Most people here in South Africa have a domestic worker. I would never tell you to get rid of her as most of us need help with the house, especially with a full time job. Not to mention the emotional attachment you build with the lady who washes your underwear, but do you really need her everyday? Try cutting it down from 5 days a week to 3 days per week, just to do the big jobs like ironing and washing the windows etc.
To make up for the lost employee without working yourself into the ground try this:
Rope the kids into helping when she is not around. How? I hear you say:
- Make your own bed and make sure your kids make theirs too (good pocket money chore).
- Clean the bath when you get out or better yet, let the kids bath with bubbles or take a bubble bath yourself. (You can wash the bath half as often)
- Wash the dishes as a family after supper. One person stacks, another washes, one wipes the sides etc. Leave the dishes to drain, you can pack them away while you are cooking the next meal.
- Check that the kids have hung up their towels after bathing as well as their school uniforms when they get home.
If you save R 180 per week you are essentially saving R 720 per month. If you use half of that saving to repay debts and save the other half you will never look back.
Garden service
During winter you should request your garden service to come fortnightly instead of weekly, this will half the cost, when the lawn does not require mowing.
Baby Sitter
If you are serious about saving you should already be decreasing the number of evenings you are going out. If you still need to go out occasionally or have to work an evening shift try this.
Offer to swap a babysitting shift with your neighbour. You will sit for them one evening and they can sit for you one evening. You can build up a sitting club along your road or within your complex. Your children can play with the neighbourhood children instead of being at home alone and never have to hire a sitter again!
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