“I'm Getting Overcharged. Help!"

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Help Wanted

Episode: I'm Getting Overcharged. Help!
Date: February 10, 2026
Hosts: Jason Feifer (Entrepreneur magazine editor-in-chief), Nicole Lapin (money expert)
Guest: Cassie Underwood (metaphysics/money coach)
Key Theme:
How to avoid (and resolve) uncomfortable surprises when hiring service providers, especially when expectations around fees and add-ons aren’t clearly set in advance—with a real-life babysitting billing dispute as the case study.

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Episode Overview

The episode explores uncomfortable, often unspoken, norms around setting rates and negotiating fees for personal services—with a particular focus on a listener’s real-world dilemma: being unexpectedly overcharged by a babysitter and billed for a "dinner allowance" the sitter never used. The conversation expands to strategies for clear communication, setting boundaries, and fostering transparency to prevent these situations, with anecdotes, audience input, and spirited debate.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Intro: The Uncomfortable Truth About Money Conversations

Timestamps: 03:04 – 04:11

• Jason Feifer admits his ongoing discomfort in setting rates ahead of time:
  "I want somebody to show up and have a price tag on them. But of course, that is not the real world." (03:43, Jason)
• Nicole Lapin agrees, noting that even for "money people," discussing money openly is tricky.

2. Cassie’s Babysitting Dilemma Unpacked

Timestamps: 04:11 – 13:20

• Cassie explains her typical babysitter arrangement:
  • She uses a friend (jokingly called the "babysitter pimp") as a go-between; rate has always been $20/hr.
  • This time, she was matched with a new person—no rate was discussed explicitly; Cassie assumed consistency.
• The new sitter texted after the job with a bill:
  • 7 hours at $30/hour ($210)
  • "Dinner allowance" $30—despite not having eaten dinner.
  • Cassie was shocked by the dinner charge, which had never happened before.
• Jason recaps for clarity:
  "You never discuss rates with these people because the rate is always the same...This time you got somebody. It's never been different than $20, right?" (08:38, Jason / Cassie)
• Nicole re-frames: The total amount isn't wildly off, since prior sitters often required an expensive Uber ($60+) home, whereas this sitter had her own car; but Cassie felt taken advantage of by the surprise dinner allowance.

3. What’s Fair – On Premium Rates, Communication, and Value

Timestamps: 11:16 – 13:20

• Cassie is clear she's not upset about paying a premium rate, or even the final sum, but about transparency and perceived value.
• She expects premium service for a premium rate (more engagement, light tidying, etc.), which this sitter didn’t deliver: "If you're going to charge a premium rate, then you should provide a premium service...This woman...was checking her phone and [my son] was watching TV." (12:10, Cassie)
• Nicole: "Did you have a conversation with the woman that introduced you—the babysitter pimp?" (13:20, Nicole)

4. Community Response & What Cassie Did Next

Timestamps: 13:27 – 17:54

• Jason posted the story on LinkedIn; it sparked 970 comments—many pro-babysitter, many critical of Cassie for failing to clarify the arrangement.
• Cassie’s solution:
  • Paid the full amount, including the dinner allowance, to avoid harming relationships.
    "I did not want to impact the babysitter pimp’s relationship with her friend and it’s $30. I’m just going to pay this and never hire that person again." (15:17, Cassie)
  • She messaged the "pimp" about the fee, but kept the exchange neutral, not wanting to involve her in the dispute.

5. Audience Perspective: Notable LinkedIn Advice

Timestamps: 20:02 – 21:21

• Monica Fay (listener): Offered a sample "firm but fair" text parents could send to clarify meal reimbursement and future rates, emphasizing boundaries and documentation.
• Cassie: Thoughtful messaging could help, but it felt disingenuous since she’d already discussed the details with the sitter and knew no meal had been purchased.

6. Lessons Learned for Future Transactions

Timestamps: 21:57 – 30:28

• All agree: Premium rates should come with premium service and clear, up-front communication.
• The lack of formality in hiring babysitters complicates these transactions:
  • Jason: "There is a gray area of hiring people...sometimes you don't know the rate. And also...you almost don't want to treat it like a business transaction—even though it is." (26:07, Jason)
• Jen (Jason’s wife) joins, fiercely defending Cassie and calling out internet commenters' lack of context and empathy: "You are right...You're a single mom who works very hard...The fact that she basically tried to bilk you of money...she was completely taking advantage of you." (18:01, Jen)

7. Strategies for Future Clarity

Timestamps: 28:44 – 30:28

• Cassie: From now on, will ask new babysitters about their rate and any potential add-ons before booking. "I'm definitely going to ask the rate...and is there anything else you expect me to pay for?" (28:44, Cassie)
• Nicole suggests being explicit about dinner: set a reimbursable limit, or clarify it's only if ordered/eaten.

8. Conclusion and Last Word from the Babysitter "Pimp"

Timestamps: 30:35 – 31:00

• The "babysitter pimp" replies that she doesn’t take any cut and seems genuinely baffled by the idea—proving her innocence in the situation. She texts: "What is that? Means I don't understand. I don't understand cut. What cut means?" (30:41, Cassie reading)
• Jason’s final lesson:
  "The bottom line here is the more communication you have in any transaction, the better." (30:28, Jason)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Transparency and Value:
  "If you're going to charge a premium rate, then you should provide a premium service." (12:10, Cassie)

• On Setting Expectations:
  "It is weird to set out guidelines in the way that you would be totally fine doing with an electrician." (26:07, Jason)

• On Miscommunication:
  "By asking, 'is there anything else that you charge for or add on charges?' it's almost as if I'm inviting them to do that—and I'm actually not." (28:44, Cassie)

• On Defending Generosity:
  "I want to be able to be generous. I don't want to have to put a limit on how much somebody would spend for their dinner. So it wouldn’t feel good for me to put a limit on that." (29:46, Cassie)

• The Bottom Line:
  "The more communication you have in any transaction, the better." (30:28, Jason)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Podcast Proper Begins/Hosts Introduce Topic: 02:51
• Cassie Shares the Babysitter Story: 04:11 – 09:40
• Controversial Dinner Allowance Revealed: 09:04 – 10:07
• Cassie Explains Her Reaction: 11:16 – 13:20
• Community Advice & Official Responses: 20:02 – 21:21
• Jen Joins to Defend Cassie: 17:54 – 18:42
• Lessons and Future Strategies: 28:44 – 30:28
• Babysitter Pimp’s Final Text: 30:35 – 31:00

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Takeaways

• Don’t assume service fees or arrangements remain the same, even with the same intermediary.
• Always ask about rates—and potential add-ons—ahead of time, especially with personal or informal services.
• Arrange in writing what "extras" (like meals or transportation) mean and when reimbursement applies.
• Premium service should match premium pricing. If expectations aren't met, it's valid to feel frustrated.
• Clear, upfront communication saves money and avoids discomfort later.

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Tone of the Episode:
Conversational, direct, occasionally humorous. The show aims for practical advice mixed with real-life empathy—blending expert perspective with honest confessions.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

This is Help Wanted, the show that tackles all the big work questions you cannot ask anyone else. I'm Jason Pfeiffer editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine.

[A]

And I'm New York Times best selling author and money expert Nicole Lapin.

[B]

The helpline is open. Nicole, you know money things.

[C]

I've heard of them.

[B]

Yeah. So a thing that I have always struggled with, and I think a lot of people do, is setting a rate for something ahead of time. Like I hire someone and then I. I have to, like, talk about what they're going to charge me. I have to admit, I don't always do that. Why don't I always do that?

[C]

Because it's uncomfortable. Because generally talking about money is uncomfortable. And then talking about it with a human in real life or on the phone is just like, even for me still, it's like a tricky. It's a tricky chat.

[B]

Yeah. It's kind of like I want somebody to show up and have a price tag on them. So I just know. I just know. Okay, can you just wear a price tag so I know what it costs? But of course, that is not the real world. And today I have a friend who hired a babysitter, did not know what that babysitter cost, and was very surprised to find out, and she needed some help, so I told her to call the helpline. You ready?

[C]

Ready.

[B]

Cassie. Welcome to Help Wanted.

[D]

Thanks for having me.

[B]

So, okay, Cassie, you had a problem with a babysitter and you texted my wife, because you and my wife are longtime friends and you wanted her take, which then became my take because I was there and then became my take, and then became Nicole's take, and then became everybody's take because I posted this on LinkedIn and there were 970 comments. So this is a very, very hot text that you got from your babysitter. So first of all, why don't you tell us who you are and then set this up why you called my wife asking for advice.

[C]

Okay.

[D]

My name is Cassie Underwood. I am a teacher of metaphysics, specifically money metaphysics, and that often includes working with entrepreneurs early in their businesses, especially creative entrepreneurs or service oriented entrepreneurs, much like this babysitter. So typically when I need a babysitter, I contact this one particular babysitter who's kind of like the agent of a lot of babysitters. She's not an actual agent, it's just her unofficial role is to help connect babysitters with people who need them.

[B]

She's a babysitter? Matchmaker. I didn't know that existed.

[D]

I was going to say pimp, but pimp is exactly the word that comes to mind. And she's Getting better at her job, apparently. So typically, she connects me with someone. I've worked with her for, like, maybe three years. And I'll just send her a text and she'll say, my cousin will text you, or my friend will text you, or. And then every time this person who's shown up has charged $20 an hour. And I always offer, not because it's required, but because I like to. For them to buy dinner if I'm gone for dinner. So this time she said, it's my friend. If I look back, I did feel like it was a little different. Like there was something else happening in this exchange. It was, like, under the surface. And she was like, I'll connect you with my friend, and she's going to come over and babysit for you. She didn't give me any new information about her. She just said that she has a car. And I have in the past complained because when a babysitter babysits at night, they come here, and then when they're leaving, they want me to pay for their Uber ride home, which is often an additional 60 to $100. Add on. And when I have just taken the subway home myself, it doesn't feel great to then pay for someone's Uber.

[B]

Although we should say this is because, you know, I hire a lot of babysitters, too, that there's some level of standardness and expectations among babysitters. We generally have to pay for the Uber. And also, just for context, Cassie and I both live in Brooklyn, so, you know, cars are really expensive and people are coming from Queens or whatever, and so that's how the Uber can get really expensive.

[D]

And also, once she explained to me that it could take subway changes and all that, I was like, fine, I'm happy to pay for your Uber ride home. You know, I did get to that point, but I didn't communicate that with her. I just mentally got to that place. So this time she was like, this woman has a car of her own, so she sends her over. And I noticed, I mean, she's definitely comes across as someone who's maybe, like, retired from corporate. She was, like, dressed to the nines. Everyone else who comes over is like, T shirt, jeans. It was a very different vibe. And I noticed her a couple times, like, texting while she was supposed to be babysitting my son. So I was like, what's going on here? You're only going to be with him for, like, an hour before he goes to sleep. But I kind of let it go because it was like, $20 an hour. And she has a car. I'm not going to pay for an Uber. So I like, in my mind, I also reconciled. She can text as long as I don't have to pay for her Uber, like, in terms of value. So when I get back, she was like, okay, that'll be. She didn't actually tell me her rate at all. She texted it to me.

[B]

So to recap, Cassie, you have a son. When you want a babysitter, you text the babysitter pimp. The babysitter pimp farms it out to almost a different person each time. And they all seem to be connected. It's a cousin, it's a whatever. So this time it was a friend. You never discuss rates with these people because the rate is always the same. So you just assume that the babysitter pimp is set the rate. This time you got somebody.

[C]

It's never been different than $20, right?

[D]

It's never been different than $20.

[B]

So person comes over, they're a little different than the others. But whatever you take off, you come back, child is alive. So success. And the babysitter goes home in her own car, which is great. So you don't have to pay for transportation. And then you get the text. And the text is really the thing that set LinkedIn on fire.

[D]

The text is, good evening, Cassie. I hope all is well and your son had an awesome day at school. Just wanted to touch base on hours. Seven hours at $30 per hours equals $210. Dinner allowance, $30. Thank you again for the opportunity. Have a peaceful and blessed weekend. See y' all soon. So, yes, the other thing is I had offered the dinner as I always do, but when I came back, I said, did you order dinner? Feel free to add that to the bill. And she said, oh, I didn't eat.

[B]

To be clear, because this, I think, Cassie, is the most contentious point of this whole thing is dinner allowance, $30. So you said to her before you took off, hey, order dinner if you want. You come back, she had not ordered dinner. She had not. She had not purchased any dinner for herself. And then in the text, she's billing you for the allowance for the uneaten, the unspent amount of money that you would have reimbursed her for dinner.

[D]

Correct.

[C]

How much have people charged for dinner in the past? Or how has it worked?

[D]

Either they bring their own food, don't order anything. That's typical. The most is maybe like 10 or 12 bucks. Like, they're getting, like, fast food. I have said get Whatever you want. But the most they've ever done is like fast food.

[B]

So the reason you reached out to Jen was because you thought this was crazy.

[D]

The $30 rate, I could take the hit for that because I should have asked her. I take full responsibility. I absolutely should have asked her her rate. I shouldn't have just taken for granted that any babysitter who walks through the door is going to charge the same rate as anyone else. But I just wasn't expecting $30. I will just also put out there. I was a babysitter for years where I would babysit families of six kids. I've had full time babysitting jobs. I'm familiar with the space, maybe not in New York City. So the dinner allowance is what really shocked me. And in my opinion she should have negotiated that up front because it's not typical to charge a dinner allowance.

[C]

But to be clear, you're not actually net net spending much more than you thought. Right. So if it was $20 at seven hours it would have been 140 DOL. Seven hours at $30 is $210. But you had kind of anticipated a 60 to $70 Uber ride that you've paid in the past, which would have probably brought you up to around the same amount plus like a 1012, $15 Taco Bell or whatever. Roughly like at the end, the bill amount is kind of what you had budgeted in your mind, correct?

[D]

It was not about the money for me. It just felt like I was being taken advantage of. And the other thing is, as a person who works with a lot of entrepreneurs in service based industries, I totally respect charging a premium rate. And I think it's awesome that she was charging $30 an hour. I think it's awesome that she's going to charge a dinner allowance like go you. But I do think if you're going to be that ballsy that you should tell people up front, that's my feeling about it. And not just surprise them with it on the back end. And the other piece that bothered me was if you're going to charge a premium rate, which again I totally encourage, then you should provide a premium service. And the babysitters who come and charge $20 an hour, they will often organize bookshelves. I'll come back and they will have cleaned my kitchen or done something above and beyond what they promised and they will have paid really good attention to my son. They'll be on the ground playing with him. This woman, when I left, she was checking her phone and he was Watching tv, which, you know, that's more or less at the end of the evening. That's what I do. So I wasn't going to get on her, you know, I was just like, that's fine, you know, one night, whatever. But I forgot something. I came back and she was still on her phone. So that's like it. She just wasn't showing up. As someone who should be charging a premium rate, that was the other piece that bothered me.

[C]

Did you have a conversation with the.

[A]

Woman that introduced you?

[C]

The babysitter pimp?

[D]

I did.

[B]

Stick around. Help Wanted. We'll be right back. Welcome back to Help Wanted. Let's get to it. So you reached out to Jen, my wife, asking what to do, and Jen and I agreed. You got to pay the rate because like you said, Cassie, you guys didn't negotiate it ahead of time. So boo on you. You got to pay the rate. But I said don't pay the dinner allowance. That's ridiculous because it's just obnoxious that she's asked for it. I posted this on LinkedIn with your permission. 970 Comments. A lot of them were pro babysitter. I have to say, here's a guy named Danny Maddox who wrote, gotta say, this babysitter's got game. The whole surprise bill situation is tricky, but this sitter's got some serious sales mojo. And a lot of people were criticizing you, Cassie, for not being in more control of the situation or whatever. People were piling in on you in a way that I thought was unfair and that my wife was very irate about. But that's where it is for the rest of the world. Until we break this news here on Help Wanted, we don't know what happened because I have no idea what you actually did. So what did you do and what did you tell the pimp?

[D]

Well, I agree with the world that I was in the wrong for not negotiating the rate. It would not have occurred to me to ask, do you have any surprise add ons? Because I've had my son for five and a half years and not once has anyone ever added on any random charge. And I've probably hired 30 to 40 babysitters in that time. So there was no way for me to guess that. That said, what I decided at the end of the day was I did not want to impact the babysitter pimps relationship with her friend and it's 30 bucks. So I was like, I'm just going to pay this and never hire that person again.

[B]

Did you pay the dinner allowance?

[D]

I Did, because, again, I didn't want to negatively impact their friendship.

[C]

And so what was her reaction when you told her about it? Did you send the screenshot?

[D]

No. And I also didn't want to, like, get her in the middle of it because she's doing me a favor every time I contact her and say, do you have a babysitter?

[B]

Is she. Or is she getting a kickback?

[D]

I don't think she's getting. No, She's a very kind soul. I genuinely do not think she's getting any kickback. I think she just loves her friends. That's honestly how I feel about her.

[C]

I feel like I want to ask her.

[D]

Should I ask her now?

[C]

Yeah, I think so. Like, you didn't have this conversation, which, look, you know, I'm not putting you in the wrong. You assume that it was the same, but you're also now assuming that this lady doesn't get a kickback. So let's not assume. Let's ask her. Okay.

[B]

Are you texting her right now?

[D]

I'm texting her right now.

[B]

While we're waiting for the babysitter pimp to get back to us. We still haven't learned, Cassie, what you actually said to the babysitter pimp after this dinner allowance debacle.

[D]

So I was taking a minute to zell this money over because I was really grappling with my feelings about it. It was not about the money. I just didn't want to send it while feeling bad. I didn't want it to be, like, charged with that. So it took me, like, three days to kind of move through. I mean, obviously I had things I was doing, so I wasn't sitting there ruminating on this. Yeah.

[C]

Yes.

[D]

But it took me three days to get to, okay, I'm just going to pay this so I can get this off my plate. But I said to her, I always said, I'm sorry for the delay. I was surprised by the $30 fee for dinner allowance when dinner wasn't ordered. And she said, in response, she said she sent you all the details. And I said, she did. I was just surprised being charged. I said the exact same thing. Charged for dinner allowance when dinner wasn't ordered. And she just said, okay. And then. And I said, all right. And so, yeah, I mean, there's. That's the kind of communication that it is. It's very, like, brief, simple communication.

[B]

So this was one of the comments on LinkedIn. Jen has walked into the room and wants to hear this. I don't know that there's a Way for you to hear this, because I gotta be on the headphones here. Maybe you could do this.

[C]

Hi.

[D]

Yay. Jen's here.

[C]

Are you gonna read the comments that Jen was irate about?

[E]

I was so irate, Cassie.

[D]

Oh, you're so sweet.

[E]

No, because you are right. And all of these are really.

[D]

See, I do get it. I get where they're coming from.

[E]

No, you're a single mom who works very hard to make a living for herself and her son, who, you know is a good person and cares about equality and inequality.

[B]

Right.

[E]

Obviously, the people who are, like, reading these comments don't know anything about your life experience, but the fact of the matter is, like, if there's anybody that they're going to attack for being oblivious and privileged, that's not you in any way. And I think partly was Jason's framing, which did you a disservice.

[C]

Going to say that, Jason, it was your fault. You should have said, my friend who's a single mom who fights the patriarchy.

[E]

That's right. That's absolutely right. But, like, I think that people got way too up in arms for criticizing you for not negotiating the rate, which, like, admittedly, you should have done. But, like, they were kind of mean about saying the fact that you didn't do that, which was just kind of unfair. And then the fact that she basically tried to, like, bilk you of money for not, like, you offered to pay her money to eat, which is actually not a thing that most people do when they hire a babysitter. And you very generously offered that to her, and she was completely taking advantage of you by trying to charge you for that without eating. Like, she knew exactly what she was doing and she was taking advantage of you.

[D]

So, first of all, thank you. You're so sweet and such a good friend. I do feel that that is what bothered me about it was that I was offering something out of kindness that I didn't have to do. And even if she did this for everybody, it felt because of the context of my offer that she was taking advantage of me. Oh, she's gonna give me that. I will not order dinner, but I will take that money. So that's what felt bad about it.

[B]

I want to read for you guys while we're waiting for the babysitter pimp to respond to the text. This from Monica Fay on LinkedIn. She says, as a former nanny slash babysitter in Beverly Hills, which is a funny detail that she threw in, but I guess that's a shorthand way of saying who Works with a lot of bitchy rich people. Yeah. Here's how I would respond as the parent. Hi, thank you for last night. Yes, I will send over payment today for me.

[C]

You as it was for me.

[B]

Yeah. Hi. Thank you for last night. I will send over payment today is really. That can get you arrested. Please send receipt of the meal purchased last night so I can send the exact amount of reimbursement and save for my files. I only reimburse for meals actually purchased. I want to be clear, that wasn't meant as supplemental pay. Just as a courtesy if you got hungry that I would pay for your dinner. As for the hourly rate, I have no problem paying $30 an hour for last night since it's my fault. We didn't discuss the rate previously. But moving forward, I usually pay my babysitters $20 an hour and understand if this isn't a rate you are comfortable with. But that's what is normally within my budget and I need to make sure I am sticking to that. Let me know if that rate works for you for future jobs. If not, I completely understand. Thank you again for last night. It was a much needed break. What do you think?

[D]

That's a beautiful text message. I think it's fantastic. If I had any intention of hiring her again, I definitely would have gone into all that. There are too many babysitters available in New York to hire her again. The part I definitely would have used is the part about the dinner allowance and sending in a receipt. The only thing is, it would have felt like additionally deceptive to me because we had already talked and she had already told me she didn't order dinner. And I knew that. And she knew, like, you know, you.

[C]

Could have said like, maybe I misheard or. Yeah, yeah, I was a little tipsy. Refresh my memory. I thought you said you didn't order, but if you did send the receipt.

[D]

I was totally wasted when I got home. Can you please send that in a receipt?

[B]

What Cassie just said. There is also a really important thing to consider when setting rates and also in engaging with people. And it makes me think back to the point that you made about how if you're going to charge a premium rate, you should provide a premium service. Because the thing is, you have to remember what kind of marketplace you're operating in. And the marketplace in New York and presumably just about everywhere else, is that babysitting is usually not $30 an hour unless you're doing something extraordinary or like watching three children or something.

[E]

Or you're like, you know, in an incredibly expensive building on the Upper east side instead of a small Brooklyn apartment.

[B]

I was thinking when I first saw her text message, like, lady, what you're doing here is you're going to squeeze cassie for 30 bucks an hour for this one night. But it's incredibly shortsighted because you will never get hired again. You're operating in a marketplace that's below that. And that's not to say that you are not worth more money or whatever, or that people shouldn't pay for, you know, like, valuable human services. But you have to be realistic about what it is that you're able to get and whether or not you want to play a short or long term game. And I think that this woman is playing a very short term game and we are operating without insight into her possibly she hates babysitting and she never wants to do this again. And she just happened to be free this night and she was like, fine, I'll do it and I will hate it and I will charge this woman a whole lot of money and I never want to hear from any of this again. But part of me says that that is not how she is thinking because of the way that she ended the text to you, which was very much saying, right. She was like, hope you have a blessed day or whatever. And like, I think that she was trying to begin a possible working relationship, but she ended one very quickly.

[D]

She was very cordial and very kind when we met, but I also got the feeling that she's like a retired grandmother who doesn't have to do this at all. And if somebody wants to hire me to do something that I'm, like, kind of okay with, I wouldn't normally do that much or I wouldn't love to do it. Like, maybe she just doesn't like to babysit at night, you know, And I always tell somebody, just charge the rate. That would be worth it to you to do that. So I agree with you, Jason, on that point. I think that there's a good chance that she was just charging the rate that would make it worth it to her to do it. And I'm all for that for someone. I just think that communicating that in advance, if it's outside of the typical marketplace value, would be great. That said, I also take 100% responsibility. I should have asked her, would it.

[C]

Have helped if she had put in context, too, that she has her own car and that, you know, she saved on the Uber and, like, she spent on gas or any other details the $30 rate.

[D]

I actually support that for her. But that being said, provide a premium service. I just think it's nice to go above and beyond if you're charging more. But it would not have changed anything for the dinner allowance, because the dinner allowance felt like Jen was saying, like she was squeezing me for money. It wouldn't have mattered what the context was. It just felt. It did not feel like it had integrity to me. So it wouldn't matter what her background was. I would expect integrity from anybody who I'm hiring.

[C]

So does this change the calculus for all of you guys who are hiring a bunch of babysitters to clarify what you mean by, like, hey, take something from the pantry. Like, you're not expecting them to take all the things from the pantry, right? Or order dinner, or, like, how much a budget for dinner is, or, like, if you're eating it, does this change how you guys will communicate with babysitters?

[B]

Moving forward for context, for something that Nicole just referenced was something that we were talking about, oftentimes if Jen and I hire a babysitter, we'll say, you know, oh, hey, you know, help yourself to whatever is in the pantry. And it would be really weird if a babysitter at the end was like, you know, I didn't help myself to anything in the pantry, but I calculate that had I, I would have eaten $3.75 worth of snacks. So let me just tack that onto the bill, which is sort of like a version of what this woman did. But Nicole's question is a really good one, because oftentimes when we think of hiring somebody, we're thinking of very formal structures. I am going to hire this electrician at this hourly rate that they have set, and that's what it's going to be. But there is a gray area of hiring people and babysitters falls into it, where sometimes you don't know the rate. And also, because it's so personal, you're having somebody come over to your home to engage with your children that you almost don't want to treat it like a business transaction, even though it is. And so it's weird to set out guidelines in the way that you would be totally fine doing with an electrician.

[E]

I mean, we always tell our sitters that they should just help themselves to anything, and they actually, I think they rarely do, and I kind of wish that they would more. We do sometimes pay for dinner. It's usually with the kids, right? So it's usually like, you know, we're ordering. We're like, okay, you're going to order this for the kids and like order something for yourself. But you know, to your point about like the informal aspect of the situation, in some ways, because it is in your house and because it is with your children, I understand the discomfort for formalizing the transaction, but I actually think that's a reason to make it more formal. Right. When you're bringing somebody into your home and you're putting them in charge of your kids, don't you want a contract, like formally signed and buttoned up in case anything goes wrong? I mean, it's actually kind of backwards if you think about it.

[B]

It's funny, after this whole thing where Cassie reached out, shared the story with us and then I posted it on LinkedIn, it became a whole thing. The next time we hired a babysitter, it was a brand new babysitter. Jen and I were traveling with the kids. We were in Chicago and this babysitter came over and before we left you asked, what is your rate? And the babysitter was not prepared for the question. Like she was kind of taken aback by it.

[E]

She was like, whatever, whatever works for you.

[B]

No. But then she gave a number. She gave a number with a question mark. She was like 20. And we said sure. And, and that I think was good for everyone, even though it was a little awkward in the moment.

[C]

Cassie, how are you going to have these conversations with the babysitters? Not the one you had because you'll never see her ever in your life again, but the other ones that you will hire.

[D]

I'm definitely going to ask the rate and there's a little bit of trickiness to it because by asking, is there anything else that you charge for this or are there any add on charges? It's almost as if I'm inviting them to do that and I'm actually not. That's not something I'm going to pay for for my babysitters. I'm happy to pay for dinner if they eat it or for them to take something from the pantry, but I'm not happy to pay a dinner allowance. So I guess that now in the future I'm going to ask them before they get here. So like, rather than waiting until they're in the room, I'm just going to say, you know, what's your rate and is there anything else that you expect me to pay for?

[C]

Or do you just change or clarify how you talk about the dinner component. Like order dinner within 15 bucks or so if you eat it, or like go to the pantry, get a couple of things, don't clear out my Pantry. I don't know.

[D]

Yeah, like, don't get like a paper bag and fill it with.

[C]

Right. Don't go grocery shopping in my pantry.

[D]

If somebody had bought a 50 dinner, that would have felt better to me. I would have been like, oh, she was so hungry. And I'm so glad that she, that she's like, it really needed this filet mignon. Yeah, I would have actually felt better about that than paying a $30 dinner allowance for dinner that wasn't ordered. I want to be able to be generous. I don't want to have to put a limit on how much somebody would spend for their dinner. So it wouldn't feel good for me to put a limit on that. Maybe I'll say something about, you know, what's your rate? And I'm happy to reimburse you for dinner if you order it and put that in writing in advance and that way it's clear.

[B]

Well, I think the bottom line here is the more communication you have in any transaction, the better.

[D]

And I got a text from the babysitter. Tell us.

[B]

Well, that's how this episode ends. So tell us what the Babysitter Pimp, you can.

[D]

The Babysitter Pimp has even texted. As I suspected. She says, what is that? Means I don't understand. I don't understand Cut. What cut means? I don't think she would ever in a million years take a cut. She doesn't even know what I'm talking about.

[B]

Okay, we have explored a lot of good insight here, but the real takeaway is Babysitter Pimp needs to start making some money.

[A]

That's right.

[C]

She needs Help Wanted to bring her on.

[D]

Babysitter Pimp next guest.

[B]

Help Wanted is a production of Money News Network. Help Wanted is hosted by me, Jason.

[A]

Pfeiffer, and me, Nicole Lapin.

[C]

Our executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. You want some help? Email our [e-mail] for the chance to have some of your questions answered on the show. And follow us on Instagramoneynews and TikTokoneyNewsNetwork for exclusive content and to see our beautiful faces. Maybe a little dance.

[B]

Oh, I didn't sign up for that.

[C]

Alright, well, talk to you soon.

[B]

Sam.