# how to pay a personal chef?



## bostonnative (Feb 12, 2013)

Hello everyone i am new to the forums and just have some questions. Me and my wife are 22yrsu old and have been thinking about getting a personal chef for quite some time now. I found a friend from high school who is actually in school right now and i figured this would be a wonderful opportunity for thw both of us.

My friend will get some experience and referrals right out of school and i will finally get to taste some new tasty foods. Ok now that background info is discussed here are my questions.

1.) If i employ my friend how can i legally pay her? Will it be a 1099 form? 

2.)If i wanted to offer insurance (im military so i have tricare) how would that go about.

3.)is there a contract that i can download and revise offline?

Ok thats all the information i havw for now..i plan on paying her $600 a month and ill cover the groceries and supplies and stuff. Ill also give her an extra $15 or so every trip to cover gas. I know $600i is REALLLLY cheap but its just me and my wife. If you guys feel like its just morally unfair please let me know. and plz give me lots of advice and feedback so we can all be happy.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

This is a friend you are wanting to hire, yes?

There is no quicker way to destroy a friendship than to employ them.

IMHO.

mimi


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## bostonnative (Feb 12, 2013)

let me not say friend and just say i person a i know from school


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## carrionshine211 (Feb 11, 2013)

Dont do it. Your friend is still in school, and has no real world experience. What school is your friend in? Culinary school? People assume that just because somebody graduated culinary school that they are a chef when they graduate. Not so much. A real personal chef is going to be expensive,.

$600 per month is illegal immagrant wages. For that much money, you could just go out to dinner.


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## bostonnative (Feb 12, 2013)

She goes to johnson and whales and if she fills out a 1099 would it still be illegal?


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## bostonnative (Feb 12, 2013)

a real personal chef was going to charge me $600 a month but it was just for one meal a day


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

A large majority of _real_ personal chefs charge by the day as a general rule. Daily rates can vary from a low of $250 to a high of $400 or more PLUS groceries. If the price includes groceries, add anywhere from $100 to $200 per day, depending on the number of meals and the actual menu.

_Real _personal chefs

Are entrepreneurs, and
Carry liability insurance, and
Are ServSafe or NRFSP or other certified food safety *managers*, not just food handlers, and
Have the necessary business licenses, and
Have the necessary tax IDs for sales tax, where applicable, and
Rarely, if ever, receive a 1099 as it is rare for personal chef services to be deductible for tax purposes.
Have a rather extensive history of cooking for others, whether restaurants, institutions, etc., rarely does a culinary school graduate have the experience background to operate a successful personal chef business.
As long as it is a private arrangement between the two of you, whatever you both agree on probably works.


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

I don't think your offer is out of line at all.

I am a "real" personal chef, and I employ 3 other "real" personal chefs while looking for a fourth. In all, we service about 20 families and currently have 6 more on a waiting list. Our average cost for a week of meals prepped for a family of four is around $150-$160. The customer pays for the groceries. 

A good chef should be able to prep dinners for two people for a week in less than four hours, including shopping and cleanup. We do it every day. The key is realizing that normal people don't eat something different every day, and they don't need over-prepared ego dishes for every meal. Making 3 to 4 dishes with enough portions to make it through a week, and preparing real, everyday food, from scratch, with high quality fresh ingredients, will please almost any family.

$150 per week to four hours of work equates to $37.50 per hour. Pretty good pay for most people.


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## chef newbie (Sep 6, 2013)

So after you charge them per week, do you leave them a bill after groceries or do you estimate how much it wall all cost after you shop?


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

I make them give me money to shop with. There are too many states out there looking for things to tax and at least one of them I've heard of going after personal chefs, claiming they are selling food instead of service and trying to force them to pay uncollected sales tax on previous sales. That would sink most personal chefs I know. The money for groceries never goes in or out of my bank account, so any shady government agency trying to prove I am selling food instead of service is going to have a very hard time. I take their money to the store for groceries, then get a check from them for my time before I leave that day.


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## chateaudeju (Oct 9, 2013)

PeteMcCracken said:


> A large majority of _real_ personal chefs charge by the day as a general rule. Daily rates can vary from a low of $250 to a high of $400 or more PLUS groceries. If the price includes groceries, add anywhere from $100 to $200 per day, depending on the number of meals and the actual menu.
> 
> _Real_ personal chefs
> 
> ...





PeteMcCracken said:


> A large majority of _real_ personal chefs charge by the day as a general rule. Daily rates can vary from a low of $250 to a high of $400 or more PLUS groceries. If the price includes groceries, add anywhere from $100 to $200 per day, depending on the number of meals and the actual menu.
> 
> _Real_ personal chefs
> 
> ...


 what if u have no culinary training but have lots of experience cooking for friends?ive been asked to make food for a 25 person party.asked to make appetizers and mains. All i have to do prep it day before and cook it on the day of.no insurance,cleaning up or anything.just cooking and driving to the location which is about 20 km away from me.how much should my flat rate be?and would my rate be based on something?


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## chateaudeju (Oct 9, 2013)

I have no culinary training.lots of experience cooking for large parties of friends. Ive been asked to cook for a party of 25 people.appies and mains.theres no insurance,rentals or anything. I just have to prep the day before and cook it the day of.i have to drive about 20km to get there.they no i have no training or anything. How much should my flat rate be and should it be just based on what i want my profit to be?


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## chateaudeju (Oct 9, 2013)

Oh and ill have to make a trip to buy everything with their money


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