Minnesota Babies
Child Care
DH and I have finally decided to TTC, but in all honesty, the thought of paying for child care really freaks us out because it's so expensive. We talked about it, and even though it will be stretching us financially, we don't want to put off TTC any longer...
We're trying to budget, and so I'm just trying to get an idea of what people in MN pay for child care? We already know that we need to try to keep this cost down as low as possible, so we are sure that we'd have to find in home day care as opposed to day care centers, as I'm sure they're more expensive. We live in the north suburbs if that helps.
Thanks for your help!
We're trying to budget, and so I'm just trying to get an idea of what people in MN pay for child care? We already know that we need to try to keep this cost down as low as possible, so we are sure that we'd have to find in home day care as opposed to day care centers, as I'm sure they're more expensive. We live in the north suburbs if that helps.
Thanks for your help!
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Re: Child Care
Have you also budgeted for family health insurance? That's a doozy too! DH and I both had separate (free) plans until our son, now we have a family plan that's about $500 a month. Ouch!
I would recommend searching for a good in-home (note: there are some sketchy ones out their too I've heard from friends). The options near us didn't work out so well or were full when we were looking for DS. Also, don't forget pre-tax dependant care reimbursement which many companies offer, and tax benefit of $5K a year. Every little bit helps.
And yes, we have looked into what our health care will cost us once it goes up too...at my work I'm lucky and it actually won't be too bad.
I'm an in-home provider and knowing what I know now, I would never use a center again (both of my older boys spend some time in a daycare center).
https://www.resourcesforchildcare.org/index.cfm?page=ratespar
CCR&R does a rate survey of DCP's every year, this is the link to last years for the 7 county metro so you can see the average for your area.
3 boys (15, 8, 6), 1 girl (4)
We checked out some in-home daycares that I would NEVER leave my child at from steep stairs to broken rails, etc.!! There were others that were good. The biggest thing we found as a negative is that several had unrealistic pickup schedules. Some/most wanted the kids picked up by/before 4:30 in the afternoon. That works good if you're done at 4:00, but I don't know too many jobs that are... We figured out of 2 weeks paid vacation that the person could take, plus paid holidays, and it amounted to close to 1/3 extra for days that she'd not be there to watch DD... At first the "lower price" looks good, but when you really stop to do the math, it adds up quicker than you realize it will so that a center isn't any more expensive.