Babysitting Circle

THE PROBLEM: Wanting (needing) an evening out when you have small children, but not being able to afford the astronomical babysitting fee's.

THE SOLUTION: Start a babysitting circle.

THE LOWDOWN: Ask around at you child's school/ nursery/ playgroup etc, for others who would like to join. Typically, everyone in the group has a set amount of tokens (say eight one-hour cards and eight half-hour cards). You save tokens when you babysit for other people and you use them to 'pay' with when you want to go out, child-free, yourselves. At the end of each session, the hirers pay by cards in hours and half hours to the nearest time. After midnight double payment incurs.

THE BENEFITS: Save yourself money, be thriftful and make good friends. Plus, if your child wakes up, it's to a familiar face.