Your thoughts please

[Adiamond]

I am going to be looking after my friends ickle baby starting February :D and she has been to see me today, we got chatting about fees and my costs ect.... and she said "you don't charge enough you know?" she then went on to say that she knows a couple of other childminders in my area and they charge session rates, I have to admit I have thought about doing this before but really wasn't sure as to how it works :rolleyes:

So at the minute I charge £4.00 per hour pretty much pay as you go... but over the last few months I have been looking at my vacancies and thought that I will never fill just these odd hours,

for instance I have a lo Tuesday and Wednesday 9.30-2.30 = £40.00 per week but if I charged session prices this would be charged at 2 x session fees or day rate of around £38.00 per day and these 2 days would be classed as full, is this how it works? I think it would be easier to do it this way then I know I wouldn't have a load of bitty hours left all over the place...

What do you all do and what do you find works better?
x x x

[Zoomie]

There are lots of ways of doing things. You need to do what is suitable for you.

I charge hourly and have pockets of hours I am unable to fill, but to be honest I am happy to have less work, as it means that sometimes I am able to spend more time with my children (or they at least get a bigger share of me).

Also if you charge a session rate, would it be a morning session and an afternoon session (as per the example you gave) and would you be happy for a child to be with you from the start of your morning session to the end of your afternoon session, cos parents want to get the full value of their money ??

[butterfly]

I find the issue of session rates v hourly rate very difficult. I have stuck to hourly rate because i think this offers something to parents that nurseries don't.

I just make a decision based on how many hours parents want and whether that suits me or not. I have one child who does 3 days 8-3 - although i only get paid 7 hours rather than 9/10 this suits me as she's gone before i do the school run and get my own daughter.

Also would your full day rate be based on your hourly rate for say 10 hours or would it be discounted? I would have some parents who use 10 min hours min per day who would therefore get a discount.

I think it needs careful consideration.

[flowerpots]

i agree with whats been said, i wouldnt want to temp parents to leave them ALL here until 6 every night:eek: i REALLY enjoy my little pockets of hours here and there:D

[butterfly]

i agree with whats been said, i wouldnt want to temp parents to leave them ALL here until 6 every night:eek: i REALLY enjoy my little pockets of hours here and there:D

and they definately would use them as parents don't like to see little pockets of time going to waste! they like value for money! :laughing:

[Adiamond]

I agree and understand with everything you have all said, I have felt in the past that I been shortchanging myself quite alot though especially with one mindee I used to have long story but after the mum asked if I did a discount for a full time place I gave her one then it turned out it wasn't full time exactly I ended up earning £2.93 per hour :angry:

I don't know what to do???? at the end of the day I am a business and I have bills to pay!!!!

Think I will wait and see what any others think :cool: x x x

[jumpinjen]

I charge an hourly rate and have agreed a midway with one family.... they wanted between 12-24 hours over three days every week, my other three day little one comes for 28 hours so i split it between us and they agreed to pay for a minimum of 20 hours a week, so i have regular income, and they aren't paying a huge amount that they can't afford. Perhaps thaty might work for you?

Jen x

[AliceK]

I think it depends on what you need to be earning. If other childminders in your area are charging session rates and you need to be earning more money then it might be worth changing BUT if you are happy with what you're earning and want to be able to offer parents a bit more flexibility / difference then stick to hourly and be thankful for any pockets of quiet time you have :)

I am happy to offer hourly rates and have worked out what I need to earn and am happy with this. I have quietened down a fair bit since I started as I prefer to have less LO's and give them more time and have more time with my DD than be full to capacity but that's my decision. It depends on your circumstances really.

xxxxx

[MAWI]

I charge by the hour. When I first started I accepted any hours that cam along and found that I had odd spaces and hours all over the place.
Now I still charge by the hour because as others have said it is a plus point when parents consider a childminder or nursery. Having said that, if other childminderd are doing it then why not.
I do however specify a minimum of six hours per day (9-3) or decide if I want the hours or not. I would not want mindees (EYFS) staying until 6:00- 6:30 because all of my parents would leave them here until the last possible moment. At the moment my EYFS leave between 3pm and 4:30 which is quite nice. I get time with the school aged children and my own.

[caz3007]

I charge by the hour and never intended to mind my full quota, although I do have 5 over 8's at the moment.

Most of mine go home by 5 with the odd day on until 6 (parents are in retail and do shifts) but I like my little pockets of spare time, to do the jobs that we all have to do or spend time with my own DS

[snufflepuff]

I charge per hour. I currently work 8.30 to 3.30 3 days a week and 8.30 to 4.45 one day a week, with Fridays off. It works very well for me- no early starts, some nice early finishes. Gives me time with my son and time to get other things done. I never inteded on working too many hours until my son is much older.
Im pretty sure that if I changed to session charges one parent would go elsewhere and the other would bring child for the whole session to get her moneys worth.

[Alibali]

I charge daily rates, but as has been said, they all make sure they use every minute!

[Louise0208]

i charge only for what they use......id be crawling the walls if i had a house full all day every day :panic: my parents are lousy timekeepers & if they didnt have to be here till 6pm you would garentee id still be waiting at 6.15!

i have 4 of my own kids to look after & a partner who lives & works 100 miles away so the odd hours i have during the day are used to do my chores so my evenings & weekends are family time.

i also live in an are where very few people work...never mind them working full time lol, if i was to charge a full time place for a part time taker id never get paid!

i have 3 free spaces but thats through my choice, i dont want a house full & wont take on any full timers. :thumbsup:

[Playmate]

We charge a daily rate, but then most people round here want us for the full time. It just means those that do a full day actually get the care slightly cheaper. We charge £42.50 per day or £5p/hr if 6 hrs or less (we are just outside greater London) Our full day runs from 8-6 but only 1 of our parents actually uses those full hours. 1 does 8-5 and the other 8-4.30, the rest are all part-time. We sent out a questionaire before Christmas and ask would they rather pay a daily rate with everything included or hourly with seperate for food. Everyone replied daily rate so we stuck with it :D

[Adiamond]

Well after lots of thought and working outs I have decided to keep my hourly charge as it is for full timers (or there abouts) like some off you said it is nice to finish early some nights :thumbsup: and also for my part timers like my 8-1lo BUT if I get an enquiry for a say 10-2.30pm I think I will charge a slightly higher rate :D x x x