What weekly salary would you think is a good one?

[jazee]

if you don't mind me asking!
I read a thread recently which said you would need more than one mindee a day to give yourself a good salary. I have one mindee4 days and 2 on a Monday, but I am very happy with the money I earn.... £210 for 4.5 days and £270 in holidays[4 day week]. Probably because I enjoy my Job and love being at home. But also the hourly rate is between £4.50 and £5.
Just wondered what people thought.
My salary probably doesn't sound much to some but when you consider your your own boss etc and I can be with my own children then I am very happy.
I am very proud that I run my own business and earn money rather than than just sitting at home and not iyswim

Would it not be relative to your expenditure? So the more you need to have a comfortable life, the more you need to earn.

In some areas a 2-bedroom house can be 250,000 where as in other areas they can be less than 80,000. So housing costs are also a factor I expect.

When I first started and dd2 was 6mths old I hoped for £500 a month after a couple of years it slowly went up and I was aiming for £1000 a month now dd2 is 5 and at school so I've been able to take on another under 5 it's gone up and I'm now on about £2,000 a month at the moment and I'm really amazed by that. I charge £3 per hour and work approx 55hrs a week, I do a lot of drop off's and collections.

The problem is whatever you earn you get used to it and then when a mindee leaves your earnings drop significantly and I usually go into the overdraught and then when I take on a new mindee is takes me a while to pay that back.

I'm earning good money but our fininacial situation is shockingly bad but it was before I started minding tbh we are now trying very very hard to get straight whilst I am earning good money and we hope in 6 months we will be debt free apart from the bank loan.

I haven't put my prices up in 3 years because I don't think people can afford it and I don't want to price myself out of the market. BUT the cost of petrol, food, gas & electric, rent, clothes etc has gone up so much in recent years so now I need to be earning more, working more hours because I'm not making as big a profit as I did years ago although I am earning a lot more money.

It's only going to get even worse in january when the tax goes up.

Just looked over my old accounts, out of interest because I've never looked and thought I'd post on here to give new cm's a chance to see what it can be like earnings wise as I would have felt it useful to me when I was first considering the idea.

Year 1
Minimum I earnt in a month £134
Maximum I earnt in a month £974
Profit £1,549

Year 2
Minimum I earnt in a month £573
Maximum I earnt in a month £1,493
Profit £2,229

Year 3
Minimum I earnt in a month £919
Maximum I earnt in a month £1,822
Profit £6,262

Year 4
Minimum I earnt in a month £998
Maximum I earnt in a month £2,200
Profit £7,499

Year 5 (so far this year)
Minimum I earnt in a month £1,099
Maximum I earnt in a month £1,877

It also depends hugely on your costs and any other household income.

Of that £4.50 an hour, say, you have to pay your NICs, any costs related to the business and then your living expenses.

For most people a good salary means being in profit after that!

Hi there
LoveMyGirls, thats fantastice. You really should be proud of yourself.
Could you tell me what kind of things you put in your expenses. I know the usual, wipes trips, craft etc, what kind of things would you put on a weekly list. Really would be appreciated. I sometimes am a little behind doing weekly expenses then forget, and perhaps there are things I buy and don't realise I can put in. Thanks.

i am new to this so can only comment on what i have noticed and what my forecasts predict for me.

definately income needed is a very individual thing and some people are going to be in a situation where they have to have all of their spaces filled. i am lucky that i wasn't earning a lot in my job so used to living on a tight budget so now that i am cming, taking into account the fact that i now have less out goings (no travel costs etc.) I can afford to have one full time mindee for the next couple of months.

jazee - some household expenses can be claimed, see HMRC: BMI52751

It also says "Reasonable estimates for the costs of food and drink provided for the children being cared for are acceptable and receipts will not be required."

Though I'd say that if possible do keep all receipts. Definitely keep those of £10 or more.

"the cost of toys, outings, books, safety equipment, stationary, travel fares, the NCMA subscription, public liability insurance premiums and the actual cost of telephone use for childminding purposes."

The thing to consider is: Is the cost you incur directly associated with caring for the minded child. If so, it's likely to be claimable. If it's something you would be spending on your own child... then it's less

likely to be. So when buying toys, they are for the minded children to play with

I've got things like
internet (because I use it for research, idea's, networking, running my website and emails)
sky tv (because I record what the children like to watch/ educational things so they cna watch them while I'm preparing food and waiting for parents to arrive)
window cleaner (because I wouldn't bother having them regularly cleaned if I didn't use my home for business)
tumble dryer (because I wash the childrens clothes and can't have my house looking like a chinese laundry when I'm working and I wouldn't have one if I didn't work from home)
dishwasher (half size one) because I wouldn't have one for the sake of a family of 4 but I'm feeding upto 8 people per day
my car because I use it for school runs, trips, outings etc

This list isn't exhaustive it is just showing you what my thought process is when I'm considering what to claim for.

Thanks nannynick, I seem to be doing that as it is in my ncma hand book, but thanks any way. I think i am putting nearly all the things on my expenses. Its always nice to be reassured as to what other people do.
All the while I have had my own children, I have worked part time [up until recently],so have never had my own full time wage coming in, and think I am pretty good at budgeting, so I suppose I am not missing out on a big wage some occupations bring in. I work more hours these days as a childminder, doing a job I love rather than doing my previous job part time, 2 days maybe, on the same money but not particulary liking what I do!