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View Full Version : bit of a personal question..



Jessymax
18-02-2016, 09:54 AM
would anyone mind telling me how much they spend on food a week and do u do a separate 'childminding shop separate to your family shop.. separate receipts for tax return etc..
I find im spending a fortune !

mama2three
18-02-2016, 10:17 AM
I spend a fortune too , but then I have 7 for dinner every night ( mindees) and I do all 3 meals and snacks included.
I dont do seperate receipts at all.
Once every few months I work out exactly what each meal has cost me for a week - how much snacks have cost me...then add it up and divide by number of mindees - that gives me an ''average daily food cost'' per mindee to put through my books. It is currently £5 , though i have noticed costs rising so I will do it again soon. I keep the receipts relevant to my workings out , and my calculations , so if needed I could show hmrc how I reached the amount . This method has certainly helped reduce my paperwork overload!

natlou82
18-02-2016, 10:46 AM
I have a lot of children for dinner too and include all food. My average food bill for mindees is £40-£50 per week.

Jessymax
18-02-2016, 11:23 AM
i just put receipts into an email named December, jan , feb so on..

Do you charge separate for food I charge £35 a day and I don't no whether its too cheap?

I also have 2 siblings but the baby hasn't started yet I have held this space since begin jan they do half 8 til half4 and I charge her £31 a day instead of £35 but my partner stressing me out saying I shouldn't because no one is going to come for other part of that session which is true. Im really struggling financially and as said in my other post unless I am full very soon I will have to stop childminding, gutting after all the work ive put in x

rollypolly
18-02-2016, 11:31 AM
I found my food bill was going up and up! So I made the decision a few years ago, to no longer provide food. Parents bring the meals in each day in named containers. It's taken away the stress of rushing around at teatime :)

AliceK
18-02-2016, 12:30 PM
My business shopping is around £90 per week :panic:. I do feed a lot of children (5 mindees), I have 4 for both a hot cooked lunch and a cold tea and 1 just for tea and that cost does include things like nappies / wipes etc. It is far too much IMO but I have looked at cutting the cost down and the only way I can see of doing it is to reduce the quality of the food I buy which I'm not sure how comfortable I am with doing. I only feed the children food of a quality of which I would eat myself.

xxx

tess1981
18-02-2016, 01:04 PM
My business shopping is around £90 per week :panic:. I do feed a lot of children (5 mindees), I have 4 for both a hot cooked lunch and a cold tea and 1 just for tea and that cost does include things like nappies / wipes etc. It is far too much IMO but I have looked at cutting the cost down and the only way I can see of doing it is to reduce the quality of the food I buy which I'm not sure how comfortable I am with doing. I only feed the children food of a quality of which I would eat myself.

xxx

That's lot.... I might send the team of eat well for less over to you lol ( I think that was the programme ) I learnt a lot from it and my bill for the same amount of children would be under half that... we have breakfast hot lunch and 1 to 2 snacks a day. Not all the days are filled to quota with children but at least 3 to 4 to eat 3 or 4 days a week with 1 or 3 to eat the other 1 maybe 2 days.... I only use extra lean butcher mince chicken fillets or if doing fish fingers I'm a snob and they have to be 100 % fillet birds eye.... we do a meat free day once sometimes twice a week. Eat lots of cereal (branded and non branded depending on what tastes nice ) breath wraps cheeses fruit veg etc... Maybe we could start a thread to help us all save money lol

Jessymax
18-02-2016, 02:33 PM
yes lets ! im same as u alice I only give them things I would eat myself and that's probably why its costing em so much if I bought the cheapest version of everything I wpuld save probs half the cost but would feel mean! x how much do u guys charge a day and what are your opening hours/ x

AliceK
18-02-2016, 02:55 PM
yes lets ! im same as u alice I only give them things I would eat myself and that's probably why its costing em so much if I bought the cheapest version of everything I wpuld save probs half the cost but would feel mean! x how much do u guys charge a day and what are your opening hours/ x

At the moment I am open 08.30 - 17.30. Charge for full day would be the equivalent of £36 however I do not have any child who comes for those full hours so at present I have the following:

Child 1 - £33 Hot lunch & tea
Child 2 - £24 Hot lunch & tea
Child 3 - £22 Hot lunch & tea
Child 4 - £18 Hot lunch
1 x After School - £10 Hot tea.

I would love to have some money saving tips. Do you all buy "cheaper" quality food? Is this where I am going wrong do you think??

xxx

Jessymax
18-02-2016, 03:37 PM
I wish I could do before n after school I could make up a lot there. I just charge a straight £35 for full day im open 7.30-6
or £20 half day either 7.30-12.30 ( lunch included) or 1-6pm (tea included)
xx

Kiddleywinks
18-02-2016, 06:42 PM
I found planning meals and keeping to a shopping list helps keep food costs down - also stops me doubling up on stuff I already have!
Each week we have one pork, beef, fish, chicken and pasta dish.
The only packaged meal I do is lasagne - try as I might mine always fails the taste or consistency check lol
I also found superstore meat contains a lot of water so cooks down to nothing. Butchers meat is better, or bookers chicken and mince are fab too.

BallyH
18-02-2016, 06:52 PM
I only provide snacks and 'lite tea' which is served at 4.30. I've called it 'lite tea' instead of dinner so then parents don't expect a big sunday roast. The lo's all provide their own packed lunches. I spend around £30 a week, a 4 day week with about 8 kids to feed every evening.

tess1981
19-02-2016, 09:08 AM
I would love to have some money saving tips. Do you all buy "cheaper" quality food? Is this where I am going wrong do you think??

xxx[/QUOTE]

When it comes to meat it's good quality. (I'm on slimming world so all meat is lean like 5% fat mince and like everyone said I will only provide meat I will eat myself)
Our local butcher does great offers eg meat package for £20 which feeds the mindees and my own family too. Going meat free 2 days helps too. Packet soup goes down better here than homemade soup ... tried and tested and in home bargains it's 35p a packet instead of 75p in supermarket. Spaghetti bol is very popular. I buy the 3kg bag of tesco pasta and it lasts for ages. The pasatta only costs 35p a carton and I make my own sauce from it saving a lot than if I used jars.... cheap jars are not nice anyway. Cheese is bought depending which one is half price or on offer. I bulk buy and freeze if bread pancakes are in the reduced section I buy them and freeze them and pop them in the toaster from frozen if I have forgotten to take them out that morning to defrost. I remember once getting pancakes for 2p a packet... garlic bread and tomato bread always seems to be in the reduced section too. Even if they not reduced I buy in bulk and freeze anyway so as not to run out of anything... that's a bad habit of mine. I hate running out of anything. I'm known for having fruit bread milk cheese etc all stashed in my freeze lol

natlou82
19-02-2016, 10:28 AM
I don't buy the cheaper options unless I myself am happy to eat them. I shop at asda and find it cheaper than others. I plan my meals in advance, I currently have a 4 week rotating menu and shop online (stops me being sucked in by things I don't need). My family usually eat the same meals I cook for mindees. I usually have 2 EYFS for all meals and snacks + an additional 4 after school mindees for snack and dinner. 2 of my mindees are vegetarian. My dinners range from jacket potatoes - roast dinners so not all big dinners.

k1rstie
20-02-2016, 12:02 AM
I only provide snacks and 'lite tea' which is served at 4.30. I've called it 'lite tea' instead of dinner so then parents don't expect a big sunday roast. The lo's all provide their own packed lunches. I spend around £30 a week, a 4 day week with about 8 kids to feed every evening.

I do a lite tea too. Mine love a jacket potato, beans on toast, scrambled eggs on toast, tinned soup ( then there can be more than one flavour ), their current favourite is what they call ' toast with a range of toppings' - jam, cheese spread, choc spread, etc..


We eat early, and I think everyone eats properly when they get home with their parents later. They often have clubs, groups, sports straight from me, so need something to eat before they go on to the next part of their day. I have always found my own girls get very cranky, or horrible if they don't eat pretty soon. Even my 16 year old asks what's for tea, the moment she walks in the door from school. They couldn't last until everyone had gone home at 6

Rolacolapink
21-02-2016, 08:43 AM
I offer breakfast, am snack, lunch (sometimes hot food, sometimes cold) pm snack and after school snack. I spend around £30 per week and don't charge parents for food :-)