Anonymous wrote:We have two kids and would love to get some time for ourselves while down there. Maybe 4-5 hours a day. Going for 5 days. What should we offer to a babysitter?

You're kidding. Just hire a sitter or nanny there. All hotels or resorts have a list and references and shell know good activities in the area!
And coat $12-15/hour-- or less in Florida or the Caribbean.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would pay $15 per hour and all expenses. It would be nice if you let her bring a friend? Is she young? I would have jumped on this in a heartbeat when I was in my early 20s.

I'm assuming you've never done this. Remember, her expenses don't stop at home for your vacation. This is not a vacation for her. I did this as a teenager and it wasn't fun at all. I had maybe an hour or two a day. Parents claim they only needed a few hours but it wasn't the case. Food was an issue and for that hour or two I ended up having to pay to eat out, which they weren't paying for. It is not fun, its a job. Just because its your vacation does not mean its their vacation. What you consider fun for them may not be fun for them. You don't want to care for your own kids on vacation as it isn't full fun for you, so why would it be for them.

Um clearly you can't read. I said $15 per hour and all expenses.

If you don't have a sitter in mind, it might be worth looking for one at the destination via hotel or local agency.

If you do have someone in mind, ask her! Rates and expectations vary widely.

If you want to bring someone but don't want to pay a boatload then you need to get someone who is too broke to travel and will be excited for the chance. We did this a few times with our high school sitter. I wouldn't trust her to manage the kids at the beach all alone, but she was perfect for helping to entertain them on the flight or watching a movie and putting them to bed in the hotel room. Our cost was private room/board/transportation plus her hourly rate for hours worked, as well as a $100-200 gift at the start of the week for her to have a little spending money.

Anonymous wrote:

I travel with my NF and the set up we have come up with (for 4 years now) is I get $1000 a week for travel plus one week off before or after with pay. So it works out to be very fair, I feel well rested and compensated, I have time to take my own vacation before or after, and it's not breaking the bank for MB. And of course they pay for everything during travel (flight, meals, rooms, car, etc)

Is the 1K instead of or on top of your normal guaranteed hours? I am asking because one day I might want to take our regular nanny on vacation (provided she was game) and wondered what a fair setup would be.

No, $1000 for the week. But again, I get a week either before or after off, paid. So how ever you want to look at the money. For example, heres some round number. If my weekly salary was $800:

normal week: $800
week before trip off, 0 hours: $800
week of trip, not keeping track of hours, enjoying time with the family: $1000
normal week again: $800
normal etc etc

So in this example (of course if your weekly salary is above $1000 you should probably get more for the travel week) I had a week free and a working vacation, worked an untracked number of hours but had fun, and made $1800.

So, could I make more money keeping track of hours and charging a daily overnight rate? Maybe, but it's not worth it to me to damage the relationship, and be petty about hours, etc. I like my job and the family is VERY good to me year round. I like this arrangement.

I travel with my NF and the set up we have come up with (for 4 years now) is I get $1000 a week for travel plus one week off before or after with pay. So it works out to be very fair, I feel well rested and compensated, I have time to take my own vacation before or after, and it's not breaking the bank for MB. And of course they pay for everything during travel (flight, meals, rooms, car, etc)

Is the 1K instead of or on top of your normal guaranteed hours? I am asking because one day I might want to take our regular nanny on vacation (provided she was game) and wondered what a fair setup would be.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a career nanny, so maybe you are looking for a sitter????


I put in my contracts, all travel is a daily rate of 750 plus all transpo and lodging and food.

I mainly charge a higher rate because I have no schedule, can be on all day or all night.

I have been with my nf for 5 years, we travel 3 to 6 months a year depending on work.

Do you work for celebrities?

+1

Yeah, that's like $94 per hour for a 8 hour day or $75 per hour for a 10 hour day! Even at 24 hours, that would be $31.25 per hour, but the hiring family isn't going to want the nanny around for 24 hours. They would want their privacy and alone time, too.

Anonymous wrote:I'm a career nanny, so maybe you are looking for a sitter????


I put in my contracts, all travel is a daily rate of 750 plus all transpo and lodging and food.

I mainly charge a higher rate because I have no schedule, can be on all day or all night.

I have been with my nf for 5 years, we travel 3 to 6 months a year depending on work.

Do you work for celebrities?

I am a nanny who lives in a tourist town in Florida. A lot of the resorts keep a list of agencies you can call for a sitter. Usually it is $30 an hour and a four hour minimum fee. So, if you use a local sitter on your vacation for four hours a day times seven days, that would cost $840. That sounds like a lot, but probably cheaper than travel and accommodation expenses for your nanny.

Anonymous wrote:I would pay $15 per hour and all expenses. It would be nice if you let her bring a friend? Is she young? I would have jumped on this in a heartbeat when I was in my early 20s.

I'm assuming you've never done this. Remember, her expenses don't stop at home for your vacation. This is not a vacation for her. I did this as a teenager and it wasn't fun at all. I had maybe an hour or two a day. Parents claim they only needed a few hours but it wasn't the case. Food was an issue and for that hour or two I ended up having to pay to eat out, which they weren't paying for. It is not fun, its a job. Just because its your vacation does not mean its their vacation. What you consider fun for them may not be fun for them. You don't want to care for your own kids on vacation as it isn't full fun for you, so why would it be for them.

I would pay $15 per hour and all expenses. It would be nice if you let her bring a friend? Is she young? I would have jumped on this in a heartbeat when I was in my early 20s.

Very important to remember that this is not a vacation for her, it's work in an unfamiliar place, with kids who are extra tired from the travel but extra wound up from being in an exciting new place. Having her own room is necessary: I would never take a travel job where they expected me to stay in the same hotel room as them. That offers no downtime or privacy for me. And that's very important when traveling. It takes a lot out of everyone.

I'd offer her twice her normal rate (for me that'd be around $350 per day). Pay by day, not hours. Vacation plans are unpredictable, so she's gonna be pissed if she's promised 4-5 hours everyday then you've decided you wanna take the kids along instead and she doesn't get paid for it. So a set amount per day is a good idea. Obviously pay for airfare, bring her along to the grocery store if you plan on cooking if your hotel room has a kitchen, or pay for any meals she goes out for with you, transportation to the airport, etc. And if you can, give her a few days off after you get back to unwind. She's gonna be tired of your family be then. Good luck!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If the sitter needs a large amount of money, it's the wrong sitter. Seriously, no more than $75/day plus expenses. The keys are
1) providing a firm schedule with unscheduled hours as completely free time
2) providing reasonable accommodation and expense coverage so that time can be enjoyed
3) finding someone who will find value in the time off and enjoying the location

Haha 75 a day!!!

Yup. She said about 5 hours a day. That's $15/hr + an all expense paid vacation for the rest of the time. This can be a great win/win for the right sitter. Taking someone who won't enjoy the time and paying them an exhorbitant amount to suffer through it is silly for both parties.