not really, because he is not being paid. Yep, even the au pair websites list that if on a whv they can only work six months. They ARE being paid, just not in money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 Not really, because he is not being paid. Even unpaid volunteer work is considered work. Just because no cash is being exchanged, doesn't mean it's not work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest littlesarah Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 I don't believe cleaners are 'common' in the uk or oz. I didn't know one person in the uk who had a cleaner. I have one come once a fortnight here, and I only know one other person who does too. I think it depends on who you mix with - in the UK a good number of my friends and workmates had domestic help of one sort or another; here none of my friends have a nanny, but of those that work a good proportion have a cleaner. But I think that the fact I work in an environment in which people tend to work long hours and can't leave until the job is finished means that most are reluctant to spend time off cleaning. I'd have a cleaner if our house wasn't a renovation project - as it is the bathroom and kitchen get a good clean and the rest of the house gets done periodically. But I figure we're so busy that most of the time the only people that see our place is us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxlornaxx Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 After reading this I told my husband I wanted us to get a cleaner...he looked at me in disgust and said "a what..a cleaner!! sometimes I think we live in two different worlds!" Lol then without me even telling him where I got the idea he said "maybe if you didnt sit on that bloody pomsinoz all day you would have time to do your own cleaning".. ha theirs a mancunian in australias point of view on it..he must have thought I was having a go at him though coz I came home later to him doing the hoovering I would still like one though but i would feel a bit wrong..I sometimes think if I lost my arms or legs one day i would regret not using them to my fullest when I had the chance Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audre Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 question, as i am genuinely curious: can one do domestic helping (cleaning, babysitting etc) without getting paid? room and board are provided but still this is considered unpaid work, free labour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted November 10, 2013 Share Posted November 10, 2013 question, as i am genuinely curious: can one do domestic helping (cleaning, babysitting etc) without getting paid? room and board are provided but still this is considered unpaid work, free labour? Yes you can. There is a very long history of demi pair work, especially in Europe and especially with students who are doing language courses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keily Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 speaking from the other side of the coin ... I was a cleaner when I first came out to oz ....started of doin vacate rentals and then moved onto private cleaning / ironing ...and believe me I could have had enough work to start my own company ...u would be surprised just how many people out there want them .... had to give it up though as mopping floors is a killer to the back :sad: mrs keily Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolac34 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I LOVE having a cleaner, coming home to a clean house (with all the ironing done) on a Tuesday makes me so happy! In my mind it's $50 a week well spent and I wouldn't have it any other way. There's no way we'd clean it as well as she does, before we had a cleaner the floors would be lucky if they got mopped once every couple of months - now it's once a week. It really does depend what your priorities are, mine are to not do any cleaning or ironing on a weekend. And in terms of knowing people who have cleaners.... can't think of any in the UK and we kept it quiet there, our friends would have been horrified - in fact I'm sure they would be now, thinking we were 'splashing the cash', so maybe there were are people out there who also keep quiet!! Over here I think it's more common, a couple of people at work have a cleaner. My parents are due to visit in a couple of weeks time, I had to tell my mum we had a cleaner (as she's going to notice...) and she couldn't believe it - said she would do our cleaning for us whilst she was staying! Haha, had to tell her I wasn't sacking the cleaner just so she could do it for a few weeks, she'd have to sit on her hands! I'd love to get a gardener too..... but they all seem expensive and just want to mow the lawn. I can mow the lawn, don't mind doing that, it's trimming the hedges, doing some weeding, boardering the grass and keeping the flower beds pretty I want doing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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