We Stopped Using Our Cleaning Service
Since I had my daughter, we have had a cleaning service. Both my husband and I have full-time jobs outside the home. We decided that cleaning was not something we wanted to focus on during our free time together. Paying for a cleaning service was an expense we were willing to incur. Recently, we stopped using our cleaning service. Here’s why and what happened.
Priorities
We had always prioritized family time on the weekends. Spending hours cleaning was not on our to-do list. However, we also realized, we started to slack on our health and fitness. We tried many at home solutions but nothing seemed to really work. It was time to join a gym and possibility utilize the help of a physical trainer. But, we were having trouble justifying the cost.
Our cleaning service had commented regularly that our house was always easy to clean. They came every other week and managed to clean the entire house in an hour and a half. We started to think that maybe this was a cost we could cut. We realized when we would clean in the past, we would let little things build up and then cleaning would take us half the day. Now, we need to think like a profitable cleaning service. We need to have a schedule and prioritize.
As neat freaks, we knew we likely could not clean the whole house in just an hour and a half. It’s like “When You Give A Mouse a Cookie” with us when it comes to cleaning our house. If you need clean the kitchen… you’ll need to sanitize the counters. If you need to sanitize the counters… you’ll need to move stuff around. If you need to move stuff around… you’ll notice better placement for item on the counter. Etc. Etc. Etc.
So, back to prioritizing… we decided each week we would tackle one floor of the house (we only have two floors). By tackling the items together, we kept each other on track. We didn’t waste a whole day and stayed focused on the necessities.
Benefits
By taking the time to clean ourselves, we helped our overall fitness goal. While not a ton of exercise, it keeps us moving during a time we would usually be sedentary. It helped that it also fell on a recovery day after the gym workout, so it helped us work out those sore muscles.
Cleaning the house ourselves also teaches our kids. I didn’t particularly like that my daughter only thought that we had to clean up around the house when the “cleaning people were coming.” The kids actually don’t mind cleaning so it has become a family event. They straighten up their toys and help dust. Hopefully they always find cleaning enjoying.
Overall, we are benefiting on a much bigger picture. We are on the road to a healthier, fuller lifestyle. We are being more intentional with our actions and our time. We had the ease of a cleaning service, but know that we can sacrifice it for the greater good. That is what happened when we stopped using our cleaning service.
Love it? Share it!:
