Paying 13yo neighbor to water flowers for two weeks?

[Anonymous]

My son just did this for $5/day for 10 days so $50. It’s a next door neighbor so he didn’t have to go far.

[Anonymous]

$5 per visit seems reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd give him $20.

Uh, no. That’s just a little over $1 a day

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$5 per visit seems reasonable.

Agree. And agree what you are really paying for is for them to remember, not skip a day, do a good job, etc. not the specific # of minutes worked. $20-$30 for two weeks seems really low. My 9-year old is currently pet-sitting for $5-7 a visit.

I also think you could do it every other day, which might be a good compromise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are going out of town for two weeks, and we'd like to ask our 13yo neighbor if he'd like the job of watering our front flower bed (once) daily. We'd pay him, but we aren't sure what the going rate for something like this is!

The hose and spigot are right there, and the job would take him 2 minutes tops (I just did it!)

What amount would you offer to pay him?

I'd offer $10/ day to make it worth his while.

$10/day is what our neighbors pay my 12-yr-old for watering.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor gives my son $20 each day he waters. It is a bit more than what you mention but it’s still very generous. He also pays him the full amount up front so DS knows. Not sure if you trust your neighbor enough to do that, but it works because I don’t want DS to “negotiate” with my neighbor on this (I would have DS do it for free as a good neighbor), but he still gets a good amount.

I would say for what you’re talking about, just do $50 and call it a day. The kid will appreciate your paying a little more.

[Anonymous]

My neighbor gives my kid $10 a day for plants and mail. They do have a ton of plants, but I think that rate is generous.

[Anonymous]

Our neighbor just left for their annual 3 week trip back to their home country and my kids (7 & 9) are thrilled that they get to water the neighbor's colorful veggie and flower patch each day. Usually the mom gives my kids $20 each when they come back.

[Anonymous]

Per the other thread, you should be friends with your neighbor and not treat him like an errand boy.

[Anonymous]

$9/day. Round down to an even number so that’s about $80?

Give them half at the beginning, half when you get back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$9/day. Round down to an even number so that’s about $80?

Give them half at the beginning, half when you get back.

I don’t intend that you should tell the kid $9. I figured that was a mental starting point.

[Anonymous]

How did a 5 year old thread get revived?

[Anonymous]

I give the kid across the street $75/week to come over and feed my cat and bring in the mail. I used to pay $50/week, but that did not feel like enough. Even if it only takes a couple of minutes, it requires them to remember and to figure out how to work into their schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends how much you like the flowers.

I'd offer $7/day. Same hourly wage as a mother's helper. Yes, it's only a couple of minutes, but you are also paying for reliability

A mother's helper makes $210 an hour?

You can hire a mother's helper to get to your place and back for 2 minutes a day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:$5 per visit seems reasonable.

Agree. And agree what you are really paying for is for them to remember, not skip a day, do a good job, etc. not the specific # of minutes worked. $20-$30 for two weeks seems really low. My 9-year old is currently pet-sitting for $5-7 a visit.

I also think you could do it every other day, which might be a good compromise.

Right. And having that as a new daily chore means the child has to remember and figure it into any plans (e.g., can't just go somewhere like a friend's house right after school and maybe spend the night, because I didn't water the plants today before I left since I was running late). Yeah, it's not a big deal, but it is an inconvenience.

I'm not clear on whether the intent of the thread was to take the temperature of what was reasonable or argue about / defend some preset amount that was already in mind, though> OP, is there some kind of limited range you are willing to consider, or something?