Discount Childcare Has Reached A New Low In My Area. Literally

[SilverSabre25]

I just found a CL ad from someone offering childcare for $40 a week. I'm not kidding. $40 A WEEK. I really hope that this doesn't become a trend...I can barely find people willing to pay what I charge now.


HELLO TO ALL. IM OFFERING CHILDCARE IN MY HILLIARD APARTMENT FOR $40/WEEK!-THATS RIGHT ONLY $40.I AM A MARRIED STAY AT HOME MOM OF 3 BOYS,AND LOVE CHILDREN&LOVE TO TEACH THEM AS WELL.MY BOYS ARE 4,2,&10 MONTHS!.IM NOT CERTIFIED IN ANYTHING,BUT MY 4 YEARS EXPERIENCE OF BEING A STAY AT HOME MOTHER HAS PREPARED ME TO BE THE PERFECT SITTER.IF YOU ARE INTERESTED,I WILL ASK THAT YOU PAY THE $40 IN ADVANCE FOR 1ST WEEK.MY AVAILABILITY:ANY TIME,ANY DAY,ANY SCHEDULETHANKYOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING AT MY AD

[juliebug]

ahhh that is crazy! i hate when that happen but know for sure for $40 a week they will burn out quickly and quite doing daycare.;

[TBird]

I don't think folks like this realize that this is a REAL business. She can probably afford to stay at home and this will be like a hobby for her. Little does she know that she's undercutting the people that do it for a living....therefore doing others a real disservice. Sad...

Maybe the first time the child throws a fit, drinks 4 cups of milk a day, requires constant attention, won't take a nap, mom lies about paying her, dad shows up 30 minutes late, grandma shows up 30 minutes early, and the child throws up on her carpet....maybe THEN she'll realize her services are worth a LOT more than $40 PER WEEK!!!

[momatheart]

UM NO!

First of all it is in all caps, second, she is not certified in anything and she admits this in an ad, third, she wants the 40 bucks for the first week up front and puts that in the ad, to me that is something to be discussed at a meeting with the dcp. She doesn't sound to be at all child focused at all. This ad lacks class. As a parent she really doesn't say anything that would grab at my attention to even call and consider. The cheap price makes me leary, VERY leary. You do get what you pay for with care.

To me this ad is saying hey if your child has just been kicked out of daycare number 7 due to lack of payment or bounced checks I am the daycare person you are looking for.

If I was a liscenced provider this would not threaten me in the least. I would use it to my advantage and show dcp just what I have to offer to their child if they chose me.

[nannyde]

Don't underestimate the demand for free or near free child care. She wil get clients but she won't be able to keep them. People who do free/near free child don't get along with the people who want free/near free child care. It's a mix that doesn't work.

She will find out in a few months that it doesn't work and the clients who use her will get a few months of free child care/child expenses. That forty dollars wouldn't buy their childs expenses if they had their own kid at home for ten hours plus a day... so to them the child CARE portion is free.

Just remember you are not competing with people who operate this way. The parents who will take her up on just paying their child's expenses and not give any money for the work of care aren't going to be the same customers who will hire you and pay you an amount to cover expenses and pay you for the CARE.

She's going after a part of the market you don't serve. Don't give her a second thought. Just learn from her that you have to charge for the child's actual expenses when you have them in your care AND a wage for the CARE. You have to have BOTH to be successful.

[TBird]

don't underestimate the demand for free or near free child care. She wil get clients but she won't be able to keep them. People who do free/near free child don't get along with the people who want free/near free child care. It's a mix that doesn't work.

She will find out in a few months that it doesn't work and the clients who use her will get a few months of free child care/child expenses. That forty dollars wouldn't buy their childs expenses if they had their own kid at home for ten hours plus a day... So to them the child care portion is free.

Just remember you are not competing with people who operate this way. The parents who will take her up on just paying their child's expenses and not give any money for the work of care aren't going to be the same customers who will hire you and pay you an amount to cover expenses and pay you for the care.

She's going after a part of the market you don't serve. Don't give her a second thought. Just learn from her that you have to charge for the child's actual expenses when you have them in your care and a wage for the care. You have to have both to be successful.

aaaaaaaamen!!!

[AfterSchoolMom]

That person must be crazy. That's only $8 per day, or 80 CENTS per hour for a typical ten hour day! I don't think that people who place ads like this think these things through before they post.


In my area we have people offering care for 75 or 80 per week, and I think that's ridiculous. I can't imagine 40!!!

[marniewon]

Yes, she will get burnt out very quickly. Before I was licensed, I took a babysitting job for a low income family. It started out at their home, so I didn't have to spend anything on their needs. I was getting around $2 an hour for 2-4 kids!! Not each, just $2/hr period.

Even though I didn't have to pay for their needs, I still got burnt out quickly. The only reason I kept at it was because they would be state paid soon. Even when I started getting paid by the state I was burnt out and just wanted to be done. I only lasted about 4-5 months. Although that wasn't the reason I quit.

I can't imagine offering $40/week for daycare. I get almost 3 times that much, and often feel that's not even enough!!

[juliebug]

I got a great one in my area! see free

free babysitting!!! not a joke (offutt)
Date: 2011-03-16, 12:26PM CDT
Reply to: see below

I am offering free babysitting to military members, dependants, and retired right now.. The reason i am doing this is because I have a 19 month old son that I would love to socialize and have make friends and I also need to start doing some community service projects for school so this is the perfect way to do both! I live on base in base housing and have two dogs; both dachshunds and one cat as well... they are all super friendly and love playing with children. I am available at different hours each day, everyday so email me for times and we can work something out. All i ask that you bring is diapers, wipes, and food for your child/ren.. If you have any questions at all please feel free to email me and ask... thank you so much and look foreward to hearing from you!! email at or text at thanks

[nannyde]

I got a great one in my area! see free

free babysitting!!! not a joke (offutt)
Date: 2011-03-16, 12:26PM CDT
Reply to: see below

I am offering free babysitting to military members, dependants, and retired right now.. The reason i am doing this is because I have a 19 month old son that I would love to socialize and have make friends and I also need to start doing some community service projects for school so this is the perfect way to do both! I live on base in base housing and have two dogs; both dachshunds and one cat as well... they are all super friendly and love playing with children. I am available at different hours each day, everyday so email me for times and we can work something out. All i ask that you bring is diapers, wipes, and food for your child/ren.. If you have any questions at all please feel free to email me and ask... thank you so much and look foreward to hearing from you!! email at or text at thanks

I have a couple of friends that do sitting on military bases and their regs are really strict. I wonder if free is a way to get around the regs and supervision?

[momofboys]

I just found a CL ad from someone offering childcare for $40 a week. I'm not kidding. $40 A WEEK. I really hope that this doesn't become a trend...I can barely find people willing to pay what I charge now.


HELLO TO ALL. IM OFFERING CHILDCARE IN MY HILLIARD APARTMENT FOR $40/WEEK!-THATS RIGHT ONLY $40.I AM A MARRIED STAY AT HOME MOM OF 3 BOYS,AND LOVE CHILDREN&LOVE TO TEACH THEM AS WELL.MY BOYS ARE 4,2,&10 MONTHS!.IM NOT CERTIFIED IN ANYTHING,BUT MY 4 YEARS EXPERIENCE OF BEING A STAY AT HOME MOTHER HAS PREPARED ME TO BE THE PERFECT SITTER.IF YOU ARE INTERESTED,I WILL ASK THAT YOU PAY THE $40 IN ADVANCE FOR 1ST WEEK.MY AVAILABILITY:ANY TIME,ANY DAY,ANY SCHEDULETHANKYOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING AT MY AD

I saw that on there last week & about fell off my seat laughing! Anyway, did you also see the parent looking for a nanny share? I think it was removed from irrate providers but it wanted to do a nanny share & they were looking for another family. Anyway, they thought with 3-4 kids they could pay the nanny $60 a WEEK PER CHILD.::::::

[SilverSabre25]

I saw that on there last week & about fell off my seat laughing! Anyway, did you also see the parent looking for a nanny share? I think it was removed from irrate providers but it wanted to do a nanny share & they were looking for another family. Anyway, they thought with 3-4 kids they could pay the nanny $60 a WEEK PER CHILD.::::::

oh yeah, I saw that one when I was poking around on there today! I've seen some doozies on what people want to pay nannies...they really have no idea! I also get emails from Care.com and there have been some "amusing" ones on there as well.

[PeanutsGalore]

I just found a CL ad from someone offering childcare for $40 a week. I'm not kidding. $40 A WEEK. I really hope that this doesn't become a trend...I can barely find people willing to pay what I charge now.


HELLO TO ALL. IM OFFERING CHILDCARE IN MY HILLIARD APARTMENT FOR $40/WEEK!-THATS RIGHT ONLY $40.I AM A MARRIED STAY AT HOME MOM OF 3 BOYS,AND LOVE CHILDREN&LOVE TO TEACH THEM AS WELL.MY BOYS ARE 4,2,&10 MONTHS!.IM NOT CERTIFIED IN ANYTHING,BUT MY 4 YEARS EXPERIENCE OF BEING A STAY AT HOME MOTHER HAS PREPARED ME TO BE THE PERFECT SITTER.IF YOU ARE INTERESTED,I WILL ASK THAT YOU PAY THE $40 IN ADVANCE FOR 1ST WEEK.MY AVAILABILITY:ANY TIME,ANY DAY,ANY SCHEDULETHANKYOU SO MUCH FOR LOOKING AT MY AD

I think the CL ad I just ran across trumps yours....someone is offering childcare. For free. Just give them a meal and help them with busfare.

What?

[SilverSabre25]

I think the CL ad I just ran across trumps yours....someone is offering childcare. For free. Just give them a meal and help them with busfare.

What?

wow...I can't imagine what that person is going to accomplish...and as a parent even in desperate straits I wouldn't accept it. That just sounds creepy.

[SandeeAR]

I think the CL ad I just ran across trumps yours....someone is offering childcare. For free. Just give them a meal and help them with busfare.

What?

wow...I can't imagine what that person is going to accomplish...and as a parent even in desperate straits I wouldn't accept it. That just sounds creepy.

The word pedophile popped into my mind.