I stumbled across this when I was trying to get some guidelines on the exact same thing. Don't get discouraged by some of these comments! I am doing the same thing as you, although for a different reason. My son gets an allowance, and he also has "non-paid" household chores that he *must do* regardless because he is part of the family. However, he is only 13, and recently was not careful and left his cell phone somewhere that the dog could get to it. Consequently, the phone is destroyed. I am not going to replace the phone, but I would like to give him the opportunity to earn money and replace the phone himself. He is only 13 so can't go out and get a job. He could certainly do odd jobs around the neighborhood - snow shoveling, dog walking, etc. - or sell old toys/clothes on Craig's List, and I will certainly encourage those ideas, but it will help him (and me) if I give him some other chances to earn some cash. I have made a list of extra "paid" chores he can do that I will pay him for. Steam clean the carpets, help clean out the back room of the basement, help organize items for charity, and the like. The only useful suggestion you received was paying minimum wage, although that could easily be taken advantage of. So we are no closer to an answer, I guess!!

Here are 2 possible ways you could go: One is finding out what a professional painter would have charged to do only the actual prep and painting (you supplying the materials as you have done) and see if that is in your price range. Many painters will give a "per sq. foot" price. I would pay your nephew less because you are having to instruct and supervise, which you would be paying a pro to NOT have to do. For example, I was going to pay a pro $400 to prep and repaint my porch; my nephew wanted the job, and he was able to do it without my coaching, so he got the full $400. If I had had to stand over him and tell him or show him how to scrape, sand and caulk, I would have paid less. The other is too look at it as, you are getting unskilled labor from him and pay him a reasonable rate for unskilled labor for 1.5-2 days work, either by the hour or by the day. That varies depending on where you live. He has gotten some free education on how to do this type of job from you; I don't see paying him for the time taken to teach him how to do it (would you pay a handyman to learn how to do the job you've hird him to do?) but, OTOH, maybe a bit more because he is handling caustic materials or also a little "bonus" because he is doing a good job and not wasting time. I would be shocked (and so would my nephews) at an expectation to be paid for helping me for every little thing (like extra items in the store). And vice versa. Maybe your family sees things differently? Too bad you didn't settle this beforehand, if he now expects to be paid per hour at the same rate as he always has been, not doing so could cause hard feelings so you have to be honest with him about what you can afford. Hope this helps.

We bought a condemned old farm house(1902) about 3 years ago. We do everything we are capable of doing ourselves because I think we, as homeowners are pickier than the contractors we hire. Besides, it is so expensive to hire out every little thing! Little off topic:(I was at Home Depot the other day waiting for paint, and I over hear the conversation between a contractor and Home Depot employee. The contractor is asking what kind of paint to buy for the exterior of a house and the guy at Home Depot shows him a brand of paint. But the contractor wanted something less expensive. So, the Home Depot guy shows him the less expensive paint and says it will last 5 years max. The contractor says, I don't give a sh**t, it's not my house. ANY CONTRACTORS READING THIS: hope you don't all think like that because we as homeowners are getting more informed, pickier, and demand more professional results for the money you charge. Okay, now that's off my chest, what we've done: Strip, varnish, reglazed all 16 windows. Stripped all woodwork in the house. Everything was painted white and full of grease and cow poop. Doors, trim, baseboards... Gutted and redid entire kitchen, hung cabinets, built a bar. (hired out granite countertops) Removed wallpaper, replastered, and painted. Put in an upstairs bathroom. (hired out plumbing and granite) Gutted and redid downstairs bathroom. It was full of bugs, grease, and cow poop and there was no running water. The pipes had froze and exploded in the wall. It was GROSS! We build walls, closets, insulate, do trim work, tile work. Changed our butlers pantry into a bird room for our parrots to live in. They have there own window and we put in a door with a big window so they aren't secluded from us. I have so many horror stories from crappy contractors that we do what we can ourselves and are choosier when hiring out. We hired out rewiring our house and outbuildings.(we didn't hire the contractor who told us he couldn't give us an accurate bid because he wasn't sure how long it would take or how many guys were needed. lol) We hired out our furnace and ac with all new venting. (we didn't hire the contractor who wanted to rip out plaster walls, drop the ceilings lower, and leave a bunch of exposed vents for us to "box cover". We also didn't hire the guy who wanted to concrete over our 100 year old floors for in floor heating. lol) We hired out our cedar shingled roof because our roof is sloped and neither one of us likes heights. (We didn't hire the contractor who told us he was licensed, bonded, and insured but upon checking further, there was no record. We also didn't hire the guy whose bid was double the guy we hired) I'm always a wreck when hiring contractors. Sometimes you have to babysit. The original electrician we hired(friend of a friend, never again will we hire a friend of a friend)... we didn't live at the house yet, stopped out one day to see how it was going... there the 2 of them sat drinking beer. I was livid! Can you say fired! DIY projects can be a lot of fun... more customization for a better price and sometimes it turns out better than hiring the work out would have. Our projects coming up are installing new wooden storm windows, built in bookcases with a fire place for the dining room, and redoing our rough looking stairwell. Here's to all you DIY's!! Sometimes it's the best choice.

Thank you all for your time and input. I amleaning toward the gift certificate. We have incredibly great restaurants within walking distance. My husband wants to give cash, so we are currently trying to deal with that. I know my neighbor boards her dog when she goes away because the dog requires walking. She usually has a friend's neighbor, but he was not available for her last few trips. I can see paying a young person cash, but as an adult AND neighbor, the gift certificate seems like the way to go. Especially since she moved here a few months ago, a gift cert. to a good restaurant that you might not either afford or think to go because it's a bit pricy (but really good), seems good. As a matter of fact, her downstairs neighborr is a well-known chef at a beautiful, highly rated restaurant. So, we'd be benefitting both neighbors. Except they are closed for the month of September. An IOU gift certificate wouldn't work.