No advice so, *bumpage* for you.

Do you have a regular kind of price you would charge for an over night watch? I don't know. It depends on the parent(s) and what they can afford. I would prob say around $100 or so. Sorry I really don't have any advice.

No advice either. Maybe a bit of a discount off your usual price? Just so it's not such a big amount for them, but still good money for you?

tell her you charge a flat rate of $600 a day.

when she gets pissed at the amount, ask her if $360 sounds better.

Well, the way I see it, they KNOW that you are going to be babysitting for 36 hours. I don't see where its fair for you to reduce your rate. I say tell them $360 and if they take it, fine, if not... well, there you have it. Its not like you can ignore your duties for 8 hours while you sleep. You're on the clock the whole time. If they can't afford it, then they simply can't afford to have someone babysit for 36 hours.

I agree with Primal. Reducing your rate really shouldnt happen. As he said you are babysitting these kids around the clock and giving up an entire weekend. You are basiclly going to be a parent for 36 hours.

Tell them the 10 per hour sticks. You should get paid failry and for every second you work

I babysat for that amount of time a couple years ago and I got paid $200. The parents were friends of my mom and I had never babysat for them before so I didn't really have a standard. They offered $200 so I said sure.

As someone who charges hourly rates on a regular basis, I think you should give them a discount. You need to factor in that it is a single large job, but you likely would not be missing out on other work to do such an extended stay. Obviously, They know & trust you, so they already understand your standard rate, but cutting them a discount should be figured in. When I do shop work I charge a flat rate, but if it is a large job I shave some off. When I travel I have a graduated rate scale on to whether I want to do more work for you. If I can sit in your house and work without being bothered, I cut you a better deal. If I need to lug stuff around, run all over town & be nagged the whole day… guess what? You pay a more standard rate.

I also charge less if you feed me for the days I am working for you. I have an even better rate if I get to sleep at your house or your dogs are allowed to stay with me as I work! But that is another story!

Good Luck!

Jake does bring up agood point. If they are stocking the fridge etc I would reduce it a bit.

Well... if you think about it.. if you watched the kids while they worked.. technically 40hrs x $10 would be $400/week. Usually, daycare can range from $100-$200 for the week while the parents go to work. But...you are watching them overnight and often people charge more because of that.

Actually I would be losing out on work because I have to take that time off from my pt job, BUT the most I would be missing is maybe $150 worth of time there anyhow, so I can still make out in the end...especially since there is no taxes and its a cash job (or check, but I just cash it. lol)

I was asking some ladies at work and they said $300 sounds fair. I know that I get to be a parent for a full day and 2 nights and sleep time is still work time because if someone pees the bed or wakes up missing mommmy and crying, I get to wake up too.

I expect that the fridge would be stocked anyhow, and have only ever sat for one person who didn't do that for me. Even leaving pizza money or something is cool.

I still don't have exact hours though and was only told Friday night til Sunday morning...which is a pretty broad window regardless. So I will think about it some more and me and mommy shall discuss it. Asking a person to take over your job as the parent for 2 nights is a big responsibility.

Well daycare is a reduced rate based on the idea that there will be multiple children being watched by a single person on a regular basis. When I taught preschool my age level was $220/wk. BUT, some kids were there from 6am to 6pm and others weren't so it all balanced out. Plus the school was paying me a flat rate per hour which amounted to FAAAAAR less than what they made from my room (over $1400 a week on average profit.)

Okay, think about it this way. Lets say you charge $300 for the weekend. Now, since you have to take off from your job to do this and lose out on a potential $150, you can effectively subtract this from the $300 as amount you lose from NOT working at your pt job. This means that you are doing the job for $150, which equals out to about $4.17/hour.

Primal - sorta. Since our schedules vary weekly I have no for sure way to know my potential hours. I tend to work 15 hours max on fri/sat/sun but with it being a slower time of year it is more likely to be 10 if that. Plus I can still work during the day Friday and this on top if it which is pretty decent.

Farkit, if I can make $150 more than I normally would thats still $150 in my pocket for my Chitown trip.