Rates Question

[tenderhearts]

wow I'm so excited just this evening I've had 3 different emails for daycare. So I have one email from a day, he has 3 of his kids for the summer every other week, they are 7, 6 & 4 and he has another one that is 1 yr and he needs every week care. So every other week for the 3 older and every week for the younger. I usually give a discount for the second but for 3 how would I charge, when I was figuring it with my discount it was over $1200 a month YIKES, how does someone pay that much? How do others do multiple siblings? I have to get back to him and I want to give him a decent rate but not screw myself either. Any advise????:

[tmcp2001]

When I was working full time (just quit a year ago) I was paying 483/week (1932/month!) for full time childcare for four kids. They were 7, 5, 2 and 1 when I left the workforce.

Yes, my provider was sad to see us go (and we LOVED her!)... If you need (or want) to work and you need full time care you just have to **** it up and pay it!

Now I have the best of both worlds - spending all day with my kids, having an income from daycare AND not paying for my own kids to go to daycare!

[professionalmom]

When I was working full time (just quit a year ago) I was paying 483/week (1932/month!) for full time childcare for four kids. They were 7, 5, 2 and 1 when I left the workforce.

Yes, my provider was sad to see us go (and we LOVED her!)... If you need (or want) to work and you need full time care you just have to **** it up and pay it!

Now I have the best of both worlds - spending all day with my kids, having an income from daycare AND not paying for my own kids to go to daycare!

Let's be honest. Isn't that one (just one of the many) of the reasons we do daycare? I know it was a factor in my decision. And for those of us who LOVE children, it makes this the perfect profession. And, yes, they have to just **** it up. After all, diapers and formula don't get cheaper the more kids you have. I should know, I'm trying to creatively budget (cloth diapers and nursing as much as I can) for twins that are due in Nov. And that's not even factoring childcare - Thank God!! But, it does impact the number of daycare kids I can have at any moment.

I give sibling discounts too, but you have to look at it this way, you are discounting (losing money) for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th children. By the time you add that up, you could replace this family with 4 full time children and make a lot more money. Plus, if you are only charging for the weeks that the older children are there, you are essentially holding 3 full time spots open for them, but not getting paid for them. I learned the hard way that we should not worry more about the clients wants or needs than our own family's needs. They are NOT thinking "I want to be fair to the provider" like you are thinking "I want to be fair to the client". And I highly doubt they will find another provider that will give them a cheaper rate or more of a break.

[momofboys]

wow I'm so excited just this evening I've had 3 different emails for daycare. So I have one email from a day, he has 3 of his kids for the summer every other week, they are 7, 6 & 4 and he has another one that is 1 yr and he needs every week care. So every other week for the 3 older and every week for the younger. I usually give a discount for the second but for 3 how would I charge, when I was figuring it with my discount it was over $1200 a month YIKES, how does someone pay that much? How do others do multiple siblings? I have to get back to him and I want to give him a decent rate but not screw myself either. Any advise????:

I don't know about you but my rates aren't that high, at least not high enough to justify giving multiple discounts! I would maybe total everything up & give a minimal discount, maybe 5 or 10% off the total if you are feeling generous but really I wouldn't feel obligated to give them a huge break.

[Lilbutterflie]

I give a multiple child discount of 10% for each additional child. I care for 3 sibilings right now and they pay $1350/mo total. I don't know how the parents do it either, but that's why I stay home too!

[momma2girls]

I give multiple children discounts as well- I do $25.00 for each child per day. Normally about $28.00. Normally I charge $140/wk. for infants, and $130.00 for when the children are totally potty trained. SO it averages out to $28-$29.00 per day for one child. So for 3 children fulltime- it would be-$375.00 a week, or $1500.00 per month. WOW!!! That does seem like alot. I have never done 3 children, only 2 at a time that are siblings.

[tenderhearts]

Thanks everyone. Here's what I did for them. His kids are 7, 6, 4 & 1.

So for the 1 yr old I normally charge $150/week I quoted $140.00. the 4 yr old, normal fee $140.00/week, I quoted $125.00, The 7 & 6 yr old it would have been $125/week each child, I quoted $115week each.
These are new rates for me so I haven't really used them yet anyways.
Before I updated it would have been the same for the 1 yr old $140 and then the others would have been $125.00 each. The older boys really aren't affecting me since I can have 4 kids 6 & older and I don't have any.
He hasn't emailed back yet so maybe he's crapping his pants, I sure would be. If you have that many kids I would hope he knows and would expect he's going to be paying alot. thanks again

[professionalmom]

Thanks everyone. Here's what I did for them. His kids are 7, 6, 4 & 1.

So for the 1 yr old I normally charge $150/week I quoted $140.00. the 4 yr old, normal fee $140.00/week, I quoted $125.00, The 7 & 6 yr old it would have been $125/week each child, I quoted $115week each.
These are new rates for me so I haven't really used them yet anyways.
Before I updated it would have been the same for the 1 yr old $140 and then the others would have been $125.00 each. The older boys really aren't affecting me since I can have 4 kids 6 & older and I don't have any.
He hasn't emailed back yet so maybe he's crapping his pants, I sure would be. If you have that many kids I would hope he knows and would expect he's going to be paying alot. thanks again

I had a family with 4 kids calling me. Interview set - no call, no show. They called and set a 2nd interview - no call, no show. Mom called to say they wanted me and needed to know when to pick up paperwork (without meeting me!). I wanted to say no, but we are really desperate for money right now due to some clients moving away. So, we talked about rates. $130 for 1st child, $97.50 for each of the 3 siblings (25% sibling discount). That came to $422.50 per week. Here's the problem. The family had subsidy in the past (not used for the past 9 months) and were reapplying. Since they are not currently approved, I require that they pay up front, then when it goes through, I back bill DHS and give the parents a reimbursement. Mom says she can't pay that right now. Like I said, I was desperate, so I offered that she pay 50% up front each week, until it goes through. But if they get denied, they will owe all those back charges. So, they would only be paying $211.25 per week for FT for 4 kids (2 infants). Oh, and 1 child had an issue that required a minor medical procedure that a nurse would come and train me to do. So, I would have been getting less than $52 per week per child for full time, which would barely cover the food for these kids. We set the time for mom to pick up paperwork - no call, no show. I haven't heard back! So I guess $211.25 was too much in their eyes! Are you serious?! ::

[melskids]

I had a family with 4 kids calling me. Interview set - no call, no show. They called and set a 2nd interview - no call, no show. Mom called to say they wanted me and needed to know when to pick up paperwork (without meeting me!). I wanted to say no, but we are really desperate for money right now due to some clients moving away. So, we talked about rates. $130 for 1st child, $97.50 for each of the 3 siblings (25% sibling discount). That came to $422.50 per week. Here's the problem. The family had subsidy in the past (not used for the past 9 months) and were reapplying. Since they are not currently approved, I require that they pay up front, then when it goes through, I back bill DHS and give the parents a reimbursement. Mom says she can't pay that right now. Like I said, I was desperate, so I offered that she pay 50% up front each week, until it goes through. But if they get denied, they will owe all those back charges. So, they would only be paying $211.25 per week for FT for 4 kids (2 infants). Oh, and 1 child had an issue that required a minor medical procedure that a nurse would come and train me to do. So, I would have been getting less than $52 per week per child for full time, which would barely cover the food for these kids. We set the time for mom to pick up paperwork - no call, no show. I haven't heard back! So I guess $211.25 was too much in their eyes! Are you serious?! ::

i dont care how desperate you are....this sounds like a train reck waiting to happen. if you do take them, this will only be the beginning of many issues to come. i say run......and fast.....

[momma2girls]

I had a family with 4 kids calling me. Interview set - no call, no show. They called and set a 2nd interview - no call, no show. Mom called to say they wanted me and needed to know when to pick up paperwork (without meeting me!). I wanted to say no, but we are really desperate for money right now due to some clients moving away. So, we talked about rates. $130 for 1st child, $97.50 for each of the 3 siblings (25% sibling discount). That came to $422.50 per week. Here's the problem. The family had subsidy in the past (not used for the past 9 months) and were reapplying. Since they are not currently approved, I require that they pay up front, then when it goes through, I back bill DHS and give the parents a reimbursement. Mom says she can't pay that right now. Like I said, I was desperate, so I offered that she pay 50% up front each week, until it goes through. But if they get denied, they will owe all those back charges. So, they would only be paying $211.25 per week for FT for 4 kids (2 infants). Oh, and 1 child had an issue that required a minor medical procedure that a nurse would come and train me to do. So, I would have been getting less than $52 per week per child for full time, which would barely cover the food for these kids. We set the time for mom to pick up paperwork - no call, no show. I haven't heard back! So I guess $211.25 was too much in their eyes! Are you serious?! ::

Just be very cautious when having them pay while applying for state!! I would definately have them pay - only the full amt. though, til state is all thru. THis could take a while!! I am sure she is finding it very difficult to find someone who will accept her til state picks up the tab!!! I would definately have her pay the full amt. til state picks up, I have seen too many bad things happen with state funded families!!!! My own experience mother was to pay me the difference of what state would pay me and what my original price was- this was too much for her, it was like $30-$50.00 a week!!!!!

[professionalmom]

Just be very cautious when having them pay while applying for state!! I would definately have them pay - only the full amt. though, til state is all thru. THis could take a while!! I am sure she is finding it very difficult to find someone who will accept her til state picks up the tab!!! I would definately have her pay the full amt. til state picks up, I have seen too many bad things happen with state funded families!!!! My own experience mother was to pay me the difference of what state would pay me and what my original price was- this was too much for her, it was like $30-$50.00 a week!!!!!

Exactly. I was only going to take them on out of desperation (serious desperation). But, I have revamped my contract, policies, ads, added an organized curriculum, and am finally getting calls from private pay, 2-parent families. So, if THAT mom calls again, I am going to say, "Since you no-called, no showed 3 times and are unable to pay, I am not interested". After all, if they can't even give a decent first impression, they certainly will be full of problems later.

[momma2girls]

Exactly. I was only going to take them on out of desperation (serious desperation). But, I have revamped my contract, policies, ads, added an organized curriculum, and am finally getting calls from private pay, 2-parent families. So, if THAT mom calls again, I am going to say, "Since you no-called, no showed 3 times and are unable to pay, I am not interested". After all, if they can't even give a decent first impression, they certainly will be full of problems later.

Good for you!! I have experienced this as well, in all the yrs. of doing childcare, you run into many different things, and you learn from them the hard way!! I wish this site was around when I first started!!!!!