Tim and I have been saying for months now that we need to find a babysitter. We’ve actually been saying it since we first moved to Chattanooga, but have really been feeling a sense of urgency about it for about 2 months. We realized that the only time we were going out on non-lunch dates was when we had family in visiting from out of state. It seems sort of silly that someone has to fly in or drive 6 hours in order for us to feel comfortable having dinner together!
So we started asking around. We still don’t know a whole lot of people in the city, and many of the people we know don’t live in our neighborhood…or even anywhere remotely close. There’s just no sense in getting the number of a great babysitter who lives 30 minutes away from us. It’s just not worth her drive, especially not for what we can pay!
A few weeks ago, I signed up for Sittercity, a website that helps connect people who want to babysit, nanny, or even help around the house with people looking to hire them. I’ve been thinking about doing this for over a year now, and finally took the leap.
I’m so glad I did!
In addition to being able to search for sitters based on your location, you can also post a specific job opportunity, and then interested parties can apply for the job. This is the route I chose to take because I am looking for something very specific: once a week babysitting at my house, for 3 1/2 hours, and the pay is on the low end ($8/hour). I wanted to be very up front about what I needed so that only people who knew what I wanted and were still interested would apply. I got 6 applications in just a few days time! Two of my applicants had background checks on file, which was really awesome. I set up two trial run babysitting appointments with my top two picks.
So basically, thanks to Sittercity, the wheels are in motion and I will soon have some help for the summer. I will also forge a relationship with a wonderful young lady in the area who could do occasional weekend babysitting for us during the school year, as well. To say I’m thankful for this service is an understatement!
I’m actually very strongly considering posting another job opportunity for once a week housework help. When we lived in Memphis I had a college student come over for 2 hours, once a week and do all our vacuuming and clean the bathrooms. It was the best $20 I ever spent, and even though money is really tight, I think that if I can outsource that work, I can do more with this blog and hopefully make up for the money spent and then some!
If you are interested in offering babysitting, pet sitting or house help, signing up for Sittercity is completely free! If you are looking for this help, Sittercity is offering a free 7 day trial. You can sign up for one month for $35 (totally worth that to find someone you can count on for the next year or so!) or you can sign on for a whole year for $140, which is less than $12/month!
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you sign up, I make a small commission. But I’ve tried it myself, and am only recommending it to you because I know from experience what a valuable resource it is!
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