We've had cleaners for a few years now. After a disappointing experience with a large company, we now have our cleaning done by an individual that has her own small cleaning business. And, she's wonderful. Ask friends and neighbors for a recommendation. It's important to hire someone you like and trust.

Our cleaning ladies come every other week (the owner herself and a helper). That works out perfectly for us. I do pick up the night before so that they can do their thing without our clutter in the way. I find this keeps us neater too! They do bathrooms, floors, dusting, etc. We have 4 bathrooms and lots of floor space to clean. Occasionally I ask them to do a little something extra and they're always happy to.

I do tip every time. They charge me $110 (which is really low for the size of my house) and I usually write a check for $135. More at Christmas.

I'm so thrilled to have them. I appreciate everything they do to keep our house sparkly. And with two shedding yellow labs I've seen the amount of hair they make disappear! Totally worth it to me!