charges??? or favour...

[poppiesmom]

As a childminder i have been approached by a mom to ask if when she has to have her bunions done would i pick up and take her kids to school....and pick them up and take them home... so will only have them for 30 minutes each way.. ( one little one is at playgroup on the days i'm already there with a mindee... so this will be for 2 weeks ... 5 days a week.... How do i work out a cost for this???
Or do i just be a good old soul!!!

You shoud definitely charge her, unless she is the kind of friend who would do you a similar favour if the positions were reversed.

I think your normal hourly rate (5 hrs/week x howevermanykids) would be generous on your part, since the walk to school is probably one of the more challenging parts of your day.

I dont really know her apart from to chat to whilst waiting at school or playgroup....how many hours do i charge for each child... or do you mean just 5 hours for the whole week for all 3????

Have just reread ur reply.... sorry ur very clear on how much you think i should charge.... i feel i short sell myself sometimes.... thanks x

how old are her children and what are the ages of the other children in your care?
What are your "normal" fees?

her children are 2 5 and 6... i dont work on a monday and tuesday so they would be the only one's id have ( and put myself out for!!!) the others i care for are aged 2, 3, 8and 9 my rates are £3.50 which is cheap for our area...

I would charge your normal fee plus a bonus to make it worth your while (btw I don't work for less than £5 per hour!) especially as you'd be going out of your way to help on days you'd normally have off.

Maybe just charge her a set upfront fee for the 2 weeks (10days) she is using you - not being the cycnical but she may decided after 5 days she is ok and then stop using you to save money.

I know its only 30mins a day but its 3 children so I suggest charging a min of an hr per day and at a rate of £5 an hr per child so £150 for the 2weeks esp if 2 of the days you dont normally work and this restricts what you can do with your free time.

I you ask a CM to do this for you, then you would expect to be paying the full and proper rate for it - I would expect to pay £3.50 per hour - or part thereof- per child, each way, so £3.50 x 6 a day.

If you want to ask someone a favour, then you ask a friend, that you have helped out or would be willing to help out again, not a professional.

IME of bunion operations though, it won't be a couple of weeks, it will be many, many weeks.