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OMG Free apartment cleaning once a week. What to do?

What to do?

  • I agree, it would be a bit strange.

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    5

timmy

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OK so this is totally a third world problem. The apartment I've just moved into comes with free once-a-week cleaning. It's just that it's so alien to me. I feel it's weird I can have this young woman come and sweep, mop, change the bedding, do the dishes, etc.

I've lived here three weeks now and have only had her swap out the bedding each week so far (I still remade the bed myself). I don't have a day job so it's not like I don't have time to clean up after myself.

Advice?
 
Well I agree it would be a bit strange…
Does she get paid whether you use the cleaning services or not?
Where are you now Timmy? Have you moved to Siem Reap?
 
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Does she get paid whether you use the cleaning services or not?
Where are you now Timmy? Have you moved to Siem Reap?
Yes she gets paid regardless, so yes, my rent is in part covering her wages. And yes I'm in SR now. I have a pool, just in time for the hot season. :D
 
It can be a bit disruptive having a cleaner at times. I guess it depends on what you want her to do. I think the sweeping, mopping, bedding etc option is a good one...oh and bathrooms get her to do those...I HATE cleaning them.
 
I have always thought if I had a cleaner I would feel an internal pressure to clean before the cleaner came so she didn't judge me! lol So I think I would find having one weird too. Having said that though when I used to travel to Melbourne for the week I used to stay at a serviced apartment so there used to be someone who would come in every couple of days and change the towels and remove rubbish which I was ok with.
 
Hmm tricky. I would love to have a cleaner, but one of my reservations is feeling kind of self conscious about it so I guess I understand. If she gets paid regardless and your preference is not and you have the time and ability to do it yourself then i guess no?

I guess you can try the full clean and see how you feel? You might decide it’s not so weird and you love the result.
 
I guess you can try the full clean and see how you feel? You might decide it’s not so weird and you love the result.
The thing is I am lazy (but having said that, I also suffer from chronic pain). So by having her clean I feel like I'm admitting my laziness. I really hate sweeping and mopping though.
 
It can be a bit disruptive having a cleaner at times. I guess it depends on what you want her to do. I think the sweeping, mopping, bedding etc option is a good one...oh and bathrooms get her to do those...I HATE cleaning them.
It doesn't have to be every week, I can just ask her when I need it. So it's not like I have to be there at a certain time every week. Considering it. Either way they need to wash the bedding because they dry the sheets on a washing line on the vacant lot next door.
 
It doesn't have to be every week, I can just ask her when I need it. So it's not like I have to be there at a certain time every week. Considering it. Either way they need to wash the bedding because they dry the sheets on a washing line on the vacant lot next door.
I used to have a cleaner twice a week when my kids were little but after they grew up and left home I cut it back to once a week...because like @Isee said the pressure I felt to get the place right before she cleaned got too much for me. Haha!

I also have a cleaner at our beach house and she only comes to clean when I ask her to...that might be twice a week or once a fortnight or even once a month...just depends on who has been there and how much of a mess they make.
 
The thing is I am lazy (but having said that, I also suffer from chronic pain). So by having her clean I feel like I'm admitting my laziness. I really hate sweeping and mopping though.

Ah I see. Well I am also a lazy person but something I have learnt about laziness is that it is being unwilling to do something, but in most cases it’s actually being unable to complete the task for one reason or another. Mine is usually anxiety, yours could be chronic pain? So it’s not admitting laziness but just accepting help in a way that makes your life easier.

Everyone has tasks they hate doing, if you can outsource those then your productivity might improve in other areas. I also struggle with the “mental load” of some tasks and the more I put them off the more daunting they become, not sure if you relate, but for me it would help to eliminate aspects of that.
 
If you are ‘lazy’ and/or suffer chronic pain and it is part of the service I would maybe do something like once a fortnight. I am cleaning my mothers place at the moment and it is just dreadful. So I am coming around to the idea of outsourcing it.
 
If you are ‘lazy’ and/or suffer chronic pain and it is part of the service I would maybe do something like once a fortnight. I am cleaning my mothers place at the moment and it is just dreadful. So I am coming around to the idea of outsourcing it.
Before I moved in, I was like "woohoo, once a week cleaning!" and now I just feel weird about it, like I'm going to be sitting around surfing the web while she does stuff that I could actually be doing. But OTOH that's what she is paid to do. I need to work out a balance I feel comfortable with.
 
…mate… it’s like if you go into McDonalds and they made an offer to you that your hamburger is free today… you wouldn’t say… “I’ll have a Cheeseburger thanks”… you’d obviously order “a Big Mac with the lot thanks”… if it’s ’free’ get the lot… (just a little tip from Uncle Sticky;… make sure there’s no ‘incriminating evidence’ laying around of your nightlife… such as tissues laying around etc)… but yeah… let her do everything!…

…but in saying that… I have a package through my Disability Pension whereby we have a cleaner come in for 2 hours every fortnight… she does a brilliant job… her younger eyes see so much more than my sweet darling wife’s eyes… the place sparkles once she has been… Timmy you have probably been a hard worker all of your life… you deserve to just lay back and let somebody younger wear themselves out in your place… you owe it to yourelf… as my dad used to always say… “I love hard work… I can watch people do it all day!”… (god bless his departed soul)… now it’s your turn my friend… take it while you can… cheers.
 
OK so coming back to this, I had the cleaner sweep and mop while I worked surfed the internet on my laptop just out the front. Since I've been here I've been getting my change of bedding every 10 days, mainly because that was my regime when I was doing it myself. But I might change it to weekly and have her sweep/mop the same day each week. Dishes and bathroom I have no issue with. It gets done when it gets done lol.
 
…trust me Timmy my friend… getting over being ‘embarrassed’ or feeling ‘lazy’ about somebody doing the the work for you (which you are entitled to by the way) turns into complete appreciation for them to be doing it… you end up thinking “what the hell was I thinking?”… Mrs Sticky being somewhat a ‘clean freak’ used to actually clean up everything before the cleaner came in to clean up!…

…it took 2 or 3 times until she stopped doing it after having our daughter and myself having to tell her to ‘‘chillax… you’ve earned it’’… then when she stopped cleaning up before the cleaner arrived she used to keep apologising for the mess all of the time… well that took 2 or 3 times to get her to stop apologising… and we also had to stop my sweet darling wife from ‘hovering’ around the house while the cleaner was cleaning… it took those 3 stages of ‘retraining‘ Mrs Sticky but it worked thankfully… god bless my sweet darlings heart lol!…

…now she’s okay with it… (although she still ‘straightens things up’ before the cleaner arrives… I’ve caught her out a couple of times lol!… she’s that houseproud… she’s been like that all of her life)… but yeah… now it’s complete appreciation of somebody ‘helping to share the workload’ rather than ‘having a slave to do my work because I’m too lazy to do it‘ mindset… but now were all fine with it… (besides… you’re keeping one of the locals gainfully employed to feed her husband and 10 kids no doubt lol!)…enjoy the ease of your workload Timmy my friend… as we told Mrs Sticky… “chillax… you’ve earned it”… lol!… cheers.
 
The bed changing is the bit that creeps me out! (as Dr. Phil would say!)
I do my own cleaning, and always will, I enjoy doing it and having a nice, clean tidy home at the end of it. But, if it's a service that comes with where you are staying, I guess you may as well accept it. You'll get used to it once it becomes the norm.
Is it a regular block of units, or some kind of communal living apartment thing?
 
The bed changing is the bit that creeps me out! (as Dr. Phil would say!)
I do my own cleaning, and always will, I enjoy doing it and having a nice, clean tidy home at the end of it. But, if it's a service that comes with where you are staying, I guess you may as well accept it. You'll get used to it once it becomes the norm.
Is it a regular block of units, or some kind of communal living apartment thing?
It's a block of 17 units (studios, 1 & 2 bedrooms). They rent out the 2 vacant ones on Airbnb or FB but are trying to get tenants in.

The bedding change is useful because there's nowhere on site to hang/dry them. The owners actually dry the sheets on an empty lot next door. Why does it creep you out? I give the cleaner the bedding and then remake the bed myself.
 
It's a block of 17 units (studios, 1 & 2 bedrooms). They rent out the 2 vacant ones on Airbnb or FB but are trying to get tenants in.

The bedding change is useful because there's nowhere on site to hang/dry them. The owners actually dry the sheets on an empty lot next door. Why does it creep you out? I give the cleaner the bedding and then remake the bed myself.
It doesn't sound creepy now I understand the type of accommodation. I just know people who have cleaners but they change their own beds.
Just a slight over reaction on my behalf I'd say. I just had that expression in my head, and used it. It's not an expression I usually use. 🤭

Is it like inner city studio apartments?
 
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