Overheard my neighbor telling his kid to charge $50 for a whole day of yard work

I was grabbing my mail and heard this dad coaching his 14 year old on pricing for helping out the old lady next door. $50 for 8 hours of mowing, weeding, and hauling brush, that's like $6 an hour lol. I almost yelled over the fence that even fast food pays double that now. Made me think about how I underpriced my first freelance graphic design gig at $100 for a full website banner set. Has anyone else had that moment where they realized they were basically working for pocket change?

3 comments

3 Comments

keith1646d ago

$50 for a whole day is wild. I thought I was getting ripped off at $10 an hour mowing lawns back in the day, but that's practically slavery pricing.

wyattramirez6d ago

Practically slavery pricing" hits hard man. I remember my first real gig job was walking dogs for this rich couple in my neighborhood. They paid me $15 for a whole week of walking their golden retriever every day after school. I was so stoked about it until my mom found out and made me go ask for $20 because she said I was getting played. They actually said yes, so I guess that proves something about knowing your worth. What did you end up doing with all that lawn money back then?

the_riley6d ago

Wait, isn't that basically teaching your kid to undervalue their own time before they even start? I used to think $20 for a full day of yard work was a good deal when I was a teen, but now I realize I was just afraid to ask for more or thought that's just how it worked. That dad should have told his kid to charge at least $100 if he's putting in real work for eight hours.