Receipts and Meals

[kerrypriest]

Please can you help me. I did a food shop yesterday for the childminding children and kept the receipt. I am goin to put the food receipt through my books cos this is what i have purchased for the children but can i also then put so much per meal through my books. SOOOOOOO confused. Thanks for your help

[mummyof3]

I just put through my books an amount per child per day usually £2 a meal I find it works out easier this way. I have 3 of my own children so couldn't say for certain if it was all for the minded children on my food bill. I know some do it this way but I find it easier to just put a set amount each child. Some of the time it is under £2 per meal and sometimes over so it all evens itself out in the end.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I take the food on the bill and divide it by the number of mindees and my family members to give me a "per head" cost and then I multiply it by the number of mindees in the week.

[Jacko81]

I take the food on the bill and divide it by the number of mindees and my family members to give me a "per head" cost and then I multiply it by the number of mindees in the week.

This would be a much easier option for me than the way im doing it at the moment. Do you then (before calculating your food cost) sift out any cleaning products, toys etc??? thanks joanne

[Chatterbox Childcare]

This would be a much easier option for me than the way im doing it at the moment. Do you then (before calculating your food cost) sift out any cleaning products, toys etc??? thanks joanne

Take off everything that is not joint (I leave cleaning products in) so take out toys and games and then put these through as 100%.

[Jacko81]

Thankyou Debbie!!! Its all a lot clearer and easier now. Cheers hunny xxx

[jane5]

Hi,

I am still in the pre reg stage but I have been reading the good advise from everyone.

Debbie you said divide the bill by the number of family members then times by number of mindees.

Would I include my 2yr old dd as a mindee because she is on my numbers and I couldn't get an income from her place or is she included as family member?

Thanks

[Penny1959]

I do the 'per meal' method as family members eat far more than mindees and also eat some foods that mindees do not eat.

To get my per meal price I did one shop just for mindees (to cover meals / snacks that are on my menu). To ensure that it was a fair price some things appeared as a weekly purchase and some as a monthly purchase.

It worked out at a average of £1 for a lunch, £1.50 for tea and 50p for a breakfast and snacks 50p each. Therefore if child attends all day and has all meals the total cost is £3.50 (which in my case to feed minded children for week it comes to £60 per week). Of course will depend on where you shop and sort of meals provided.

I put 100% cleaners through as cleaning has to done for childminding (regardless of if any family members or not - if you had seperate house for minding you would still use that amount of cleaners - including the cleaning you do on any non minding days as all part of ensuring a safe environment). I also include toilet rolls, kitchen roll, babywipes, washing powder for doing bibs and resusable nappies, toothpaste and toothbrushes for mindees. All of these things are highlighted on reciept and put through seperately as do not buy every week or same amounts every time.

Same for any other items such as toys, printer ink / paper that can appear on 'food shop' receipt - 100%

New mindees - don't forget when starting up to put through as an expense anything like new mop and bucket, bins for putting used towels in, child size plates, cups, bibs and anything else connected to meal time/ cleaning. as can be easy to overlook this sort of thing.

Penny :)

[Penny1959]

Opps meant new childminders not new mindees. lol
Penny:)

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Hi,

I am still in the pre reg stage but I have been reading the good advise from everyone.

Debbie you said divide the bill by the number of family members then times by number of mindees.

Would I include my 2yr old dd as a mindee because she is on my numbers and I couldn't get an income from her place or is she included as family member?

Thanks

Yes add all family members in. it saves on working out your price each week/month per head.

So if you have a family of 3 plus 2 mindees - divide your bill by 5 and multiply by 2

[Saled]

Debbie, if I decide to work it out the way you do, does it matter that I have a number of mindees doing different days/times. At the moment I have 3mindees, one does 3 days, one does 4 days and the other is after school 4 days a week and in the hols for 3 full days a week. I also do some adhoc work for a couple of families with the odd half day here and there. At home there is just me and my DD.

So working on your method would I count each mindee regardless of how many hours they do?

Thanks

[Chatterbox Childcare]

Debbie, if I decide to work it out the way you do, does it matter that I have a number of mindees doing different days/times. At the moment I have 3mindees, one does 3 days, one does 4 days and the other is after school 4 days a week and in the hols for 3 full days a week. I also do some adhoc work for a couple of families with the odd half day here and there. At home there is just me and my DD.

So working on your method would I count each mindee regardless of how many hours they do?

Thanks

I was told by the HMRC just to add up the mindees in a week, regardless of how many times they were with me.

I found that some days I was cooking and mindees were eating the next day when they came so it evens out.

When I did a per meal cost I couldn't get it below £2.00 but I do include puddings in this aswell

[Carol M]

My main meal costs work out between £2 and £3 per meal . thats including pudding and fruit so I put in £2.50 per evening meal. That does include the fact that I also feed older kids who eat alot more!
Carol xx

[Louise B]

The advice on here is invaluable, I've learnt more on this forum than I have from our local council! Thank you everyone.

Just one query on this thread though.... if I claim for food through my books, does it matter that I charge the parents too?? My mindees parents pay per meal.xxx

[Carol M]

Payment for food just goes in your income and costs of food goes as expenses.
Carol xx

[Louise B]

Thanks Carol, that's good news! I'm amazed what we can claim for (in a good way! lol). But a lot of it I wouldn't have known if it wasn't for this place. xx:) :)