By Misha H.
About $12-$15/hr and she pays for all supplies. Gas/travel time is usually not compensated separately. No matter what kind of work we do we are usually "not on the clock" until we get there. If you are driving her kids places or running errrands, charge whatever rate the IRS is currently using.
I cleaned house for many years. Most all houses take between 4 and 5 hours to clean. UNLESS thet have not been cleaned on a regular basis. If that is the case, the 1st time through it will take you twice as long. You need to know the going rate for your area. Where I live it is $30 an hour. This is a high cost of living area. Decide what your hourly rate will be, and your transportation costs, and you will know approximately what to charge. I cleaned most houses for $120 to $160. Dont shortchange yourself, It is hard work and you cant work much more than 5 hours a day.
Keep your friendship and the money isn't worth it unless she wants to pay a lot of money. The 35 miles one way is 70 miles and wear and tear on vehicle. You are the one who will be in the hole. or if you still want to try then figure out your cost of going including wear and tear on vehicle and what you'd be doing with your time if not driving so far and how many hours it will take you to do what she wants. If she were closer it would be a big difference.
When you come up with an answer talk to her about how she feels about it and the strain it just might put on your relationship as friends and go from there. Just make sure you both do a lot of talking about what you expect from this.
And pray.
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