Fair payment for this? Horse or farm folk?

[WishboneDawn]

Catherine spent about 20-30 mins every weekday for the past couple of months letting a neighbour's dog out to pee and feeding their two horses at noon (one had diet issues. The neighbour was in Florida and their son, who lives with them, worked during the day). I thought she and the neighbour had worked out some payment but no and now the neighbour is wondering what Catherine wants. I've had a chat with Catherine about negotiated payments BEFORE a job but it is what it is right now.

 

Any ideas about what that work is worth?

[Flowing Brook]

For some reason I read this as weekend instead of weekday. I seriously think I am dyslexic since I get things so turned around sometimes.

Anyways everyday versus just two days a week alters my opinion. I would say 5.00 a time would be fair. Since it was so often I would charge less.

[Cera]

Since it was daily for an extended period of time I would say $5 a visit. I might offer a discount off of that price since it is a neighbor, especially if she is hoping to be hired again or to use the neighbor as a reference for other jobs (maybe $4 an hour instead).

 

My reasoning is that you said it took 30 minutes or less per visit so that rate would work out to $10 an hour or a bit more. That is more than she would make for a regular job at 14 if she could even find one. Also, she was going to the neighbor's house so there were no significant costs or time added for transportation.

 

I would recommend your daughter decide on her price and write up an invoice showing the number of days she worked and the cost per day plus a total cost. Subtract any discount she wants to off of the invoice and list it as such (friends and family discount/long term contract discount/etc) then list the total owed. A professional looking invoice makes it a business transaction, not just a neighbors kid doing a favor (and the former is worth a lot more than the latter).

[OrganicAnn]

I would base the price on something similar to what she would charge for babysitting (or what that goes for in your part of the country, since it can vary a lot). You might look at it from different ways - either a set price per visit or try to figure out how much time she spent and charge per hour.

[Dory]

I'd say at least $10/visit. I have someone doing the chores here 3 times a week while we're gone and I'll be paying them $25 each of those days. It should only take them an hour, but they still have to come out here.

[AngieW in Texas]

I would go for $4-6/visit. My 14yo and 17yo have been going over to a neighbor's house at lunch for the past several years and letting her dogs out to use the bathroom and running them around so they won't tear up the house during the day. They get $4/visit, which I think is a good rate for what they are doing. They are there 20-30 minutes at a time. If it was less frequent or for a shorter term, then charging more would make sense.

 

My girls keep track of the visits and leave her a note every 25th visit (so every $100 worth of visits). They split the money.

[WishboneDawn]

Since it was daily for an extended period of time I would say $5 a visit. I might offer a discount off of that price since it is a neighbor, especially if she is hoping to be hired again or to use the neighbor as a reference for other jobs (maybe $4 an hour instead).

 

My reasoning is that you said it took 30 minutes or less per visit so that rate would work out to $10 an hour or a bit more. That is more than she would make for a regular job at 14 if she could even find one. Also, she was going to the neighbor's house so there were no significant costs or time added for transportation.

 

I would recommend your daughter decide on her price and write up an invoice showing the number of days she worked and the cost per day plus a total cost. Subtract any discount she wants to off of the invoice and list it as such (friends and family discount/long term contract discount/etc) then list the total owed. A professional looking invoice makes it a business transaction, not just a neighbors kid doing a favor (and the former is worth a lot more than the latter).

 

Excellent advice. I was thinking $20 a week myself. I'll definitely get her to submit an invoice.

 

Thank you everyone for your help!

[Live2Ride]

I pretty much paid $20 a day to my friends son down the road; I had sheep, horses, dogs, hermit crabs, and cats to feed.

 

I've got less animals now, but someone has to come twice a day still.

[FaithManor]

I get $20.00 per day. Morning chores take approximately 1 hr. 20 min. and afternoons take 20 min., but we also walk the two sheep dogs and play fetch with them as well because they get a little crazy when the owners are gone, especially the Austrailian Shepherd that has WAY TOOO MUCH energy. So, that adds to the responsibility. My two sons help or it would take an hr. and 45 min. in the morning and full half hour in the afternoon and we split the money which the boys put into their savings accounts.

 

There are three horses - and I do some brushing and grooming as necessary when the owner is gone - 30 sheep, 6 llamas, a flock of laying hens, 6 ducks, and 4 barn cats plus the two dogs. One horse is getting quite old and I check him over thoroughly everytime we take him to pasture or return him to his stall. He tends to rub too much on the fence and I sometimes have scrapes to treat. I get $40.00 a day during lambing season because I have to walk the pasture, see if anyone birthed outdoors, if so get her and the lamb inside quickly, set up a stall with a heat lamp, and observe to make sure baby is nursing properly since many of the young ewes are truly stupid mothers the first time they birth. Occasionally, a lamb gets stuck and I've got to pull one and then watch over them both to make sure that they are recovering from the rough delivery. From January through the end of March, if I farm sit for a fiber farm, it's a three trip per day operation just to check those ewes. If I have to bring a bum lamb home to bottle feed, I charge the owner for the formula, but nothing else. The boys LOVE raising bum lambs.

 

If the owner is gone more than three days, then the two ds's 14 and 12 who love the farm work, house sit and take care of everything. The 14 year old does not mind delivering lambs if someone needs assistance. He's a pro with livestock. They get $50.00 a day to split. I still go out for morning chores just to check on them and make sure they've got plenty of food in the house and nothing unexpected that they need help handling. I also check their schoolwork while there and make out new assignments and explain anything new. Since the farm is only four miles away, it works out okay for us.

 

But, if I have to drive more than six miles for any other farmsitting and the owners want to pay less than $20.00 per day, I either decline the job or tell them I'll need to be paid mileage which usually means they decide to pay the $20.00. It's not worth my time when you consider the commuting and the gas to go very farm from home two or three times a day for less than that.

 

Faith

[BrookValley.]

I would pay your daughter $50 per week ($10/visit) for that, happily. I pay $25-$30 for someone to just take care of my chickens (I have 20-ish different pens; not complicated, but more involved than throwing feed to a dozen hens and moving on), which takes about an hour/hour and a half.