The Biggest Rip-Off of my life!

[BaronVonRotterdam]

Hello Everyone,

After working for my 72 year old neighbor Nancy since about April because she has been out of work with a hip replacement. She is a big woman who ways at least 200 pounds. I have only received $100. I worked an amazing amount of hours doing yard work or all sorts (raking, laying bricks, ripping down trees, pulling out weeds) I have also worked inside her house working in her garage, cleaning up her back room full of movies and junk and bringing bags and bags of crap upstairs to her attic and to her basement. Now saying all that my neighbor works as a nurse to help older people than her when she should be the one getting help because she is so big... Now I could be wrong but I know I have been Majorly ripped off. Since this is my neighbor I do work for i'm not working for an actual licensed business so I guess i'm working under the table. However minimum wage in New York is $7.15 an hour and I must have made maybe $2 MAYBE. Now i'm not going to say anything to her about her ripping me off majorly because she is an old very nice woman who apparently wants me to work for her but cant pay me adequately for all the work I do. So what do you vote? MAJOR RIP-OFF or PAID WELL.

[MasterOfNone]

call the labor board on her ass!

[Mr_N_Pants]

You never agreed on a set payment.

Keep helping her and just take whatever she can give you. Or stop completely.

You could just ask her if she can pay you more per chore or whatever.

[Quester115]

ahh well, welcome to life paint glad to have ya here
she paid you, sure its hard work, (park maintenance here, know where your coming from) but 100usd's aren't that bad.
if you really feel that you got ripped, just ask for more depending on how developed that thing parents call a conscious is

[popnstyle]

Well in a licenced world... If you were in ca, to have your general contracters licence you would be paying close to 5k if not more depending on if you contract work out. Just to be able to find jobs and legally do them. Then you can charge 25+ an hour (and that is the least I charge for the crews that I have working for me). That is per person 25 an hour. I then pay each person 17 an hour and the rest goes in my pocket, and then the person that is getting the work done has to pay for materials used. But if you dont have a contracters licence or the insureance and all other things needed. A job can not excede 499.99 with materials and labor expsences. Being you have been dooing work there for the alloted time, it would be considered one contract and in that wouldnt be legal here for you to make more then stated.

Best advice I can give you is just negotiate what is ok to make and what is not. It is a good thing to be helping her out for she is not able to do these things, but dont end up like bart simpson broken and lifeless for 25 cents a day.

[KnaveSkye]

I gotta agree. If you feel the money is important, ask for more. If they are just a friend you are helping and you are ok doing it at a lower price, thats cool too. I guess it just depends on your priorities at that age. Are you doing these things to make a buck or to keep busy and the money is just a bonus? Are there other things you could be doing for more money? Is there someone else that could do what you are doing for this lady and would be happy making $100? All things to consider, good luck

[General-Chainz]

Unfortunatley Paint Yep this is life overworked and Underpaid. New York is $7.15 a hour lucky you its $6.50 here but anyways if she is a old disabled lady then then i guess you are doing the right thing helping her out thas a nice thing . Now you prolly dont liek being nice and want more money you can ask and I bet she might give you a lil more if you been doing all that you have said. But again I guess your doing a nice thing

[MrsD]

Paint,
Concider 1 thing before u decide to ask for more money (if thats what u r going to do).......do u get regular work from her or was it a 1 off??
If its a 1 off, take it as a lesson well learnt, u earnt money, learnt something new even if it is something minor ie housekeeping or organizational skills. And you did something worthwhile with your time. An added bonus from that for the future is that she is a lady in a professional capacity who maybe able to give you a reference for anything you do in the future.....but by asking for more money she may remember you as the 'snotty nosed, greedy kid from next door'
If it is a regular thing that u help her out, then next time..........discuss the price beforehand!!

As for the minimum wages in America......gawd thats low, it works out at £3.49 per hour????
our minimum wages convert to 10.34 usd. BUT saying that expenses in usa are less than in uk .

Anyway, thought u may want a level headed females prospective on that matter.

Good Luck and take care

MrsD

[General-Chainz]

Mrsd LOL i dunno bought things being cheaper here alot fo things are really expensive in most cases jus lil things I buy add up quick lets say a 20 oz bottle of mountain dew/coke/pepsi whatever $1.25-1.50 jus for a bottle
cigarettes where I live are $3.30 a pack new york city they are like $10.00 a pack gas is prolly more expensive there in UK but still $3.00-$4.00 a gallon.
but all that doesnt compare to the fact that YOU IN THE UK GET FREE HEALTHCARE we get charged $500 jus for the doctor to say go home and lay down for awhile youll feel better

[Chuckles]

Yardwork like babysitting is a negotiated practice, you set a price for your time and certain tasks are priced with a premium. in your case your doing yardwork a very vague category one can fit anything from mowing/raking/weeding to pruning bushes/trees, digging out tree stumps into.
and your are also doing things inside her house, sounds like she wants to keep you on.

if you want to keep her as a customer, you need to ask yourself several questions as the others have already said
how much should i charge per hour for housework, how much can she afford to really pay me, repeat the process for yardwork et cetera. negotiate your rates and hours and days you will work for her, remember to account for days you might want off regularly or for special events.

as for your poll, add it up to a lesson learned.

it's your time, your energy and your back(when you get my age, you'll understand the importance of the last one most keenly) if you want to help her out yet she cant afford to pay you what you think you are worth, perhaps you should consider cutting back your work hours. if you like doing that sort of thing you might want to post a small ad at the closest senior center stating your rates and what part of the city you will cover, etc. dont stray too far from home, there are too many pervs out there hun, always make sure your folks know where you are. you might just wanna keep it to a few blocks radius and walk door to door handing out flyers like the teens here do for lawn mowing.

mrs has one thing right tho, federal minimum wage should be 10.00 to be honestly competitive