I’ve had the same housekeeper now for 6 years. She had set a rate of $160 to clean my house back when she started. I don’t tip her when she cleans. However I do give her clothes that we would have taken to Goodwill. She usually gives the clothes to her family back home. Plus I’ve given her returned electronics for her kids, shoes from Sears from way back, and a king sized bed recently. So that’s what I consider to be her “tip.”
Then when Covid started I’m not sure if she lost some clients or not but I felt it had been 4 years at that point so I just randomly gave her a raise and started paying her $165 starting in January 2021. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who took it upon themselves to give her a raise. She said some of her clients did that since she did say her new rates are higher these days. Then I bumped her up to $170 in July 2021. Then bumped her to $180 in January 2022 and now with the 10% inflation going on, moved her to $190. I told her I’ll bump her up to $200 a month in January.
So my plan is to just bump her up close to inflation rate every 6 months or so. She told me 3 other clients have done the same. One client asked, “what else are you going to do extra?” I rolled my eyes and just said there are just that type of people out there.
Anyway with the way inflation is going, if you have a housekeeper or a babysitter or anyone that has been working with you for a while – consider paying them more. Just because they don’t ask doesn’t mean they don’t deserve it.
I cleaned houses for a living. One client that I cleaned for more than three years ( weekly ) and was never once given a raise. Holiday gifts would consist of re-gifted cologne or if I was lucky, new socks. When I first started cleaning this particular house, it was empty with just the husband and wife. Then, baby, baby, dog, and cat. That’s alot of hair ! Still no increase. After three years, I simply told the wife that I would be no longer available. The last day that I was supposed to clean, I was so downhearted that she thought so little of me, I did not show up on that last day. Do the wealthy people enjoy seeing the downtrodden suffer ?
Sandy, thanks for your comment, but yes it’s unfortunate that most “rich” people are very stingy with their money. They are the worst tippers and usually treat people rudely. When I worked as a server at a buffet in college, I had a church group of like 15 Americans come in. NO TIP WHATSOEVER. Later that night, this Hispanic family of 4 came in and tipped me $10, which was way more than the usual $2-$5 that people tipped. When I read Twitter or Tiktok on Gofundme links, it’s usually the ones who don’t have that much who give what they can.
You could adjust yearly based on the Social Security Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) https://www.ssa.gov/cola/
Great post and have done the same! But how often do you have your home cleaned?
Once a month
Who inhabited Vinh’s body to write this post
I don’t know why you guys think I’m stingy or not fair.
I agree with your post. But maybe stingy comes from tipping in clothes / electronics… That’s just a gift, not a tip. Tips aren’t necessary when you have an agreed upon price with someone you employ directly for a define.
Well, if that’s the case, I don’t need to tip OR gift her because we had an agreed upon price.
lol