How do WOHM afford childcare for 2 kids?

[ksmeadowlark]

...I mean, unless they are making caboodles of $$$ of course. My DH is a PhD university researcher which means he doesn't make squat, and I am planning on going back to work teaching HS in the fall. We will never make much $$$.

I balk at the cost of childcare for one (I posted the thread about "what % of your income does childcare cost?" ), but seriously, I cannot imagine paying twice that. At that point, it almost isn't worth working anymore, but we would have to, bc of benefits.

We have no family nearby, so that is not an option for childcare. One of my friends says she plans on hiring an in-home childcare person, bc it would be cheaper. Is this what some of you do?

[hulamama]

I don't really know how people do it either. Our particular daycare is for teacher and staff children in my dh's district. Our prices are much lower than the going daycare rate. We pay $440 for dd (toddler) and when she was an infant she was $520. We could still swing both of those combined when we have two, but I hope to be part time by then and that will lower the cost. We have to work because of medical, and really to cover our college loans and mortgage,too. It really stinks.

We are very much like your family--we have no family nearby and so that isn't even an option. We know someone from dh's school--she is a counselor and he works in admin (that is probably why they have more money to do this...but they have a nanny care for their two kids. She said it was only just a little more than putting two in daycare.

[Liz]

I don't know for sure because I only have one but I use a homecare provider through an agency and she is having trouble getting more clients after years of being booked solid. My theory is that the families around here are now on their second and third kids and have switched to nannies because it's cheaper. Most people I know time their children so they don't have 2 in fulltime daycare.

[Nik's Mommy]

My dh and I were just talking about this over the weekend. He was mentioning how so many families drop off 2 or more kids at our son's daycare. They must be in professions that make oodles of $$$. We are expecting #2 and I will be staying home as of September (YAHOO!!!! ). It just wouldn't make sense. Sure I would still be bringing in a bit of $$, but in our opinion, it was not enough to justify the headaches of working and parenting FT.
Maybe a nanny would be cheaper..... I've never looked into it.

[seanjoshmom]

We pay our nanny $420 a week to care for our toddlers, aged 2. She lives in with us four days a week. We also pay her generous extras, and give her free trips to Jamaica when we visit my parents in the Caribbean. We buy her food and all that. It seems expensive, yet I know in comparison to daycare and preschools in our area, it's a steal.

[shelbean91]

We don't, that's how I ended up being SAHM after ds was born. I'm now starting a home daycare and in Mary Kay to supplement DH's income. The amount I would have brought home after daycare costs just wasn't worth the headache and hassles- DH carries the med/dental insurance, so that's helping immensely.

[Lucky Charm]

I understand that to some mom's, their earning power is wiped out with the costs of childcare. But we paid $80 per day for 3 kids....and the two older ones were only there for 45 minutes before school, and the baby was there for 6 hours while i slept (i worked nights). we did this 2-3 days a week. writing out a check for $400-500 every two weeks wasnt so bad, i just wished i could have kept it all!!

a girls gotta do, what a girls gotta do.....

[EFmom]

We use an in-home provider who happens to be relatively cheap, although that's not why we picked her at all. We paid $240/week to have her care for our two kids full-time, but now it's $200/week as our older is in kindergarten half day. I know that the daycare centers here get at least that for one child. Our daycare provider does specialize in families where at least one parent is a teacher. That way, she gets the school vacations, (for which she does get paid, but not for the summer). More importantly though, she likes having the kids out of her home by 4pm every day.

I don't know how people can afford $500/week for two. I do try to keep in mind that while it does take a chunk out of my salary, I am also accruing retirement benefits, am working my way through the tenure process, we get medical coverage, etc. If I weren't working, in other words, I'd be losing more than just my salary.

[teachma]

I live where nannies earn more than I do as a public school teacher- so I certainly can't afford one of those! And I pay almost $1000 a month for ds to got to his child care provider's home 4 days a week. I definitely won't be affording another child any time soon!

[busymom]

I just returned to work--very hard with a very young baby but necessary if we wanted to keep the house and food on the table. We pay 170 a week for our 4.5 year old for preschool and before and after. That center does have infant care for 240 a week which was way beyond what we could pay. We were lucky enough to find a home with a wonderful mom for 120 a week for our infant. In the summer our older dd will attend a preschool program at the public school for 480 a month (500 a month in the fall) which includes before and after school care. I feel very lucky to have found the care I have for my girls. I thought about hiring a nanny to come to our home but knew my older dd was really looking forward to going to a school with other kids and couldn't do both a nanny and preschool and I think in our area a nanny would be more than what I am paying now (at least a nanny who would fit what I am looking for)

[Chelly2003]

I don't know what I'm going to do - I love my son's daycare, but it is very expensive. For him I pay about $600 per month. When the baby arrives it would be an extra $1000.00 add my car payment and thats what I earn..........

If I could get out of the lease on the car............. mmmm perhaps I could stay home.

I'd love that.
Chelly

[Mere]

Although we're not TTC #2 yet, I have thought a lot about the daycare cost issue. I really love our daycare, and the fact that it's on campus (I work at a university) and I can go see/nurse dd at lunch is really important to me. However, it does cost $520/month! If we added on an infant in a year and a half or so, I think our total costs would be around $900. Ughh...I only work 28 hours a week, so by the time all the daycare and insurance costs were deducted from my paycheck, I would be bringing home around $800! Is that worth it? Financially, not really. I really enjoy my job though, so it's kind of a dilemma.

[HollyBearsMom]

We found a in-home provider to be about the same a month of the daycares in our area and I prefer having our son at home most of the time though he now goes a to a toddler program 2 days a week for 1/2 days.

One thing I never took into consideration though was the additional costs of having someone in the house all time. Our heat and water are more $$ since there used not be someone home during the day, cooking, cleaning, flushing toilets etc and we used to keep our heat very low during the day. Now it is on the same temp 24/7. If our son was in day care we wouldn't have seen these expenses. Also I opted to get my nanny a cell phone for emergenicie since she would be out and about with our son. More $$. If he was at a center I wouldn't have needed that expense. Also, I provide $$ for outings etc. If he was at a center those would be included in the tag.

I still wouldn't change my situation but just another thing to think about when comparing costs....

[Kelso]

Cahild care x 2

After 10% 401k,$136-health insurance, and$1000.00 daycare/month, I take home $000.00/month (yes that's nothing). But dh's health ins would be $500../month with less coverage, so it's worth it for the excellent coverage I get at a better price. Also dd will start kindergarten in Sept., so I'll start to get a little ahead (although I have to find after school care for my three 10hr days. Ds is 2 or 3 years behind dd (they're changing the kindergarten cut-off date to sept 1 after dd starts) so inabout 3-4 years maybe I'll actually see some of my paycheck!!!

[Alstrameria]

I have no idea how two parents working ft days do it! Care here (Ontario) is about 800/month.

I work afternoons and dh works days. I get up and shower as dh is going to work. My parents come in the afternoons to cover the couple of hours between when I must leave and dh gets home.

It's a nice arrangement, but I think maybe more time than my parents expected. We'll be putting dd in a pre-school/daycare in the fall for two half days. That will cost about 200/month, and it's about what we can afford.

If I wasn't working this shift, I'd stay home, it just wouldn't be worth it!

Jen