Do you have a nanny?

[minkydog]

you are getting a great deal.....16 years ago I was paying $150 a week for my son to be taken care of.

That's what I was thinking. If you're getting 4wks for $540, that works out to $135/wk. A steal! Good luck getting a nanny for that price, especially one that is willing to also do some housework and get dinner started.

 

[M 'n C]

I'm not sure where you are exactly but trying to find a decent nanny in Houston proved to be a huge problem for a coworker of mine. She had just had her 2nd child and the nanny prices were very high (I can't remember the price but it was probably double what you are paying). She wanted a Russian nanny since she is Russian but that was too much. She tried other ethnicities (ie Mexican and Americans) and they were still too high - less than the russians but not by much. What really got her was that they only wanted to work 8:30-4:30 and anything after that was "overtime". We never work within those hours so she would have had at least 2 hours of overtime to pay per day! Her parents decided in the end to move here from Russia to take care of the kids.

 

[barkley]

you are getting a great deal.....16 years ago I was paying $150 a week for my son to be taken care of.

i'm realy thinking this-around here the going rate (at a center-family home based is less) for a child this age is $890 a month plus around $500 in yearly registration and fees (and thats a place that provides no diapers, wipes, tissues or any meals for the child). a housekeeper (not talking merry maids or a major clean-up, just someone who comes in maybe once a week for an hour or so dusting, vacuuming and wipe down of the counters) runs at least $150 (and that's not someone lic. or bonded and you've done the background check yourself).

the only kind of person i could imagine would be willing to work full time for these types of wages (in which case would be one that would be salaried and exempt from minimum wage requirements) would be someone who does'nt want it reported to the irs. in which case the parent would'nt get the benefit of the child care tax credit-and they could get in trouble for not properly reporting once the wages hit the appropriate amount. even if a person is willing to report you need to check out the benefits of having them operate as a 'self employed' person over being your employee-if they are your employee your going to have to do the whole 9 yards on paying taxes, social security and all that good stuff-plus you may need to look at the implications of on the job injuries and worker's comp laws in your state.

if the person is going to access to your car you need to find out if your insurance covers them (and there may be an increase if that person's driving record is less than stellar). if they are driving their own you will want to ensure they have appropriate coverage (not only for your safety-but if they are your employee and have an accident on your time you may carry some liability)-even the volunteers parent drivers at our kids' school have to provide this.

i dunno-for me a center with multiple employees was better. i did'nt have a job such that if my provider got sick or had a family issue i could nesc. take time off to cover. i also did'nt have to plan to take my vacation when my provider wanted one (they were closed very minimaly beyond holidays).

 

[ntburns22]

About 10 years ago I was a nanny for a family. I made $250 a week plus a gas card everyother week or they would leave me the CC to fill up. I did errands when they needed me too and I did the kids laundry. They a cleaning lady come once a week, so I was only responsible for dishes and cleaning up after projects and such.

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

We had Au Pairs growing up- 1 from Denmark, 3 from Germany, and 1 from the UK from 1992-1997. They were great! Like big sisters!

At that point, they were paid about $100 a week, given the use of a car, and were only expected to pay for gas that they used for personal travel (not much). Of course, they had their own private bedroom and bathroom downstairs (our house was built to accomodate an in-law suite). They didn't really start "work" until we were picked up from school at 2:00 or so and were off the hook when Mom or Dad came home. Granted, they were much more a part of the family than that. Main duties included any house tidying that needed to be done, picking us up from school, getting us to swim or hockey practice, and maybe starting dinner on a few occasisions.

 

[ilovejack02]

My best friend pays $10 and hour which is very reasonable . Nanny is there 5 hrs a day and does babies laundry and will pick up her toys. She will cook when asked, and is given lots of bonuses and goodies to keep her happy. I dont know of anyone in this area that would work for what you want to pay. Most of the ladies i know that work by the hr around here are 10 -15 an hr. I have several friends with Nanny on salary, one of which is making about 35 k a yr, but she isnt just the nanny she does EVERYTHING for the family, cooks, cleans house and their office, keeps up with the kids, basically runs the enitre household. They couldnt function without her.

 

[Mad4Mickey]

I did when my kids were young , they are almost 21 ad 19 now. But back then we paid 400 a week and provided a mini van for her to use . She lived in and had 2 days off a week , she cooked our dinner and did housekeeping and the wash for the kids . After she was with us for 2 years we started giving her 3 weeks off paid so she could be with her family if she wanted to . She made every trip with us on family vacation and we paid all her expenses.
As the kids grew older she had less to do but we still kept it around the same pay . Just added things like the paid trips, vacation pay when she didnt work, free room and board, we have a pool so she was able to have her own nephews over when she liked to swim and enjoy the family home.

When the kids got to old for a nanny we kept her on as a housekeeper. I still miss her I kept her till the kids were 10 and 12

If you can swing it DO IT . My kids never went to daycare and always had someoen around to love them when we were working . They had swim, cheerleading, hockey,karate and those types of things to keep them active with kids till they were school age.

GOOD LUCK ! I hate to say it but I think you are going to have to pay more then that . But I live outside Dallas so the costs might be higher then where you live .

 

[DMickey28]

Oh my, can I move where you are? We are looking at a min. of $1200 to $1600 a month for our DS, EDD 4/22/07.

 

[sugarpie]

I wouldn't expect to find daycare for less than $800 a month.

You would actually expect a nanny to come to your house, take care of your child, cook, and clean for less than what you're currently paying?

Get real.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

I am a professional nanny, college educated, with 13 years of experience. I work 42 hours each week, and the little ones are in preschool about 12 of those hours. I gross more than $600 per WEEK. I do not clean or cook, other than for the children. A nanny is not a housekeeper.

I understand that there will be variances in salary due to geographic location, but I think your expectations are unrealistic. Professional nannies earn between $12 - $16 per hour. My payroll is done through a service that calculates all of the taxes for my employers, because they are responsible for the employer's portion of the taxes, unemployment tax, etc. Nannies are typically the MOST expensive form of child care, not an economical alternative.

 

[mrsv98]

This was over 13 years ago, but in a major metropolitan area...I paid a non live-in nanny $400 a week for one then 4-year-old. Yes, $1600 a month. And she ONLY did child care and light housework, NO cooking our dinner.

I'm sure the going rate is MUCH higher now here, but I can't imagine a living wage in ANY area is $600 per month.

How exactly are you expecting to find such a person?

I was a non-live-in nanny starting 20 years ago and I earned $1600/month back then! I was strictly childcare and light housekeeping related to the kids. I often did extra, but it was not "required" of me and always very appreciated. $640/month is very reasonable IMO.

Nanny care tends to be more expensive because your child is getting one-on-one care and is not in a group setting. Even of you live in a more rural area, I would think it would be at least $1000/month for in-home care.

 

[Monte Cristo]

We have a nanny come into our house 3 days per week, about 30 hours per week and we pay her $8 per hour. She does everything involving our daughter as well as some light cleaning in the house. She'll wash, dry, fold and even put away our laundry too! That is not expected and we have never asked her to do it, she does it herself.

Weather permitting, she takes her for walks and has brought her to the local Fired Up and had coffee mugs made for us using her footprint.

We feel as though we are extremely LUCKY to have someone her quality for such a cheap price.

MC

 

[ilovejack02]

We have a nanny come into our house 3 days per week, about 30 hours per week and we pay her $8 per hour. She does everything involving our daughter as well as some light cleaning in the house. She'll wash, dry, fold and even put away our laundry too! That is not expected and we have never asked her to do it, she does it herself.

Weather permitting, she takes her for walks and has brought her to the local Fired Up and had coffee mugs made for us using her footprint.

We feel as though we are extremely LUCKY to have someone her quality for such a cheap price.

MC

8 an hour is super cheap, someone is going to snatch her away if you arent careful.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I nanny for friends of ours, and they pay me $10/hr to care for their 15mo. old DD. We decided that I would care for the baby at my house, since that saves some of the paperwork (I become self-employed rather than they become employers). They provide all of the baby equipment and supplies, and helped me convert the office into shared space for the changing table, pack-n-play, etc., and also provide toys, bottles, sippy cups, diapers, etc. etc. They have also offered to pay for a cleaning service to come to MY house twice a month since I have an extra person here. (I turned them down because that seemed like over-the-top and not really their responsibility; the baby doesn't make THAT much mess - most of it is mine or DH's!)

They also are helping with the taxes that I will have to pay on my income this year - they will pay 1/2 of what I owe on my income from them, since they would have had to pay that if they were my employers. In addition, they give me paid holidays - if they get paid for the holiday, then I get paid - and they give me up to 3 weeks of vacation time a year, plus occasional days off for Dr. appointments and such.

I think $600 a month is no where near enough to pay for quality childcare in your home, plus housekeeping responsibilities. Your daycare sounds like a bargain to me!

 

[flying_babyb]

If I could have Fran Dresher.....

LOL im a fran look alike

 

[summerrluvv]

How many hours are you talking here? That's so cheap, I don't think you will find someone to come to your home, care for your child and cook for that price. That's very unrealistic unless it's just a few hours a week.

Childcare here is going to run me $1000-1200 a month for a center, and if I were to get a nanny, let's just say it wouldn't even be worth it for me to work because I would have to pay the nanny more than I make!

 

[Dr.Snark]

Do you think $600/mo is satisfactory?
We live in a small town - about 17000...not a big city...w/ high cost of living.

Thanks for any advice!

If this is for a 40 hour work week, I think $600 is WAY low, especially if you expect her to do anything more than daycare.

If you take the month of January, there are 23 work days (if one has to work on MLK day). If each of those days is 8 hours before overtime kicks in - this is a total of 181 hours worked for the month of January (23 x 8). Take $600.00 and divide it by 181 hours and you get $3.32 per hour. This is way below minimum wage.

Additionally, I think the average housekeeper makes about $15.00 per hour without the child care.

Our neighbors had a cleaning lady/nanny. The kids were older, so she only nannied from 3 till about 6pm. She picked up the kids, did homework, shuttled them to their activities and fed them dinner. Then 2x per week she came to the house in the morning to clean and do all the laundry. They paid her in excess of $2,000 per month. This included the Nanny taxes, the SS and whatever else they were required to pay and was about 7 years ago.

Other neighbors had an Au Pair from Australia through one of the agencies. They paid $700 per month, but they also had to provide full room and board, a car, insurance, could work no more than 40 hours per week - no evenings - and wasn't supposed to do anything else except her own chores and things related to the kids. In fact, the agency kept tight track of the hours worked, so the family often had to hire a babysitter for the child on weekends, even when the Au Pair was right there in the house.

So, depending on the hours you need this Nanny, I think $600.00 is way off base.

 

[Jennifer S]

That is exactly why I quit my job and stayed home. I was in education and live near a large city. Day Care was outrageous. By the time I'd pay for it, gas, work clothes etc it wasn't worth it for me to work. It was rough at first. I even babysat someone else's child three days a week.

 

[minkydog]

That is exactly why I quit my job and stayed home. I was in education and live near a large city. Day Care was outrageous. By the time I'd pay for it, gas, work clothes etc it wasn't worth it for me to work. It was rough at first. I even babysat someone else's child three days a week.

Me too. I realized pretty early on that I was basically clearing minimum wage by the time I paid daycare. Not worth all the hassle. I took some time off, worked very part time(per diem wekends), used cloth diapersor eat out for several years, but we were much happier not supporting someone else with my money.

I realize that not everyone would have that option, but it's doable for a lot of people with they are willing to sacrifice and make the life-style changes. I don't want to make this a daycare/SAH debate--it's not about which is better. They each have positives. I'm just saying that for me, i just couldn't justify giving over 3/4 of my salary for the privilege of working outside my home. It made more economic sense for me to work less and keep all the money.

 

[DISUNC]

How much did Mr. Sheffield pay Fran Fine?