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Daycare Costs -Vienna, Annandale, Fairfax- and a pity party for one please
So if I could get a link to the daycare spreadsheet that would be great but any outright response is also very welcome! Looking for in-home or center for 2 kids over 2yo and if you know anything about before/sfter school care for K that would be great too.
We are looking to move to the above areas within 6mo-1year (before Maggie start K). My job is moving fulltime to Annandale (Gallows rd exit, right next to Inova Fairfax) Aug 15th and DH's job has just moved to Vienna. We currently live in Gaithersburg with daycare in Olney so without moving it is already hard with the commutes but when Maggie's starts K next to home with daycare 25min away it will just be a complete nightmare of logistics. Right now I spend 2.5 hrs/day in my car, moving job sites will increase that to over 3.
We don't want to move right now though since moving is going to cost us a great deal of money. We can't really sell the current house without taking a big (probably over $40k) hit so we want to rent to SIL who lives with us right now. Not living where we own will cost us our mortgage interest deduction and then we have to count SIL's rent as income. There is also the upkeep on the hosue and just fixing the little stuff for other people to live there. If SIL can't find a roommate we may have to offer some money off the entire rent until she finds a roommate (It is a 3 bedroom, 3 level townhouse).
Then there is daycare - we get a great deal ($340 for both per week) at an in-home I love so that cost will definitely go way up after we move if they go to a center or an in-home. Not to mention I will cry when we leave our current provider. She has had my kids since Maggie was 12 weeks old and we love her like family. She cried last year thinking about Maggie going to K and I hate to leave her. I am torn about trying to find an in-home (without a personal rec since our current one lives right next door to my best friend) and a center where there will definitely be before/after school care for Maggie and getting Molly into a more school like setting.
Then we have to find a place to rent since we do not have the money to bring anything to settlement for a new place right now. So we want to rent a house for a few years in the area we would like to buy in, save up and then buy a house in the same school district hopefully.
The good news in all of this is that in a few short months we will have all of our non-zero percent interest debt (except the mortgage but including the cars) paid off. So we will have the money to do this and still save (as long as SIL pays the rent, but even if she doesn't we could make it work for a short while until we could sell even at a loss). The best news is that doing so would drastically help our work/life balance and we would be able to spend a lot more family time together and just have some actual free time to do things like workout or get a hobby.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far, it got longer than I thought!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Daycare Costs -Vienna, Annandale, Fairfax- and a pity party for one please
Actually DH has always worked in Crystal City, DC (Hoover Bldg) and now the new bldg is finally ready in Vienna which is the shortest of all those commutes. But I agree that at least we should be able to find something relatively close for both of us and not have to compromise one or the other.
Also neither of us has family (except SIL living with us) in the area so it's not like we are moving away from some great support group (except for our DCP).
And I appreciate the sympathy since I am just feeling sorry for myself today and would like to wallow a bit before moving on.
We'll be work neighbors when you move.
Merrifield is an OK place to be for work, my paycheck will be in danger though when the Target opens next year. You'll be near Four Sisters, my favorite treat for lunch. And the cookies at Merrifield Garden Center are really good.
Both of my kids are in Annandale for daycare/pre-school. We pay $1100 a month per child for daycare. I forget what pre-school will cost, but is is something like $250 a week. There is less expensive daycare out there as well.
Fairfax County Schools have before and aftercare programs I believe, although you have to apply a full year before your child enters kindergarten or you will most likely be on the waitlist. There are center options as well for before and after care - in talking to my neighbors, none had trouble finding someplace. We obviously aren't there yet to give you a first hand perspective.
Yay for reasonable work life balance. That was really important to us when looking for a home. We were surprised at how many affordable options we found in housing in the areas you are looking at. We focused on North Springfield, Kings Farm, Ravensworth, Camelot and Broyhill Crest in our housing search. I would have loved to have considered Mantua and Falls Church City, but what we could afford there was too small. We liked Canterbury as well but there wasn't much on the market when we were looking.
Best of luck Tracy.
You should talk to an accountant about rental property because there are things that will apply to you as deductions. I rent out my condo in Bethesda and I was able to write-off the original closing costs again and other depreciation factors for a rental property.
Darn, I wish the house next door hadn't rented out because my neighborhood would have been perfect for you georgraphically!
That's a lot of change to deal with - yikes.
Here's the spreadsheet: https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?hl=en_US&hl=en_US&key=0Aj1JxqE0aW0JcDZMaFhsTkk5RmRVMmNWeTBrQ05aZVE&output=html
As I know you know the in-homes won't know their availability 6 mmos. - year out, but when you're closer to the date page me - my in-home lady is awesome and near Annandale.
When you know where you're going to live.... like pp said, call Fairfax County Public Schools to get on the wait list for before and after care at your DD's future elementary school. I just got DD #1 on the wait list the soonest I could - 14 months out - and I'm number 24 on the wait list.
it's hard now but I think once you move and your work/life balance improves,you'll be so much happier.Come here to vent anytime!
Thanks guys. it is all just so overhwleming especially since I have no clue about any of those areas. I have lived in MD for about 14years now and I finally feel like I know MoCo, now I have go to VA where I know next to nothing. Hey Jellisy - I may have to pick your brain when we are closer to finding a place to live in to see what you think and how to check up on the schools.
I know we will be behind on the school thing too if we move too late so I need to look into when registration/orientation are as well. I know I have seen signs around for as early as May!
Agreed. Our girls are all within a year of each other. They would have some very impressive tea parties. I've seen a lot of for rent signs in our neighborhood and in Broyhill Crest - let me know when you are looking to move and I will make note of them and email them over.
Ok, so at first I was crying because of leaving DCP and all the stress and now I am tearing up because you ladies are all so great and nice. I am truly lucky to have everyone here. You can bet I will be I will getting everyone's approval on possible rentals next Spring/Summer!
Unless there is one in the hospital that I don't know about, A Child's Place is probably the closest center to your new work. It's on Route 50 at Prosperity and has long waits for infants (i.e., over 1 year). Not sure about for older kids. Our friend's 2 year old goes there and I forget how much they pay per week. I think it is in the $250 to $300 range, but you should check.
I don't think you really need to be too worried about registration/orientation. I teach middle school, and you can register any time. You would just need to make an appointment. I believe elementary schools do a orientation right before school starts, but I am not 100% sure on that...