i have a friend who had a falling out with her mom and now she needs someone to get her son to school. she would drop him off at 6 am and i have to take him to school at 7 30. it's right up the street so it's not a big deal on gas but she wants me to tell her how much i want her to pay me. we have been friends for years so idk what to say. 

60 a week? just saying since its your friend... 

Honestly if it were me I'd tell her that's what friends are for so dont worry about it I'm sure I'll need your help down the road. But if you do want something Id say no more than 15-20 dollars a week. If you have to feed him breakfast than maybe a little more 

Are you usually wake at 6am? Do you have a kid at the same school? Did you volunteer or did she solicit you? Will this inconvenience you?

The answer to the questions would affect my amount. If you're already up at that time and need to take your child to the same school I'd consider free to cheap.

If not $40-$60, but def no more. (and is consider this steap for doing it for a friend, but also it'd be pretty inconvenient, and id wake up hating life. 

I agree with namenotalreadytaken that's what friends are from to help out in the bad and have fun in the good times. If anything I would say $20 or less. 

Are you usually wake at 6am? Do you have a kid at the same school? Did you volunteer or did she solicit you? Will this inconvenience you?

The answer to the questions would affect my amount. If you're already up at that time and need to take your child to the same school I'd consider free to cheap.

If not $40-$60, but def no more. (and is consider this steap for doing it for a friend, but also it'd be pretty inconvenient, and id wake up hating life.

i am not awake at that time. i risk waking my toddler since we don't actually leave til 7 30. it is inconvenient. and she did solicit me. however she held one of my legs while i delivered my son. and while we haven't talked much since we both started school a year ago, we were very close before that. i know she's really poor though so i don't want to put her out too much. 

I agree with namenotalreadytaken that's what friends are from to help out in the bad and have fun in the good times. If anything I would say $20 or less.

she is a friend, but she also hasn't really been there for me as much as she promised after i had my son. i understand that life circumstance prevented her from helping, but still. she's only watched him once in 2 years. 

Maybe ask her what she thinks is a fair price? Of course everyone would love "free" I don't think its fair for you to be inconvenienced, plus you have to think oneday you might want to go on vacation, have your own morning plans, sick toddler (or sick yourself) that might be disrupted by this arrangement or cause a hickup. I think $30 is fair. 

she is a friend, but she also hasn't really been there for me as much as she promised after i had my son. i understand that life circumstance prevented her from helping, but still. she's only watched him once in 2 years. 


I think it's better to be the friend that you want out of her. Maybe she will see you as an example. Then again, maybe not. It's better to do a good deed that goes unnoticed, that to receive payment for one and hold in a bit of guilt or question into that decision to charge. That's my take though. I would help a friend in need regardless of what I have or haven't received in return. There have been no bridges burned, or bad juju within the friendship, so maybe being what she needs in this time of need for her will rebuild the close friendship you once had. 

thanks for all the responses. i think i'm going to ask for $15 a week but take $10 if that's all she can do. just because my whole schedule is centered around getting up late since i've always had school late at night. so i'm going to be getting up 2 hours earlier and moving my schedule around adn this is really last minute request. 

There is no way that $10 a week would ever be enough to make getting up 2 hours earlier every day and taking care of someone else's kid worth it. I would want $10 a day personally. $5 per hour (1.5) plus 2.50 to transport to school. If it were just a week or two hey no problem but this is a long-term commitment here that alters how you live your life. 

If this helps- I pay my daughter's sitter $40/week. This is for 2 days a week 8 hours each day. The sitter charges $5/hr or $20/day anything over 5 hours. This includes food but there is not reason she has to do transportation so she doesnt. 

will she be feeding him breakfast before he comes to your house? take that into consideration, bc if you're only charging 10-15 but you have to provide food, then it may end up costing you money or just not worth it 

There is no way that $10 a week would ever be enough to make getting up 2 hours earlier every day and taking care of someone else's kid worth it. I would want $10 a day personally. $5 per hour (1.5) plus 2.50 to transport to school. If it were just a week or two hey no problem but this is a long-term commitment here that alters how you live your life. 

Wow, remind me to never be your friend!

I think $40 a week max is a good medium. And if your toddler is sleeping just tell her to send a text when she's at the door so you don't have to wake anyone else. 

Wow, remind me to never be your friend!

I would never ask one of my friends to babysit my child before school 5 days a week making her get up 2 hours earlier than normal every single day for a whole $10 per week. Actually I would pay more than $10 per day if it were me. I'm sorry if that makes me a bad friend, but that is a big long-term commitment to make. For me that would mean losing 2 hours out of the very little time I have with my husband each evening so I could go to bed 2 hours earlier. I simply did not want the OP to end up resenting her friend, I want her to look at what will realistically make that commitment worth it to her. If watching her friend's kid didn't really change anything for her then it would be no big deal, but she already said that it will be a huge inconvenience. 

I think $40 a week max

This is only $10 less than what nick name said..

Personally even if it was a friend id charge. How much depends on a lot of things.
Maybe call a daycare and see how much they charge? to get an idea
Personally i dont think $5 an hr is bad. But it depends on what type of relationship you guys have. 

I suggest you talk to your friend, and find out if she plans on claiming this money on her taxes. I did some babysitting for one of my husband's co-workers who ended up in a situation where she needed someone to watch her baby while she was at work. Originally we agreed to it being under the table, but once tax season rolled around she decided to claim it on her taxes. It screwed me over royally. Not only did it require a special form to file (which was $350) it also forced us to pay taxes on the money she gave us. Luckily she only claimed the first two payments, instead of all of the money she actually paid me. She had to show proof of payment, and since she switched from money orders to cash, the amount we had to pay on taxes wasn't as bad as it could be.
So make sure you're clear with your expectations about the payments, or you might get the short end of the stick come tax time. 

I suggest you talk to your friend, and find out if she plans on claiming this money on her taxes. I did some babysitting for one of my husband's co-workers who ended up in a situation where she needed someone to watch her baby while she was at work. Originally we agreed to it being under the table, but once tax season rolled around she decided to claim it on her taxes. It screwed me over royally. Not only did it require a special form to file (which was $350) it also forced us to pay taxes on the money she gave us. Luckily she only claimed the first two payments, instead of all of the money she actually paid me. She had to show proof of payment, and since she switched from money orders to cash, the amount we had to pay on taxes wasn't as bad as it could be.
So make sure you're clear with your expectations about the payments, or you might get the short end of the stick come tax time.

that is a good point. i forgot about that. when i babysat it was always under the table. I am actually enjoying getting up early and walking instead of driving him. since i only have class one night this quarter and the next day is the day she wound up not needing me i'm going to ask for enough to cover a jogging stroller so that i can get a super good walk in with kid and dog after i drop off her kid. that comes out to less than anything suggested here, but since its' working out i think that's the best way to go. gonna give it a week before i commit to a number though. thanks ladies for your input!!! 

If I asked a friend to do this I would offer what I thought was right and that would be a 10 a day, and I would make sure she was ok with it. I dont believe in taking advantage of my friends. Plus you never really know someone until money is involved. Some people you give them a inch and they take a foot. Meaning right now its 2 hours in the morning could turn into all the time if you do it for free. 

Some people you give them a inch and they take a foot. Meaning right now its 2 hours in the morning could turn into all the time if you do it for free.

I learned that the hard way. Years ago I watched one of my husband's friend's kid for what should have worked out to $2 an hour while his wife worked. Somehow it started taking her longer and longer to get home from work until she was adding on an extra hour or two every day. Then when she asked me to watch him while she saw her husband off on a deployment... it was well over 24 hours before she came back. She ignored all my phone calls in the meantime. 

If I asked a friend to do this I would offer what I thought was right and that would be a 10 a day, and I would make sure she was ok with it. I dont believe in taking advantage of my friends. Plus you never really know someone until money is involved. Some people you give them a inch and they take a foot. Meaning right now its 2 hours in the morning could turn into all the time if you do it for free.

well i plan to tell her if i have to pick him up from school or keep him on a day he has off or something like that i will need extra payment. we are both very poor though, so i would never dream of asking the amount some have suggested. i couldn't do that to a fellow mom in need. she lives on student loans right now so that would just be wrong. it's not like she's got some great paying job.