So, we're living in Europe for the next couple of years. My cousin has a college age daughter who is great with kids. I was thinking of asking her to come stay next summer. She would get to spend some time in Europe while helping to take care of my 5 and 3 year old. What do you think would be fair to propose to her? I don't work, so I'm looking more for general help and maybe a date night once a week.
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At that age I would be thrilled with free room and board and then being paid for babysitting.
Oh and maybe a stipend each week depending on how much she helps you? $50? $100?
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@mrsbookworm: I would also throw in perhaps paying for international calls on her cell phone plan and a pre paid subway card (if that is applicable where you will be living).
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I would offer to pay for her flight, room and board and pay for babysitting/any housework. But if she's only getting babysitting money and wants to travel around, I'm not sure if that would be enough (I'm working on the assumption that most college kids don't have a ton of savings). If you travel together while she's living with you, I would also pick up all travel expenses.
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Hrm...when I was in college, I had legit jobs that made money, it's how I paid for my books and also entertainment (it was my beer and cabs money), so while I would have loved to have an experience where I could have lived abroad and travelled, it wouldn't have been possible without earning at least $250 a week. But I get that's not always the case with kids in college.
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@looch: yeah ditto on the making money. She's probably be living at her parents anyway so free room and board wouldn't really be an incentive other than it would be in a different country.
I have a feeling that in order to do this "right" and fairly it's going to end up costing you a lot of money. -
In college I worked as much as I could during the summer to help pay for school. But maybe she could come for a month instead of the whole summer. Some of my jobs that would have worked out well because they were really short seasonal jobs.
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I would just put together a proposal for what works for you.
I would say something like, "Hey next summer if you want to come stay with us, you're welcome to stay here for free. We would love to pay you to babysit/help out around the house which could earn you some spending money to sight see".
I think she needs to see this as a trip for herself. Like others have said, she's not going to make enough babysitting on the side to pay for the trip. But you are offering free room and board which is a HUGE incentive for someone wanting to internationally travel.
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Depending on her focus she may need to get an internship during the Summer of at least work in her field. With the amount of babysitting you would like her to do accommodate an internship or day job? I think a chance to gain real work experience in a foreign country would be awesome.
Room & Board, Transportation (reasonable), Babysitting stipend or wage (work out the hours so you know what's better for you).
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Thanks for all the input! She's majoring in Education so I don't think she'll be doing an internship, but she may have a summer job that she likes. I think I'll offer to pay for her flight and any time she's babysitting, as well as provide her with transportation. She may not be interested, but I thought I'd offer the opportunity!
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@mrsbookworm: this sounds extremely awesome. I would have definitely taken someone up on that even if it meant passing up my super lucrative summer job and working a bit more during the year.
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I wish someone would have offered me this as a college kid! Would have jumped at the chance. I woukd also offer to help her with the passport fee because they have gotten so expensive!
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I think it is a great thing to offer! It would provide an opportunity not many kids have. Just wanted to say, even though she is college aged I would let her parents know you are thinking of offering. I'm guessing they would likely have to provide some sort of financial help as well and might not want to be surprised.
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I'd def at least offer! You never know!
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