I hired a housecleaner ...

[cpa cat]

But are your finances that separate? Is he using some discretionary fund that he would otherwise spend on his stuff so it's not affecting the household savings?

I'm female (and pursuing ER separately) and have offered to pay for a housecleaner when my male SO complains that I don't clean enough but he just wrinkles up his nose and says it's "ridiculous" and "weird" to have somebody else clean for you and to have a stranger come into the house to do it. So, apparently you can nix it based on an abstract argument with a straight face.

(eta: my relationship is by no means a proven long-term success so I'm not endorsing one strategy or the other.)

Nope. We are FI, though. So the act of hiring a maid doesn't really affect us longterm. When he says "we can afford it" - he's telling the truth.

I think your SO captures my own objections to a maid service pretty well. ;)

But I reason that if I'm the only one with a problem with hiring a housecleaner, then it's really -my- problem.

[hybrid]

I disagree.

I don't hire a house cleaner BUT sometimes it is worth it even for MMM folk.  Blanket prohibitions rarely pan out unless clearly supported by logic that crosses all scenarios.

For people who make a lot of money per hour and can hire out at 1/10 the net hourly salary it is much more affordable to hire out IF they would otherwise make more money or if it is worth it to them for other reasons.

It is unusual for housecleaning, but sometimes it doesn't make sense to do it yourself all the time. 

On the same track, if it is going to take you longer to do a task and you can otherwise bill your time out if your net is less than the cost it might make sense to hire out.

Yeah...here's MMM's take on that:
 "It’s because you can’t productively do your graphic design job every day from 7AM until 11PM. If you try, you will burn out after some number of hours, then need to switch to a non-productive activity to recuperate. On the other hand, if you begin a day with pulling some weeds in your own garden, then crank out 7-8 hours of fantastically focused design work, then bike out to pick up your own groceries, and spend the evening cooking your own food, working on your own fitness program, cleaning your own dishes and reading library books and preparing for your next day of work, you have a routine that is free from outsourcing, free from unnecessary costs, yet so healthy and varied that you can do it forever without burning out. In other words, domestic “work” may pay less than your day job when measured by the hour, but after you measure the lifetime personal benefits and the overall savings in after-tax dollars added up over an entire week, you may be pleasantly surprised by the results."

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/09/13/domestic-outsourcing-practical-or-wussypants/

The issue I have with that is the OP has a lot more than just a job as in the example above, she also has kids and classes outside of the job. You can only keep so many balls in the air folks, and full time job + classes + kids = a lot of balls. I think a bunch of people have lost focus on just how busy the OP already is, and what she really wants, no, needs, is more time (in the short term, anyway). She can't get someone to raise her kids or take her classes for her, but she can get someone to clean house. There is nothing demeaning about that, it is just the easiest way for her to buy time.

So while we would not hire a cleaning service (because we have enough free time), I totally get why the OP would get one. Walk a mile in her shoes I say before negatively passing judgment on the decision to hire a cleaning service.

MMM was bright enough to make and save a boatload of money first, then retire, then have exactly one kid. The vast majority of us are not in that exact same boat, so his template quite simply isn't going to apply to everyone in exactly the same manner. The rest of us have to take his good ideas and adapt. The OP is already squirreling away much, but in her circumstances, right now, she needs to buy back some sanity. The MMM lifestyle should not be so rigid that it does not accommodate different situations.

When your time is truly precious money becomes less so.

[Meggslynn]

We have a 1x monthly cleaning service that I find to be totally worth the money. In between we keep things picked up, do our own laundry, and will spot-clean things as needed.

There is a lot of hatred around here for cleaning people. I find it strange that in many other categories of expense people will offer reasoned "well, if you've decided that this fits within your values, you understand the impact it has on FIRE, and you're not in a hair-on-fire debt emergency, then more power to you!" but somehow house cleaning seems to be a shame-worthy expense to many folks regardless of the person's values or situation.

I would guess because it is so easy to do and most people here don't have a cleaning service. Oh, believe me, we've thought about it. And never pulled the trigger. I've found the best way to reduce housework is to reduce the amount of stuff you have to manage. And for those that have downsized their homes, even simpler (two toilets to clean instead of four, less floor area to clean, etc.)

I live in a place where the cleaning lady is pretty much taken for granted. Most houses have weekly to daily services. I'm considered crazy for not having one (while we were in another city and I was working, we had one once a month and that was already quite far from the norm - imagine I would iron my own clothes!).

Honestly, I see it as something practical, but I also see a character flaw in that. We have always outsourced our own dirt, our own mess. In that, we have not only created extremely high neatness standards, but also created a horrible class prejudice and demeaned tasks that should have been part of anyone's daily life. So, yes, I think mustachians are right not to approve of outsourcing housework. It's much like fast-food, it's not just something you do that's practical and solves your life's problems, but something that actually doesn't make the world a better place and can even hamper your own mental health (think of the husband and kids that never learn to pick up after themselves because the wife/mom is always there - the cleaning lady becomes the same kind of crutch for the whole family).

That said, twice a month for overworked high-earning parents to trade in for quality time with their child is worth it and I support the OPs decision.
But that also said, one of the reasons cleaning ladies are so popular here is because men hardly share the housework load with their wives. So the wife simply demands he pays up (and is probably right to do so). So maybe first look into the household's dynamics and see if you aren't being overworked in relation to your husband first (especially if you're the only one taking days off for cleaning duty, this sounds extremely unfair).

This is a very good point.

I also agree with people on saying what is this teaching your children? I am pretty sure that at this moment and this age we have this covered. My son still sees mom and dad cleaning the kitchen after dinner, mowing the lawn and doing the laundry. For a two year old he already understands his part. Soon as his meal is done he puts (basketball dunks) his dishes in the sink. His shoes go on the rack when he is done taking them off and jacket is hung on the closet door and of course his toys are put back in the basket before bedtime.

I am at peace with our decision. Since I can see how much more time I have already been able to spend with our child, keeping on my studies and cooking from scratch. Plus, the person I hired is a single mom and is very grateful for the gig and does a marvelous job. I did give her a heads up that I will be cancelling after a ten months so she knows the income is not forever.

[farmstache]

The issue I have with that is the OP has a lot more than just a job as in the example above, she also has kids and classes outside of the job. You can only keep so many balls in the air folks, and full time job + classes + kids = a lot of balls. I think a bunch of people have lost focus on just how busy the OP already is, and what she really wants, no, needs, is more time (in the short term, anyway). She can't get someone to raise her kids or take her classes for her, but she can get someone to clean house. There is nothing demeaning about that, it is just the easiest way for her to buy time.

(...)

When your time is truly precious money becomes less so.

I completely agree. This sentence might have gotten lost in my paragraphs, but I do support the OP's decision in such dire times.

I just think everyone saying cleaning is a good thing to outsource... well, they are going down a road the whole middle-class of my country has been in and it's not a pretty picture in any way, in both societal and personal levels.

[farmstache]

This is a very good point.

I also agree with people on saying what is this teaching your children? I am pretty sure that at this moment and this age we have this covered. My son still sees mom and dad cleaning the kitchen after dinner, mowing the lawn and doing the laundry. For a two year old he already understands his part. Soon as his meal is done he puts (basketball dunks) his dishes in the sink. His shoes go on the rack when he is done taking them off and jacket is hung on the closet door and of course his toys are put back in the basket before bedtime.

I am at peace with our decision. Since I can see how much more time I have already been able to spend with our child, keeping on my studies and cooking from scratch. Plus, the person I hired is a single mom and is very grateful for the gig and does a marvelous job. I did give her a heads up that I will be cancelling after a ten months so she knows the income is not forever.

Cheers! Glad to know it's working out!