how much should you be paying for babysitting?

morg_monster

just a tip - agree / decide on the charge before you go out and put the money ready somewhere for when you get back. I used to babysit for the very well off family next door, well more kid-sit as their kids were 9 & 11, and so well-behaved. They usually would be out 7 until past midnight and I'd get £20. One night they came home with friends, they were so drunk, they gave me the money out of their purse and I didn't look at it til I was home, and it was £50!!! The next day the lady came round and apologised for being the worse for wear and said she couldn't remember if she'd paid me (!) - I told her she had been very generous and showed her how much she'd given me, I tried to get her to take the extra back but she was so embarrassed she just ran off home...!

I didn't feel too bad as like I said they were loaded. I used to get a box of chocs of the kids every christmas too... I was gutted when I came back from travelling for 6m and they were old enough to be left on their own in the evening!!

Rachie_B

Cissi wrote: »

Rachie B, we use www.sitters.co.uk too. Don't forget that in addition to what you pay the babysitter directly, Sitters charge a booking fee of £4 each time, as well as a £12/year (I think it is?) for being on their books. Also, on Saturday nights it's £5.85/hour.

I still think it's a good service, they've never let us down once and the sitters have all been good - but it isn't as cheap as it sounds

oops sorry,yes you are right i forgot about the annual fee

but when we used them ,i dont think there was a fee each time,cant really remember now !

:eek: jet,being ripped off for paying £3 an hour !!!?!!!

Deals_2

old with anyone i dont actually know personally for a while. i wonder what others mum are like?

Rachie_B wrote: »

I charge £6 per hour
we used to use www.sitters.co.uk and the rate was £5.25 per hour ,with a minimum of 4 hours.

HTH

Deals_2

being out 5 hours ended up being so costly for us that we dont go out any more!! i'll wait till am richer!!! your friends are very luckly and i do hope they appreciate it!!!

steph25 wrote: »

Blimey id like to get £25 for babysitting lol
I babysit for 2 different people and both have 2 kids each.
I get £10 for about 8pm - whenever she comes home, lately has been 4am+
And the other one gives me £10-15 for the same hours....
I don't ask for more as they both pay for my taxi home after and one of them is a single parent & i know if she paid me anymore money then she probably wouldnt have enough to go out with...
I think im to nice sometimes :rolleyes:

NAR

Everyone should be prepared to pay the minimum work rate, otherwise it is exploitation.

alwaysskint96

NAR wrote: »

Everyone should be prepared to pay the minimum work rate, otherwise it is exploitation.

So an under 18 would be about £3.60 an hour- that would be cool,

LondonDiva

I found that the richer the family, the more quibbling on the price.

So the cost of the evening would be £24 and I 'd be given £25, with a hand held out for the change, which if your bag is in the other room was so embarrassing.

Worst was when the evening came to £36, I was talking through an issue with his wife in the kitchen, hubby comes in, gives me £40, I thank him, take it and carry on talking and then he asks me to clarify how much it came to:rolleyes: obviously expecting to be given change right then. From then on, I used ot make sure I had a fiver and £1 coins to give change.

In London £6 for a good sitter's quite cheap. Come Christmas, the costs start to gray

Timmne

LondonDiva wrote: »

I found that the richer the family, the more quibbling on the price.

This interestingly true! When I used to babysit I tended to find that the poorer families would be really grateful for your help and would pay you as much as they could afford.

I once babysat for a wealthy family with 5 kids (including a 6 month old constantly crying one!) from evening (about 7) to around 2am - they came back and there was nearly an argument between the parents as the wife was willing to push the boat out and pay me £10 but the husband was in shock of the amount and wanted to reduce it to 'somewhere between £5 and £10! Felt like a right mug as the kids had only been in bed an hour or two when they got back - they were spoilt, nasty little barstewards.

Never went there again it has to be said!

Rachie_B

Deals wrote: »

old with anyone i dont actually know personally for a while. i wonder what others mum are like?

we felt the same ! the good thing about sitters is that they are all from a childcare / education background,and CRB checked.

one of our sitters was a primary school teacher on maternity leave,the other had been a childminder for years, both had first aid training,which puts your mind at ease a bit !

we use to put the youngest to bed before we went out,so he was none the wiser about being left with a "stranger" !!

I would not / could not use a teenage babysitter ( even though i was one myself ! ) unless it was someone known to me and my family.the daughter of a friend eg

Rachie_B

Timmne wrote: »

This interestingly true! When I used to babysit I tended to find that the poorer families would be really grateful for your help and would pay you as much as they could afford.

I once babysat for a wealthy family with 5 kids (including a 6 month old constantly crying one!) from evening (about 7) to around 2am - they came back and there was nearly an argument between the parents as the wife was willing to push the boat out and pay me £10 but the husband was in shock of the amount and wanted to reduce it to 'somewhere between £5 and £10! Felt like a right mug as the kids had only been in bed an hour or two when they got back - they were spoilt, nasty little barstewards.

Never went there again it has to be said!

:eek: :mad:

fees should always be discussed in advance !!