Should I put my fees up?

[Riddo]

Hi

I cm three days a week 8 - 6. I charge £4.25 per hour but only charge for the hours actually worked. I don't charge if the mindee is ill, or for my hols.

I charge £1 per hour for parents hols and £1 per day for food. I give a sibling discount of 50p per hour for the oldest child.

The local cms charge £5.00 per hour and £%-6 per hour for part-time but the other side of town charhe £3.50 per hour.

I was only thinking of putting my fees up to £4.50 per hour.

What do you lovely cm mumsnetters think?

that's a 5% increase (counts on fingers) I think

If you think that your market (current parents) can sustain this BUT don't alienate then for the sake of a few pence

also think about whether this might take you into tax

alternatively when you review the contract change your terms to charge for when mindee is ill, this might work

HTH

You could put your rate up to £4.50, but stop charging extra for food?

Thanks, BoysAreLikeDogs (I wholeheartedly agree with your name btw)

Yes, I was wondering whether to just charge for the contracted hours and mindee illness rather than for the hours I do. It would be simpler as at the moment my monthly income can vary by a couple of hundred (partly because I have a few ad hoc/ term time only mindees.

As you say, it's not worth it if I end up paying tax although so far I've got nowhere near to that!

My "parents" are also very kind to me and we have a very good relationaship which I wouldn't want to jeapodise.(sp?) It's difficult as the other more expensive CMs keep saying I should charge more but I'm not taking any work away from them. They are very good and always have waiting lists.

well i think its generous of you not to charge full rates for parents holidays and nothing if mindee is ill...

just curious as you said you only charge on an open basis.. so do I.. but surely you are open even when kids are ill or on holiday..!! I dont do sibling discounts as cant afford to..

frankly you seem like you are giving your parents a good deal imo..

its all about the market rate though in your area.. if you can get it then charge it and good luck..

Sorry I misread the heading. I thought it said "shall I put my feet up?" lol

I personally would probably charge for contracted hours at this point rather than putting prices up, I couldn't manage not knowing what income as a minimum I'd be getting. Obviously up to you but that's my opinion :)

I would re-asses your whole situation, possibly not put your hourly rate up, but start charging for holidays and sick days.

I charge full for parents holidays and sick days, nothing for my own holidays or sick days.

A childminding friend of mine charges, 50% for parents holidays, and 50% for sickness.

I also set "core contracted hours" the hours that the parents will pay for no matter what. They then get charged for any extra.

I have just put my dinners up to £2, which is the same as the local school are charging, and I also care for some children with severe food allergies so end up spending more money and time shopping.

I have just stopped giving a sibling discount, I also can't afford it, sometimes siblings can be harder work, and they are still taking a space. Although those that have been having a discount I am still honouring.

Why don't you charge for parents' holidays? I do as am available to work, its their choice whether they bring the child, at the end of the day its your wage. I also charge half for sickness (full if they don't bother calling and don't turn up).

I charge £45 before and after school (includes all snacks, drinks and tea twice a week) and £125 full-time in hols and that includes breakfast,lunch and snacks, also covers for fuel, paying for insurance, new toys, outings etc. Its getting expensive to run the car, it would cost alot more using the bus and they are not reliable. I charge £3.50 per hour part-time which is going rate in my area.

I do sibling discounts £25 for the younger child and £17 for the older of the children per day.

Are you a new childminder Riddo?

Been childminding 2 yrs (sept) and I have learnt things during that time. Tou become wise.

You are giving your parents a good deal during their hols and sickness too.

I charge half if I am on hols or they are, half if child is sick.

I did reduce for sibling at the start but I will not do this anymore.

parents provide own food. I only do snacks for one girl (included in charges) or free of charge if boys forget to bring (will now only provide fruit and a drink)

They have a good package. Just give some notice if you want to increase.

I would like to know how often childminders put up their prices.

Mine are 'reviewed' annually in Sept/Oct, I notify them of my decision by the end of October and the changes are from 1st Feb following this. I've been minding 5 and half years and usually put them up a bit but this year I decided not to (but with a note saying I will review again in February). I did this as I know money is tight for everyone and the families were great this year and very understanding about some family problems and health problems for me meaning hospital investigations so extra time off. I didn't freeze it for a whole year as worried about VAT going up and whether or not I can afford to not put my fees up so this way, I was giving myself 6 months to rethink and see if I could continue without an increase - does that make sense? lol I also try and do any changes to terms that affect fees at the same time. I.e. last year I stopped charging extra for meals (never charged for snacks) and made it an all inclusive price (incl. nappies, wipes etc.)

I think you are all right and I need to review my policy. I've been childminding for years but until this year it was one or two days a week for one child so the income was so small I didn't really worry.

Now my children are older and are costing more, dh's wages are frozen and as you say everything is getting more expensive.

I will have a big rethink and give plenty of notice. Is two months enough notice?

What do you think of:-

Hourly rate remains the same - £4.25
Sibling discount same - 50p per hour

No charge for food but half charge for illness and holidays.

No charge for my illness and holidays.

Charge for core hours (nearly always 9 - 5 and then charge extra for the ends of the day (open from 8 - 6).

That way I have a definate minimum income per month and can budget accordingly.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to answer.

Would you not consider charging half when you go on hols.

I do not charge if I am ill or unable to care for the children due to emergency or ill house sickness.

All the best in your decision

Well think very carefully before putting that as once you've changed, you don't want to again for a while (yes I think 2 months notice is fine). I personally would go with no fee when YOU are off and FULL FEE when they are off......OR......half fee for both. Honestly, what you are offering is more than generous and I can't imagine many others that do that.

If you are happy to stick with sibling discount that's fine but I stopped that about 3 years ago as a) I couldn't afford to charge less as our spaces are limited and b) In general I find siblings harder work so why shouldn't I get full fee for it!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

up to you but i think you are still being too generous.. why would you give a sibling discount when that child is taking up a full space you could offer another child at full wack??

what if your parents decide to take 4 long holidays a year as one of mine does?? i would be totally stumped to settle my bills with so little total guarantee of income..

still its your practise and good luck to you but as looney says make decision carefully because you may have to stick with it..

ps.. if i didnt charge for sick mindees though would probably get a lot less coming to the setting dosed up on calpol who should be at home..lol..

I would charge for all the contracted hours. Regardless if they use them or not. I also would be charging full fees for parents holidays and children sickness.

I charge half fees for my holidays and nothing if i am closed due to sickness or emergency etc.

I think you are being incredibly generous!

I thought of doing sibling discounts but opted to charge full rate and was very glad I did when I had my first (and only) siblings, they were the hardest work of all my mindees by a country mile!

I charge 1/2 fees for illness but I am changing this in Jan - I thought it would stop parents bringing their child if they were ill but it doesn't.

I charge full fee if parents on hols.

I do not charge if I'm on hol/ill.

I am just about to add a £1.25 fee per day for food.

I currently charge per hour but I am changing my contracts in Jan to reflect the purchase of a 'space' rather than however many hours the parents want - my spaces are from 08:30 to 17:30 and they can come and go as they please, if they want to drop off earlier or pick up later then they have to pay extra.

As a parent, I think my cm's policy is fair (of course, or else I wouldn't be with her :) ).

Full fee for my own holidays and sickness
NO fee for her sickness and holidays

• DH and I are on holiday 21 weeks out of the year, so it overlaps with her holiday, which means we pay for her holiday time incidentally, but only because it overlaps with ours... if it was different from ours - we're teachers and can't pick and choose our holidays - then we would need the no fee for her hols because we couldn't afford to pay her AND another childcarer for the time she is unable to work.

I would never expect a sibling discount if I had another child. It doesn't make it any easier on her that 2 kids are siblings... and she has a limited number of spaces. Not sure why any CM would do this tbh.

I like providing my own food for DS. It's not that difficult to pack him a sandwich, a snack and some fruit, a yogurt..whatever I want him to eat that day. And I like being the one to decide exactly what DS eats . Of course I'm not fussed if he's given anything else there or shares food...etc. We often bring in biscuits to share with everyone or something we've cooked at home. I just want to provide his main lunch. And I don't want to think of my CM having to spend her time thinking about meals for him or preparing/cooking them for him. At £5/hour I don't see how I could expect that. (she would, btw, for a fee, but still!)

This has all been most illuminating. I've not been thinking in "business" terms at all.

Sibling discounts seem quite usual around here.

I like lolipopmothers idea of charging per space rather than per hour.

I'm clearly going to have to put more thought into it.

star i dream about £5 an hour..

and you provide food!!!!!

please can i be your cm...

dont worry about the mileage..will claim against tax!!!! lol.... guess you near london though so be a bit of a hike!!

still as a teacher your hols are in the most expensive weeks so must be the down side of your job I guess....

riddo.. BLUE SKY THINKING!!! sorry dh is in the corporate saddo life and its his term!!!!! but seriously... business is business girl....

thebody - DH's terms follow british calendar but mine don't as it's not a british school :) They overlap more on some holidays than others (like this one - they overlap a lot).

I'm in Surrey. I only use 7.50-3.50 per day and pay for 40 hours/week, not a 10-12 hour day. So that is very, very generous of my CM (and only way I can afford it).

Riddo - also a good idea to sort out how much parents will pay annually charging for the space/hours they will use and then subtract your hols or whatever you decide for that and then divide it up over 12 months so they pay you the same amount each month and you are secure in what your income will be each month.

So that means I pay for 8 hours/per day as that's what we use. I think I made it sound like I used 10-12 hours and only paid 8 but that is not the case.

'Riddo - also a good idea to sort out how much parents will pay annually charging for the space/hours they will use and then subtract your hols or whatever you decide for that and then divide it up over 12 months so they pay you the same amount each month and you are secure in what your income will be each month.'

I do this, but make it clear that when they leave their final bill will be higher/lower than usual to take into account how many 4/5 week months there have been.

BTW I do think your terms are v generous and I think if you are saving the space for the child then the parent should pay full fees - so full fees if child is sick/on holiday.