hi Alison
most expect that expats will hire a hausmeri but there is nothing wrong with not having one... i know of a few couples who do not have one... they started with hiring one then found that it was hard work so now they have none... Rayan is correct, its in range of 30-50k per day of supposedly 8 hours a day (some turn up late then have to leave early because of safety issue with public transport, so you do not get your paid for hours)... cutting to the chase, the terms and conditions, payment etc is best to be discussed up front and differs widely in the community (tho sometimes even after agreement, you have to revisit the discussion)...Â
my meri is wonderful and we have an understanding between us and she has never overstep the trust between us but some of my friend's meris seem to be hard work... you have to decided what is fair for both parties... some issues you may/may not encounter are:- 1) tardiness or plain not turning up to work then breezing in after a few days like nothing has happened, 2) asking for large sums of money for personal loan, 3) sponsorship of local school fee or textbooks for their kids, 4) asking you to help them buy stuff in Australia because its cheaper than here, and expecting that you will give it to them for free, 5) food packages for festival times, ie Easter, Christmas, birthdays, 6) Christmas monetary bonus, plus plus etc... you also have to discuss how many paid leave days and sick days you are providing... i give 5 and 6 per above because i want to, and have given small loans only... but its all up to what yours and her expectations are... the meris within a compound compare between themselves too by the way... you may hear "so and so gets this and that, i would like it too"... no to make it all so drama, just be aware that it may happen and be prepared for it... like i said, i love my meri, i am lucky and so are many of my friends...
the cost you wanna be watching out for is actually food cost... its expensive here for fresh food... if you are vegetarians, you are looking at a head of lettuce k25, carrots 11k per kilo, mushrooms 56k per kilo, broccolli 46k per kilo, a punnet of strawberries 24k... meat is slightly more than Oz... of course you can do local market but it depends on how game you are...
