A
female
age
,
anonymous
writes:I have been dating my boyfriend for a year and six months. He has a handyman business. I need electrical and plumbing work done should i pay him to do the work? Reply to this Question
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female
reader, muso888  +, writes (4 June 2011):
I would definitely offer to pay. If you ask outright if he'll do it for free he may feel a bit taken adavntage of. Hopefully he will give you a (very nice) discount, but remember that unless it's a home you both live in, the work he will do for you will be time away from work he could be doing to earn his own living. So be fair, and hope that he is nice enough to do it at cost or as near to as he can to make sure he can still eat and pay his bills.
A
reader, anonymous, writes (4 June 2011): This is verified as being by the original poster of the questionI think all responses were right on. I do not live with my bf. I have purchased all materials needed to replace and repair the jobs. The cost for me would be $50.00. I do not know if he will take the money or not, but the price I thought was fair.
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A
male
reader, N91 +, writes (4 June 2011):
 Just ask him whether he was expecting you to pay or not.
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A
female
reader, So_Very_Confused +, writes (4 June 2011):
 I would tell him what i need to have done and ask him how much this will cost me... and go from there.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (4 June 2011): You could offer to treat him to a night out instead? Or think of an alternative way to thank him rather than payment :)
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male
reader, ManAfterChrist +, writes (4 June 2011):
 No way. If he's a true gentleman he wouldn't accept it anyways, but honestly there is no reason to assume you should.
Who cares if you aren't married? I wouldn't charge a girl I had been dating a week let alone a year and a half!
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A
female
reader, person12345 +, writes (4 June 2011):
 You should pay for materials, but you'll have to work things out about labor. He may or may not want payment. Offer it and see what he says.
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (4 June 2011): If you are not living together which I assume you're not, and you are not married, then I think you should offer to pay him. I expect he'd probably politely decline, but you should still offer to pay him nonetheless because it's rude to assume that he will decline your payment. Because like I said, you're not married, you're not even living together so it's too soon to be saying "what's yours is also mine."But it also depends on whether he offered to do this work for you or whether you asked him to do it. If he was at your place and saw you need this electrical and plumbing work done and offered, then I would think you don't have to offer to pay him but instead offer to take him out for a nice dinner or something. But if you are the one who went to him and said, "I need some work done..." then I think you should be prepared to pay him with money.
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A
male
reader, idoneitagain  +, writes (4 June 2011):
I would think yes, there will be costs involved to him, so I don't think you can assume that you could get him to do the work and not pay him, which would mean him having to pay for part of the repairs out of his pocket. It might be different if it was just his service, he might be happy to give up his time, but it probably involves more than that. This question also depends on how you manage finances generally in the relaionship. For example, if you had joint finances, you wouldn't need to ask this question of course. Different people manage their finances in their relationships differently, and there is no right or wrong. Speak to him about it. Assuming that there will be obvious costs, tell him that you will need to pay for the work because you know there will be costs involved, and that he should tell you how much you will need to pay. Have a straight up conversation about it, and come to an arrangement that you are both happy with.
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A
female
reader, Aunty BimBim +, writes (4 June 2011):
 As a minimum you should pay for all materials, his labour should be negotiated, reduced rates would be reasonable.
Keep business businesslike, get the quotes and have a genuine invoice to pay against. This will ensure if something goes wrong you are both covered, and neither can be accused of taking advantage of the other.
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reader, anonymous, writes (4 June 2011): well I think you should ask him, or just give him a little bit for helping you out. I believe you should NOT pay him full price. Just surprise him :D that is if he will even take the money! He is proabbaly not even expecting you are going to pay him anyhing for the workhe will be doing for you. If you don't want to just give him something, ask him how much he wants and that you really want to give him something.
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