Losing money!!!!!!!!

[Adiamond]

I currently look after a 10 month old (who is gorgeous )
When his mum rang me she asked me if I do a discount for a full time place? at the time I was desperate for work as I only had 1 mindee and I had been registered for a year she wanted 8-4 mon-fri I said I could do it for £125 per week, meaning I am working for £2.91 per hour but it turns out that she works 8-4 so she drops off at 7.45 and picks up at 4.15 she never offered to pay me anymore for the extra half hour per day.

I have had LO since May and I am starting to resent the fact that I am only being paid £2.91 per hour and as much as he is fab, babies take up alot of time and he is a very very sicky baby meaning I am constantly washing my clothes and scrubbing my floors (all costs more).

I am thinking about putting my prices up by 25p per hour for all my other parents and new enquires but I am not too sure how to approach this one

Has anyone done this before? mum gets paid using tax credits ,do I say I am increasing my fees on the 1st October by 25p so then her bill will go up to £3.16 per hour (still seems really low though )

Oh I don't know what to do, as I am writing this I am resenting it even more x x x

[Lady Haha]

I did the same as you last year! I was short of mindees and took on a baby for my normal daily rate of £25.00 (normally have schoolies), but soon realised that looking after a baby was alot harder than looking after schoolies and I should have been charging more! But it's hard to suddenly hike up the charge to what it should be!

If I was you I would just do the 25p an hour rise if you're happy with the lo anyway and just bear it in mind next time!!!

[Tinglesnark]

ah i just did the same thing with my nutter after schooly that is no more. i dont know the answer here. naturally you deserve to be paid a decent (hah! like £3.50 is decent but still...) fee for your hard work. thing is you will run the risk of losing this one altogether by putting your prices up. of course she might not bat an eyelid....i wish i had an answer for you but i dont have the experience! sorry!
x
good luck
x

[Carol M]

Mmmmm always a tricky one. If you say you are restructuring your fees to bring them in line with other childcare settings in your area as overheads have increased dramatically in the last year, and inform her of your new fees, giving plenty of notice so as she can alter her tax credit claim, hopefully she will understand.
I am in a similar position. I have lo full time TTO and only charge £3 per hr and nothing in hols, I am lucky if I clear £2 per hr after expenses and things like cost of food. I am really happy I have this lo as I love him to bits but as far as making a living.... I'm not!
Mum doesn't get TC childcare so don't want to scare her off by increasing too much but have discussed a probable increase in Jan as lo will soon get NEF.
Good luck , why are we such flakeys?
Carol xx

[~Chelle~]

If tax credits pay for her childcare, you can guarantee that the reason that she does not want to pay you more is that she is pocketing what there is left over!!

I would put her rates up anyway, she is getting an extra half an hour a day for nothing, that is 2 and half hours a week, which adds up over months and years!

Go for it, don't let her have the upper hand, and it is obviously getting to you, I know that it would bug the life out of me.

Good luck

[caz3007]

I would put it up, I am sure if she was annoyed and looked around she would struggle to find someone else to do it for that cost. I would also point out that have been doing the extra half hour for free since he started and that you now have to charge for that too.

Is £125 the max you can get from tax credits for one child, I seem to remember it being something similar, so if she is on low income, thats what she would get, but hey if she had to pay a little bit out of her wages, then so be it

[jaz]

I used to childmind for someone from 9-6.00 (contract hours). But it would turn out that I would collect the child at school at 8.45. Those extra 15 minutes do really add up. Be careful as you don't want to be taken advantage of.

Maybe you could suggest a contract review and bring up the fact that hours used have changed from what was originally agreed upon. Set out your ground rules now, I regret not being firmer.

Good luck.

J
x

[Ripeberry]

If tax credits pay for her childcare, you can guarantee that the reason that she does not want to pay you more is that she is pocketing what there is left over!!

I would put her rates up anyway, she is getting an extra half an hour a day for nothing, that is 2 and half hours a week, which adds up over months and years!

Go for it, don't let her have the upper hand, and it is obviously getting to you, I know that it would bug the life out of me.

Good luck

I bet she is claiming that she pays you £4 an hour or similar There has to be a better way to do these tax credits! Put up your fees, if you are still cheaper than other local CMs then she is still getting a good deal.

Don't sell yourself cheap as it will churn you up inside.

[jadylasa]

A tip for the future is NEVER reply on the spot. And be honest with them about it too, if they request a change at pick up time just say "oh my heads a bit mashed at the moment, I'm still in kid mode, can I think about it and let you know in the morning?" Or something along those lines. Then you have chance to put pen to paper and work it out. £125 a week isn't to be sniffed at, but when you you realise it's £2.91 p/h it's just not on, you must be losing money! When and if you approach this matter, I think you can totaly justify a price increase, list everything you pay out, and also, do you think she has worked out it's only that much an hour, because I would not only feel bad to you if I was underpaying you, but I would feel as though I've cheated my kids, especialy if I was intitled to tc for it.
Even the nicest of parents sometimes seem to think we do this job out of the goodness of our hearts, but no...we're in business to earn money, granted, not a lot, but still, we have bills to pay and food to put on the table.
Good luck hun. Even if she cuts and runs, you arn't losing anyway cause as I said earlier, you can't be earning from this one. Would give you a nice fresh start with a new family and charge what you want (within reason!)

[carol cameron]

Can totally understand your frustration with this. Can I pass on some advice that I was given some yearsa go that has worked for me ? The time to make a stand (about terms and conditions) is when you are prepared for the parent to walk away. I have reached this stage on more than one occassion- late payment/collection etc and have mentally prepared myself for this to happen. Don't know if it works by making me feel more able to be strong and stand up for myself but no parent has ever walked away and we have been able to resolve things, including raising my prices by 50p an hour

[aly]

I set my rates at 3.50 when i took on siblings i took them on at their other cms rate which she said was £3 i was obviously losing £1 AN hour so i told thme that as from jan this year pay was going up which she didnt reaally like bt it was tough..so now everyone is on my higher rate.

do it...as long as you give them notice itshould be fine