How to Charge For This?

[beachgrl]

Hey all..i have a potential parent who is interested in care for three kids From like 9am-9:30pm when she originally wanted like 8 hrs. My Normal daily/drop in rate is $30 and i told her i would do $25 ea for 8 hrs but i dont know what to tell her now with it being on Saturday and sunday (making my week all week long w no days off) And i know its prolly hard for her to find care for 3 kids and since i am just starting out i can really use the xtra money. So what would you guys do/charge w it being such long days, Mom is a nurse i think and only works those two days per week.

[KEG123]

Nope. No way am I watching someone's kids 12.5 hours every day of the week. When do those poor kids ever get to see their parents?

[Crystal]

$125 per day. That's $50 each with a discount of $25 for the third child. Take it or leave it. She'll probably take it.

[beachgrl]

Sorry, its not everyday just every sat and sun..
I will just have other peoples kids during the week just to clarify

[GG~DAYCARE]

I agree with the $125. It is weekend pay!!

[beachgrl]

I was thinking an extra $20 ea per day but didnt want to make it so much that it'd be pointless for her to even work but with 3 kids. Its hard to get care especially with those hours.

[cheerfuldom]

I would never do these hours myself but if I did, I would charge $90 per day ($30 per kid, no discounts) plus at least $10 per kid for weekend pay. I really think that you will burn out quickly though OP and I really think this is a bad idea. Doing all day every day is just too much. When are you going to rest, run errands, spend time with families, etc?

[beachgrl]

Yah I dont know that I would want to do it, just wondering what people would charge. I would have to take them with me to do things and include them. Whatever we do as a family, plus we will have my 5yr stepson each wkeend too so idk if it is something I am willing or able to do really. Thanks for your responses!

[mom2many]

Wow... My weekends are my time of refuge, so I would definitely charge top dollar. That is a huge sacrifice giving up that time off, so you should make it worth your while.

[Abigail]

If you typically charge $30 per child then you should charge $90 per day. Honestly, how much is this person making while at work? If it's higher than what she makes she obviously will not do it. If you want the money, you should only offer it as a drop-in basis and schedule one weekend at a time. Then she can alternate between babysitters and you so you don't have to work everyday of the week all year long! $90 a day is reasonable because it's 12.5 hour shifts and it's weekend hours and you feed them and they'll probably be awake all day unless they're really young. The lowest you should go is $75 a day because you quoted $25 per kid, yet that was on an 8 hour basis....go even higher up to $90 a day to make you feel okay.

Honestly, I would strictly do this on a drop in basis that must be scheduled and APPROVED by you. Have one weekend paid in advance (check cleared) prior to care, or paid part in cash up front. Let us know what you plan to do!

[Meyou]

I charge $60 for an 8 hour weekend day, double my daily rate. My families use the option in December for xmas shopping alot. For a 12.5 hour Saturday it would have to be worth losing my whole day and my weekend so $250 for 3 kids? That seems really high but I'm going by my weekend rate that I use now.

[beachgrl]

Originally Posted by Meyou

I charge $60 for an 8 hour weekend day, double my daily rate. My families use the option in December for xmas shopping alot. For a 12.5 hour Saturday it would have to be worth losing my whole day and my weekend so $250 for 3 kids? That seems really high but I'm going by my weekend rate that I use now.

Are you saying like $250 for both days or each day, because it would be sat and sunday. I plan to call her back today and see if it is an every weekend thing or every other because last time I talked to her she was thinking of an every other weekend thing but she didn't say when she left the message which it was.

I have to REALLY think about this in regard to my weekends,plus it being three kids...it would definitely not be my typical day...it would have to be the kids doing whatever we do and being more a part of the family then scheduling activities and such, I am not going to be following a normal daily daycare schedule other than meals. I feel like if I were to do this, it is a big sacrifice of my family time and weekend time and I am NOT going to go out of my way with activities and such.

It's sad that right now though I could make more on the weekend taking care of those kids than during the week with the two I have as drop-ins until my enrollment gets up.

[beachgrl]

Originally Posted by Abigail

If you typically charge $30 per child then you should charge $90 per day. Honestly, how much is this person making while at work? If it's higher than what she makes she obviously will not do it. If you want the money, you should only offer it as a drop-in basis and schedule one weekend at a time. Then she can alternate between babysitters and you so you don't have to work everyday of the week all year long! $90 a day is reasonable because it's 12.5 hour shifts and it's weekend hours and you feed them and they'll probably be awake all day unless they're really young. The lowest you should go is $75 a day because you quoted $25 per kid, yet that was on an 8 hour basis....go even higher up to $90 a day to make you feel okay.

Honestly, I would strictly do this on a drop in basis that must be scheduled and APPROVED by you. Have one weekend paid in advance (check cleared) prior to care, or paid part in cash up front. Let us know what you plan to do!

I like what you say about making it as a drop in basis, and I was definitely planning to tell her it would have to be on a so many week trial basis to see how it would go first. But I really like that idea, that way if I did have something I needed to do one weekend that I didn't want to deal with three extra kids she could find other arrangements. I am thinking of telling her around $100-125 though which will determine just how much she really wants to do it.

[Crazy8]

First, I would NEVER do it, no way, no how. I don't care how much I needed the money, there is no way in hell I'd give up 12.5 hours of my weekend when I already work Mon-Fri. No WAY.

But if you really need it and are willing to say no to every possible event that you could be going to on the weekends I would NOT do it for bargain rate. Your NORMAL rate is $30/day, so regardless of your quote of $75 (when you thought it was normal 8 hour days), so I wouldn't do less than $90/day for the weekend - I'd probably go even higher for the extra hours and the fact that you'd be working 7 days a week. I'd do bare minimum of $180 for the weekend. I don't know about your area but here weekend nurses make a good deal of money, she has to know it will cost her to have daycare for 12+ hour days on the weekend.

[beachgrl]

Well I talked to her this morning just to see what exactly she was needing and to tell her what I would charge. We talked for a few minutes, her mom has been caring for them but also works a full time job during the week so she said her mom could do it some weekends or even two out of the month but basically wanted to be able to take the weekend shift and give her mom a break once in a while which is better than NEEDING every weekend. I told her there would probably be weekends that we had plans or would want to do something and she was fine said her mom could watch them so it may just be an every other weekend kind of thing or when I am available to watch them without it interfering with what we have going on.

I quoted her at $125 per day so we will she if she decides she is still interested or not, she is supposed to find out for sure this week if she will have that weekend shift or not so who knows, and it wouldn't start for over a month so I would still have what is left of my summer weekend beach time and such.

I may just do it on a trial basis when I don't have stuff happening on the weekend, wait and see what I hear back from her I guess. No way I am doing it under contract, it will definitely be on a drop in basis. Speaking of that, for those of you that charge an enrollment or registration fee, do you do it for the drop ins too?

[Sugar Magnolia]

Honestly, I wouldn't do it, for the sake of my family and personal hapiness. I advise against it. If you absolutely MUST do it for financial reasons, I would limit her to once a month. And she must make a "reservation" one week in advance. And seriously, I think it would be fair to get $300 per weekend for this "premium" service.

IMO, I would have to be in a serious financial crisis (as in no $ for food) to do this though. Sorry but even every other weekend would be....too too too much. What does your husband think?

[Abigail]

Originally Posted by beachgrl

I quoted her at $125 per day so we will she if she decides she is still interested or not, she is supposed to find out for sure this week if she will have that weekend shift or not so who knows, and it wouldn't start for over a month so I would still have what is left of my summer weekend beach time and such.

I may just do it on a trial basis when I don't have stuff happening on the weekend, wait and see what I hear back from her I guess. No way I am doing it under contract, it will definitely be on a drop in basis. Speaking of that, for those of you that charge an enrollment or registration fee, do you do it for the drop ins too?

If she takes you up on the offer it equals out to $5 per hour which isn't too bad because you have them all day to make a week's worth of income in two days. As far as drop-ins, you would still need to have all the paperwork on file and up-to-date so I would charge an annual fee of $10 per child because you already know you're not going to do your daycare routine and use many daycare supplies during the weekend. Think how much your time/space percentage will go up as well for having an additional 25 hours that week! I agree with the other person who said they should be scheduled. You should require $25 per day she doesn't show because you were expecting if she decides to cancel or have mom/dad watch the kids again to save money. Create a contract and make it a drop in basis.

[beachgrl]

Originally Posted by Sugar Magnolia

Honestly, I wouldn't do it, for the sake of my family and personal hapiness. I advise against it. If you absolutely MUST do it for financial reasons, I would limit her to once a month. And she must make a "reservation" one week in advance. And seriously, I think it would be fair to get $300 per weekend for this "premium" service.

IMO, I would have to be in a serious financial crisis (as in no $ for food) to do this though. Sorry but even every other weekend would be....too too too much. What does your husband think?

Well we are getting close to that actually with both of us being in school and him being the only one really working right now. He makes okay but nothing by the time he takes out child support for his son and the 400+it costs him in gas going to work, plus I make over $3000 a month as a teacher and had benefits so we are taking a huge hit on income right now and I am worried what will happen until I get a full schedule of kids enrolled without the extra money.

He is all for it, he is very supportive of anything related to the child care business and wants it to be successful as well as he worries about the financial aspect as much if not more than I do right now. I do like the idea of having a contract and charging a fee if she backs out on days she had scheduled.

[CheekyChick]

I could not do it... I think working the weekends would send me over the edge.

With that said, I would charge $120.00 per day. She is a nurse who probably makes $25.00+ per hour. You are giving up your weekend. Oh, and I would write in the contract that if you ever have plans, you will have a regular "sitter" come to your house and she will have to pay the "above and beyond" fee that will be paid to the sitter. Does that make any sense?

[beachgrl]

I told her it would be $125 day for a total of $250 for the weekend. She was supposed to let me know something Thursday on whether she got the position but haven't heard from her so I don't know if that is due to the storm or her just not wanting to pay that much but she didn't seem to bat an eyelash when i told her how much.

Her mom is available as back up so if I want to do every other weekend or have a weekend off she can watch them but she has a full time job all week so she doesn't want her mom having to watch them all the time.

Maybe won't even hear back from her. I am working this week on getting some yard signs done to put around our town and getting a sign for my business out front so people know I am here and hopefully will get some more kids in with the additional advertising.

[PitterPatter]

First of all I strongly suggest you rethink the effort and personal time you will be sacrificing not having a single day off ever! I can see a total burn out within a couple months. It would be dif if it was for a few hours on Sat & Sun but your WHOLE weekend is gone! Do you have a family? I'm only asking because as it is with me having to work some Saturdays and only getting Sundays off I struggle to make time for family, cleaning, groceries, errands and me time all fit in. If you think you can do it then more power to you and I wish you luck but that is my 1st thought.

2nd I would NOT discount for her. Being she only needs care for 2 days per week and is a nurse then she can afford it. Charge your regular rate with maybe even a few bucks extra for weekend care. I say $30 per kid per day making it $180 per week. Average daycare costs that much or more so why cut her slack when you will be working hard for her. I will never do daycare 7 days a week I almost got burnt out doing 6 days at 10-11 hrs a day. I know my limits please just be sure you know yours as well. Good luck to you!

[PitterPatter]

Originally Posted by beachgrl

I told her it would be $125 day for a total of $250 for the weekend. She was supposed to let me know something Thursday on whether she got the position but haven't heard from her so I don't know if that is due to the storm or her just not wanting to pay that much but she didn't seem to bat an eyelash when i told her how much.

Her mom is available as back up so if I want to do every other weekend or have a weekend off she can watch them but she has a full time job all week so she doesn't want her mom having to watch them all the time.

Maybe won't even hear back from her. I am working this week on getting some yard signs done to put around our town and getting a sign for my business out front so people know I am here and hopefully will get some more kids in with the additional advertising.

Ooops guess I should read all the replies and updates 1st huh?

A little help with signs.. I bought mine from vistaprint. Great deal and the signs hold up year round! I have both styles. Good luck to u and your business!

[beachgrl]

Haha, it's okay I do that too sometimes
I will look at those, thanks for the suggestion as I had looked at them on eBay, I got my business cards from vista print..got my car magnetic signs customized and ordered from eBay and they are otw! Thanks, haventmheard from her anyway and I just don't think I want to take that on anyway so yay..but I hope I get some kids in the next few weeks!!