Am I still entitled to call myself frugal?

Caterina

I have done something for myself at last, but the frugal person in me is very uneasy:

I have hired a cleaner! 2 to 3 hours per week to do the communal areas, kitchen bathroom, living room and hall/stairs, just enough to keep the place in a semi-hygienic state. At the moment, coming into my house is a serious health hazard!

I have just started a job in an office, 3 hours per day 5 days per week. On top of this, I have to finish all my doula contracts, that will take me until end July, and they usually last 4 hours, 2-3 days per week - in June and July I start work at 9 in the office, finish at 12, at 12:30 I start the postnatal work and I won't be home until at least 7 pm (every day!).

On top of all this, I also do a small admin job from home for a charity, between 4 and 10 hours per week depending on the need.

Family, shopping, cooking, laundry etc, shared between me and the family (70% me of course heheh)

When I look at it from a logical point of view, I see that getting temporary help was the only reasonable thing to do, as I am already feeling the strain of being always busy and at the end of the day I fall apart with tiredness.

Having asked my kids if they would like the money, they replied no, they already have their jobs (paper round and babysitting) and hate cleaning - so there....:rolleyes:

On the other hand, I feel that a cleaner is such an extravagance - I used to have a cleaner all the time when I was a highly paid full time IT person but the money I earned was really in another league at the time! And I was NOT into the moneysaving thing at all, then.

To top it all, I have agreed to pay £40 to someone to prepare my garden for planting - I have had NO time at all to do it and my husband has been very busy in his spare time decorating the bedroom and the corridor. In a way, I am not too worried about this one expense, as it is becoming too late soon to plant if we do not get going, and the garden will pay itself many times over in organic veg! Also, my husband would have done it in great leisure but instead he painted and decorated (worth at least £300, lots of stuff to rub, sand and several coats of paint etc).
I await the moneysavers' verdict with baited breath....:eek:

Caterina

Magentasue

I've considered a cleaner for those times I work full time (as opposed to my normal 25 hours a week) but live in semi filth instead!

Lucie_2

Don't blame you in the slightest! I would love a cleaner, but don't know anyone who will do it for me. I don't want a total stranger.
I regularly pay someone to do my ironing (£2 for 5 items) & am just about to ring ovenu to get them to come round & clean my oven (£40).
Looking at the state of the garden this morning, I am seriously contemplating getting someone into sort it out for me. Retired Dave next door is a keen gardener, so I might offer him a few quid to do a bit of weeding & tidying up.

You can afford it, so don't feel guilty. I would be worried if you were getting a cleaner & couldn't afford it.

System

Sometimes you just have to do things for you. Saying that, i would expect the kids to chip in more rather than hire someone and i would live in semi filth too.

elona

Caterina

Look at it this way - you are under pressure of time at present - stuff needs to be done - you cannot make yourself ill.

Think of it as an investment.

Moneysaving does not mean that you cannot spend money - just that you really think about it when you do.

If you had the time to re read Martins book then that is what he says.

I bet Martin would be the first to say you should go ahead under these circumstances.:A

System

elona wrote:

Caterina

Look at it this way - you are under pressure of time at present - stuff needs to be done - you cannot make yourself ill.

Think of it as an investment.

Moneysaving does not mean that you cannot spend money - just that you really think about it when you do.

If you had the time to re read Martins book then that is what he says.

I bet Martin would be the first to say you should go ahead under these circumstances.:A

Hear hear!!!

Sarahsaver

If you can do it - go for it! Time is money after all, and you have to make the most of BOTH.

misty

GO FOR IT. Do not feel bad in any way shape or form. I would love a cleaner as I loathe housework apart from ironing that I can just about tolerate. Presumably one of the reasons you can afford a cleaner is because you have been careful in other areas.

Spendless

Don't feel bad about it Caterina.

I've recently done something very similar.

I was struggling to keep on top of housework and it was eating into the weekends.

I've put my daughter in nursery for one afternoon a week so I can get everything done which then enables us to have more family time together.

mrsmab59

Caterina, I think you've been positive about getting your priorities in order. If you're having to spend your time off doing housework type things then that is going to make you dread your time at home (unless you were the kind of person that enjoys housework :eek: ). You've chosen to spend some of your hard earned money on a cleaner so you can enjoy your time off and I say good for you

halloweenqueen_2

You have helped someone else as well by employing your cleaner!