Hi girls! I have a little dilemma. I am going to be babysitting for my cousins for 3 days a week this summer. The girls are 8 & 13... hardly "babysitting". My duties will include making them meals and taking them into town up to 4 times a day for summer sports, practices, & games. It is about 6 miles round trip from their house to the school.

So my question is how much should I charge? She has left it up to me to give her a number. I dont want it to be too high since she is a single mom. However, I would like to profit from this job and not break even. We are talking some major gas consumption as well as up to 12 hours a day on some days others only 4 hours. Any ideas?

All thoughts suggestions welcome! Thank you, thank you!

Maybe claim the gas and then charge minimum wage? So here i would claim the gas for running them around (not for getting to their house from your house) and then claim NZ$12.50 an hour. Then you make a little bit but you're not charging the world. You could even charge the minimum wage minus the tax if you wanted to be really nice since you probably wont be claiming tax on it

Well for your gas and time, I would say that asking $50-$75 a week (this is factoring out to that money going back to pay for your gas and feeding them since it's out of your pocket) wouldn't be unreasonable at all.

For sitting my 6 month old 'nephew' (I have him all day mon-thurs and half the day fri, but she provides his food, diapers, and drives him to my house) pays me $600 a month.

Go to a local day care/camp and see what they charge. Then charge just a bit less then that...it should cover gas and profit.

although the day care prob pays for food etc, if you dont have to provide the food you might want to factor that out

The going rate for child care in my area is 15-20 per day per child. I would add gas on top of that. Childcare is also alot cheaper in my area than most parts of the country.In southern indiana its 160 per week per child.

It sounds like you're doing this at their house. If that's the case, I would say base it on gas + mileage, plus whatever you think is a fair profit. Since they're older and won't need you to watch them every minute of every day, I'd guess that ~$100 a week would be reasonable, maybe a bit more. The Y near my house in Greenwood, Indiana charges $75 per week per child for summer camps I think?

I would say $100 a week.

I'd say anywhere between 75-100 a week - but if gas prices go up (which they are) you might want to factor that in...

$100 a week is a steal at any daycare even for one kid let alone 2. I would factor these things in when giving a price:

Are they supplying the food? (kids eat a ton)
Are they good kids or whiny bratty or otherwise mischevious kids? (be honest with yourself on this one)
Are the kids needy? As you must supply the fun for them or do they self entertain
Gas
Your time- 12 hours is a long time especially because they are older and they dont take scheduled naps.
Your style of discipline vs parents style etc.

one might think i have done this a time or two LOL

I run a home daycare. I charge $25 a day per child that age group. Anything under 5 hours is part time and I charge $20 a day for those days. I provide all food and I drive them to and from school and to other activities in the summer. I don't charge extra for that.

Hello fellow Hoosier ladies! I am in NW Indiana!

Childcare is pretty cheap. A lot of people just babysit out of their home for extra money since many have lost jobs. So, I guess I am still a little unsure.

Are they supplying the food? Most of the time.

Are they good kids or whiny bratty or otherwise mischevious kids? Not typically. They tend to bicker as siblings do, but nothing to tragic.

Are the kids needy? As you must supply the fun for them or do they self entertain? Mostly self entertainers. The pool does most of the hard work!

Gas? - Currently $2.65 a gallon.

Your time- 12 hours is a long time especially because they are older and they dont take scheduled naps. Very true..... missing a lot of hubby time!

Your style of discipline vs parents style etc. Pretty similar, they aren't too picky about that.


So, any other thoughts? I believe minimum wage is $5.15 here. ?

They keep saying gas is going up to $3 a gallon this summer - why don't you factor that with how much you would be using for them, calculate a little above minimum wage - and bam, there you go.

I know Indy is a little backwards, but our minimum wage is $7.15, going up to $7.25 July 1st.

I think you can realistically ask for about $100 a week without feeling taken advantage of, or like you're taking advantage of family.

For the record, my mother hires someone to watch my brothers during the summer, drive them around, and make sure they don't kill each other. They're 11 and 13, and she pays $200/week for them. They are, however, terrible children, so that increases the price some.