Jobs around your kids

lynzpower

hi there all

Following on from baby As thread about how to afford maternity leave, I wondered what sort of jobs you all do, and what you earn around your childcare responsibilities.

a quick snapshot would be useful for me, how many kids you have, whether you are a single parent or not, and what jobs you do around childcare, and how much your childcare costs.

I fear im getting a bit too overly worried about us not being able to afford to have kids, and I want some positive stories please about how everyone copes & manages! :T

liney

I dropped 10k when i returned part time after maternity leave. I can't belive how much money i used to waste.

If i were you, i would concentrate of whats going out, as opposed to whats comming in, because even a small salary with small mortgage and no debt can be ample.

I'd rather have my 2.5 days a week at home with my son, than that extra 10k per year, as tempting as it is i would only spend it on 'stuff'.

In my area nursery fees are £120 per week ish (Shropshire) Have you looked at entitledto.com and put some 'what if' figures in? Might help you )

Whatever your decision, be happy.

wendym

Hi lynz

It's years since I had my two, but we went from 2 wages to husband going back to college to study when we had 1 and a half babies, and we bodged our way through.

I would have to admit that the budget didn't stretch to anything resembling a luxury, but small children are completely untroubled by that.

One of my daughters, now with 2 tinies, found when she did the sums that London (Twickenham) childcare costs meant going back to work just didn't make sense, but she is buffered by her husband's income.

One of her friends does 2 nights bar work while OH babysits, which is financially helpful, but would be exhausting during the first few months.

You're so clearly sensible and positive that I know you'd make a great job of it.

lynzpower

liney wrote: »

I dropped 10k when i returned part time after maternity leave. I can't belive how much money i used to waste.

If i were you, i would concentrate of whats going out, as opposed to whats comming in, because even a small salary with small mortgage and no debt can be ample.

I'd rather have my 2.5 days a week at home with my son, than that extra 10k per year, as tempting as it is i would only spend it on 'stuff'.

In my area nursery fees are £120 per week ish (Shropshire) Have you looked at entitledto.com and put some 'what if' figures in? Might help you )

Whatever your decision, be happy.

Yeah I have and it aint looking good! 200 pcm on a top up of OHs salary of 13k. We are slashed to the bone as it is, the only cutbacks I can make is getting rid of the tv so we dont have to pay tv licence or dumping contents insurance wil save us 5.00 per month. there isnt a lot, which is why im asking about what jobs people do around it as clearly we wont be able to live on what benefits/one salary will give us.

overlykeensaver

I work three days a week and my DD goes to nursery - it is about £38 a day. However remember that childminders are cheaper than this.

Unfortunately I couldn't find that one worked all through school holidays so
nursery made more sense for me. I have dropped £13k in going part time but we are managing - it sounds very trite but you do manage and you will manage simply because you have to!

You can spend as little or as much as you want on things for your baby but all it wants is love and some food and something to wear. You can get everything you need from ebay or in the sales - I have hardly bought DD anything brand new to wear in 14 months much to my mothers' horror!

Sorry I don't know your circumstances but would you be able to return to your job part time Lynzpower?

conradmum

I work in a further education college and get about 10 weeks holiday a year. I work 2.5 days a week and at the moment childcare is a nursery which works out at about £200 a month (with nursery grant). DH works from home so can fill in at a pinch too.
We have a small mortgage and manage well. I realise we are very, very lucky to have it so easy.
For anyone looking for a career that's family friendly, I would suggest working within the education sector. To teach in a further education college you often only need vocational qualifications and you do your teaching qualifications on the job.

jo1972

Hey Lynz, well I'm lucky at the moment cos I've got 2 kids in childcare although my childminder is a good friend/neighbour of mine and isn't registered (which I don't think is allowed but hey ho) and she only charges me £155 a week (7.45am - 3.30pm).

Although previously they used to go to the nursery next to Leyton Asda and I paid £70 A DAY!!!

I'm toying with the idea of giving up work completely or finding something part time though now cos to be honest I've spent the last 15 years worrying about how much money I've got and not got and now I'm nearly debt free I don't want to think about money anymore, I want to enjoy my kids whilst they're still young.

Good luck whatever you decide to do, one thing I do know is - you will never be able to AFFORD kids no matter how much money you've got!

xx

wendym

"the only cutbacks I can make is getting rid of the tv so we dont have to pay tv licence or dumping contents insurance wil save us 5.00 per month."

No don't and no don't...I am so envious of access to modern children's TV on ill/convalescent/wet/crabby days.

I have realised that I left out one biggish fact - we moved from Herts to Lincs so we could afford a basic terraced house. I guess budgetting for London rent is the killer.

me_and_me_monkeys

I'm self employed and work from home most of the time. My hours are very irregular (I can be on call for up to 4 weeks at a time 24/7) I have 3 kids ages 7,3, and 2 (1 autistic so finds childminders very unsettling). I live with my husband and he is the main earner.

Childcare costs:
7 YEAR OLD
Breakfast Club (£2 a day 8am start)
After school club (£7.50 - 3.15 - 6pm) - I dont use this often as they do not offer a meal just a snack)

2 and 3 YEAR OLDS
Playgroup £3.00 an hour - each but they can take them 9.15 - 3.15, and the 3 y.o gets 15hrs a week free anyway

For the rest of the time (when OH cant get time off work) I have a friend who is a lolly pop lady and she collects the kids after her shift (the 2 younger ones are picked up by a friend and keeps them till shift is finished) and takes them all to my house, pops whatever I have left in the fridge for tea in the oven and keeps them til I (or OH) gets home. For this I pay £2.50 an hour if she only has 1 of them (sometimes the 2 y.o isnt in school) or £6.00 an hour for the 3. I'm lucky as OH work can be a little flexable and my work is most of the time so this works for me - can't see it working for everyone.

oops_a_daisy

Hi Lynz - is there something your not telling us

My DD is 13 now but up to the age of 5 she went to a registered childminder with play groups and nursery on top. After that I moved house to be closer to my parents so that they could look after her so the costs went to zero I went back to work when my DD was 1 year old and have always worked in sales as I can work my job around my life that way. Also I am a single parent and have always been on my own. There wasnt any financial help when my DD was little so all of the costs were paid by me ( didnt get benefits or CSA ) the costs that I paid then are probably not relevent now.

lynzpower

wendym wrote: »

"the only cutbacks I can make is getting rid of the tv so we dont have to pay tv licence or dumping contents insurance wil save us 5.00 per month."

No don't and no don't...I am so envious of access to modern children's TV on ill/convalescent/wet/crabby days.

I have realised that I left out one biggish fact - we moved from Herts to Lincs so we could afford a basic terraced house. I guess budgetting for London rent is the killer.

its not really that different you know. Ive looked at the figures for moving nearer one of our parents, and we will save about 120 a motnh on rent, but probably have to run a car, which would cost this anyway.