Charges... Its how you want to work...

[dmss001]

I have been childminding now for 3 years and I feel charges are a personal issue.

For e.g - I really need to invoice £1500 a month and then take off all my expenses and live off the rest....

So I charge £4.30 an hour incl. nappies, milk, wipes and food. OR
£6.00 an hour for hours under 9 hours a day. I get business from both prices. I actually invoice clients alot more charging the lower rate as one lady pays £4.30 an hour for 10 hours a day 3 days a week for 2 children. The other lady pays £6.00 an hour for her child but only uses 5 hours a day once a week.

You really have to look at the big picture and work out if when taking on a child makes sense because if you take on a child under 5 that wants 3 hours in the middle of the day at £6 you only make £18 a day as it is impossible to fill a place before and after the hours.:)

[mummyMia]

I know what you mean. I have one child who comes for 4 hours a day. I do charge her parents a higher hourly rate but even so I probably wouldn't take her on if I could go back in time. I will have to be much more careful about choosing the right mindees in the future. :)

[greenfields]

This is the way I look at it too.
This is why I plan to charge a miminum of 5hrs. And a full day works out to be at a discounted hourly rate.
I'm happy to earn 5hrs work a day but I wouldn't take on a child for a couple of hours because, as you say, I would have great difficulty arranging another mindee around these hours! Well I would actually take a child on for a couple of hours, as long as I got paid for the 5hrs.
Of course, we're all different, but this is my plan and I'm sticking to it (for now! :laughing: ). :thumbsup: