Nursery fees of £1846 per month, will we be better off with childcare vouchers?

chivers1977

laurenjs88 wrote: »

snugglepet20 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that this Snuggle

Liquorice, it is a state school, Both my younger sister attended here, Im not sure if we are in the catchment area but we live 4.6 miles away from the school, is there anyway I can find out what the catchment area.

Your local council will be able to tell you what the distance was the furthest child was away from the school in the last intake. FYI My son started in September and the furthest child was 525m away who were not siblings, in care or had a medical condition.

TBH I think that if it is the 3rd best school in the county, there will be little chance of your child getting in if you are over 4 miles away. I guess this all depends on how rural / built up you are as this will affect how many children will live close to the school.

The fact that your sisters attended will have no impact on your child and neither will the nursery attendance. You will need to look on the schools website where it will show you the admission criteria for each school.

Liquorice_Twirls

Have a look on the council's website like missmontana says or ring the school when they are back after Easter. They will be able to tell you how many places they have each year and whether or not they had more applicants than places (oversubscribed). Also they can tell you if you are in their catchment area and if other people living near you have got places in the past (no guarantee for you, but it will give you some idea).

Hope this will be good news for you.

(Edited - sorry just seen chivers post which is spot on!)

leveller2911

Call me old school but why have children if you can't afford to bring them up?.We have 2, my wife chose to be a "Mum" full time until our daughter started school last September.She stayed at home and we believe our family is better off for it.


I think we ALL expect far too much from the system, we are not high earners,I earn £28K and my wife when working earned about £4k.We made our choice to have 2 children and so does everyone else, so people should stop whinging about it.The easy answer is quite simple if you can't afford to bring them up and make sacrifices in life then don't have them.If having children is a priority then don't get the nice house with a 100% mortgage, brand new car every couple of years and "need" to work every hour that God sends.I'm not saying that everyone is like that but people should make sacrifices and not expect the taxpayer to stump up more and more.

Children are a choice not a fashion statement or necessity, as far as I'm aware no one has been forced to have children.

lovetowinacar

leveller2911 wrote: »

Call me old school but why have children if you can't afford to bring them up?.We have 2, my wife chose to be a "Mum" full time until our daughter started school last September.She stayed at home and we believe our family is better off for it.


I think we ALL expect far too much from the system, we are not high earners,I earn £28K and my wife when working earned about £4k.We made our choice to have 2 children and so does everyone else, so people should stop whinging about it.The easy answer is quite simple if you can't afford to bring them up and make sacrifices in life then don't have them.If having children is a priority then don't get the nice house with a 100% mortgage, brand new car every couple of years and "need" to work every hour that God sends.I'm not saying that everyone is like that but people should make sacrifices and not expect the taxpayer to stump up more and more.

Children are a choice not a fashion statement or necessity, as far as I'm aware no one has been forced to have children.

I cant agree more I can never understand a parent who states they are "stuck at home with the kids" like it is the most dreadful thing to happen - no one has to have children if they don't want them! Flexibility with partner is the way to go and how it was done before all the childcare benefits were paid - people worked in jobs to work around their families and didn't expect others or the tax system to pick the bill up for their chosen high fee childcare - cut your cloth according to your means springs to mind - why should everyone else pay for your children to have very expensive childcare??

Does anyone actually expect to pay for their own lifestyle choices anymore??:eek:

PS If you find you need to not work during the day to save money then join local childcare groups/ parent and toddler groups/ find a job in the evening or weekends and then your partner can care for your children or vice versa - there are many pleasurable ways of enjoying time with your children, nurseries/playgroups are not always the best option for children. My friend works at a high fee nursery and she states it is so sad to see some of the parents dump the children at 6.30am (no breakfast and barely awake) and pick up at gone 6pm 5 days a week - children are a choice no one has to have them - old fashioned maybe but true - delay having them until ready/ wait until one at school to save on fees if you really don't want to stay at home with them, look at meeting up with other mothers for support during the harder days etc etc

bubblegumcola

I do not see the point at all in working and then having nothing to show for it at all at the end of the month as all your money is going on childcare.

I am a mum of three and I know what you mean about feeling stuck at home but going to things like toddler groups, etc can give you adult company, keep the kids amused and cost little to join. If your other half works during the day then I agree with other posters who say why not get a part time job in the evenings. Lots of families work this way, there are plenty of places where you can pick up part time work during evenings - call centres, supermarkets, bar work, Royal mail, temp seasonal work. Ok it doesn't pay that great but the money will be yours.

I've worked inbetween having my kids and when Dh self employed work has been slow and picked up a job during the day to keep us going and he has stayed at home during the day and just done odd bits of work at night. I've just had a temp part time job and some time off til my new job starts which is full time. My Dh work is still very slow so I needed to get a full time job to pay the bills. I guess maybe we are lucky as the time of work my DH is mostly evening work anyway so if his work picks up then it should work out ok. I will work daytime and him in the evenings.

My son is lucky enough to be in a nursery where we only pay £2 a week for the toy fund, my other two also went there. No fees, he gets his free 5 afternoons a week and thats it. Its an excellent nursery with very good reports and fantastic staff. He starts school after the summer so I would have been looking for work by that time anyway if I hadn't have needed to go out to work.

Lots of families seem to choose to have a parent working during the day and another in the evenings so they get abit of extra cash but do not pay childcare. Unless you have a really well paid job in the first place I just don't see the point in working when you have to pay out so much in childcare til they are older.

flea72

leveller2911 wrote: »

I think we ALL expect far too much from the system, we are not high earners,I earn £28K.The easy answer is quite simple if you can't afford to bring them up and make sacrifices in life then don't have them

Children are a choice not a fashion statement or necessity, as far as I'm aware no one has been forced to have children.

yes children are a choice. But once you get into the realms of 'dont have kids unless you can afford them' basically means, that children are now a viewed as a luxury that only the middle class, and upwards can afford

Not being funny (ok i am), but someone who earns £28k and says they arent a high earner, is laughable. You only have kids, because you have the luxury of a well paid job, that means your OH doesnt have to work. you have options, you can downsize, cutback, etc. all to be able to afford kids. Would you have the same viewpoint if you were on min wage? Have your children not enriched your life, more than any money you have earned?

Yes, sometimes the timing isnt right, and you have kids when you can ill afford it, but you manage. What would you suggest the OP does? because they are looking for advice on how to make the best of the situation, not high and mighty comments

Would you have a different viewpoint if the OP came on here and said they had budgeted for having kids, but once pg, their OH was made redundant, and now they were having to rethink their future plans? Just because you think you have every eventuality covered, doesnt mean !!!!!! wont happen, to mess it all up

F

leveller2911

flea72 wrote: »

yes children are a choice. But once you get into the realms of 'dont have kids unless you can afford them' basically means, that children are now a viewed as a luxury that only the middle class, and upwards can afford

Not being funny (ok i am), but someone who earns £28k and says they arent a high earner, is laughable. You only have kids, because you have the luxury of a well paid job, that means your OH doesnt have to work. you have options, you can downsize, cutback, etc. all to be able to afford kids. Would you have the same viewpoint if you were on min wage? Have your children not enriched your life, more than any money you have earned?

Yes, sometimes the timing isnt right, and you have kids when you can ill afford it, but you manage. What would you suggest the OP does? because they are looking for advice on how to make the best of the situation, not high and mighty comments

Would you have a different viewpoint if the OP came on here and said they had budgeted for having kids, but once pg, their OH was made redundant, and now they were having to rethink their future plans? Just because you think you have every eventuality covered, doesnt mean !!!!!! wont happen, to mess it all up

F

Sorry but I don't agree, someone who is on the MW can also receive top ups of WFTC and CTC , not sure whether they can apply for Council tax benefit too? , This all together will be a decent income in itself.I recently went on the bankruptcy forum and looked at a fair few SOA 's and there are quite a few people on there who work and earn around £800 per month take home which is boosted by another £1700 per month on benefits, sorry but thats a joke, it should never be like that.I actually know a few people who are cutting their working hours each week so that they are entitled to more WFTC,s....

Yes I earn £28K ,my tax and NI out of that leaves me with about £21.5k.Im happy with that and like others have said "I cut my cloth".I also went to college , got some qualifications and Im also self employed and probably work about 60hrs a week.

It would be interesting to see exactly what the difference between the two would be.........Your last point is an interesting one mainly because "IF" my aunty had bo llox she would be my uncle, my point beinsg the OP didnt come on and post that.

My view is that we as a country expect far too much from the "Nanny " state and should take control of our lives a bit more and try and be masters of our own destiny..

Just one last thing, just to blow your so called class war rubbish , I live on a Council estate and have done for all of my life. This class arguement is constantly trolled out my liberals and Lefties to justify the Nanny state and the benefits culture.

Ive never said don't have children, if we all did that who will look after us in our old age?, my arguement is that people need to get their lives organised and priorities right.....


Average wage aparently is just under £26k a year so thats makes me just above average.......... £65k thats high, £100k thats even higher

PS Just worked out my hourly rate after tax £6-89 hr (after tax)

Liquorice_Twirls

Hi

Just having a think - your eldest is 3 at the end of this year, just after you go back to work - I think I'm right in thinking that she should get 12.5 (or is it now 15 hours?) funded hours per week.

You say it will only slightly drop the cost for your eldest in January - why not think about getting a nursery place that doesn't charge extra for these hours, or alternatively consider a childminder who will collect your child from nursery, then you are only paying for her time in the afternoon for your eldest (at least in term time).

I used a childminder for both of mine and found she was not only great with the kids and took them to loads of activities out of her home, she was also much more flexible (and cheaper) than a nursery would have been.

snugglepet20

laurenjs88 wrote: »

snugglepet20 wrote: »

Sorry to hear that this Snuggle

Liquorice, it is a state school, Both my younger sister attended here, Im not sure if we are in the catchment area but we live 4.6 miles away from the school, is there anyway I can find out what the catchment area is?

The last child that got a place at the school I wanted lived 0.97 miles from the school. Primary school catchment areas are tiny! I live in a medium-sized town so unless you live somewhere very remote I would think you live too far away. However if it is a Catholic school you have a lot more chance as they prioritise based on religion first.

Basically for ordinary and C of E schools it goes

1.) Child in care
2.) Child with sibling currently attending school
3.) Child that lives closest
4.) Child that is member of church (if applicable)
5.) Other child

Catholic goes


1.) Baptised Roman Catholic Child in care
2.) Baptised Roman Catholic Child with sibling currently attending school
3.) Baptised Roman Catholic Child that lives closest
4.) Baptised Roman Catholic Child that is member of church
5.) Other child according to the criteria in the list above

Hope that helps

laurenjs88

leveller2911 wrote: »

my arguement is that people need to get their lives organised and priorities right.....

I do not want more money from the state, I appreciate every penny we get, I am mearly trying to work out how to maximise the money we have coming in, which I believe is what MSE is all about.

I ended up pregnant with my toddler at 18, through events that I had no control over, ive struggled for most of her life to come to terms with that & unfortunatly at the time of finding out about my pregnancy I was not in any fit state to make any desicions. Being organised & setting priorites something that I had absolutley no choice in at the time.

My girls are my world, and I want the best for them & I know that for our family it is not me staying at home all the time... Unhappy Mum = Cr*ppy Mum

My OH and I when both working FT would have enough to support our family without any state money - minus paying Childcare.

If it not financially viable for me to return FT then I won't... I don't want to give up my job completly as I got it by a complete fluke & it will provide me a good ground to get a better job in a few years time.

I didnt realise you were able to pay more than one provider, So it will make more sense for me to try and use a childminder who does Nursery drop-offs & picks ups perhaps this is something I will look into.

We do live in quite a remote area, I will have to speak to the primary & maybe think of moving closer at this rate!

Thank-you for all the help