Greedy?

[lorettacritchet]

Hi, does anyone think £200 pcm is excessive for food expenses/toiletries/drinks etc....for full time kids, after school kids etc....i think it's too little but not sure if working this out wrong, everything is so expensive now!

[nikki thomson]

Hi, this seems quite low to me, I had one full time lo and my monthly expenses for her were £189, this included all activities and I do lots like swimming, farm, toddler group, soft play, park etc, my fuel bill is ridiculous so a big chunk of that was petrol.
But if you have worked it out and this is what you came to then that must be correct, have you added everything? I find food is so expensive my one lo who had lunch and snacks here ate £4.00 worth of food a day, all that fruit she was like a Hoover bless her. X

[lorettacritchet]

Activities aren't included in the £200, this figure is solely for food/toileteries like toilet paper etc. Activities etc go in another column although can't remember which one lol....oh yeah travel/outings lol
A lot of my kids eat like horses too, espe during growth spurt times! lol

Hi, this seems quite low to me, I had one full time lo and my monthly expenses for her were £189, this included all activities and I do lots like swimming, farm, toddler group, soft play, park etc, my fuel bill is ridiculous so a big chunk of that was petrol.
But if you have worked it out and this is what you came to then that must be correct, have you added everything? I find food is so expensive my one lo who had lunch and snacks here ate £4.00 worth of food a day, all that fruit she was like a Hoover bless her. X

[BucksCM]

If you're not sure keep your food bills and break it all down for the month.
That will give you a figure you can work with.

[nikki thomson]

Ok, but even just on food/toiletries that's still not alot, how many children do you look after? As £50 a week isn't alot these days.
I don't know about you but I can spend that just nipping to get a few bits from tesco's it's just so expensive, my weekly food bill for our family and the one lo who only had lunch and snacks is in excess of £150 a week,(this includes cleaning products etc), I really don't know how cm who feed lots of kids especially the older ones who eat lots and have evening meals do it there food bill must be enormous. X

[lorettacritchet]

Yeah my bill is gigantic, one trip can take me £150 as I try to buy fresh foods etc for the babies to do the purees etc.

Its difficult to give a precise figure of daily children but I have three babies in care, one of them is three days a week, other full time and the other is casual and others are maximum age of 4 so yeah food is expensive....I think £200 is also too cheap but don't know what a reasonable figure would be.

Ok, but even just on food/toiletries that's still not alot, how many children do you look after? As £50 a week isn't alot these days.
I don't know about you but I can spend that just nipping to get a few bits from tesco's it's just so expensive, my weekly food bill for our family and the one lo who only had lunch and snacks is in excess of £150 a week,(this includes cleaning products etc), I really don't know how cm who feed lots of kids especially the older ones who eat lots and have evening meals do it there food bill must be enormous. X

[rickysmiths]

Loretta just my food expenses have been up to £5000 per year (approx £90 per week) when I have had four under fives and 2 before and after school and I am giving them all breakfast and dinner and the four of them lunch and snacks. I record toilet items separately.

Only you know how much you spend on food and if your receipts add up to £200 that is what you put through your books. None of us can really comment on if it is too much or too little because only you know what you spend.

[lorettacritchet]

Yeah last year kept a record of it but accountant again underminded my costs hence my questions....

Loretta just my food expenses have been up to £5000 per year (approx £90 per week) when I have had four under fives and 2 before and after school and I am giving them all breakfast and dinner and the four of them lunch and snacks. I record toilet items separately.

Only you know how much you spend on food and if your receipts add up to £200 that is what you put through your books. None of us can really comment on if it is too much or too little because only you know what you spend.

[BucksCM]

Yeah last year kept a record of it but accountant again underminded my costs hence my questions....

If you have reciepts for your food then you can claim and you have the wrong accountant!!!

[~Grasshopper~]

it seems low to me aswell.

i have 2 under 5's and 1 schoolie and my food expenses are normally £70 pw approx and i put £10 down a month for toiletries and cleaning stuff.

x

[jumpinjen]

Then get a new accountant = not worth paying them to do your accounts if they then cost you money by telling you that you can't put certain expenses through.....

[rickysmiths]

Yeah last year kept a record of it but accountant again underminded my costs hence my questions....

Yes you need to pay a decent accountant Loretta, one that knows what they are talking about. You know the saying 'Pay peanuts get a monkey'? I really think you need to consider using one that knows what they are doing, who can sort you out, so the first year may be more expensive but the following years it may well be cheaper.

To be honest if you had done this a year ago instead of going to yet another cheap accountant, but one that doesn't seem to have a clue, you would have been in a much better place now. We try to help but if you don't listen then it makes it very hard and what is the point?

[lorettacritchet]

OMG!!! Could you actually be any blunt? I am blunt myself but found this a little overly harsh!!!
I did contact your accountant but she was far too expensive to the point of excessive and wanted to further charge double for my additional job as a cv writer - I knew I couldn't afford to pay that amount of money...I understand she needs to earn etc but I had decided to go with my current accountant who was purely recommended by childminders who use him and think the sun shines out of his .....I simply followed someone's recommendation. I have never been any good with money but if I dont see results then yes I will move again BUT this accountant doesn't charge peanuts either!

Yes you need to pay a decent accountant Loretta, one that knows what they are talking about. You know the saying 'Pay peanuts get a monkey'? I really think you need to consider using one that knows what they are doing, who can sort you out, so the first year may be more expensive but the following years it may well be cheaper.

To be honest if you had done this a year ago instead of going to yet another cheap accountant, but one that doesn't seem to have a clue, you would have been in a much better place now. We try to help but if you don't listen then it makes it very hard and what is the point?

[barbarella68]

OMG that WAS a bit harsh.

[rickysmiths]

OMG!!! Could you actually be any blunt? I am blunt myself but found this a little overly harsh!!!
I did contact your accountant but she was far too expensive to the point of excessive and wanted to further charge double for my additional job as a cv writer - I knew I couldn't afford to pay that amount of money...I understand she needs to earn etc but I had decided to go with my current accountant who was purely recommended by childminders who use him and think the sun shines out of his .....I simply followed someone's recommendation. I have never been any good with money but if I dont see results then yes I will move again BUT this accountant doesn't charge peanuts either!

I'm sorry if I was harsh.

You do seem to come on and ask lots of questions all the time, which is fine, its what the Forum is for. However, you, it must be said, have a tendency to sometimes slightly rephrase a question and post another thread and it feels as if it is because you are not getting the reply that you want, when valuable advise is offered from very experienced childminders, even though it may not be exactly what you want to hear.

You also seem to moan about the way your present and last Accountants are not giving you the correct advise either.

I'm sorry you feel the accountant I recommended is so expensive. I can't comment because I don't know how she works out her fees and I don't know how much or what work you would need her to do. I just know I have always paid what I consider a reasonable fee for what she does for me and half the amount of fees that have been quoted on here before which is why I offered you her details, I am a working childminder as well .

Maybe you are being a bit unrealistic about what you need to pay especially as your last and current Accountants don't seem to be doing what you want either?

[lorettacritchet]

I sorry if it appears if things seem like that, obviously it does. I don't intentionally waste my time to repost a question online which is the same as others or repost if i don't like a particular answer. I haven't got time for something like that. I have been a lot on here especially recent to ask about the revised eyfs because nothing seemed clear to me but again my fault for not doing the training earlier. For example on the variations, I was being told to do RA's and only on variations can we decide whether to extend certain hours/dates, no one seemed to know about new business then i contact ofsted who tell me it's for new business too...so yeah there sure was some confusion.... ..i haven't been doing this for so long that i can pick things up in an instant and i am a slow learner. I am happy to hear people's views and opinions whatever they are so long as they don't attack me personally. I moan about my accountants? yeah because i want to make sure everything is put onto my accountants and although people are recommended to me, i still see vital mistakes being made that causes me issues or feel like that they don't know what they are doing. I shoudln't have to do this if I am paying them and should rely on them .

I'm sorry if I was harsh.

You do seem to come on and ask lots of questions all the time, which is fine, its what the Forum is for. However, you, it must be said, have a tendency to sometimes slightly rephrase a question and post another thread and it feels as if it is because you are not getting the reply that you want, when valuable advise is offered from very experienced childminders, even though it may not be exactly what you want to hear.

You also seem to moan about the way your present and last Accountants are not giving you the correct advise either.

I'm sorry you feel the accountant I recommended is so expensive. I can't comment because I don't know how she works out her fees and I don't know how much or what work you would need her to do. I just know I have always paid what I consider a reasonable fee for what she does for me and half the amount of fees that have been quoted on here before which is why I offered you her details, I am a working childminder as well .

Maybe you are being a bit unrealistic about what you need to pay especially as your last and current Accountants don't seem to be doing what you want either?

[rickysmiths]

I sorry if it appears if things seem like that, obviously it does. I don't intentionally waste my time to repost a question online which is the same as others or repost if i don't like a particular answer. I haven't got time for something like that. I have been a lot on here especially recent to ask about the revised eyfs because nothing seemed clear to me but again my fault for not doing the training earlier. For example on the variations, I was being told to do RA's and only on variations can we decide whether to extend certain hours/dates, no one seemed to know about new business then i contact ofsted who tell me it's for new business too...so yeah there sure was some confusion.... ..i haven't been doing this for so long that i can pick things up in an instant and i am a slow learner. I am happy to hear people's views and opinions whatever they are so long as they don't attack me personally. I moan about my accountants? yeah because i want to make sure everything is put onto my accountants and although people are recommended to me, i still see vital mistakes being made that causes me issues or feel like that they don't know what they are doing. I shoudln't have to do this if I am paying them and should rely on them .

I agree with you. If you employ a professional to do a job then they should do it.

The trouble is that when we are Self Employed and I have run several very different businesses over the years , it can be hard to find just the 'right' person for us.

I have had several different accountants over the years, only one really mucked up and they we the most expensive!, but they were all good at slightly different things.

The one I have now has been very good for me in advising with regard to what I can and can't claim for for the business I run and has saved me a lot of money over the years, enough to more than cover her fees, which was why I had no qualms recommending her. Your business, although, childminding may be different and so your requirements will be different and I do think your comments were a bit harsh regarding her.

[Twinkle star]

How much do accountants cost? Do you pay per year? And what do they do exactly?