General Chat Thread (No Debate)

[Savy]

£13.50 ph is about double the UK minimum wage, which seems high. I think cleaners are paid a little bit more than minimum wage though to reflect the travel time/costs they incur for only working 2-3 hour shifts.

I definitely want them to do everything apart from tidying up. I just think life is too short to spend it doing chores if you can help it, but £13.50 is about that point where I think I should do it myself. It also feels a bit dirty to pay somebody to do something you're perfectly capable of doing yourself too, but I'm sure I'd get over that soon enough!

That feels more to me like some fucked up view of power, as if you think you're better than the people cleaning but not comfortable with that. If you want someone to clean your house & are paying them to do so & they're ok with the job then there is no problem, especially if you're not a dick (which I can't see you being).

If your time is more valuable than the cost of paying a cleaner then it makes perfect sense and the cleaner benefits as a result.

AFAIK cleaners at schools/offices etc get paid between £7-8 an hour, I'd imagine people going into peoples homes get paid ever so slightly more. This is Manchester prices, dunno how it differs across the country.

EDIT: IDK if it's true, but I'd be more paranoid of getting my stuff stolen if the person coming into my home was only earning minimum wage.

You make sure you don't leave valuable shit lying around. If you make it easy for people it's going to happen, it's human nature.

[The Bean Counter]

Besides, if you can't pay people to do things you don't want to do, then what's the point of employment in the first place?
If you can't use your money to avoid unpleasant things and spend more time doing pleasant things, then what's the point of earning money?

That feels more to me like some fucked up view of power, as if you think you're better than the people cleaning but not comfortable with that. If you want someone to clean your house & are paying them to do so & they're ok with the job then there is no problem, especially if you're not a dick (which I can't see you being).

If your time is more valuable than the cost of paying a cleaner then it makes perfect sense and the cleaner benefits as a result.

Yeah, I've always notionally valued my time at ten quid per hour but think that's creeping up a bit now I have less time (London rat race). So I've always been good with Albanians cleaning my car for a tenner, as it takes me at least an hour, but that's why I'm stuck on the cleaner thing at current quoted prices.

The power thing is kind of the reverse. I'd be much more comfortable with it if I thought I was better than them, plus I've done cleaning jobs myself and know how shitty they can be. You're right though, if they're happy with the terms on offer then I should just get on with it. I'll rarely be in the house when they're there anyway.