One question we get a lot as an agency is how to handle food for your helper. Our suggestion? Make your life simpler with a food allowance.
Now I've heard all of the conventional advice. You can save money by buying her groceries yourself. You can make sure she is eating properly and has enough food. People are also scared that if they give an allowance she will spend it on other things and barely feed herself or not buy the most healthy options.
I ask you to consider this. Do you really want to control what an adult woman eats? Do you really have time in your day to manage her food intake too? I'm thinking mental load here. Do you want to add to your mental load? Here are some reasons we think a food allowance is the way to go.
No offence, but she may not like your food. While you may revel in your salad lifestyle, or enjoy a gluten free diet, to her this may be a starvation diet. Imagine if you were forced to adapt to food from another culture on a daily basis? Personally, I love to eat food from other cultures, but could I do it on a daily basis? I don't think so. I would miss my home food. For me that would be burgers and pizza, for her that might be lumpia and chicken adobe.
You don't have to shop for her. Don't you have enough shopping to do? Do you really want to keep up with someone else's shopping list too? It sounds easy enough, but there are a multitude of reasons she may be reluctant to tell you what she wants, which brings me to #3.
She may be uncomfortable to ask for what she really wants. Maybe she doesn't want to be scolded for asking for a mango, or some snacks. Maybe she worries that if given the choice between two things she should choose the cheaper option, instead of working within a budget. Maybe it's hard to ask for things all the time, it puts her in a position of weakness and lack of control. Give her some freedom.
It teaches her budgeting and planning to give a food allowance. She can learn to plan out what to buy based on a weekly or monthly budget rather than not feeling any pressure to stay within a certain amount. This is a great skill for anyone to learn.
Ever heard the expression happy wife, happy life? Consider this. Happy helper, happy home. Let her eat what she wants.
For these reasons, go with a food allowance. It will make you happy with less mental load, and it will make her happy to have what she wants to eat. She will learn an important skill, and you she will feel more in control of her day. Given that she will be living in your house, doing what you have asked her to do all day long, quite frankly she deserves to have a little control over something. Food for thought.
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