Food Costs

[bradbury1982]

Can anyone help me, I have two children before and after school and there is 4 people in my family I divide my shopping costs by 6 and then time then by two to get the value for the 2 children I have but I am due to have two more children but only of a saturday and I am now stuck on how to divide the food costs up.

Can anyone help me??

thanks

[sarah707]

You can just work out an average meal cost according to the tax guy I spoke to last time I went to training.

Work out what your normal breakfast / lunch / tea / snack costs are, inlcuding drinks and put those through for each child you cook for.

Hth :D

[singlewiththree]

I put my costs as what the schools charge roughly, so I do £2 for meals and £1 per snack. I find that is much easier to work out per child than each different meal costs.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Can anyone help me, I have two children before and after school and there is 4 people in my family I divide my shopping costs by 6 and then time then by two to get the value for the 2 children I have but I am due to have two more children but only of a saturday and I am now stuck on how to divide the food costs up.

Can anyone help me??

thanks

I do mine the same as you on the advice of the tax office and you would divide by 8 and multiply by 4 which is 50% of your food bill

[bradbury1982]

I was going to divide it by 8 then times it by 4 but would that be ok as I only have two of the children of a Saturday from 9am-5pm?

[karenandsmile]

i tend to work out the average cost per day of food and then depending how many meals the child comes for you add it up so

breakfast is a £1.00
snacks £1.00
lunch £1.50 example prices
dinner £2.00 etc

obviously depending on what meals you cook lobster is more lol

so just work out what child is there for what meals and snacks

[tigger]

Is that for each child or all the children?

[TheBTeam]

I put down per child, so £2 for lunch, £2 for dinner and depending 75p for snacks either one or two per day for each child depending on hours that they are with me. Lunch/Dinner consists of either a hot meal or sandwich, fruit, yoghurt, sometimes crisps or other treat. A hot meal can be anything from salmon, chicken, beef, gammon with potatoes and veg, or sometimes, pastas or chilli, I have worked out the cost roughly and do not check it every time i make a meal, I have also gauged the cost of a school dinner done on mass and all frozen is £1.75 and a happy meal is £2 so my meals are healthier using better quality of stuff and contain more options.

[bradbury1982]

What bout breakfast LynnB xx

[John]

I do my own shopping separate form the children’s so I just put it down in the expenses as all the children eat the same things. Instead of dividing the food and meals, on my last training I was ok doing this.

John

[cher25]

I do my own shopping separate form the children’s so I just put it down in the expenses as all the children eat the same things. Instead of dividing the food and meals, on my last training I was ok doing this.

John

This is what i do aswell, as me and my dp don't eat with the children. So whatever i buy for them is for them alone. If my dp or anyone who visit's does eat anything i bought for the kids then i will put half the cost, or not include it all.

[karenandsmile]

on thats for each child lol

i would fins it hard to do a seperate shop as i have two children of my own and they eat with the children too plus they use the same toilet roll etc lol

dontforget to claim toiolet rolls those little cherbus get through loads they must have big bums lol

[John]

on thats for each child lol

i would fins it hard to do a seperate shop as i have two children of my own and they eat with the children too plus they use the same toilet roll etc lol

dontforget to claim toiolet rolls those little cherbus get through loads they must have big bums lol

I give the children news paper on a piece of string :laughing: no only joking don't tell Ofsted:)

we have turns, i'll buy it not puting it in the books and the next time when buying i'll put in my book.

John.

[yolande]

I am new to childminding and i am trying to get this costing thing right:angry: Will it be ok if i speak to the parent and ask him if he would agree to me shopping just for his children [2] and charge him accordingly.just dont know how to make it easier because on top of this there are so so much paperwork

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I was going to divide it by 8 then times it by 4 but would that be ok as I only have two of the children of a Saturday from 9am-5pm?

Doesn't matter and that came from the IR as all the food in your cupboards and fridge are available to them. Your own children may have lunch at school and you don't take anything off for that.

Working out food per meal is a nightmare and shopping separately takes ages.

[bradbury1982]

So over all do people think its better just to charge a set meal cost? Do you still have to keep receipts if i do it this way?

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I used to charge a set meal cost but food rose so quickly and it is hard to justify unless you did the workings every week - not me.

I took the advice of the IR.

[Minstrel]

Yes you would still have to keep all food receipts for 3 months. This is in case of food poisoning outbreak etc so that food can be traced.

[TheBTeam]

I have been putting down 50p for cereal and milk, but don't think this covers it now plus usually toast etc is eaten as well, so thinking of reviewing for this tax year.

[RedDragon]

I give the children news paper on a piece of string :laughing: no only joking don't tell Ofsted:)

we have turns, i'll buy it not puting it in the books and the next time when buying i'll put in my book.

John.

Those were the days.


I remember when my husband came to my house when we first met - his family are posh - he still talks about my dad pushing a newspaper under the toilet door for him 20 years later.:blush:

[bradbury1982]

Hi so can a few people post what they charge for what meals so I can get a rough idea xx Thanks for all your help evryone xx

[Minstrel]

Hi so can a few people post what they charge for what meals so I can get a rough idea xx Thanks for all your help evryone xx

i think it would depend on how much it is costing you at the supermarket.

ie do you buy value brands or named brands
do you buy in bulk to bring costs down.
what sort of meals will you be offering (ie sandwiches or a full cooked lunch)
all these things will make a difference.


just do a quick price up of your popular meals and take an average

[Chatterbox Childcare]

What I claim and what I charge are two different things

Snacks and drinks are all included in my daily price
Breakfast is £1.00
Lunch and Dinner or Tea is £2.00 each