Childcare is bloody expensive!

AubreyMac

kelpie35 wrote: »

I am always amused when people come on here complaining about how much child care costs.

You decided to have another child.

Did you not think to work out, before you decided to have another child, how you were going to manage to pay for child care.

You either need to pay up and get on with it or lower your living expenses till your children can fend for themselves.

Did you not have financial discussions with your husband before you even became pregnant?

Totally agree with every word said here.


However, as your kids are already here there's no point dwelling on what you should or shouldn't have figured before they were born.


You say you can't afford to not work full time yet what's the logic in working full time only to pay almost all of it to a nanny? if you are only going be a few £'s better off by working, why not just work part time?

kelpie35

surveyqueenuk wrote: »

What a vicious, nasty thing to say.

You do realise that the majority of parents have no choice but to go out and work. Do you think they should all claim benefits instead?

It seems to me like mothers (and it's always the mothers - never the men) can't win. They get slated for working outside the home, they get slated for claiming benefits, they get slated for relying on their husband's wage.

This is where we differ in opinions.

My point being.............. you should never have children if you cannot afford to support them yourself.

I do not have a problem with mothers/fathers working around their children, but i do have a problem with parents objecting to the financial cost of other people caring for their children.

I am a parent and did not return to full time working till my son went to high school. I also made sure that my employer knew that I would need time off if illness etc occurred.

We had to live very frugally for all these years but I can assure you that it was worth it.

PeppaCoin

Aubreymac - if you read above I did explain our change in circumstances from last year to this.

Re going part-time, it wouldn't be possible in my current role at my current company. I could look elsewhere but couldn't do that until it nearer time to return to work so for now I am considering my options in terms of staying fulltime.

Spendless

PeppaCoin wrote: »

Spendless- I would struggle with weekend work as husband works 5 out of 7 days which often includes weekends but might have to look into evening work. It's pretty hard to swallow when you already work a 45hr week, plus travel then have to fit in running the house too!

You mean your husband? He wouldn't need to 'run the house' as such. You'd have been at home during the day to get chores out of the way and even prepare a meal. It would purely be childcare duties whilst you were at work. Unless I've misunderstood what you've put? It's a long time ago now but I did have a Mon-Fri evening job.

AubreyMac

PeppaCoin wrote: »

Aubreymac - if you read above I did explain our change in circumstances from last year to this.

Re going part-time, it wouldn't be possible in my current role at my current company. I could look elsewhere but couldn't do that until it nearer time to return to work so for now I am considering my options in terms of staying fulltime.

Yes, I've seen it now so understand better.


Seems you have very few options but to bite the bullet and pay up and try to stay focussed and be motivated by the bigger picture/end result. Its a good consolation that you love your career and that it looks likely to get better in the future. Would be a lot more depressing if you had to work a dead end job you dreaded going to each day.

Savvy_Sue

Would a nanny share be more cost-effective?

Marvel1

Is downsizing/cheaper property where you live now an option?

Anyways you can cut monthly bills? If on contract mobile, instead if upgrading them switch to sim only, of you have sky/virgin TV, could you drop it for freeview? Broadband, virgin for example switch for their lowest speed offered.

Tigsteroonie

Relax wrote: »

Could your partner reduce his hours or even become a stay at home parent ?

It's more common than it once was, but still pretty rare. There's usually some male pride involved.

PeppaCoin wrote: »

Relax - we hadn't really considered that. I don't think he would want to to be honest just the same as I don't want to

Sometimes we all have to do things we don't want. I'd love to be a SAH parent, I'm sure Marley would love to work. Our respective earning potential means it is more sensible to be the other way round.

tooldle

Could you share any of your maternity leave with your OH, allowing you to bank some savings before the childcare bill begins?
I also worked full time up until my child was 7, at which point i managed to drop 3 hours and compress my work week into four days. To keep the bills as low as possible, we would take our holidays separately to cover as much of school holiday as possible.

Happier_Me

Childcare costs can cripple you financially for those first few years, but in the scheme of things it is relatively short term. Been there, got the t-shirt and coming out the other side now fortunately. Have you considered:

• Comparing various childcare and nursery costs. I found a nursery setting cheaper than a childminder (a fixed day rate compared an hourly rate)
• In a nursery setting you won't be affected by your childminders holidays and sickness, so I find it far more reliable.
• Can either of you condense your hours reducing your days?
• Can your husband reduce his hours? It makes more sense for him to do this due to his earnings?
• Have you gone through your SOA and reduced costs back as much as possible? We had no holidays, takeaways, meals out (my worst nightmare with two young children anyway), managed food budgets and other costs down to a minimum.
• Make sure you claim childcare vouchers
• Is your husband actively looking for better paid work? It sounds like he has the skills to earn more.

It might be worth posting an SOA showing your worst case scenario on your return to work to see if this is actually doable?