Tegucigalpa - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
I typically don't do household help however, if you happen to be single at post with children, you will absolutely need it. Depending on your job expectations, travel is necessary and frequent, and you will need reliable assistance to fill in the gaps with kids. Flying family in to stay with children is a challenge and expensive at times. I haven't found the help consistent, or reliable and that has made aspects of this tour challenging. - Mar 2024
Expect to spend around $500-600/month for full time non live-in household help. - Jan 2024
Full time housekeepers seem to make around $1000/month. We pay a gardener about $30/twice a month to come take care of our front lawn/back lawn/landscaping. He "mows" by weed-eating and usually hoses down my car to rinse the dust off. Twice a year you pay an extra month's salary (June and January, I believe). Our housekeeper did not want it in cash for fear of being robbed. However, the gardener and water delivery people love the cash. We do not tip the guards as the landlord pays them, so he tips the guards but you may need to budget the guards into your Pascua savings. The garbage collectors will drive up/down the street honking and yelling "Pascua"...just in case you wanted to race out and hand them some cash! Ha! - Aug 2023
Plenty of good help. - Feb 2022
We have someone come twice a week for cleaning and pay her about $20 a day for 6 hours of work. - Oct 2019
Full-time maid is about $150-200/month. Gardener is about $20/week. People also hire live-in help and nannies. - Jul 2018
Domestic employees are good at cooking and cleaning. Often they're not used to having autonomy and decision-making authority, or thinking through complex instructions or taking the initiative to plan ahead and do what's needed. It was a long (though ultimately very fruitful) process to teach the maid how to separate out compost and recyclables. I feel like people are honest, meaning they don't steal, but they are not necessarily forthright, meaning they may not directly tell you something if they think you're going to get mad. Be respectful, insist on honesty and frankness, and everyone can learn in the process. The minimum wage varies by profession, and there is no official minimum wage for domestic help. A basic basket of goods required for a family of four (food, healthcare, phone, transport, etc.) amounts to about 8800 lempiras per month, a little less than 400 USD. Most people don't pay that much. Don't be like most people, don't be that guy. If you're reading this, you're probably not paying rent, and, in my opinion, can afford 400 USD a month. - May 2018
A full-time housekeeper is about $250-$350/month. We pay our gardener $20 for a half-day per week. Some people employ drivers. We had to fire 2 housekeepers for a variety of reasons which included stealing, lying, allowing unauthorized people into our house, and mistreating our dog; all had been vetted. Only one of our housekeepers we hired was truly trustworthy. Choose a housekeeper that has been vetted, but don't trust anyone you let into your house. There seems to be a culture amongst Hondurans that since you are American, you are rich, and anything that breaks/gets ruined can be replaced because you are a rich gringo. It feels like this mentality permeates every interaction one will have. - May 2018
Cheap and readily available. Even some childless couples have live in help. Plenty of nannies, drivers, gardeners and cleaners looking for work. Mostly trustworthy. - Apr 2018
$300-$350. - Jun 2016
- US$300 - $350 a month for a full time maid. - Feb 2016
Easily available, full time house keeper costs around US$300/mo (they customarily get two extra months pay each year, plus an extra months pay in the end for each year they worked.) Gardener costs US$25 each time, he does everything in the yard plus washes the car for that. - Aug 2015
Very cheap. For me it's $90 a month for someone to come 2 days a week full time to clean my apartment. - Jul 2015
Cheap, though you have to be careful that you are not being paying waaay too much (Embassy workers, however, should expect to pay more than the locals would for a seasoned worker used to working with Embassy families). You also should take extra care to ensure that your help is trustworthy. - Dec 2014
Plentiful , good and skilled, if you speak Spanish. - Oct 2014
Quality is spotty and gringos end up paying much more than locals if they aren't careful. We discovered after we left that our maid had been stealing lost of laundry detergent from us for all of the 3 years we had her. - Sep 2014
Cheap and easy to find. Good and bad are abundant, check references! - Aug 2014
Quality is sketchy. - Jun 2014
It is available and runs around US$200 plus lunch for 5 days a week. - Mar 2014
Plentiful and very good - around US$250/ per month for 8 hours of work a day. Make sure to go through recommendations. - Jan 2014
Reasonable if you get one who has worked for locals only, but it can be expensive if you get one who has worked for gringos. - Oct 2013
Readily available, reasonably priced but, if you inherit one who has worked for another mission memeber before, plan on paying more, for less work, than if she came from a local employer. - Jun 2013
Available and affordable. - Jun 2013
Available and very affordable. - Apr 2013
Available and ours seems good. Price is reasonable. - Nov 2009
Cheap and good. We have had a great experience. We have a live-in nanny who takes care of my two kids, cleans, and cooks for 3500lps/mo ($185/mo). We also have a gardener who comes once every two weeks for $20/mo. - Oct 2009
