Thursday, 31 July 2008
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Good Bye Cleaning Lady, Hello Home Savings
by Mama Hippo
Shortly after D's birth we broke down and hired a woman to come clean our house twice a month. It has been quite wonderful in many ways. It's been great to have someone else come in and vacuum away all the dustbunnies that threaten to take over the house after just a week or 2, and to clean the bathrooms, and just make everything look... nice. In other ways it's been a bit of a pain in the butt, though, like how for the 3+ hours that she comes I feel like a guest in my own house, having to work around where she's working, or the annoying aspect of how she tends to put things away and de-clutter, which is great, except that she puts things away in a different place every time and so on more than one occasion I have spent 20 minutes searching for something that she put away and that I have no idea where it went. She also kept spending more and more time cleaning, going from the agreed-upon 3 hours a visit and creeping up to 4+. Unfortunately since the only language we have in common is French, and neither of us is all that proficient in it, our communication abilities are also limited and thus it's hard to talk about these things, or at least I feel kinda intimidated to try. I did get her to use the Ecover cleaning solution I bought instead of her usual products, which has at least succeeded in our house not smelling like a chemical plant every time she came over.
(Yes, I realize I'm complaining about having someone come to my house and do my dirty work. What's that I was saying the other day about feeling like a yuppie?)Last week Papa Hippo and I were talking about some different things like when we may want to think about buying a house and what we'd have to do in order to do so. We have a bit of a dream of returning to Europe in 5-10 years for another stint, but in the longer-term we do love California and would like to settle there if we can. The limiting factor there being mainly housing, as in being able to afford one. We've been doing pretty well with putting away savings since we married, but we still have a ways to go as we're set on wanting to be able to put 20% down on any home we buy, and I don't know if you've done the calculations lately but 20% on a $500k+ home is, like, a whole crapload of cash.
So, looking at our expenses we tried to find some things to cut, and one of them is our cleaning lady. With the stretching of working hours she's gotten to be more expensive than we originally thought, and now that D has gotten a lot more manageable and I don't feel like a zombie anymore (at least most days) it feels like cleaning the house ourselves wouldn't be that big of a deal. Especially if we set aside particular times and dates to do so. Part of me figures we'll be more motivated to do this now, thanks to the combination of a) a soon-to-be-mobile baby who'll be getting into everything and my god do I need to be vacuuming the rugs every day??, and b) some days if you had the choice between cleaning toilets and dealing with a infant, you'd hand him off in a second and grab the scrub brush.
On a related note, I'm also considering switching over to using more natural cleaners like baking soda and vinegar. I love me some Method, and I probably would still want to use some of their products when we move back, but baking soda is also mighty cheap and green. I even came across an article online today about using baking soda and apple cider vinegar, instead of shampoo and conditioner, for washing your hair. I don't know how well it would actually work, but I'm reading a good bit of happy experiences with it and it's not something I'm opposed to trying. Funny how having a kid makes you think more about the products you use in your home, their impact both on you and your family directly and also on the environment, long-term.If you had to cut a monthly expense to save up for a future goal (i.e. buying a home), what would it be? Anyone have any tips on saving up for a down payment?
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Comments (18)
I always thought I would love a cleaning lady, but after reading your post I realize it's not all it's cracked up to be. We cut our cable plan to save money and realized that we are just as happy with basic cable as we are with premium, as long as we get to keep our DVR box, which we did.
Like Kim, we also cut cable, which for us means that we don't have it at all. We're content with checking out DVDs from the library.
If we needed to cut expenses more, we'd probably stop going out to eat.
I read about using toothpaste to clean, and I tried it. The faucets in the showers were really shining afterwards.
I don't know if you have ever heard of FlyLady? She has really good ideas on how to keep your house spiffy without it being a major hassle.
Good luck with saving for the house.
we'll be cutting out our landline, and just using cell phones after this weekend. the plan is to try it out for a bit, and see how it works out.
if we needed to, we'd cut out unnecessary snack foods, expensive cups of coffee, and eating out at restaurants... and maybe cable tv.
we are also trying to save money to buy a house in california (la area) but it's so hard! there are so many things i want to buy for the baby (preparation for).
even tho buying an slr digital camera is a luxury, i want it!!! and my husband is going a step further and wants a $2k camera. that's where i say hell no!
We cut our entertainment and eating out budget. We try to only see matinees or movies on base, which are cheaper. We also rent movies from the library, which is free. And we don't have cable, only our internet. We cook at home and eat leftovers and sandwiches often. If we do eat out, it's for a special occassion, or if we have coupons.
Since we live on base and it's convenient, I only leave base to go into town when I have a dr's appointment, and I make sure to run all my errands at that time - no little quick trips to Walmart unless I have other things to do. We fill up our gas tank once every 2 weeks by doing this.
With the baby coming, I was worried about having to buy stuff, but I have bought everything (crib, clothes and supplies, everything to decorate, basinet, baby swing, carseat, etc) on a budget of $400. A lot of things I have found at clean second-hand stores or I've had them given to me. Not much of it was bought new (carseat was new, of course). The baby isn't going to care if her room and decor all came from Babies R Us and if it matches, so why should I?
We do have our luxuries, like our hi-def tv, laptop, digital camera, new furniture and my husand's new bike, but it was all bought after saving up cash and not using credit. No interest!
I guess it would be nice to be a little more liberal with our money, but honestly, we're really not missing out on much.
We cut out the cable and I make extra money working online.
No cable, AC set at 82, I make my own baby food, we grocery shop on a budget, and eat out as little as possible. Hubby only makes $30K a year, so it's tough, but we survive!
(If we really had to save up for something I'm not sure what else we could cut...maybe I'd get rid of my cell phone or we'd cut out internet. Or I could sell my car.)
www.flylady.com I think someone already mentioned this site, but they also have budgeting pages and stuff... the people on there seem to like Dave Ramsey as far as budgeting methods and financial stuff. As far as saving money, I just recently went into money-hoarding mode because we are going on vacation in 2 weeks... you'd be amazed at how much stupid little stuff adds up! We also cut our eating out budget (cut it? I killed it and BURIED that sucker) and that's helped tremendously!
I use baking soda and vinegar for my hair, love it. I have wavy/curly hair so I keep some watered down conditioner to go on my scalp and ends of my hair occasionally though.
I also use baking soda and vinegar to clean a lot in my home. I also enjoyed making my own dishwasher and washing machine detergent, there's lots of recipes on the web.
I don't have any ideas to help with the house though because I live in Texas and the housing market is MUCH lower here, even in the big cities.
I'm a huge reader. A few months ago i sat down and figured out that we were spending almost 100 bucks a month just at Books a Million (and other book thrift shops) where i would buy books and consume them within the week. I've cut that down to about $20 a month now spent on books by just going to the library. I only buy the ones i really want to own and read over and over. =)
A couple of years ago we were in a really tight spot, so we sat back and wrote down every single thing we bought in a month. We were so surprised at how much the starbucks once a week, eating out for work lunches, etc added up. We also cut our cable, switched to one cell phone instead of two, and lowered our land line phone to the lowest option per month, which didn't include long distance, but we used the cell phone for that. I also started shopping at some discount grocery stores in our area (Aldi's, Amelia's, etc).
You know, you're not the first person to complain about the way their cleaning lady does things. I complain about Tim's "help" for the same reason...I've hunted for pots, pans, and cassarole dishes for way too long. Somethings MOST things fall into the "if you want it done right, do it yourself" catagory for me.
When we trimmed the fat from our budgeta few months ago, the first thing to go was eatting out and seeing movies in theatres. Both of which have been healthier for us, too. I've stayed away from shoes and Tim's been sticking with the older video games that he already has.
Don't buy a house until you're sure you need one.
After living in a house for six years, my mother, my step father, and I could barely manage to make the payments for each month and moved into an apartment. (There were several reasons for our financial downfall, but having to pay for the huge house payments definitely didn't help.) After we emptied out our house, we realized how much junk we had -- things we worthlessly spent out money on... including the house. We live in a nice apartment complex now and it fits much nicer than a house. I say keep saving until your child is old enough to need a yard for playing, but parks are a lot cheaper.
My boyfriend eventually wants to build a house for his and my future family, and I'm absolutely terrified of the idea because he said we'll have to build two before we're really going to be satisfied. O_O. But we will definitely be living in an apartment for a while or else I might kill him. My family hasn't been that well off financially lately, and it has made me really paranoid.
Unfortunately, I have no other really good advice.
Have you considered a CD bank account for saving money?
Savings accounts barely have any interest on them usually.
@lifesong__x@xanga - I wouldn't go for a CD, you barely make interest considering that you cannot touch your money for 6 months, a year, 2, or even 5 years.  Find a bank that offers a high-interest savings account, which honestly right now because the Feds have cut interest rates so much, aren't that great but I have one and it works out great and there's no off-limits policy to your money.
we are cutting out fast food and i believe we are trying to find a way to cut out more things.. I'm looking to save up enough for at least a down payment on a rental home by next may- december.. i love most of the green products and really want to go green very soon, make my own natural products.. I have quite a few websites with some good recipes on them
Well, my boyfriend and I live with my parents. Somehow, money got really tight for my family lately, and Brandon was out of work for three months. We've already had to cut out going out to eat (which I am having a hard time with), and there's a married couple we're friends with, but they live an hour away, so we can't see them unless we have to do something that direction for my parents.
Once we move out, we'll be giving up... almost everything. T.V., computer, heat?, soda, etc. NO unnecessary trips anywhere unless on foot, no more big, all-out meals (which I love to make and eat), ... the list is seemingly endless.We're going to be so broke because we both have semi-expensive medical issues.
Why am I complaining? I do have a good life. *slaps self across face*