Posted by
ysiewpeng
20 yrs ago
I do not need my DH to cook everyday and I don't quite enjoy her cooking. Can I give her food allowance of HK$300 (stated on her contract) or more or how much on the monthly basis and ask her to buy meal from outside for me?
Is anyone practising this arrangement and willing to share some thoughts with me? Any problem with this? Thank you.
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Well this HK$300 is only for HERSELF, and that is the minimum which means you can give her a bit more if you like. It depends also on where you live. Though HK is small place, standard can vary slightly in different areas. Like food in Shamshuipo is much cheaper than food in Admiralty. You see what I mean? So if you need her to buy food from outside for you (it also depends on where and what you want her to get for you and for how many people), can you just give her a lumpsum of money, ask her to deduct it from there and provide all the receipts for you to check. Just like helpers handling their household 'marketing' money.
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Mighty - yes the HK$300 food allowance per month is for herself only as I intend to get food from outside for myself (ask her to go out and buy for me when she does her grocery shopping). Good suggestion, I will give her a lump money to buy my meal. I believe she will cook her own meals most of the time to save money. Do I provide the sauces E.g. chicken stock powder, soya sauce... and rice ? If I don't, I will see 2 sets of rice packets, sauces and ... in the kitchen. And it may be hard to know whether she uses her own rice or mine for example.
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A household should basically have some sauces so I think it is fair enough to have them all in your kitchen and everyone uses that. Unless you have something very special and expensive and you only want to keep that for your own use, then you should tell her. Are you living on your own? Your helper must be very happy to find such an easy job!
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Would it matter which rice she used???
To be honest, I don't think $300pm is enough money really to have a healthy diet here. Could you survive on that? I think it would be better to provide the basics (rice, sauces, other dry goods) and the $300 should cover things like meat, veg and fruit. Otherwise she will end up eating mainly rice, cutting back on other stuff, and getting sick.
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Mighty & Geiboyi - Appreciate your speedy response. We are new to HK and pardon us if we sound silly. I don't mind to pay her a bit more. my husband travels a lot and usually buy meal from outside is easy and of course taste much better! haha. may I get some response from some of you whether you practise provide food or give food allowance? Any comments and sharing of info is very much welcome and thank you.
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I give 500 food allowance and she can help herself to stuff that we've already got in the house i.e. rice, pasta, sauces, tinned stuff, frozen veg. 500 is for non-essential stuff - fruit, meat and veg.
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CCCMN
20 yrs ago
Maybe encourage her to improve her cooking skills.... there was a thread here somewhere about free cooking classes run by a Gas company (or some other public utility)....
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CCCMN
20 yrs ago
ah.. the thread is called "courses for maids"...
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Hetfield - may I have your email address to ask further about this topic? Do you ask her to cook dinner for you? If yes, she cook twice in the evening? Will this be too troublesome for her? Maybe too tired to eat at the end! just joking! before I hire her, I cooked and sometimes I just didn't have appetite to eat. Maybe stay in the kitchen too long (abt 1 1/2 hr, a slow cook). Just curious, do you know what they normally prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner? Thank you everyone for the generous feedback. the more the merrier.
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LFB
20 yrs ago
It's usually easier to give a food allowance as your helper might prefer eating different foods from you and your husband; then you also don't have to worry about her meals anymore.
Pantry basics are usually available to all in our household, unless it's something special, however, you should be clear about what is special and what is not; usually there's not much overlap due to such different food preferences.
Lastly, rhere's no such thing as what a helper 'usually' prepares for meals...this entirely depends on your customs and habits. It also would make it much more difficult for your helper to decide what you and your husband should eat each meal, much easier if you set these things out clearly and advise her before she does the shopping.
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Hi TC & LFB - Do you eat the same food with your DH or give food allowance? How much? Anything else I need to tell her clearly on allowance issue? Thank you very much.
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ShazP
20 yrs ago
Our previous helper....ate on her own. We gave her $400/- pm and she could use all our sauces, rice, spices. Like mentioned before the money was for her meats, vegetables.
Our present helper cooks & eats the same food we do. She cooks our food together, once a day only, we dont eat lunch as we work. She is not a very good cook, so I taught her to cook food ' my style' and she wrote the recipes down as I taught her. Her food is better now.
If you want your helper to buy your food, then you should give her money every day & tell her WHAT to buy you for lunch & dinner. As you will want different choices of meals everyday & you should be precise about your choice so that it wont put her in a spot for getting the wrong meal.
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Our helper does not get a food allowance but just buys what she wants from the money we leave her for our shopping. She writes down everything she buys, including her own stuff - I am happy with the amount she spends on herself, she does not buy expensive things (but neither do we, really). I do think a food allowance might be a good idea (for meat etc) just in case you have a helper who decides that if you're paying she can live on fillet steak.
She sometimes cooks for us - I told her that she can always cook enough for herslf as well, or just make her own food (which she generally prefers to do). We eat meals seperately (if we're at home she goes to her own flat to eat).
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