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Pay housekeeper to housesit, and how much?


kimanjome

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Experience on this, anyone? My housekeeper and her grown son will be house/petsitting for us.  She has done this before in this house (previous owner) and does it with her other clients. We have 2 cats.

I don't know what to pay her, or not. Our neighbors say they don't pay their housekeeper extra when she housesits their two dogs. They figure she is not having to pay utilities, etc. and she gets to eat all the food in the house, use the internet, washer and dryer, etc etc. Someone else said they pay their housekeeper 200p a day to stay and take care of the cats. My friends in SMA pay 100p daily for housekeeper to housesit with one dog.

Is there a going rate? When I ask my housekeeper she shrugs, says it is up to you, señora.

 

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We always paid for our housekeeper to stay in our home when we traveled. She had other jobs during the day, but stayed at our home and looked after the pets, plants and everything else, as needed. Back then, 2004-2014, we paid her $100 MN per day for such 'house-sitting', even though she said whe enjloyed her 'vacation' from her kids and grandchildren. On her workday, she was paid $200 pesos and paid her own bus fare from Ajijic to Chapala. She frequently brought family members to help her, as she was obviously training them to be able to support themselves.

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Our maid and her family have house/pet sit for us the last 13 years.  We pay $200 pesos per day plus transportation to come and go one time per day plus she also gets paid her additional wages on cleaning day.  They can eat whatever is in the kitchen, use our electricity, washer and dryer etc. 

I really can't imagine being so ... geez I can't even come up with a word clean enough for print .... as to feel I don't need to pay them because they are using our electricity instead of their own!  Or, for Pete's sake ... This caring for my pets and house is vacation???😣

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The housekeeper is not paying water or electricity when she house sit and she is also not staying with her own family neither can she take off when she wants to so she should be paid for that. The amount is between her and the owners of the pets.

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On 8/14/2018 at 11:17 AM, gimpychimp said:

Wow, your neighbor is a very special kind of cheapskate, trying to justify not paying her because in his mind she is having some kind of a holiday at his house. That's despicable, really. Most people pay 200p or 250p a day. 

Totally agree!  The work she does as housekeeper, on day(s) she comes, in totally separate from being housesitter and pet caregiver, plus she is taking time away from her own home where in all likelihood she would do necessary household chores for her family that she cannot do if she's at your house.

Pay her $200 to $250 a night like any other housesit person. And be grateful you have someone who (1)knows your pets and (2) is proven to be trustworthy!

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Well I have to disagree with Natasha because the housekeeper is not like any other housesit person.  We pay our ironer $100 pesos a day.  She does not stay in our house all day since she has life things to do and other jobs.  She is welcome to stay overnight should she want to but it is not required.  She makes the decision based on what she knows is going on in the village at the time.  If I paid a housesit person $250 a day I would expect them to stay around  most of every day and evening and definitely overnight.  

 

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I just finished interviewing house/pet sitters for a 10 day trip.  This is the first time I went outside our usual plans which is the ironing woman or renting our house for longer trips.  Each local person I talked to and there are plenty of them was $200-300 pesos a day.  Of 13 people it was almost evenly divided between those who actually stayed in the house and those who did not but "visited" 3 or 4 times a day.  Pretty much what I had been led to expect but I had been told to ask specifically about overnights.  Several of these people told me they don't take more than 3 assignments at a time.  So asking the right questions is important and state clearly what your definition of house/pet sitting is and what it isn't.

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On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2018 at 2:43 PM, lakeside7 said:

There's been a couple of references to ironies for 100 pesos  a day...is a correct number??

Usually when take your ironing to  womans house it is by the piece or the basket.  Items folded and layered in a small basket to even with the top is usually around $100 pesos.  You can't cram them in or you will get called on it.  You can usually return to pick them  up in 2 days and you supply the hangers.  For someone who comes to your house it will be more.  You can do it as an hourly fee about $60 pesos but then some iron fast and some iron very sloooooooowly.  It is important to iron your own things once to know how long it takes that you feel is reasonable for  your number of items.

If your housekeeper is doing the laundry and the ironer is coming in you will need to teach the housekeeper what should be ironed and what should not.  They won't necessary know that the rayon dress shouldn't be ironed.  Also things like nightgowns and mens undershirts will make it into the basket.

 

We pay the same amount every week regardless of the number of pieces.  $250 pesos for a weeks worth of clothing ironing.  Comprised of shorts/pants, golf shirts and tshirts and womens cotton or linen light over jackets.  Some weeks there is a lot  if we have been especially out and about that week and some weeks barely a small basket full but she gets the same amount of money regardless of how much there is to do and how long it takes her so it all works out.  She gets paid when we travel because she counts on that income every week so it really does work out fairly for both of us.

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