Work-for-rent arrangements
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Anonymous
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I'm a young nanny who currently works FT caring for a toddler. Between 40 hours of work, running errands, seeing my friends, and spending time with my boyfriend (we have dinner together every night at his apartment and I spend the night with him 3-4x/week) I am rarely at home. I live with a roommate whom I love, and we live in a very nice condo, but at this point I feel like I pay (quite a bit of) rent for a place to store my clothes and furniture.
An opportunity has arose for me to trade 12 hours/week of childcare/light housekeeping in exchange for free rent in a home with a single mother and 2 kids. We are just in the beginning stages of getting to know each other and seeing if we would like to proceed, but I thought I might as well start getting advice now. I've never looked for a live-in position before as I've heard horror stories of live-ins being expected to constantly be on duty, or having no privacy. My thought is that since this is such an informal arrangement (I would basically be providing care so she could get some "me" time and help around the house) that might not be a concern. I have been very upfront so far about the fact that I am rarely at home, when I am I will probably just want to be alone in my room to veg out and enjoy my kid-free time, and that I spend the night with my boyfriend frequently (she mentioned a no overnight guest policy, which is fine). My thinking is that if I do end up being offered this opportunity, I would ask for a trial month first. I would only accept her offer if I was very sure it would work out anyways, but just in case I would like to have that opportunity to move on. If the first month didn't work out, I could stay with my boyfriend until I was able to find a new place, so no problems there. I'm trying really hard to pay off my student debt so saving rent money would be a HUGE help for me (almost half of my take-home pay goes to rent right now). This would also cut my commute from 20 to 5 minutes to my FT job. I guess what I'm looking for is any advice from people who have entered these types of arrangements before, or any general advice about living in. |
Anonymous
| OP here: forgot to ad, I would have my own room, furnished, including a TV and couch, and my own bathroom. Not sure yet if those are in the same part of the house as the family's bedrooms or separate. Kitchen would be shared. |
Anonymous
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Go about it like roommates. Put everything in writing. Have several dinners all together first and stick to the 30 day trial, and after that go month-to-month.
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Anonymous
| If she lives in Kensington and has to boys M and A and her name starts with a D don't take it.... |
Anonymous
I actually live on the west coast of Canada but thanks - I appreciate the thought! 
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Anonymous
| OP, count on it that the mom will take advantage of you. This is a given. The kids will also drive you nuts. Stay where you are. |
Anonymous
Can you please elaborate? Take advantage of me as in try to get me to work beyond those 12 hours/week? I'm anticipating normal kid noise (playing, screaming, waking up in the middle of the night) but I'm thinking that between being a very heavy sleeper and not being home much anyways, it won't be an issue. |
Anonymous
| OP again - the kids are a bit older (elementary age) so by the time I get home in the evenings it will be far past their bedtimes and (hopefully!) night-time wakeups are rare. |
Anonymous
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You sound like you have a very good head on your shoulders OP and that you have really thought this through.
I agree that a trial period makes quite a bit of sense. These situations can be quite tricky at best so it makes sense to always have a back-up plan in place. A "Plan B." |
Anonymous
| Get everything in writing before you move in |
Anonymous
| I have yet to meet a single mother who does not try to finagle some free childcare from anyone they know. |
Anonymous
You're rude. Get out of my thread 
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Anonymous
Rude but its true |
Anonymous
| OP, what is the schedule for the 12 hours per week of child are you'll be doing in trade for rent? I ask because it sounds like you are planning to never be home, and she might be looking for 2 hours every evening with one night off per week. |
Anonymous
| Move in with your boyfriend. |