In the meantime, I do have a question for ya'll. I realize that getting a sitter who you actually have to pay is not the most frugal idea, nonetheless, what's YOUR going rate for babysitters? When we had one child we paid $3 an hour. Now that we have 2 we pay $3-$4 (for example: they watch our children for 4 hours... 4x3 = 12, we usually bump it up to $15 which makes it a little more than $3.50 an hour for 2) What are your going prices? How many kids do you have? Am I over paying? Underpaying?
One idea for a sitting swap that was suggested (I have yet to implement it, but I LOVE the idea) is gathering about 4 couples and their children and spreading the love over a month. You watch ALL the children (yes, all 3 other couples children and your own) once a month. They also watch all the children once a month free of charge. So, for one night a month your life is insane, crazy, child-filled and your house gets ripped apart. But the trade off? THREE date nights with your husband or a girls night out for FREE. Good idea, eh? It would definitely be something you'd need to be 100% committed to, especially the Friday or Saturday night you say you'll watch the children. But SO WORTH not having to pay a sitter.
We've done the sitting group with 3 other couples. It worked well for us because we ALWAYS went on our date. But when we would babysit, at least one of the other couples inevitably didn't go out. So they were pretty done with it after awhile. I (truly have a HARD time taking care of other people's kids) was kind of relieved when we stopped, that one night just about killed me :) We pay $3 for the first kid and an additional $1 for each additional kid per hour. So, when we leave baby girl and all the boys (3) we pay $6-7 an hour. If we leave only 2 kids we pay $4 per hour. It works for us, but I'm not afraid to ask what the going rate is, especially when you just move in. Talk to other moms (those hiring sitters and mom's of sitters), I even ask my babysitters (they usually just say "whatever's fine"). Whew! I'm long winded, sorry. :)
ReplyDeleteSo, would you believe the national average for teen babysitters is $6.04 per hour? I have 2 toddlers, and here's what I pay mine: $4/hr if the kids are sleeping the whole time. $4.50 for "regular" babysitting duties. $5/hr if they had some extra-difficult chore, like fix them a meal or put them to bed, or if they did some cleaning up.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to set up "babysitting exchanges" with other couples ever since I moved to the area. Maybe I'm scary-looking, or maybe my kids seem especially difficult, because I can't ever get anyone to do it with me! Lori, I know you move soon, but I'd be willing to do it with you. :)
Sharlynn, I say we do it! I know I'm only here for 3 more months, but might as well! Someone can take my place once I leave. Oooo lets set it up for March!
ReplyDeleteA good thing to do is to probably ask the parents what they feel is enough for their teenager to get paid. I remember one time when I was a teenager, I was seriously underpaid for a weekend of babysitting and my mom told them something about it. I don't know what the going rate for babysitting is these days. I used to pay a friend of mine to babysit one when I was working and paid her $20 for about 7 hours. 3 of those hours my daughter was usually sleeping and she was the easiest kid ever! $12 for four hours might seem a little low. That is about what I got for four hours nearly 15 years ago. But I don't have much experience in paying people. One thing you have to consider is how crazy your kids are. When I was a teenager I babysat for a family every tuesday night. Four boys, three of them were 3 or younger. They started paying me $25-30 for about four hours when the 3 year old found a knife that the 10 year old put in the wrong spot and tried to stab his little brother in the head! They wanted me to come back so bad they paid me very well from then on (the kid was obbsessed with knives and they usually had them in a spot where he couldn't get to them, so they didn't blame me). We have friends who usually offer to babysit, so we can have a date night or a day to go to the temple. In fact, they will tell us they are watching the kids on a particular Satuday, so we can go to the temple. But we have people who are more willing to help us out with nothing in return in part b/c my husband is bishop and they want to do something nice for us since a lot of our time together has dwindled b/c of church responsiblities. But mostly b/c we have the most awesome friends in the world!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the "if we don't go anywhere it's free" idea. It's my stay-at-home mom mantra.
ReplyDeleteWow! There is no way the girls in our area would take $3 an hour. I wish. We pay $5 an hour and that is considered on the cheap side. It really makes a date expensive when you have to pay a babysitter. It is times like those I wish we lived closer to family!
ReplyDeleteWe pay $2/hour/kid. But, with 4 kids (one an infant), that ends up being 8 an hour! Are kids are generally pretty good, so we usually pay $6 an hour, and then more if the baby is home with the siter and cries half the night (this happened last time).
ReplyDeleteI hate this issue. The first time I needed a teen sitter I asked a woman in our ward whose daughter did a lot of sitting and she recommended $1/perhour/per kid, which was what * I * charged 16 years ago! (well, only about 10 years previous to the time of that sitter, but still) I know my adult nieces only pay that rate when they need a sitter at their mom's...
ReplyDeleteWe hardly ever do ask a teen to babysit and when we do, payment can seriously be an argument between us. My husband thinks they ought to get minimum wage, which I think is a bit much! Or he likes to round it off...$20/night, $30, etc, depending on how long they babysat. I think for my kids (6 and 3) that $5 an hour is fair. My kids are awesome for other people.
I LOVE the trading plan tho. Like someone else mentioned, either I look scary or my kids are intimidating becuase I can't ever get people to join me. And all I want to do is go to the temple! Totally free except for gas $$! LOL