I feel bad getting paid?

Question

well I just got done babysitting 2 kids for 4 days, two of which I had another baby sitter with me. I babysat the 9 year old girl and 7 year old boy from 2:30 pm-2:30 am every day except on the last day it was from 2:00 pm-6:30 pm. the lady I babysat for pays me $4 an hour and when I did the math, the total comes to $128. I really need the money for various things... but i feel bad getting so much. I get paid tomorrow and Im scared that she wont pay me all of what I earned but I dont want to seem greedy or anything... and to make matters worse, she is not exactly rich or anything... so its like taking money from a poor old lady. another thing is that whenever I babysit other kids, the parents always underpay me... I got just $60 for babysitting 3 kids for 12 hours all of which were under the age of 10. how do I make sure I get all the money I deserve without feeling bad?

does the fact that Im only 13 change anything? she is also my dads girlfriend... and its 128 because the two days that the other babysitter was with me, we split the pay.

yeah just as I expected, she underpaid me. I only got $75. and it WAS payday. what really bothers me is that the person who helped me out two of the days got $105 and I babysat longer! plus the kids said they like me more(they werent even asked who was better). god Im really pissed. oh well Ill just learn from this I guess.

Answer 1

This is from a survey:
If you do pay for babysitting, much do you offer?

Less than $4 per hour 10%
$4 to $6 per hour 35%
$7 to $9 per hour 18%
$10 to $12 per hour 18%
More than $12 per hour 3%
It depends on the babysitter 13

Answer 2

Do not feel bad about accepting money for a job well done. You earned it and you deserve it. People do take advantage of babysitters, so be up front about how much you charge per hour. The first time someone shorts you or doesn't pay you, don't babysit for them again. You will build up a trusted client base of people who trust you and you can trust them. As a parent, I know the value of a good babysitter. After all, these people are trusting you with the most precious thing they have. If they can't afford to pay you they shouldn't have gotten you to babysit in the first place, unless it is someone you agree to do a kindness for in a difficult situation, such as a death in the family, sickness, or something like that.

Answer 3

don't under value your worth. Babysitting is hard work and a lot of responsibility not to mention $4 / hr isn't even minimum wage. If you were working as a NANNY you would be making $30,000 or more a year. I wouldn't sit for any one for less than $7 / hour and I would double that for New Years EVE!!!!

Make sure your rates to these people you are sitting for is up front and that you expect to be paid at the end of the service time.

You shouldn't care if this woman is rich/poor or whatever. If she has to use a sitter she must pay for the service no matter what!!!!

Maturity is what you need to help you with the guilts!!!

Answer 4

$4 an hour is not much to be the caretaker of this womans kids. If she agreed on the price she would have known how much it would be. If for some reason the woman doesn't pay the full amount then you will never babysit for her again. Next time ask to be paid daily to avoid this problem. Then if they don't pay you don't come back the next day. Don't feel guilty. It was a job and you deserve to be paid...you worked hard for it

Answer 5

To make sure you get paid what you feel you deserve . . make sure you tell her upfront what your fee is and when she picks them up every day, keep a running tab and let her know what the balance is each day. You shouldn't feel bad about wanting to get paid for the work you have done. She shouldn't have a problem paying you because she asked you to keep her kids. If they can't pay what they owe you, stop keeping their kids.

Regardless of what other people say . . whether you're 13 or 35, you deserve to get paid for the work you have done. It shows that you are mature and you can start buying things for yourself instead of having to ask your parents for money all the time. I'm glad that you have taken it upon yourself to make your own money. You shouldn't get paid the bare minimum . . if you say, $4 an hour . . that's what you should be paid!!

Answer 6

NO, NO, that is NOT TOO much. You are very nice to settle for $4 an hour. Take the money and be happy, you earned it. Doesn't matter if you had someone else with you part of the time, the going rate for babysitter is about $10 per hours here.
I hope she give you extra for doing such a great job.

Answer 7

Be proud that people ask you to babysit. It's very hard to find skilled young people who parents can trust with the responsiblity of watching their children. Watching young children can be very trying and you are responsible for their wellbeing while they are in your care so I would say that $4.00 an hour is barely enough. You should also let the families you work for know what you charge per hour and stick to your guns. If parents can afford to go out they can afford to pay a good babysitter, which you obviously are.

Answer 8

Well just think of it as volunteer work that you have done when ever you are being under paid and as far as the lady you feel bad for taking money from just take it maybe buy her something nice out of it to show that you really appreciate her letting you earn a little money on the side.

Answer 9

You shouldn't feel bad. She knew how much it was costing her when she asked you to keep the kids for so many hours. IF she didn't have the money then she shouldn't have agreed to it. plus 128$ isn't really that much for taking care of 2kids for 4days. And from how you described it you had the kids for 40hrs. Which would come out to 160$ not 128$

Answer 10

dont feel bad girly girl. $4 an hour is nothing to watch something so precious. to put thing in perspective, i pay the daycare $120 a week to watch my 1 son before and after school for a total of 10 hours. youre doing a great service for a cheap price.
hell, if you live close, i would use you as my sitter.