Author Topic: babysitting to pay for side hustle?  (Read 2503 times)

texastumbleweed

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babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« on: May 12, 2017, 09:29:11 AM »
I normally do my side hustle (selling on ebay) at night, but lately I've been really exhausted at night and I'm not getting as much done.  I'd really like to make some more money over the summer, but I'm not sure it is worth hiring babysitting ($15 an hour) to help me do this.  Does anyone hire help to help side hustles?  I feel like keeping costs low is important, but don't know when to tip the scale and go for help.  My costs are typically $200 a month to break even with buying inventory to sell and store and paying for ebay fees, so babysitting would bring that to $300.  I'm typically making between $500-$2000 with $500 being the average a month.

Thanks
« Last Edit: May 12, 2017, 10:02:49 AM by texastumbleweed »

Roothy

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Re: babysitting for side hustle?
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2017, 09:33:25 AM »
I thought this post would be about babysitting AS a side hustle.  In retirement, I'm likely to consider it.  $15 an hour is pretty damn good, and most of the time, you're talking about a couple of hours of real (admittedly, hard) work, and then a couple of hours of watching TV.

texastumbleweed

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Re: babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2017, 10:03:37 AM »
I see what you mean, yes babysitting is a great side hustle, but I think I can make more than $15 an hour...

inline five

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Re: babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2017, 10:15:01 AM »
Since when has babysitting paid $15/hr?!? That's insane.

slappy

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Re: babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2017, 10:20:35 AM »
Are you sure it would be $15 an hour? If you are home and you just need someone to entertain the kids, sometimes you can get a "mother's helper" for less money.  You could get a younger teenager that you wouldn't necessarily leave alone with the kids, but since you are home in the event of any issues, you might feel comfortable with it. Since the responsibility is less, you can pay them less. At least in my area. Maybe look into that to start off and see how much more productive you actually are vs. how much you are paying out.

Valhalla

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Re: babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2017, 10:31:13 AM »
One factor to consider is you have precious little time to enjoy and raise your kids during this tender age.  Don't think of it as purely work.

If you outsource spending time with your kids and helping them grow at this critical stage, they will suffer potentially.

You can always make more money, you can't get more time with your kids when they are little.

I reduced my work level when my kids were little... probably lost out on $500k - $1 million over their years pre-teen.  I don't regret it one bit.  I can go make more money, I can't buy more time with them.  In fact, I'd give more money now to have my kids again when they were little.  That were some of the funnest and happiest years of my life.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2017, 10:33:10 AM by Valhalla »

Guesl982374

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Re: babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2017, 10:51:38 AM »
I'm typically making between $500-$2000 with $500 being the average a month.

How many hours do you typically spend each month on your ebay business? I would personally do this analysis (your hours will probably vary and how you value your free time with your kids will probably be different):

If I spent 10 hours/mo to earn $500, then I would be earning $50/hr minus $15/hr for babysitting or a net $35/hr. If I value my time with my kids / my free time at say $75/hr I wouldn't hire the babysitter/spend more time doing ebay. However, if I value my free time at $20/hr then I should hire as many babysitting hours as possible.

Smokystache

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Re: babysitting to pay for side hustle?
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2017, 10:53:25 AM »
It would be helpful to know how many hours you work on your side hustle to average $500/month and how many hours of babysitting you're thinking about paying for.

I think it is a great idea to consider outsourcing tasks so you can focus on revenue-generating work, but it all depends on the numbers. I have someone mow my lawn and our rental home's lawn - for $70 bucks I get back 4 hours of my life and don't have to mess with lawn equipment, etc. Totally worth it to me for someone juggling a family w/kids, full-time job, + side hustle. I would see this (or getting your oil changed or hiring a cleaning service, etc.) as the same principle.

Edited: What LibertyStache said.