I am so old that I remember the 50 cents, then $1, per hr. for sitting. That won't fly in this economy! However, I am still paying for animal duty...$10 per trip. This person also works for me in other capacities, so maybe this amount is low. Also, I am near a large city, which means higher costs, so I would be interested in what other people have to say. My relatives all live around Greenville, SC, and their living costs are lower than mine.

It costs me $25-$39 per day to board my dog (60 lbs) at a regular kennel. An additional $6 per walk (which I have no way of knowing if they actually do).

I babysit a small dog (with health problems) for $15 per day. The owners pay me gladly because they know I take my dog to the park twice each day regardless of weather so they know their dog will get his much needed exercise. They travel for long periods of time so the bill really adds up. In years where they are gone a lot, I often give them one free weekend. I sometimes feel guilty getting paid to do this, since I've done it so often and for so long I am now friends with the owner - but the truth is, this little dog is a lot of trouble. He has major health and mental health issues. Keeping him at my house is not a picnic.

I now have a friend who needs a place to stay. So when I travel I pay her to stay at my house and care for all my pets and water the garden. I would pay any amount if I knew she had nothing but free time on her hands to do everything that needs to be done around the house - but she also works and has committments elsewhere, so things don't always get the kind of care I would give them if I were home. I pay $25 per day to care for the dog, an ancient cat and a billion potted plants. The main thing I want is someone to keep the dog socialized and in her routine rather than locked in a cage and left alone.

I have no idea what to charge for the childcare.

For the babysitting - my 16 year old said she usually leaves it up to the parents. She said her friends are charging $2-$4 per hour, per child. I guess that isn't horrible because I was charging $1.50 per hour, per child 20 years ago. If you're hiring during sleep time, I'd go with a lesser amount.

Hope this helps a little.

Heather

Don't forget to figure your gas charges for the 20 mile trip. With gas costing what it does today, forgetting to do so will make you loose money in the long run!

you will have an hour in travel time (for the pets) plus gas costs, and then figure how long you are there. I'd say $30 per day minimum for the critters, maybe $35. That is way cheaper than they would pay at a kennel.

I have had my own pet sitting business for over 12 now. If I can walk to their house, I charge $15 for one visit, $20 for two visits ...I do have some who ask me to come three and four times...I add another $5 for each additional visit. If I have to drive to their house, It goes up from there depending on the distance.

When my daughters baby sit, they charge $10 per hour for one child, with $3 added for each extra child. The charge per hour went up after midnight.

Note that there is a special place for non-garden questions - up on the top before the beginning of posts there is a blue "Conversations" tab to click and to post under for this type of non-garden question. I'm not the police, just want to help you find out that there is a lot of information on this forum and a wealth of information on the rest of GW, which are organized quite well, although sometimes not really very obvious where, to new members. As you can see though, it's not cast in stone because you did get many answers here and you will elsewhere on the GW, so you will never be ignored.

I am retired and the pay I get for sitting is in hugs and wet kisses and good times to remember when the house is quiet again. It would be nice though to get paid a little for milk and cookies (child or pet types), or that they would bring some treat with them once in a while, or a treat for me even. As for the price for paying non-family to sit for your children and pets, take the info from those above and start asking around. It is a big responsibility to sit for triplet toddlers who go in six directions at once and the price you pay should be commensurate with that level of responsibility. As it has been said - you get what you pay for. Pay 'em $5 per hour and you get $5 worth of inattention. Pay 'em $20 per hour and you can go do what you have to away from them with an easy mind. Childcare can't be a cut-rate proposition since they are the most precious things you have. Pets on the other hand are not quite as precious, but they can't get their own dinner or water either and you do need someone dependable to show up when they are supposed to. Since you live far away from the 20-mile tripper, you should compensate them for their trip time and their gas in addition to their on-the-job time. As for baby-sitters I only asked those with their own car to come sit so that if there was an emergency they would not have to wait for their mom to come get them (we lived far out in the country when mine were small) and since this was before cell phones, they wouldn't have to wait for us to come back and get them, if they could reach us by phone at all.

As to where to find these sitter types, I'd recommend contacting some of the local churches. Many have youth groups and keep lists of young people who need some spending money, and as I've found, were always dependable. In my church we have some people (in all age ranges) who have lost their jobs and would love to do something, anything, for any fair amount of pay. Hope you have good luck finding just the right match for your needs!

Nancy the nancedar