[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

We have a PT after school nanny who I give about $50 a week to for after school activities, on the run snacks, and lunch on Fridays (kids have 1/2 day). Its a necessary part of her job, so that's not a problem. I had been doing gift cards and I would occasionally log on to judge spending. But now I'm getting tired of paying the $5 fee for each card, so I've started just giving her cash. But it seems to be going very quickly...

So, how do you handle nanny spending money? And do you ask for receipts or any sort of accounting?

 

[katheek77]

Huh. I'm a nanny, and I've never been asked to account for money, but, then again, I only use it for occassional outings/treats. I rarely bring home receipts (I do bring receipts when I do the grocery shopping/get gas, but that's because I use L's AmEx or Debit card, so that *she* can keep track for her own finances) but I do at least let her know what I spent the money on (ie..."We bought lunch at the Science Center today").

I wouldn't be offended if my boss wanted receipts. It's pretty standard to want records for "expense accounts" - I'd only get peeved if I were expected to enter every. single. penny (like, the twenty-five cents we spent to feed the ducks, or whatever).

A good way to put it might be "Please bring home receipts for any purchases/admissions over X dollars. I'm trying to keep track for my own budget, and this helps me get a feel for how much I should set aside each week"

 

[Thalia]

If I ask our nanny to purchase something for me, I do ask for a receipt. We try to treat her as a professional in every way, and this is part of that.

 

[winterviolet]

I would never ask a nanny for receipts, it's insulting. This is more than a business arrangement, my nanny is like family. She takes care of my DH like her own while I'm away. If I was a nanny, I would be very offended.

 

[skybluepink02]

I use my employers credit card, so it's kind of a non-issue. If I make a purchase that's out of the ordinary (recently I bought a punch card for the zoo carousel rather than paying separately every time) I'll mention it so she won't wonder.

 

[Herausgeber]

Hmmm. I think I would just set a budget and otherwise give her discretion in how she spends it.

 

[Amydoula]

Working as a Nanny I was never asked about the money I spent but as a responsible Nanny I kept every single receipt in an envelope and presented it to them at the end of the week.

 

[diaperqueen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by winterviolet She takes care of my DH like her own while I'm away.

Really?

 

[Thalia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by winterviolet I would never ask a nanny for receipts, it's insulting. This is more than a business arrangement, my nanny is like family. She takes care of my DH like her own while I'm away. If I was a nanny, I would be very offended.

Welcome to MDC!

I guess I see it differently. We feel that accounting practices are there to protect everybody. Because our nanny brings home receipts, she never has to worry that we are suspicious of how she is spending cash. And it makes it easier to discuss it openly if there's something we want to do differently, even something as simple as buying a different brand of cheese at the store.

But we also set this up as part of our work agreement from the very beginning. I could see how a nanny might be offended if she was suddenly asked to supply receipts without any additional discussion.

 

[therdogg]

When I was a nanny, I kept all receipts and a log of expenditures. I prefered it that way.

 

[mamasaurus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan&Anna's_Mom So, how do you handle nanny spending money? And do you ask for receipts or any sort of accounting?

When we had a nanny, she actually was on our credit card as an authorized user, and we also had petty cash available to her.

We did ask for receipts. As much as you want to have a nice, familial relationship with a nanny, it is first and foremost a business relationship, and asking for receipts/accounting is perfectly acceptable and not out of line at all.

 

[ja mama]

When I was a nanny I itemized everything I wanted them to cover. If it was insignificant like .25 to feed the ducks and more trouble to write out my own handmade receipt I'd use my own quarter.

I think they treated me like family because there was absolutely nothing in the business side of our relationship that would carry over negatively.

 

[winterviolet]

Ew, I now realize my post sounded very racy! I work as a consultant and my nanny prepares meals and does laundry for my DH as well as my children while I'm away.

Whatever works for your family is best, especially if it's spelled out from the beginning to spare any hurt feelings.

 

[FtMPapa]

As a former nanny, I gotta say, I usually saved receipts if it was a "receipt worthy" activity.

I.e. Street car fare - no. But I would mention that we spent $6 on transit or $2 on hot chocolate from a stand.

Something I bought at a restaurant/store/parking - if a receipt was possible, I took it and put it in the "family purse."

Incidentally, every nanny-enabled family should have that! We kept the Blockbuster card, various gift cards, a bit of petty cash, the kids' library cards, some subway tokens, etc, in a little change purse, and I would just put receipts in there. It was great, and very easy for everyone.

I think framing it as "We are trying to see what we're spending money on and tracking expenses, so if you can leave receipts or write down what you spend, I'll know where we can prioritize and have a general feel for how much I need to leave you..." instead of "WHAT ARE YOU SPENDING MY MONEY ON??? WHERE IS IT GOING RATHER QUICKLY??" is a good idea. Even if you feel more like the latter than the former.

 

[CanidFL]

I am totally confused. What is your nanny spending money on? This is probably going to sound really dumb but we just pay our nanny a weekly fee and she has never asked me for more cash for activities. Everything they do is free (library, park, etc) and she is expected to feed my son which is included in her fee. If she drives anywhere than the gas comes out of her pocket.

Is it common for nannies to ask for extra money?

I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm missing something and causing a major nanny faux pas by not discussing this with her….

OP-yes, I would ask for receipts. If my nanny was asking for extra money then I want to know what it's being spent on.

 

[cak1207]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanidFL I am totally confused. What is your nanny spending money on? This is probably going to sound really dumb but we just pay our nanny a weekly fee and she has never asked me for more cash for activities. Everything they do is free (library, park, etc) and she is expected to feed my son which is included in her fee. If she drives anywhere than the gas comes out of her pocket. Is it common for nannies to ask for extra money? I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm missing something and causing a major nanny faux pas by not discussing this with her…. OP-yes, I would ask for receipts. If my nanny was asking for extra money then I want to know what it's being spent on.

As a nanny for 6 years I've done a couple different things. One boss just gave me cash if we needed it and I never had to tell her what I was doing. If I had change I'd save it for the next time we went out. I usually drove her car so gas wasn't an issue.

My current job we have a joint account with card. I can spend up to 50 dollars for something. If it's more I just have to call her and let her know. The account has 200 dollars and we just put more in when needed. I keep receipts when using the card in a ziploc for each month. Or she does. Otherwise I spend that on whatever we need when we go out. She gives me 50 dollars a month for gas. And yes I think you should do that for your nanny. She is driving your child around and using her gas for you. So reimbursing her is good. Other jobs we did it per mileage so I would keep track of how many miles and such we would drive and then be reimbursed for that. 50 dollars actually gets me 2 1/2 tanks of gas.

And I've never had to pay for a charges food out of my pocket. That's weird. You should provide the food at least for your child. Or money for them to go out to eat. I think it would be hard to budget my own bills and then budget food for the child. Every job I've worked provided food for nanny and child. But if you don't want to for her at least for your child.

 

[Evan&Anna's_Mom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanidFL I am totally confused. What is your nanny spending money on? This is probably going to sound really dumb but we just pay our nanny a weekly fee and she has never asked me for more cash for activities. Everything they do is free (library, park, etc) and she is expected to feed my son which is included in her fee. If she drives anywhere than the gas comes out of her pocket.

First, realize that I have two school aged kids, so it might be different than if I had little kids. They are mostly past library and park stage and snacks from your purse stage, you know? Also, she does not start from our house, she starts from her college class and picks them up from school and the complicated after school activities/classes/sports routine.

So, I expect her to need money for the following sorts of things:

* 1 day a week she takes the kids out to lunch (they have 1/2 day at school, we live too far away to get home for lunch at a reasonable time).

* Generally after lunch they go on a "Friday outing" which frequently takes money (not always, but frequently). Movie, amusement park (we have memberships, but snacks etc. cost), skating, bowling...

* They kids need water bottles and such during sports classes, which she gets from the machine.

* I occasionally ask her to buy birthday presents, craft supplies, uniform replacements or other stuff that the kids need for one reason or another.

We pay her an hourly rate and reimburse her mileage (about 120 miles a week) at the IRS rate as part of her paycheck.

As I said, I expect that she will need and spend money during the week -- its all money I would spend if I were doing these afternoons. And for big things that I give her extra for (e.g. "Anna needs a white blouse for the Christmas concert at school, please stop by the uniform store and purchase it after school today") she generally hands me back the receipt so I can return things or know that the registration for gymnastics was done and such. Its the lunch / movies / outings money that I'm not sure how to handle. It may just be that this nanny is more likely to spend money with the kids than the last nanny was, so it seems like the money doesn't go as far each week.

However, yesterday she mentioned that she hadn't realized she still had an envelope with $50 in it from some prior week, which tells me that I wasn't totally imagining that I was giving her more money than I expected and gave me an opening to ask for receipts at the end of each week.

 

[mamasaurus]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanidFL This is probably going to sound really dumb but we just pay our nanny a weekly fee and she has never asked me for more cash for activities. Everything they do is free (library, park, etc) and she is expected to feed my son which is included in her fee. If she drives anywhere than the gas comes out of her pocket. Is it common for nannies to ask for extra money? I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm missing something and causing a major nanny faux pas by not discussing this with her….

This doesn't sound dumb,

but it sounds like it might not be a true nanny situation where the nanny is an employee of the family. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Normally, when a nanny is a bona fide employee of the family, she is paid an hourly rate, taxes taken out, unemployment insurance contributed to, etc. She would not be expected to pay for food to feed the child she is caring for, and she would not be expected to pay for her own gas to drive the child anywhere.

So... in the realm of nannies who are paid as an employee, yes, it is normal/common for them to expect/ask for money for outings/gas/etc.

 

[Oriole]

Quote:

Originally Posted by CanidFL I am totally confused. What is your nanny spending money on? This is probably going to sound really dumb but we just pay our nanny a weekly fee and she has never asked me for more cash for activities. Everything they do is free (library, park, etc) and she is expected to feed my son which is included in her fee. If she drives anywhere than the gas comes out of her pocket. Is it common for nannies to ask for extra money? I'm starting to feel like maybe I'm missing something and causing a major nanny faux pas by not discussing this with her…. OP-yes, I would ask for receipts. If my nanny was asking for extra money then I want to know what it's being spent on.

When I worked as a nanny, I had to "buy" lunch, pay for parking, movie tickets, and museum admissions. I always saved proof of purchase and did not find it insulting to report how I spent the money, even though I rarely was asked to actually show it.

To the OP - nothing wrong with asking your employee to show how YOUR money is spent. She might really need that much, and you just don't realize where the money goes, or she might be spending a bit too much

Don't feel embarrassed to ask about it.

 

[flowers]

I think this is a situation where it's all about *how* you go about it. If you (not necessarily directed towards OP) are suspicious then it does feel insulting. If you are trying to create an easy and efficient way of managing the whole situation then it feels great.

I've been in a few different situations. One with a credit card-which was no questions asked obviously and another where I reported my extra expenses the end of the week. I would have preferred getting an allowance of sort-would have been a bit easier than spending my own money and getting reimbursed.