Stuff generally being a bit more expensive these days

[campbell]

£1000 so thats £125 per kid per day. How many kids are you allowed to lock in the basement?? sorry, i mean look after?? I see a new business oppertunity coming up.

You know, I never thought for one minute you'd see it THAT way, Neil

[BiggestNizzy]

Its the price of childcare that gets me , our first nursery was going to work out at 1200 - 1300 per month so we moved to a cheaper one in broughty ferry but still 1000pm. Would be delighted to have more kids if it wasnt for the childcare costs. Fortunetly its only for a few years ... without wishing to wish time away roll on school days (ps thats only 4 days per week for 2 kids).

£1000 so thats £125 per kid per day. How many kids are you allowed to lock in the basement?? sorry, i mean look after?? I see a new business oppertunity coming up.

nope

4 weeks (roughly) a month so 16 days a month = £62.50 or £31.25 a day for an 8 hour day thats £3.91 an hour per kid.

[mckeann]

doh,i read it as per week.


/retires from the childcare business

[alicrozier]

doh,i read it as per week.


/retires from the childcare business ...and puts down the twa bricks.

Phew, 4K a month would have hit even you where it hurts (wallet).

[mckeann]

i had already picked out the spec on the ferrari 458

[j2 lot]

Isn't it supposed to cost £250k to raise a kid from birth to 16.

That's when a Ferrari starts to look like a better proposition.

[campbell]

Well I can get sums to add up to about half that without trying very hard...and alternatively, could imagine spending much the same on car loans, holidays and vino over a similar period! Only difference is I'd have some kind of track-oriented Porsche to show for it all by the end. But this way I have two incredible little darlings to keep me honest instead

PS the vino intake may have been much the same with or without kids. Except in the former case, it's medicinal and should be available on prescription.

[RDH]

PS the vino intake may have been much the same with or without kids. Except in the former case, it's medicinal and should be available on prescription.

I can actually confirm that the vino consumption in the Hunter household increased with the arrival of RDH Jnr a couple of years ago! (purely medicinal as Mr Ford suggests)

But it's all worth it!
Hearing my 2 an a half year old say "there's a Massresatti Daddy!" made my day today, when a nice Maseratti Gransport went passed today!

[mckeann]

i'd rather be the guy driving the massresatti

[scott_e]

F*ckin' 'ell...those are scary numbers. Was a bit less than that here in the commuterville that is Linlithgow, albeit that was 3 days per week, but I think even pro-rata you are facing some stiff pricing indeed. Take it you are using childcare vouchers, if available?

Wife gets them, but all it really means is you get some tax off. Doesn't matter anyway , losing them in 2013 according to the last budget , over the threshold but that's another argument ! stupid way of assessing households. I remember hearing on radio scotland that some parts of Dundee are the most expensive places for childcare in scotland.

School days start to help a little but before long it's gymnastics uniforms, reebok trainers, "voluntary" contributions to school funds, yada yada...someone surely told you before the seed was sown that life would never be the same again Enjoy!

still not going to be as expensive as childcare .... (i hope fingers crossed L) .... they are not going to private school thats for sure

4 weeks (roughly) a month so 16 days a month = £62.50 or £31.25 a day for an 8 hour day thats £3.91 an hour per kid.

[/quote]

Sounds about right. Its the start of the educational ladder the way I see it , they start to learn and get used to environments with other kids. Having said that , still not chuffed the grandparents cant help , they seem to prefer spending 6 months in France and the other side still works.

[campbell]

Don't overlook the tax break from Childcare vouchers. Might not seem much at lower rate but every little helps - you could be putting the saving into a Pension for the wee critters - and if you are (un)lucky enough to pay higher rate, it can really mount up.

Totally agree re: beginnings of structured education through a good nursery though. As for grandparents helping (or not), hm, that's a whole other argument not for this thread!

Just look forward to the point when the kids are old enough to get out on their bikes with you (your sig implies you like riding)...and when they can say "Maserati" properly, LOL @ Rob!

[tut]

Had a letter from the IR last week saying that I owe them £4.5K in Child Tax Credit overpayments.

Fat chance they have got.

tut

ps Daily Mail headlines:- "70 year old disabled War Pensioner jailed for tax evasion"

[PhilA]

£1000 per month?
and the students have a cheek to winge at max £9000 fees!

when I was wee, my granny helped look after me.
no child care there.
my mum worked part time at an egg farm.

the problem?
1> granparents enjoying themselves too much as they have too many grankids to even possibly look after - and besides, they have worked hard all their life and its time to enjoy themselves.
2> level and range of parttime work is poor, and few roles due to minimum wage.

i can barely keep a house and a car, and im on an ok wage. no idea how others cope, nor how parents cope!
we are squeezed more than that stone where blood was found....

[Ferg]

The grandparents thing is a bit of a complicated one. After retiring my folks said they didn't want to commit to childcare, but after a while they wanted to spend some time with the kids and they do one day a week which wipes them out TBH (both kids and grandparents). This help makes a massive difference though, both my wife and I are full time. Even with that help, 4 days a week is close to £1400 pcm. Whats worse is the nurseries have a captive market, there aren't really enough spaces to go around, and we 've been subject to year on year 10% price rises. While I accept there are some economic conditions contributing...it's just not cricket (grrr, resists rant). On the plus side the development of the kids both academically and socially is very good when their in the nursery environment, thats the thing that keeps the balance against the nagatives.

[pete]

We were very lucky with childcare but I always liked the solution a work colleague used where she and a friend shared a nanny (I mean employed a nanny full time between them, not what Shug was thinking). Way cheaper than 1400 pcm.

AS for pay rises, Mrs Pete hasn't had a pay rise for years. This year they got a one off payment in lieu of a pay rise. For her that equates to 0.3%.