That is One thinga column with life tips.
I hate cleaning. I know most people don’t. How Cleaning—unless you’re one of those CleanTok influencers—but I really hate it. I’m not good at cleaning either. Nothing I’ve ever done has made anything as clean as other people can make it. (This wouldn’t be a big deal if my husband wasn’t one of the cleanest people I know, and the differences between our efforts are… obvious.)
I hate cleaning and I’m not very good at it, but I also can’t stand living in a place that isn’t clean. A messy house with toothpaste on the bathroom mirror, crumbs on the kitchen floor and streaks in the shower makes my head itch.
A few years ago, I started budgeting money for a cleaning service every month. I’m a little embarrassed to admit this because it seems hopelessly bourgeois – especially considering that my own grandmother worked as a cleaner for much of her adult life. But it has changed my quality of life in ways that are more than worth the money.
I pay someone $250 to do a monthly deep cleaning of our Los Angeles home. That’s no small amount for me as a journalist, but what I get in return is almost priceless. Knowing that once a month someone will come and polish the house helps me feel at peace despite all the pressures that are constantly fighting for space in my head. I recently became a mother, and the value of a cleaning service has only increased since then. It takes so many tasks off my hands. I don’t have to worry about scrubbing my bathtub or mopping the floors every week. Paying the money also helps me balance the domestic workload between me and my husband.
Having a cleaner come every few weeks is still the best solution for us: it’s not that a monthly house cleaning eliminates the need for tidying, but it does make that task a lot easier. When you start fresh with a spotless home, it’s easier to keep it that way. Even if you hate cleaning, like me, you don’t want to mess up a thoroughly cleaned home!
It’s worth giving up other luxuries (like manicures, which I hated sitting still for anyway, or a closet full of clothes I wouldn’t actually wear) to be able to afford it. It turns out that you may buy a little Peace.
