Getting rid of the live in maid

[bronzeallspice]

I may be among you in a couple short years so this MOST interesting.
I just assumed people ate "plata de dia" or bought fresh that day, every day.
So these must take like one of them lid on top type Horizontal Freezers dedicated just to Longer Term freezing ?, to keep all that stuff frozen solid . I know they are very polular in Europe.
Us stupid Americans , we open the freezer door and ALL the cold air drops out.

with power outages and all, NO way I would trust my vertical freezer down there , and then the costs..

Remember, you are talking to expats. But Dominicans do not buy and freeze (stock up in large
quantities) because of power outages in the barrios. So they buy mostly daily fresh vegetables, fruits and meats from the local market places and colmados.

 

[dv8]

many dominican people are dirt poor and there is at least one jobless female at home to do the cooking. so they eat "fresh", if you insist on using that word for their boring and monotonous fare. most gringos have different lifestyle. what you choose is up to you.

i cannot imagine mauricio, who has a regular job, wanting to waste time every day in order to do daily shopping for 6 people. this would be idiotic both time wise and money wise. buying in bulk is cheaper and going to the supermarket once a week costs less money too (petrol). in addition to this with a family this big time is valuable. why spend hours preparing food every day when you can vastly reduce that by using stuff you froze so you can have more time for kids or yourself?

 

[zoomzx11]

After a few bad experiences we only use my Dom wife's family members. Luckily she has a gigantic family and it has worked out great except for the clothes ruined by Chlorox. One downside is the entire family knows everything. Do not hire good looking maids.

 

[Mauricio]

I'm all for easy when we talk about preparing food. Freezing is an option. My wife is staying home though...she can cook as well, but we do shopping weekly so we're freezing ingredients and meat anyway. And yes, I prefer to spend time with the children than go to the supermarket. Especially while any diligence in DR takes twice what it could take if people were efficient.

What we most dislike from maids is the lying, manipulating, wasting and just the fact you always have someone in your house.

We had many maids in 5 years but this one has been the better we have had, she is with us for a year now.

The size of our family is an issue....we will definitely need someone to iron and clean well twice a week.

Still analyzing, all the opinions help and are appreciated!

 

[dv8]

i forgot to add that you should also use good, old fashioned child labour. how old your oldest kids? if over 8 then then can participate in housework: making beds, cleaning the floor and so on. even some of the food preparations. let them help as much as it is possible within their capacity. very good thing to teach them this as well since i know you are considering a possibility of going back to europe and they may decide to go back there as adults and maids are rare luxury in europe.

 

[keepcoming]

Seldom do I have our maid/cleaner cook for us. She is a good cook but Dominican style which can mean a bit too much salt, oil, etc.... I prepare meals (larger portions) and freeze some for meals later in the week. She does iron however I wash the clothes. She use to come 5 days but we recently changed it to 3 days. She was upset about losing days but a friend of ours "hired" her for 3 days so it worked out. I just felt we did not really need someone 5 days a week. Kids are older now so they are very capable of handling chores. And luckily they like to cook.

 

[chic]

imo., buying a dishwasher is (not sure about a good word here) but completely un necessary/waste of all things...i have d.w. in my properties. actually use one myself. but i still wash dishes by hand...and if i had more help i wouldnt need one at all...in d.r. to use one/buy one...1000$us +- plus special detergent...installation, you know the plumbing sucks,,,might not actually have the piping...counter space... electric bill......battery replacement...now gota get a gas generator a couple of tanks...more...lines /installation...wow complications add up...but dont know your bis. or background but might be better to invent a gadget that u can actually air dry the dishes after they are cleaned....you are living in the sub tropics and air is available free...provide jobs, chores, family time of doing things together... not just a trip to pizzaland..:smoke:

 

[dv8]

the dishwasher costs about 25,000 pesos. installation is roughly the same as for the washing machine: power, water in, water out.

 

[Criss Colon]

You guys who say the maid,..."Bothers You",...have not become "Dominicanized" enough!!!!!!
"What Maid"?????????????
I don't see anyone?????????????????

My maids could "TRY" and push my chair around to clean, and I wouldn't notice.
AND, I am not saying to "IGNORE" them, that would mean that you are acknowledging that they "EXIST" WHEN THEY DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wealthy Dominicans have developed "The STARE".
They only see what the want to see!!!!
AND, that don't include "Poor People'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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WE FREEZE MEAT & FISH, not much else.
I do the meat buying, and don't go to the store everyday, and if you think I would eat meat, much less fish, from a Colmado, you're NUTS!!!!!!!!!

 

[chic]

After a few bad experiences we only use my Dom wife's family members. Luckily she has a gigantic family and it has worked out great except for the clothes ruined by Chlorox. One downside is the entire family knows everything. Do not hire good looking maids.

i take exemption to that last line.....i only want good looking /// ive changed my life over them... my change in your code...is //// drum role.........dont hire heavy overweight maids.......da da dum....

 

[Mauricio]

You guys who say the maid,..."Bothers You",...have not become "Dominicanized" enough!!!!!!
"What Maid"?????????????
I don't see anyone?????????????????

My maids could "TRY" and push my chair around to clean, and I wouldn't notice.
AND, I am not saying to "IGNORE" them, that would mean that you are acknowledging that they "EXIST" WHEN THEY DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wealthy Dominicans have developed "The STARE".
They only see what the want to see!!!!
AND, that don't include "Poor People'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

WE FREEZE MEAT & FISH, not much else.
I do the meat buying, and don't go to the store everyday, and if you think I would eat meat, much less fish, from a Colmado, you're NUTS!!!!!!!!!

Our maid bothers my Dominican wife more than she bothers me!

 

[nyc dad]

Mauricio,dont do it!!! We are back in the States temporarily, its night and day,especially with 3 small boys!!! The ironing,
the washing,the cooking,it never ends!!!! The cleaning,the folding,AAAHHHHH!!!!!

 

[chic]

well in case anyone wants to know Y???? they cant clean under things(not your underthings) but under couches etc.... and im not pickin on overweights but i dont mind feeding someone....but all the cookies?????peanut butter center of jar gone ...no scraping glass....all the good sodas gone...(had them for special times)...and they actually do like to sit around.....could break your furniture....etc.......dont pick on me for this

 

[Koreano]

I want to add automatic vacuum cleaner to the list.

We currently have help for three days a week but without our two robots picking up everything daily on two floors we wouldn't be able to live shoeless. Just make sure you get irobot brand, it's quiter. Neato brand sound loud but it does work better. Make sure it runs during someone is at the house because our irobot version had gone through rains few times and they are showing their hates for water.

Another good option is the hoover floormate. Add vinegar and cheap essential oil from dollar store to water and it makes floor surgeon room level clean. You could probably eat off floor after cleaning..

 

[Harleysrock]

What do you people Iron? I think I have ironed 1 thing while living here!

Is this business stuff or what?

 

[Kipling333]

Giving employment and having service in return

I cannot believe what I have been reading in this thread..paying 400o to 6000 pesos a month to a maid , worrying about a few hours and not ironing clothes and not having someone live in at night is this the life of gringos in the north??
I have a maid who cleans my home in zona colonial and washes and irons my clothes that are all cotton or linen and I pay her 12,000 pesos with all the legal add ons. I also have a gardener who keeps the small garden and the windows clean and does small repairs and I pay him 12000 mensual with more add ons and I have a cook for my lunch and dinner who receives a little less. . When I have people in for dinner , my gardener is my camarero for just propinas. My arrangements at night are easy . I have an alarm that is close to my bed and connects to two neighbours. All are Dominicans .If I am ill one of my staff or one of their family will stay the night. All this comes to less than just less than US $1000 per month .. AS I am now getting old I envisage soon that I will need a driver part time or a good hire car at my disposal ... The entire joy of living here is in giving people employment and having them look after you .

 

[dv8]

i can't believe you are reaching into the pockets of the others - again. let it be. you pay what you want. i'm sure it's worth the smugness with which you can claim yourself to be a better human being than the rest of us. let others pay what they want. yawn.

 

[mofongoloco]

Ouch! I felt that.

 

[malko]

And remeber, the more you pay, the less you get........

( and one cannot compare salarys in SD with rest of country, neither compare campo and towns.....).

 

[Harleysrock]

I cannot believe what I have been reading in this thread..paying 400o to 6000 pesos a month to a maid , worrying about a few hours and not ironing clothes and not having someone live in at night is this the life of gringos in the north??
I have a maid who cleans my home in zona colonial and washes and irons my clothes that are all cotton or linen and I pay her 12,000 pesos with all the legal add ons. I also have a gardener who keeps the small garden and the windows clean and does small repairs and I pay him 12000 mensual with more add ons and I have a cook for my lunch and dinner who receives a little less. . When I have people in for dinner , my gardener is my camarero for just propinas. My arrangements at night are easy . I have an alarm that is close to my bed and connects to two neighbours. All are Dominicans .If I am ill one of my staff or one of their family will stay the night. All this comes to less than just less than US $1000 per month .. AS I am now getting old I envisage soon that I will need a driver part time or a good hire car at my disposal ... The entire joy of living here is in giving people employment and having them look after you .

Wow you are on a roll of how much better you are than all of us without decent character!

You want people to look after you, I DO NOT! Neither is wrong but your attitude... man get over yourself!