I just went through this with a family this week. My normal operating hours are 7:30-5:15, Monday-Friday. This family needs care for 2 children, 2-4 days a week. I normally charge $2.50/hr per kid, $4/hr for 2. Their hours are from 4 AM to 2 PM, so I raised my price to $5.50/hr.

Since the days vary from week to week, I originally had it figured at a set rate of $160/wk, for 20-40 hours (2-4 days). The mom tried taking advantage of that saying she will bring them 4 days no matter what. I had a discussion with them saying that the way I figured that rate was thinking there would be 2 day weeks and 4 day weeks, averaging out to 3 days/wk. We settled on $160 for 30 hours (3 days) and $5.50/hr after that.

If you charge hourly you will be losing out. Do a set rate and get everything in writing so there's no mis-communication.

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