I clean house for a lady from church, she only pays me 8.00 hr. She told someone else now this lady wants me a

Question

and pays me the same. How do they not know what a housekeeper is worth? I have 3 children at home and I clean all the time. If I were paying someone to do a great job, it would be more than 8.00 an hour! What should I do? I need the money!

Answer 1

well sugar youre lucky you get so muc i have 4 children i also work as a cleaner and i get 5.60 phrand im happy so why be sad its a job it pays well

Answer 2

You need to charge by the job not by the hour. I'm assuming it takes at the most 4 hours to clean their house - at $8.00 an hour that's only $40.00. I used to clean houses for a living, if you do a good job and you are trustworthy, you can really make a lot of money. When I got a new client I would go over their house and do a walk through asking the homeowner what they wanted done, then I would give them a price for the entire job - I made sure that the price I charged was worth my time. I didn't charge by the hour I charged by the job. An average 2 story home, 2 - 3 bedroom, 1 bath would be charged $50.00. My cleaning included just the basics - dusting wood furniture, running sweeper on carpet, mopping tile and hardwood floors - it took me approx 2 - 3 hours to finish. I get my house cleaned - I have 4 bedrooms and 1 bath - all hardwood, there are 2 ladies, they dust all furniture and clean all the floors - including baseboards and they clean the bathroom and I pay them $75.00. I think anyone would expect to pay at least $50.00 for a basic house cleaning, anything extra should be charged extra. Remember that you are offering a valuable service - with so many working mom's this service is in high demand. You have 3 children at home, your time is valuable, and lets face it - cleaning peoples houses isn't exactly a glamorous job, make sure it is worth your time. You can either keep your 2 clients at $8.00 an hour and change the way you charge for any new clients - or (this is what I would do) explain nicely that you have to change the way you charge and it will have to be by the job and give them the new rate. If you are making less than $50.00 a job you aren't charging enough - basic cleaning of an average size home with 1 bath should be at least $50.00. No matter what you decide to do with your 2 existing clients you do need to make it clear to them that if they are going to recommend you to their friends the price will be per job and will be determined by you after an interview with the home owner. Cleaning houses is a hard job, make sure it's worth your time - there are tons of people out there that would be willing to pay good money to have a person they can trust clean their house for them.

Answer 3

I disagree with Jim. $8.00 doesn't even pay for gas. What about baby-sitter costs for your kids???!!!
First advice: Don't work for friends and/or family, since they assume that for being acquainted, we HAVE TO charge less, and you will always end up losing. Second, I live in the Boston area and no one cleans for less $15-$25/ hour, depending on the size of the house and chores. Better yet, charge for the whole fixed job (Agree upfront on what you will be doing every week, and charge for a fixed price), as opposed to charging for the hour.
Also, keep in mind that when you clean the house for the first time, it is usually very dirty, so you should tell your customer that you will be charging a little more for the first cleaning.
Flyers and newspaper adds are a great source for getting new cleaning jobs. Like in almost every new venture, you need to invest some money, in order to get some results later.
These are advices from an experienced housecleaner.
Good luck, and I hope this can help you.

Answer 4

Look up some maid service websites or call around your own town and get prices. It varies by locale quite a lot. My concern would be that with everything you do, what you will be paid for will become jumbled. Keep some records so there will be no confusion about what you are going to be paid for doing. Don't let her include house cleaning into baby sitting. It's OK to do things when you are baby sitting, especially cleaning up after the kids and yourself, but most baby sitters don't do much more than that. Watch out for yourself. If she starts missing paying you, you will have to stop and not let the money owed get too high. Seen too many TV court cases. I wish I could clean my entire house from top to bottom in 4 to 5 hours. And it's only large, not huge. Doing the windows would take that long. Of course, they don't have to be done very often. I've read that shiny surfaces (dusting, etc.) makes everything look better.

Answer 5

A housekeeper and a cleaning lady are different things. You have a business so speak to other cleaning ladies and ask what they charge. Then if you need to you can raise your rates. You might also charge for extras, like windows and walls, or ovens or any other extraordinary cleaning procedures like after parties.
Now that you know there is a market for your service in your area, put up signs in the supermarket to see if you can get more ladies, at higher prices if the area will bear it.

Answer 6

You should call around to maid services and find out what they are paying or at least the going rate. Since you are a self employed person you can decide really what you feel your services are worth. Just don't price yourself out of the market. If you want to do limited work for the new client ie laundry,or just bathrooms, you could also see if that is feasible.

Answer 7

I worked for a cleaning company that only paid their cleaners $8.50 to start. You didn't say where you live, but if $8.00 is not enough for you to live on, you should either ask for a raise or find another employer. Maybe she truly doesn't know what the going rate is for your occupattion. But I know that I wouldn't be able to live on that!

Answer 8

You should definitely check around and see what others are charging for the same work. My mother has been cleaning houses for quite a few years and definitely makes more than that with additional perks - one couple she cleans for has a house in Scottsdale where my parents vacation a few weeks every year.

Answer 9

I think many women would be glad to get $8 an hour to clean house. If that is unsuitable I would tell them that due to circumstances and expenses such as travel time etc that you have to charge more. If you are really good and reliable I'm sure they will oblige. However, if they are cheap they will find someone else. $8. an hour is now the minimum wage in Ontario maybe you should check that out in your area.

Answer 10

Tell them both that you cannot afford to continue doing your work at this price. They are just going to continue to tell people and you will gain more clients at a price that you can't afford. I live in Atlanta and the avg. price for a house keeper here is $25/hour and they usually stay for 3 hours in a home of average size. If this is your career then you will have to be able to stand up for yourself where money is concerned.
Good luck to you.

Answer 11

I am in the cleaning business and here is one of our secrets!
We buy this cleaning cloth off the internet. You have to buy in packages of 5 but they are only like $3 bucks a piece. I have ordered them and use them on everything, especially cleaning windows and clean mirrors. They are made out of tiny fibers. They are guaranteed not to scratch and all you do is rinse the cloth under water, wring it out and wipe ANY surface with no streaks or scratch. Use em over and over. I have not thrown one away yet!
I am sold on this ...I encourage you to try it out….hope this helps…Steve