How much should I pay?

Hello Mr. D.Cai

I just read your post about maid, i have a partime job at district 2 for now, and am looking for some jobs like your request, and hope i have a chance for interview then we will talk about salary, i hope you will be feeling satisfied with my request about salary, because am always thinking how is the best for you and also for me. i really  need a job and have a good communication, i dont care too much for get a hight salary.
Thank you for your attention.

Ms. Mai/09777 62801

Resist the temptation to be generous.  It just makes trouble. 

We had a housekeeper we were paying two mil / month, the going rate is 1 to 1.5.  That felt stingy.  So she went across the street and bragged to the neighbor's người giúp việc how much she was getting paid, no doubt all having a good laugh at the stupid foreigners.  They demanded the same from their (Vietnamese) employer.  He fired them. 

Then our own got greedy and took a second job, for a lousy one dollar a day, and started arriving later, leaving earlier, with ever longer naps during the day.  We had to fire her.

Now we pay the prevailing, the top end of it, and things endure.

When you consider the average wage for a Vietnamese is just $75 a month then 'Not In TPHCM's' advice is spot on. My girlfriend does all the cleaning and wouldn't dream of letting someone else do it for her. I've suggested a cleaner on a few occasions but she's very house proud and the place is spotless always and she claims no-one would do it right. We got a man to come to clean the pool a few times but she watched him like a hawk and after a few times she told him we didn't need him anymore and now she does it herself. i bought a vacuum cleaner to get the fur off the furniture (we've got cats) and it's her favorite toy. She vacuums everything (including me) apart from the floor which she still sweeps daily.

Had a few maids at a few different houses since moving here and in the end gave up on it altogether. Unless you're there and watch them, they'll do a half-assed job no matter how much you pay. And if you have to put in the time anyway, why not do it by yourself?

Wowww. U have a perfect gf . . Im sure u never want to change ur gf any more.

The Long Man wrote:

My girlfriend does all the cleaning and wouldn't dream of letting someone else do it for her.

Be proud! You have found a good lady. Normally Asian ladies like to do all the stuff by themselves. This is not new thing. Everyone must know how to work at home. That saves your money and peace at home. When one outsider is always at home, that affects badly for your privacy, peaceful environment and you should always keep an eye on your valuables. And if the Maid does not work properly, house lady gets annoy over that and that's not good for her health either. 

I pay 3.5 million/month for a non live in maid that works M-Sat 9-4. She's been with me for 4 years. Before that she was making 7 million per month as a live in maid for a French couple in Thao Dien who owned their own french restaurant and therefore were never home. Her salary was higher because she watched their kids while they were away at the restaurant every day. I lucked out because I was good friends with the husband, and sadly when they closed their restaurant and had to move back to France, he asked me if I needed a maid. She was hoping to find something in the same vicinity as what the French were paying her, but she realized that being a maid for me is about 1% of the work she had been doing since I'm young with no kids. Maybe I'm lucky, but I would rather pay a little more in this case and not worry about having to find a new maid every 3 months. She's an absolute blessing and wouldn't trade her for any other maid. Speaks excellent English, and never ever has stolen anything from me

Jason Bourne

I also pay my maid 3.5 million/month for cooking and cleanining, about 4.5 hours a day, Mon to Sat. She has been with us for just a month, but I really like her, a kind, responsible and hardworking person. I even gave her a present as my thanks. I think I'm so lucky to have found her because the former was so "fierce", she did scared me sometimes !

I find it funny when locals say how proud VN ladies are when it comes to keeping their houses clean,yet when you hire them to do the job for you they do a half assed job,go figure.

Its probably just one of these pictures we have heard about.

colinoscapee wrote:

I find it funny when locals say how proud VN ladies are when it comes to keeping their houses clean,yet when you hire them to do the job for you they do a half assed job,go figure.

In my experience they focus on the larger, well trafficked areas only.  I've rarely seen a VN do much in the way of dusting, windows, corners, or hard to get areas. Then again, I kind of avoid those areas myself.

And young people with no kids even actually need a maid to cook and clean a bit? Geez..

philip983 wrote:

And young people with no kids even actually need a maid to cook and clean a bit? Geez..

Too busy on their iphones these days. 

The Long Man wrote:

When you consider the average wage for a Vietnamese is just $75 a month then 'Not In TPHCM's' advice is spot on. My girlfriend does all the cleaning and wouldn't dream of letting someone else do it for her. I've suggested a cleaner on a few occasions but she's very house proud and the place is spotless always and she claims no-one would do it right. We got a man to come to clean the pool a few times but she watched him like a hawk and after a few times she told him we didn't need him anymore and now she does it herself. i bought a vacuum cleaner to get the fur off the furniture (we've got cats) and it's her favorite toy. She vacuums everything (including me) apart from the floor which she still sweeps daily.

ooh..vacuum cleaner as a toy..sounds freaking kinky wouldn't you say.

Seems it's a global issue? My grandmother had a cleaner who came in weekly. I was still going to school at the time but noticed she never did a thorough job. Instead, la-di-dah everywhere and nowhere.

Take the kitchen. Spend the 3-4 hours. Next week, take the bathroom...
...

When I rented properties, I would have to come in after the cleaner left and do the job myself. Thoroughly. Nasty work like de-greasing an oven. Or scrubbing here and there. Ended up getting a business license so I could charge tenants for the work.

Swabians are infamous for their cleaning. My late mother would spend days on a new house which had been vacant for years. But then, she would also darn a huge moth hole in a t-shirt 
...

I would suggest you work out what you need before negotiating.