having trouble with my rates!!!

[chewy sweets]

I'm Newly Registered. I decided on charging an hourly rate of £4. Which i thought was reasonable for the area i live in as there's another minder that charges £5.50 p/h.
But my rate seems really expensive if i was to have a full timer- £160 per week £640 per month!!! I'm sure this is more than the local creche charges. Do you think i should have a weekly rate/ Monthly rate which works out cheaper??????

[zillervalley]

It does seem a lot a week but it isnt really, I charge £3,50 as this is about the going rate for my area,

If you have work and charging £4.00


dont worry
ziller

[Jules27]

It sounds a lot yes, but if its the going rate then parents will pay it. HAve you done some reserch into what other minders are charging or just basing it on the one you mentioned? MAy be an idea to have a set weekly fee and decide WHAT that includes - i've not done this yet but may give it consideration. Do you know excactly what local nurseries charge? Local research is best way to know where to set your rates!! xx

[margimum]

£4.00 an hour sounds reasonable to me. I have offered a daily rate in the past, but found parents abused it and, even though they finished work at 3.30, only picked child up at 5.30!!
I now charge for every hour they use!

[zillervalley]

£4.00 an hour sounds reasonable to me. I have offered a daily rate in the past, but found parents abused it and, even though they finished work at 3.30, only picked child up at 5.30!!
I now charge for every hour they use!

you right about parents abusing , i changed my daily rate too and charge per hour

ziller

[tulip0803]

I only charge by the hour and all the minders in my childminding group are the same.

[Chatterbox Childcare]

I charge per session and that being all day and 10 hours = £40.00 but I do give a discount to £38.00 if it is all week. If you worked 10 hours then £160.00 is cheap

You need to guage your area.

[Tatjana]

Hey it's £693.33 per calendar month, £640 would be for 4 weeks.

I do an hourly rate for part time hours, a daily rate and a weekly rate, it's how most cm's do it around here.

xx

[Roseolivia]

I think i must be charging wrong. In my area people charge daily rather than hourly which is between £23-£25 day. Only charge hourly for over 5's here.

[venus89]

I know in my area it's extremely rare for a parent to want full time care anyway - none of the minders I know have a full time child.

You can always privately offer a discount to them if they're umming and ahhing but inall honesty we work a lot harder than we're paid for already. Don't sell yourself short x

[Little Pumpkins]

I charge £3.25 an hour and dont do daily rates too confusing for me

[Goatgirl]

Hi,
As has been said, definitely do some more local research: nursery prices etc, but if other childminders are charging what you say, then the parents are getting a good deal! And you offer a different service altogether than the nurseries remember, which is what they're paying for.
Go for it :-)

[brightstar]

I charge £3.60 an hour in Pembrey Katie, but I know someone in town who carges £40 a day though and only does day rates. Feel free to pm me.

[manjay]

I charge £3.60 and no longer charge a daily fee. It suits me and my family for the children to go home early and I found (as someone else mentioned) that charging a daily fee encouraged them to stay until 6

[angiemog]

Hi,
I haven't been registered very long either. I have found that parents do their own research before they visit childminders anyway so they klnow roughly what the fees will be. Also some parents get help with fees I think up to 85% paid with working tax credits so if they are only playing 15% of your rate then it doesn't work out that much. As has been said previously if that is the going rate in your area stick with it. xx

[Helen Dempster]

I'm Newly Registered. I decided on charging an hourly rate of £4. Which i thought was reasonable for the area i live in as there's another minder that charges £5.50 p/h.
But my rate seems really expensive if i was to have a full timer- £160 per week £640 per month!!! I'm sure this is more than the local creche charges. Do you think i should have a weekly rate/ Monthly rate which works out cheaper??????

There was a lady on my first aid course who was going to charge £7.50 per hour!!!! We were all amazed. Her philosophy was "if the parents want me to care for their child, then they'll pay it". I often wonder how she's getting on....

[Harryblackdog]

Your rates sound reasonable to me. I have been studying the different amount minders charge for a research project and your hourly rate is reasonable.

I have to say that I can understand why the previous lady wants to charge £7.50. Parents hand over the care of their most precious posession and expect to get good quality care for an hourly rate that is less than some pay to have their ironing done or their garden mowed!!

[twiggy]

I have just increased my rate after 2 years from £3 to £3.20 and had a parent moan about it. I think that is about the rate for Devon.

[Ripeberry]

I think an hourly rate is sensible as the parents know exactly how much time they are using and then they can't abuse it as they know it will cost them.
Doing a daily rate just means that some will moan if you try and add on late fees as they say " Well it's still daytime".
You just know some of them will say this

[Ripeberry]

Problem is, that parents baulk at our fees mainly due because of the TIME we have their children.
A gardener or maid will always get paid more than us because they only do it for a short amount of time.
Parents need to work out how much they themselves get paid per hour, then add on the tax credits and then see how much good value we give them
If they are taking home over half of their hourly wage then they have no reason to moan.