how much should i charge for babysitting?

Question

hi i am babysitting for my friends and they have a 1year old daughter and a 4 year old son and it will be from 5pm till 1030-11 and i am not sure how much to charge them

Answer 1

hmmm... depends if you are gonna actually take care of the kid or just let him run and cry all around the house.
Plus, if you are gonna invite your boyfriend to that house and use the parents' bed, you should give them a discount...

Answer 2

Tough question. I grew up with being paid 50¢/hr, but by the time I had kids, the rates had increased quite a bit. You should have had a rate set when you got the job, but to be honest, hope for at least $5/hr. I don't think that is out of line, as you not going to be taxed on the amount, and if your fee is reasonable, then the parents will use you more. $10/hr is nice, but at that rate, parents can't afford to pay you AND go out, so you won't be making more money in the future. In the future tell people who ask you to sit. "I charge $X an hour for babysitting, so both you and them know the expectations.

Answer 3

That's hard. For a friend, you don't want to over charge, yet you don't want to undercharge and have them take advantage of you.

It also depends on where you live. Some people charge $10 an hour!! I charge $5 an hour. If you have kids that will help keep theirs occupied, $5-6 an hour seems reasonable.

Another thing you could do is, if you have kids, ask them to watch yours so you can be free a night in exchange for watching theirs.

Answer 4

Here's the deal with babysitting. Some kids (are you a kid?) charge very little and some charge a lot. Most parents can't afford to go out if you charge a lot. I let my daughter charge 3 to 5 dollars per hour for one kid and 5 dollars per hour for 2 kids. She is expected by me to clean up after the kids. but not to clean up after the parents. She's worth 10 times that, but she is sitting to help out parents who need a sitter and to earn a few extra dollars. She's not doing it to get rich. Then there are sitters who charge 7 to 10 dollars an hour. The parents might as well stay home since they will have to work overtime just to have a night out.

Answer 5

Here's what I did: Find out what other sitters are charging in your local area (ask around!) and then charge at least $1-2 LESS per hour. You can add $1 or $2/hr if there are more than 3 kids. I got plenty of work and some parents even switched to me because of lower rates.

Answer 6

I would say like $8. hour since it's 2 kids. Sounds like a lot but I remember sitting for $20 night (hours 6-12) for 1 kid and sometimes 2. I babysat 4 kids for like $40 before but this was like 15 years ago.

Answer 7

really how late will they stay up is the question and are there parents going to provide snacks and dinner for them ,or do you have to do that you don't want to do it for nothing yet you don't want them to be broke they are your Friends right. I say $5-10per hour if they supply the stuff little kids that age should be sleeping by 7 or even 8 so it shouldn't be all that much work good luck to you (what do I know expecting my first 32 weeks lol)

Answer 8

I would charge 10 bucks and hour. Thats what i would pay my son's sitter. 2 kids at the ages 1 and 4 thats a handful. But if their your friends, why charge them. I dont charge my friends if they need me. There my friends/

Answer 9

2 kids ages 1 and 4 from 5-10:30 hmm..I would say 6-10 dollars an hour is pretty fair.

Answer 10

depends how old you are. If you are in jr. high or high school I would charge $4 or $5 an hour for two kids.

Answer 11

$6-$7 a hour at the most