Having a professional house cleaning service feels like a luxury, and in many ways, it is.  But for families with working parents and young children, it can also save money (and sanity) in the long run.

Lindsay Roberts discusses this in her parenting blog for The Washington Post.  She and many of her friends were reluctant to hire a cleaning service. In an effort to save money, they tried to keep up with their cleaning chores themselves.  However, despite her best efforts, Lindsay said, she quickly became frustrated.

This experience probably sounds familiar for many people. We feel like we should be able to keep our own home clean and outsourcing this job is something to feel guilty about.  But having a cleaning service can be a necessity for many busy families.

Cleaning Service and Opportunity Cost

Eventually, Lindsay started to think about her problem in microeconomics terms – the concept of opportunity cost.  You take on a task yourself hoping to save money (rather than hiring someone else to do it), only to lose more money in the long term because that task cuts into your actual working hours.

You can put this into an actual equation. Women spend an average of 2 hours and 15 minutes per day on household chores. Men spend an average of 1 hour and 25 minutes per day on household chores. Even if that is not how it looks in your household, you could say that on average, two adults living together would spend about 25 hours and 40 minutes of their week on household chores. That is roughly an entire day each week!

A part of opportunity cost is actually calculating the value of your time. If you earn $30 an hour at your job and you spend 14 hours a week cleaning your home, that is $420 a week worth of your time you are spending. If you work from home, this can mean you lose literal working hours to cleaning the house. Even if you work in an office and clean in your off-time, this can cut into your time to rest and recharge, which can still impact your productivity at work.  

The upfront cost of a cleaning service is offset by the amount you save NOT cleaning.  You can spend more time on a project for work, and you’ll be more motivated and engaged while you’re at work, thereby producing a better product.

Other Ways A Cleaning Service Saves Money

Most cleaning services come prepared for the job. They will bring their own cleaning product and cleaning equipment. Imagine how much you’d save if you didn’t have to buy cleaning products once a month; instead, you buy them once every few months (or even longer) because you’re only using your cleaning products to spot clean in between professional cleanings.

Your cleaning equipment will last longer as well. If you’re not running your vacuum every day, the filters will last longer, and the equipment itself will have a longer lifespan. Your mops won’t need to be changed out as much. You’ll buy less microfiber towels to clean with.

Your home will also benefit from a cleaning service. Your appliances, furniture, and flooring will all look better and last longer. Regular cleaning keeps your home from building up dust and dirt. Once it’s made a significant accumulation, it gets harder and harder to get that dirt off. It can damage paint and finish and fabric. If you get your home cleaned by professionals, they will clean everywhere, every time, leaving your home looking better and all of your interior lasting longer.

A Cleaning Service’s Value is Priceless

Leaving aside the purely economic argument, hiring a cleaning service allows you to make the most of your time away from work. When you come home to a clean house, you’ll be able to sit down and relax, rather than spend your after work hours scrubbing, dusting, and vacuuming.

Imagine having more quality time to spend with your kids instead of stressing everyone out about cleaning the bathrooms or mopping the floors.

Imagine spending those extra hours pursuing your passions, picking up a new hobby, visiting with loved ones, or volunteering for a cause you care about.

You can absolutely put a price on the hours saved by hiring a cleaning service. But when you think about all the things you could do during those hours with the people you love, doing the activities you love, those hours really do become priceless.

You and your busy family deserve to spend the most amount of quality time together as possible. Clean & Simple is standing by to get you back to living your life and enjoying a clean home without stressing out about it. Call our team today to get your complimentary estimate on residential cleaning.