Babysitters baffle me.
They are so darn friendly. Too friendly really. And when the topic of money comes up
they will never give me a number. They usually just say things like, “Oh whatever you think is fair.”
So I created a formula for paying the babysitter.
Let’s start with minimum wage and work up from there. $7.25 hr.
Of course there are a few variables to add to this equation.
(C)City you live in. Bigger city add a little bit more cash to the hourly rate
(T)Travel time of sitter, longer it takes them to get there and get home the more money it will cost you.
(A)Age of sitter. The older the sitter, the more money they should be paid.
(Q)Qualifications of sitter.
(E)Number of extra kids. The more kids you have the more you pay. Coincidentally the more kids you have the harder it is to find a babysitter too!
(S)Number of hours kids are sleeping. Subtract $2.00 each hr. they are asleep.
(H)Certain holidays are extra. Groundhog’s Day not so much, but New Year’s Eve, double it.
(F)Are you feeding babysitter? If you are feeding him or her well, no need to add any money, but if it’s hot dogs or frozen pizza while you are going out for a steak, don’t you feel a bit guilty? Tack on a little extra cash.
(L)Late fee. If you said you would be home by 9 and you walk in the door at 10:15, that’s going to cost you.
Here’s the equation:
$7.25c + t + a + q + e – s + 2h +/- f + l = Total wage.
Simple enough, right?
And don’t forget to tip.
On second thought, maybe it’s easier just to stay home.
Happy Parenting!
-Pete