5 Ways to Save Money on Babysitting
October 14, 2009 by Karen Weideman
Filed under money saving idea, parenting, save-money, saving money
With me working part-time from home and having three little kids, my husband and I are looking for ways to save money on dates. We need some time alone!
Here are few ways to save on babysitting.
1) Go on a lunch date. This is our newest way to save. Our three oldest children are in school and our youngest is in preschool part-time. We finally have a consistent time that we can get out together.
2) Trade babysitting with others. If you know of other parents that have kids, offer to trade with them. Everyone needs some time alone and they would probably be willing to work something out.
3) Call on friends and relatives. We are really unfortunate that we don’t live near family. If I did, we wouldn’t have any issue with babysitting. Thankfully, we have a person that we call on every few months to give us a night out together. She does this for free because she loves us. I used to do this more often before I had kids. There’s nothing wrong with helping people out, right?!?
4) Join a babysitting co-op. Some co-ops are very organized and they have systems with points where you can earn points per hour, per child, etc. It sounds a little complicated, but these parents have found a system that works for them.
5) Check into community babysitting services. Some churches offer free or low cost babysitting. Sometimes it is a fundraiser for the youth group. Activities are planned and supervised by adults while the youth of the church play with your kids. Some churches offer a night of free babysitting as a service to the community.
What ways do you save on babysitting?
image (c) Karen Weideman
We’ve worked out a partnership with another couple where we’ll each babysit each others kids once a month so that each couple can get a date night!
Great idea! I wish we had someone here to swap babysitting with.
We love lunch dates!
We used any day that the kids had school and we didn’t as a date. We go for a hike or to the movies instead of working around the house. Plus we would take a day for our birthdays and our anniversarys and go out during the day when they would be at the sitters anyway, as our date time.
I think hubby and I are going on a lunch date today.