Is a full time live in maid my only option?

[kdzenge1]

Hi everyone!

I am moving to Singapore with my husband and 4 year old son this summer, and my husband and I will both be teaching at the same International School that my son will be attending. Unfortunately, our son's school start time is 30 minutes after we begin work and his end time is 30 minutes before we end. I have tried scouring the internet for weeks trying to educate myself on part time vs. full time helpers, and fully investigating both options.

It seems that if we were to hire someone for only drop offs and pickups it would end up being $25 an hour, and with 2 hours a day 5 days a week that would be $1000 a month, vs.a live- in helper which it appears would cost somewhere around $1500 a month. Both options certainly seem like more than I had hoped to pay for that half hour at the beginning and end of each day, although the full- time helper would certainly get us more help for our money's worth. We are just trying to determine if a full time helper is really something we need or want, and trying to determine if there are any other options out there we may not know about.

We are thinking that an ideal situation for us would be someone who could drop our son off in the mornings, do some light housework/ grocery shopping, etc. during the day, pick him up in the afternoons and then end her shift, for less than the expense of a full time helper. However, I have not been able to find any of this type of help available throughout my search.

If anyone has any pearls of wisdom or advice they would be willing to share about this situation, I would be forever grateful! Thank you in advance for your insight!

[PNGMK]

Bring one of your mothers over? Seriously what you're looking for doesn't exist for the money that a school teacher can pay.

My wife got around this by having her school agree the our daughter could spend the first half and last half hour in my wife's classroom. It was not ideal. You really need a maid until your child can catch the bus home on their own etc.

[kdzenge1]

Bring one of your mothers over? Seriously what you're looking for doesn't exist for the money that a school teacher can pay.

My wife got around this by having her school agree the our daughter could spend the first half and last half hour in my wife's classroom. It was not ideal. You really need a maid until your child can catch the bus home on their own etc.

Thank you so much for responding. Did this last, or did you eventually end up getting a maid? I am also wondering how it will work with my husband and I both having summers off. We are planning to spend summers home in the USA, but aren't sure if a temporary maid transfer would be possible for the summer time?

Thank you again for your comment.

[American]

Hi everyone!

It seems that if we were to hire someone for only drop offs and pickups it would end up being $25 an hour, and with 2 hours a day 5 days a week that would be $1000 a month, vs.a live- in helper which it appears would cost somewhere around $1500 a month. Both options certainly seem like more than I had hoped to pay for that half hour at the beginning and end of each day, although the full- time helper would certainly get us more help for our money's worth. We are just trying to determine if a full time helper is really something we need or want, and trying to determine if there are any other options out there we may not know about.

I’m not sure where you are getting 1500/month. The starting rates for live in helpers/maids is around 600$/month and the levy is roughly 275? Factor in food and other expenses/insurance/medical at roughly 300$/month. I think this is still your best option. “Bomb shelters” (maid rooms) are the norm in practically every condo, even 1 bedrooms. One of the benefits of living here is the affordable live in help. Why stress yourself? Just go for the live in help.

[PNGMK]

Bring one of your mothers over? Seriously what you're looking for doesn't exist for the money that a school teacher can pay.

My wife got around this by having her school agree the our daughter could spend the first half and last half hour in my wife's classroom. It was not ideal. You really need a maid until your child can catch the bus home on their own etc.

Thank you so much for responding. Did this last, or did you eventually end up getting a maid? I am also wondering how it will work with my husband and I both having summers off. We are planning to spend summers home in the USA, but aren't sure if a temporary maid transfer would be possible for the summer time?

Thank you again for your comment.

Yes we had to get a maid. Pain in the butt and it makes us lazy but whatever. We've been through four. We had an angel, a devil, a whore and now a numbskull...

We lock our maid in a room with water and bread for the summer....

No seriously we just leave her with some money for food and pay and bugger off home. If we come back and the cats dead or the house destroyed we have someone to blame You cannot do a temp transfer and frankly from a security perspective it's helpful to have someone around to collect mail and dust things.

[Redhat11]

Another option is getting part time maids for help with the cleaning and some of the chores