what is exceptable to charge? new q's at bottom off thread plz

[littlestar]

hello every one well this may be a bit of a headache so i apolagise in advance
i have 3 siblings starting hours are
week 1
mon - fri school pick up mind for 1 hr (only 2 out of 3 children these days)

week 2
tues off mind m,w,t,f, school pick up 2 hrs mind

week 3
mon- fri school pick up, 3 hrs

week 4
tues off, mind m,w,t,f, school pick up 3 hrs


im so confused ill also have them all day every day in hols but just want to get straight term time what would you all do i charge £3.50ph and would like to give sibling discount any help would be great.

[butterfly]

These three children are going to fill your spaces after school - you won't be able to fill in the bits where they don't need you. Therefore I would charge hourly fee for all 3 children every day for three hours. Maybe you could offer them a good sibling discount as a sweetner esp as they would be filling the spaces.

If you don't feel happy about charging for all 3 hours every week what about a standard session fee after school? Say £8.50. I wouldn't give a sibling discount on top of a reduced session fee though. To be fair if they're planning to put 3 children in care they must realise it's going to cost them!

What did they think you would charge when they asked you about minding?

[littlestar]

so i was thinking if i calculate these hours over the four weeks which comes to 102hrs minded between all the children
102 x £3.50 =£357

£357 divided by 4 =£89.25 weekly

does this make sense?

that is my full hourly rate would this be fair or would she exspect a reduced rate as there is 3 of them?

such a headache!!!!!!!!!!!

[butterfly]

From experience I would say don't offer too much sibling discount - I've done this several times and found that actually siblings are harder work especially after school. They eat the same amount (usually loads) and 3 hours is a long time to have them! I also found 5 days per week hard going! Don't under sell yourself and regret it later!

I would offer an absolute max of 50p discount for the second and third child. I would more inclined to say £10 per hour for all three for ease!

[Andrea08]

hi, i have a flat rate of £10 for after school each any hrs from 3pm to 6pm
if you pick up early thats your loss...

i give a discount but small to siblings but tbh this family is filling up your over 5yr old places and will be hard work in the hols esp if they fight,

good luck hun but dont undercut yourself, i would charge for a full wk because filling your gaps is going to be mad lol xxx

[littlestar]

thanks everyone so in total i have 40hrs if i charge £10 flat rate per hr for all kids it will be £100 per week does this seem reasonable?
3 kids
evry day
£100 weekly

[butterfly]

sounds good

[Goatgirl]

thanks everyone so in total i have 40hrs if i charge £10 flat rate per hr for all kids it will be £100 per week does this seem reasonable?
3 kids
evry day
£100 weekly

Hi ,
I personaly, would do this based on the hours contracted rather than a session fee in case Mum asked for extra hours. Its nice to finish early sometimes and I'd resent having to work more for the same money. Plus, when I worked it out it was a total of 115 hours @ £3.50 = £402.50, which is almost the same as the other way without leaving yourself open to being taken advantage of.

I'd also not average it out over the 4 weeks: I invoice for 4 weeks in advance at a time so it would usually be the same amount I am getting...

bws,
Wendy