What do you pay for child car/preschool? How to save?

[Laura66]

Some of these low prices amaze me. My daughter and son nanny'd for a few summers and they made 80+ per(full) DAY for two kids.

 

[Tiffylv]

"

 

[tvguy]

Having a nanny does cost a lot more...at least in my experience. My son LOVES one of his teachers at daycare. She will sometimes watch him days when I have to work but both school and daycare are closed (some holidays or weekends) and she charges $120 PER DAY!! I don't mind paying that once in awhile but there's no way I'd pay for her to do that all the time. Heck I can send him to daycare and she will watch him just the same and that only costs me $145 for the whole week....and they are open 13 hours a day, 5 days a week!

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

 

[MsMamaBear]

My daughter is 3 and I pay $75 a week (with a discount). Normal price is $135 a week. I get a discount because I teach Ga Pre-k at the center, which is our state's universal free Pre-K program.

 

[Gracie09]

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

Such judgement. Many men and women are happier and therefore better parents working outside the home. And unless you know someone's financial records you don't know if they can survive on one income. Nannies are not always more expensive than daycare. For us it's less expensive to have a nanny than daycare for two kids. It also affords us flexibility daycare can't provide.

 

[SirDuff]

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

And? Perhaps, for them, having a career is worth the financial hit. Assuming that it actually is a financial hit - which you don't actually know.

 

[teacherlisa1978]

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

But I think what gets forgotten, in addition to the fact that done people are fulfilled through work and enjoy what they do, is that children start school in the blink of an eye. Giving up work positions and experience for a few years at home can have an altogether greater financial detriment than paying for a nanny for a few years. Working or not, sometimes there is more than the bottom line that goes into these decisions.

I have my dream teaching job as a Reading specialist at a Catholic school. We adopted our son at 17 months and he is almost 5 and starts kindergarten in September. Luckily I have Fridays off and most of the summer do it's been a good compromise. But even if he'd had to go to daycare full time it would have been a very tough decision as there just aren't other positions like mine available in our Deanery.

We pay $810 a month for full time Montessori daycare/preschool. He can attend 5 days a week 7:30 to 5:15. I send him 3-4 days a week as my mom watches him Thursdays and I only send him about every other Friday. But there is no reduction in fees for days he doesn't go or vacations. It's well worth it. He will be ready for Kindergarten and the teachers are incredible and so very loving.

 

[Laura66]

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

Okay - my husband and decided that I would be stay at home mom. It's what we wanted abd what worked for us.

BUT,

Why on this green earth SHOULD one parent stay at home to care for their children and what gives YOU the right to even make that kind of remark!

Whether they need or want to work is no one else's business but their own!

 

[Sleepy425]

But I think what gets forgotten, in addition to the fact that done people are fulfilled through work and enjoy what they do, is that children start school in the blink of an eye. Giving up work positions and experience for a few years at home can have an altogether greater financial detriment than paying for a nanny for a few years. Working or not, sometimes there is more than the bottom line that goes into these decisions.

I have my dream teaching job as a Reading specialist at a Catholic school. We adopted our son at 17 months and he is almost 5 and starts kindergarten in September. Luckily I have Fridays off and most of the summer do it's been a good compromise. But even if he'd had to go to daycare full time it would have been a very tough decision as there just aren't other positions like mine available in our Deanery.

We pay $810 a month for full time Montessori daycare/preschool. He can attend 5 days a week 7:30 to 5:15. I send him 3-4 days a week as my mom watches him Thursdays and I only send him about every other Friday. But there is no reduction in fees for days he doesn't go or vacations. It's well worth it. He will be ready for Kindergarten and the teachers are incredible and so very loving.

I couldn't agree more. Once we adopt our girls (twins who are now 15 months old), it will cost more for our 4 kids to go to day care (or get a nanny, which yes then means we need a third car) than my husband makes. But day care (or a nanny) is temporary. It is worth it to take the hit for 2-3 years so that my husband doesn't have to try to get back into the job field. Also, he carries the health insurance - so if he wasn't working we would have to pay for that out of pocket. And he wouldn't be able to contribute to a 401k. It is short sighted to say that if day care costs more than someone makes they should quit their job. Not to mention my husband enjoys working and would not be fully happy staying home with the kids (although he would be happier than I would - no chance I would do it. I am fortunate to work only 3.5 days a week, and the one full day I have home with all four kids is more exhausting than any day at work!).

 

[tvguy]

Okay - my husband and decided that I would be stay at home mom. It's what we wanted abd what worked for us.

BUT,

Why on this green earth SHOULD one parent stay at home to care for their children and what gives YOU the right to even make that kind of remark!

Whether they need or want to work is no one else's business but their own!

This is a discussion board where people express their opinions. That is my observation and yes, in America we have a constitution right to do that. Don't flame me for being honest. I value your differing opinion, and we both have a right to have them.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

What is your teacher:infant ratio? I always hear people complaining about Maryland being so expensive because of our 1:3 ratio, but to me, one teacher to 3 babies is still a lot! Imagine all 3 needing to be changed/fed at the same time. My son's center has 3 infant rooms, with a maximum of 6 babies each. They move up in each room depending on developmental level, so no one in his room is crawling yet. After 18 months, they are moved to "toddler" classrooms, which still have to maintain the 1:3 ratio. The rooms are just bigger and have more activities.

I used to work at a high quality, NAEYC accredited center. Our ratios for our infant room were 3:1 with a maximum class size of 6:2. It's really the best you'll find at a center. Our 4 and 5 year old classrooms had a ratio of 8:1. The child care center was located in a university town and extremely expensive. Infant care was $1200 month when my son was an infant and that was 10 years ago!

 

[Ginny Favers]

My kids were both in daycare together and we were paying $500/week (cries). Those were really hard years.

Now they are in private school and aftercare and it's half that! Next year because they will both be in elementary school, it will be only $700 a month!

But really, they are finding newer and more inventive ways to screw over dual-income families. I was breaking even with the daycare situation, but I felt it important to keep my job so I wouldn't find myself unemployable a few years later.

Now that our daycare expenses are less... what happens? My husband's and my insurance says that if your spouse is offered a healthcare plan at their place of business, they HAVE to take it there. Meaning we are stuck paying for 2 separate insurance plans and paying a LOT more money to be insured. Sometimes I do wonder if it's worth the hassle.

 

[JediBonas]

My twins started daycare a few months ago (they're three). It's a daycare that has a school aspect to it, I think three hours a day they do various learning activities. They only go two days a week and we pay $200/week for those two days (it was more when they were in the 2 year old classroom).

 

[Gracie09]

This is a discussion board where people express their opinions. That is my observation and yes, in America we have a constitution right to do that. Don't flame me for being honest. I value your differing opinion, and we both have a right to have them.

The American constitution has nothing to do with what you can say on a private message board. Freedom of speech refers to the govt preventing you from speaking/writing etc. In a private setting (which a privately run message board is) there is not protections. But you are right you are entitled to your opinion. And I am entitled to point out how uninformed and stuck in the 1950s it appears to be. Unless your are privy to your neighbors financials, you have not idea if it is better financially for one of them to stay home. And its not only about financials although after the last recession, I understand how attractive having 2 incomes is, when you can easily lose one. Having stayed home for several years, I know the downside, both personally and financially. When I went back to work, I could only find a position several levels below where I was when I left the working world 3 years prior. (I left due to my dd's illness not financial issues.) I took a significant pay cut as well as losing the retirement contributions and 529 contributions we would have made, during the time I was not working. Personally, when I was staying home I ended up depressed and not in the best place to mother my children. I did all the "right" things, but didn't enjoy my day. Now I work and when I get home I love the time I spend with my kids. I am an active, involved parent at their school. I am on a first name basis with their teachers and the principal. Basically what it comes down to is the decision to stay home or not is not purely a financial decision. Its an individual family's decision. And your outside opinion is worthless because you don't know the issues the family is facing.
Also, I get to show my daughters that a woman can be have a career and be a mother. That their education and jobs are worth as much as any boys. There are sacrifices, no matter which way things end up, but they get to make choices and not have decisions thrust upon them. So my one daughter who wants to be an astronaut scientist (she's 5) can do that. And the other that wants to be a mommy and babysitter (also 5) can do that. Its a matter of making choices.

 

[sophie832]

We currently pay $1075 per month for our 16-month-old to be in a daycare center (not an at-home facility). I think the price goes down a tiny bit when he is either 2 or 3 (probably due to potty training or perhaps the teacher-student ratio). For a while, we wondered whether DH should just stay at home (I make more $), but his take-home is still twice what we pay for daycare. I just don't know what we will do if/when we have another child, since there are only very small sibling discounts. At that point, it might be beneficial to have a nanny, but the only issue is that we are gone from home over 12 hours a day, 4 days per week, which means we would have to pay at nanny OT, too. Also, I don't like being so far away from my child...the daycare we have now is very close to our office (DH and I work in the same building), while our house is at least a 30 minute commute, and that is without traffic. The more likely outcome will be paying for both kids to be in daycare and/or preschool. Not sure if we are going to do public or private school at this point, but we are leaning towards private. We figure it couldn't cost that much more than what we are paying now.

Since we work for local government, we do get a childcare subsidy via a dependent care spending account. It is given based on income, so when I was getting it, I only got $75 per month. Now that we switched it over to DH, we get $375 per month. Next year, it will be less. Still, it is helpful. There are also a few daycares in the county (Los Angeles County) that give discounts to government employees, but unfortunately none of them are close to home or work (go figure).

I should also note that we pay for 5 days per week, even though I only work 4. There is no option at this daycare to pay for less days. Now that DS is a littler older, though, I do drop him off on my day off sometimes, and DH brings him home. I confess it is nice to have a day to myself here and there.

 

[katied]

Also, I get to show my daughters that a woman can be have a career and be a mother. That their education and jobs are worth as much as any boys. There are sacrifices, no matter which way things end up, but they get to make choices and not have decisions thrust upon them. So my one daughter who wants to be an astronaut scientist (she's 5) can do that. And the other that wants to be a mommy and babysitter (also 5) can do that. Its a matter of making choices.

I wanted to add, as the mom of both a DS and DD, that I think it is equally important for DS to learn this (in our house, DS (until he started school) thought all Mommies went to work and all Daddies stayed home, and was planning to grow up to be a Daddy and raise the kids. Now he's in school and sees we are the unusal family, but I want both my DS and DD to know the choices they can make, the pros and cons, and decide in their circumstances, what is best (and be respectful of the choices others make)).

 

[tvguy]

The American constitution has nothing to do with what you can say on a private message board. Freedom of speech refers to the govt preventing you from speaking/writing etc. In a private setting (which a privately run message board is) there is not protections. But you are right you are entitled to your opinion. And I am entitled to point out how uninformed and stuck in the 1950s it appears to be. Unless your are privy to your neighbors financials, you have not idea if it is better financially for one of them to stay home. And its not only about financials although after the last recession, I understand how attractive having 2 incomes is, when you can easily lose one. Having stayed home for several years, I know the downside, both personally and financially. When I went back to work, I could only find a position several levels below where I was when I left the working world 3 years prior. (I left due to my dd's illness not financial issues.) I took a significant pay cut as well as losing the retirement contributions and 529 contributions we would have made, during the time I was not working. Personally, when I was staying home I ended up depressed and not in the best place to mother my children. I did all the "right" things, but didn't enjoy my day. Now I work and when I get home I love the time I spend with my kids. I am an active, involved parent at their school. I am on a first name basis with their teachers and the principal. Basically what it comes down to is the decision to stay home or not is not purely a financial decision. Its an individual family's decision. And your outside opinion is worthless because you don't know the issues the family is facing.
Also, I get to show my daughters that a woman can be have a career and be a mother. That their education and jobs are worth as much as any boys. There are sacrifices, no matter which way things end up, but they get to make choices and not have decisions thrust upon them. So my one daughter who wants to be an astronaut scientist (she's 5) can do that. And the other that wants to be a mommy and babysitter (also 5) can do that. Its a matter of making choices.

I respectfully disagree. This board would not exist without Constitutional protections on speech. And I NEVER EVER said the mom should stay home, so don't put words in my mouth.
What I said was, why should both parents work if that creates a situation where they both are exhausted and stressed and where the cost of the child care wipes out one salary? That just makes no sense. And for the record, my mom took the first 5 years of my life off to care for me, and my dad didn't work the next 5 years. And that was 1957 to 1967 so only 3 years of the 1950's.

 

[Gracie09]

I respectfully disagree. This board would not exist without Constitutional protections on speech. And I NEVER EVER said the mom should stay home, so don't put words in my mouth.
What I said was, why should both parents work if that creates a situation where they both are exhausted and stressed and where the cost of the child care wipes out one salary? That just makes no sense. And for the record, my mom took the first 5 years of my life off to care for me, and my dad didn't work the next 5 years. And that was 1957 to 1967 so only 3 years of the 1950's.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The First Amendment specifies the government (and a message board on the internet is not the government) shall not limit a person's right to free speech. This message board is not protected nor does it owe its existence to the first amendment except to the extent that Congress can't make a law saying people can't talk about Disney, or shutdown the internet all together. They have no control over the content of the boards.

What you are missing is the decision for a parent to stay home or not is not always purely financial. There are long term consequences for people opting to take time out of the workforce. So they may currently make little money by both working and paying for childcare but they will benefit from it later on. Also, you are assuming that the parents are both exhausted and stressed if they both work. Again, unless you are a member of the family, making the decisions, you have no way of knowing what the situation is in the family. I personally am less stressed working than I was when I stayed home. I may have to throw some laundry in at night or run a vacuum, but I'm not exhausted and stressed all the time (actually hardly ever). My husband isn't the only adult I talk to some days so he is happier not to have to be my sole sounding board. Because believe it or not, when you stay home there are days you don't talk to another adult even if you are active in your community.

Also, I never said you said mothers should stay home.

 

[aprilchem]

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

Do you know the individual and combined incomes of these families, and do you see their monthly budget each month? If so, then I guess you can make that statement. If not, then you don't have a basis to judge them.

We have a full-time nanny every summer for our 3 kids. We have a 3rd car so that she doesn't have to use her own vehicle. This costs us about 1/8 of our monthly income, which is perfectly reasonable to me. And that's all that matters, since it's MY budget, not anyone else's.

 

[smiths02]

I have to admit, none of the daycare costs surprises me. What always amazes me is the number of people I know that have nannies. And it's not just paying someone 40 hours a week, they usually buy a third vehicle so the nanny can run their kids around! I honestly think in some cases both parents want a career when financially one of them should be staying home with the kids.

Financially can be big. My job was cut from 100% to 50%. Basically, all my salary would be going to daycare and taxes. I still decided to work for several reasons, and it still made sense financially. 1) With my job paying for daycare but having fewer hours-I had more flexibility to do things to save or earn money (for instance, I covered maternity leaves and bumped up to 100% some weeks) 2) I am in a pension system, so time in the system counts (50% is better than 0%) 3) I am in a career that generates pay increases for seniority (again 50% is better than 0%) 4) My job carries benefits (my DH's job does too, but it could be a factor) 5) If I left for a few years, new methods would come out that I would not know 6) My job pays for some professional development (I would have to pay that myself) 7) My employer keeps up with my certification with the state (another thing I would have to do on my own if not working) 8)It can be hard to get back in the work force if you get out (tenure, professional connections, etc.)