How to Determine the Cost of Day Care

Let's face it. Day care is expensive, especially if you are looking for a high-quality center for your children where they will learn beginning math and reading concepts as well as receive excellent care. When figuring how much money to budget for day care, watch out for some hidden costs, and make sure you ask your center staff plenty of questions before you write your check or allow an automatic payment from your checking account. Read on to see how to determine the cost of day care.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• paper
• pencil
• calculator
• information on cost from the center

How to Determine the Cost of Day Care

1. Find the cost for one child per week or month. Some day care centers charge per month, and some charge per week. If your day care charges per week, multiply the figure times 52. If your day care charges per month, multiply by 12 to find the cost for one year.

2. Ask if you have to pay for weeks or days that your day care is closed, or you are on vacation. For example, some day care centers are closed for the week between Christmas and New Year's Day. Will they charge you for these days? Some day care centers do because they need a certain amount of money each month to pay their bills whether they are open every day or not. Other day cares give a discount or do not charge. If your center does not charge for every week, then you will need to subtract those "free" weeks from the figure you found in step 1.

3. Ask if there is a discount for additional children. Some day cares charge full price for every child in your family. Some will give you a discount if you have more than one child, who attends the center. You need to figure this out when you are determining the cost of day care.

4. Find out if you have to pay a nonrefundable deposit to put your name on a waiting list or hold a spot for the next school year. Some day care centers charge an application fee. These are the hidden costs mentioned in the introduction and need to be considered when you are figuring your annual cost for child care.

5. Talk to your accountant or the financial department at your workplace, and see if you can have any of the cost of day care taken out of your paycheck before you pay income taxes on it. Some businesses have this program, and it will save you quite a bit of money in taxes each year. This is something to consider when determining the cost of day care.

Tips & Warnings

• Compare more than one day care in your area, so you know about how much child care is in your community. This will give you a better idea for your budget.
• Remember the old saying, "You get what you pay for." If a day care charges considerably less than most in your area, there may be a terrible reason why. Investigate more than one center, and ask questions!

Resources

• Margo Dill's website

[hillzbiz]

on 8/21/2009 Great article! Lots of good advice, thank you.