How to pay someone to do household tasks that aren't just cleaning?

August 5, 2023 2:27 PM

I have home management tasks that need doing, and I want to pay someone to do them. But they're not straightforward cleaning or organization, so I'm not sure what services to look for (or if they even exist and I need to think about this differently). Anyone got advice? Examples inside.

Many of the tasks involve researching how to do a thing and then actually making sure it gets done.

For example:
- Can the elastic straps on these shoes be replaced? Look into whether it's possible, and then make it happen.
- I have a bunch of old paints, expired household chemicals, and so on. Look up the best way to dispose of them, and then do it.
- Please take this gorgeous print I bought and get it framed finally. I want a professional to do it, but can they reuse that one frame I already own?
- Here's a pile of clothes that need repair. Repair them or find somewhere to get them repaired.

Are there cleaning/home management services that handle this kind of work? Like not simply "Please come into this space and clean it", but more like "I have these things and I'm not sure what can be done with them. Do you know? And if you don't, could you find out and then do it?"

Is it stuff for a personal assistant? I've never used TaskRabbit - is that what I'm looking for?

posted by cadge to Home & Garden (9 answers total)

Around here, the rich people would call that job a "household manager", but many people who do cleaning or organizing, or personal assistants, or people who primarily nanny would be willing to take on this kind of work.
posted by brainmouse at 2:49 PM on August 5, 2023 [4 favorites]

I’ve been served Instagram ads from something that sounds like this: yohana.com. FWIW, it’s geared toward busy families.
posted by Xalf at 2:55 PM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

You might be able to find someone via Thumbtack if it’s available/active in your area.
posted by staggernation at 2:58 PM on August 5, 2023

Do try TaskRabbit - some people offer services like Household Assistant that might cover what you’re looking for.
posted by alicat at 3:50 PM on August 5, 2023 [6 favorites]

Yohana can do the research but they can't do the errands. They are a remote service. I was an early Yohana customer, and TBH, I wasn't impressed. I felt like I spent so much time waiting for them to do the work that by the time I got my results back I had already just looked it up myself to get it done. Their service may have improved since then though, it's been a few years.

Rich people hire a person to do this, and they call that person a household manager or household assistant, or family assistant if you have kids and kid stuff forms a lot of their workload.
posted by potrzebie at 4:14 PM on August 5, 2023

I would look for a personal assistant.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:45 PM on August 5, 2023 [1 favorite]

I have found this on (actual, physical, old fashioned) neighborhood bulletin boards. A student posted that they were available for odd jobs, and I had them undertake household/research sort of tasks.
posted by slateyness at 10:51 PM on August 5, 2023

Is this a one-off thing or an ongoing thing?

I've worked with a few people who helped with stuff like this. If you are in a position to pay someone in an ongoing way, there's an enormous advantage: It's great to work with someone you have a good relationship with, who knows stuff about your house and how it runs, etc. There's also some advantage to batching up the tasks, etc. This could be someone who comes, say, every week or two or four.
posted by ManInSuit at 6:58 AM on August 6, 2023

Some virtual assistant services offer household help to individuals - here is an example in the UK.
posted by altolinguistic at 7:44 AM on August 7, 2023