"Tell Me What You Want To Pay "

[Holiday Park]

Wow. I dont know if we are allowed to share links. So let me know if I need to remove it. http://augusta.craigslist.org/kid/4117566993.html

And in case it gets deleted off craigslist, here is what she wrote :

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"Hi there. I'm 23 with a 7 month old son, new to the area. I'm offering childcare with no specific rate. I know how expensive it was for me before we moved and it can be a real struggle. I can alsp pick up from school if you need.

I am a licensed EMT and am CPR and first aid certified as well. All licenses and certifications are up to date and I can provide proof.

Childcare would be in my home. I havea 4 bedroom 3 bath house on 1 acre with a fenced in yard. We are not on a busy street or in a neighborhood. I have one small dog who loves kids.

Shoot me an email letting me known what hours you generally need and how much you can afford and is love to meet with you.

I can also do over nights or date nights or weekends. Anything really. "
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I can always tell when they have no understanding about it being the persons business , not a charity, and how they will really get burned doing it this way or be taken advatage of. Maybe if enough of us let her know she is asking for trouble and that she needs to charge a competative rate , she will re think what she wrote.

[cheerfuldom]

oh you can completely see she is a newbie. has no idea what one kid or one set of parents will do when given free reign to determine hours and rates, yikes

[nanglgrl]

I've tried to help people like this before that live in my area. I haven't seen any letting parents set rates but I have seen some advertise as "the cheapest babysitter in the area". I always send a link to the state regs and tell them if them if they are interested I'd be happy to answer any questions. I also direct them to the latest survey that shows the average rates for the area and try to explain that it costs money to take care of children adequetly. I've had no luck with it.
Some of them will friend me on Facebook and listen to what I say but not follow any of it. Off hand I've probably done this 7 times and had 4 friend me on Facebook. Those 4 lasted less than a year combined. I get to watch them crash and burn on their Facebook pages. The last charged less to get people in the door and a month later raised her rates (she did it purposely and thought it was a good plan). She lost every client when she raised her rates and had 2 that left owing her quite a bit.
It's not fun because you know they "steal" clients from professional providers only to close in a few months. The poor children are up uprooted and I'm sure the parents realize they made a mistake by going with the cheapest when they are scrambling to find a provider but they will still probably do it again. Sad.

[cheerfuldom]

I've tried to help people like this before that live in my area. I haven't seen any letting parents set rates but I have seen some advertise as "the cheapest babysitter in the area". I always send a link to the state regs and tell them if them if they are interested I'd be happy to answer any questions. I also direct them to the latest survey that shows the average rates for the area and try to explain that it costs money to take care of children adequetly. I've had no luck with it.
Some of them will friend me on Facebook and listen to what I say but not follow any of it. Off hand I've probably done this 7 times and had 4 friend me on Facebook. Those 4 lasted less than a year combined. I get to watch them crash and burn on their Facebook pages. The last charged less to get people in the door and a month later raised her rates (she did it purposely and thought it was a good plan). She lost every client when she raised her rates and had 2 that left owing her quite a bit.
It's not fun because you know they "steal" clients from professional providers only to close in a few months. The poor children are up uprooted and I'm sure the parents realize they made a mistake by going with the cheapest when they are scrambling to find a provider but they will still probably do it again. Sad.

very sad situation. I know many parents unfortunately that have over a half dozen providers before preschool age. Its like a different person every 6 months. gah! I know parents try to piece together free babysitting and cheap rates with providers but at some point it is just crazy. A friend of mine openly admitted that she was sending her children to a sitter that had an open CPS case (for the daycare AND the sitter's own kids). She said that was the cheapest place around and she can't afford anything else and will just take her chances and hope for the best. eeek!

[MotherNature]

There's a few in Indy advertising like that- available any hours, for whatever rate you can afford. I just love kids & want to help you out! etc..

[Cat Herder]

IMHO, this one actually sounds reasonable.

This is not someone who is doing childcare full-time, this is a green EMT, supplementing her own childcare costs, so she can afford to cover her 24/48 hour schedule.

Working in Public Safety requires a lot of creativity sometimes. Most likely she is hoping for someone on another shift to trade out time with.

BTDT...