Last night, we had the 12 year old neighbor girl come watch our LO while she was sleeping so DH and I could go to the gym. We were less than 5 minute away and her parents were home next door.

We are hoping to get out together more often but worried about the cost.

Right now we were thinking of paying her $8-10/hr for weeknights especially when LO is sleeping. We would pay a bit more plus tips if/when she starts actually babysitting LO when she is awake.

So, even to run to the gym once a week, we are looking at about $15 per time. Plus if we actually wanted a date night (got out for 3 hours on a Friday night) that would cost us over $30.

How often do you pay for a sitter like this? Obviously it depends on your budget, but just curious.