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If you are looking to start babysitting, you will want to make sure that you are taking a little bit of time to consider what it is that you will want to charge. There are many things to consider and you will want to make sure that you are considering them before you approach people with your services.
One thing that you are going to want to remember is that not every babysitting situation is the same. Some people will simply charge a flat rate of "thirty dollars an evening" or "six dollars an hour". However, as they get into the babysitting process, they soon end up discovering that they are ripping themselves off. Even if you charge a certain amount per "every so many kids", you could still be cutting yourself short. Think about it, dealing with two children ages eight and ten is certainly different than caring for two children that are twins who are two years old.
Since every babysitting job is going to be different, you are always going to have to re-evaluate what you are charging. If you are in a position where you feel that you are on the spot the answer someone's request for you to babysit their kids, simply ask them to give you ten minutes to get back with them. You just want to double check your schedule. They can wait ten minutes. Even if you know that you are free that night, you can use that ten minutes to think of a fair price.
Remember, you are worthy of the money you are charging. Do not cut yourself short because the job of babysitting is not looked highly upon by some people. You are the acting caretaker of the children. Their lives are in your hands. This is a big job and a big responsibility so you want to make sure that you are being fully compensated for that. Also, you will have to consider whether you are simply watching them play for a couple hours or if you are responsible for bed times, bath times, homework or getting them to and from school.
One tip though is that once you come up with a price for your babysitting services for a family, make sure that you are making note of it. This way, should they ask you to babysit again, you will not end up with a different price, which might confuse and upset the parents. It will also save you time with repeat clients because you will not have to think about the pricing so much as you will have a nice little cheat sheet or notebook where all of your prices for the different families are marked. It will only be the new clients or families that you will have to figure out prices for.
About this Author
Sheila Dollarsby has 3 children and many times requries time to herself. So she usually calls the babysitter she hired from Sittercity to sit with her kids when she needs time alone or time with her husband. She trusts her Sittercity babysitter because of the background checks and rigorous hiring process that Sittercity puts their babysitters through.
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