Nanny expenses for the month

[uwila]

If you have a nanny, I'm just wondering how much you give her for spending cash each month (not including cost of activies such as tumble tots or food). The money covers travel, toddler groups, any non-regularly scheduled activities such as a trip to the zoo.

anyone else?

Uwila, how many children do you have? I have one dd, and always topped up kitty money on an "as needed" basis. Don't have a nanny at the moment (that's another story!), but we used to run on about £20 per week, which covered bus, occasional taxi, food/drink/ice lolly when out, etc. A trip to the zoo, or any other special activity required additional money. Tumbletots was paid each term by me, and didn't figure in to the amount allocated to the nanny for spending money.

we do ours on a pretty ad hoc basis. dd has to have lunch out at a cafe once a week (logistical neccesity to do with nursery and gym class timings) nanny told me today that she's spent something ridiculous like £2.00 on lunch - she takes her to the ymca which is very cheap. (need to tell her I should be buying her lunch too!)other than that we really don't spend much - mainly coz one dd is ft school and other part-time nursery so nanny only does lunch-time and afternoons and there isn't much time to do any thing inbetween the school pick ups. before dd2 started nursery we used to get through maybe about 6-10 a week - odd trip to farm, play group, odd trip to cafe. both my nannies are pretty frugal actually.

omg that sounds like I've got 2 nannies! which I absolutely do not have! just had a change of nanny, so was referring to current one and previous one. current nanny spends bugger all tbh.

Think I should also clarify that we're located in the centre of London, so everything costs more here. Nanny was very good about taking bottled water and packed lunches/snacks for dd when out to save money. They usually took the bus for expeditions, but if the weather was nasty, or if other circumstances arose, I didn't object to the "extravagance" of a taxi here or there. Some weeks expenditure was very low, but I would say it averaged out to around £20.

thats a bit like saying how long is peice of string IMO, it depends on how many kids how much the nanny does with them, how expensive is the area, does it include petrol? just speak to your nanny about how much she thinks she will need and ask her to provide receipts if you need to see that the money is spent fairly. Ask yourself how much do you think you will need if you looked after your children in an average week it shouldn't be far from that.

I had a kitty that was just topped up as and when and it could be lots higher one week than the last as each week is different, big trips like the zoo were pre agreed and extra money was given for those occasions.

HTH

I have 2 kids: 2 1/2 years and almost 6 months. They travel by train/bus. We live in Sunbury. I give her £100 for spending each month. And she collects receipts and fills out an expense form totalling where it was all spent over the course of the month. I give her an additional £30 for her mobile phone. Sound resonable?

The reason I ask is because I think she tops up the activities/treats with her own money sometimes. So I'm just trying to get a feel for what other nannies have to spend.

Hi uwila,
our first nanny has only jsut started, but I'm giving her £15 per week for a 3 day week (approx the same as you at £25 for 5 day week) - BUT no public transport here, and I always put petrol in the car. I'd expect her to get swimming, toddler group, soft play, cafe from time to time, little purchases such as the odd stickers, crayons etc and also 'save up' for zoo - OTOH I'll pay if it involved termly fees, writing a cheque in advance etc (actually, that's this terms zoo visit) and I get anything on a Tesco order. This week she spent £8 in 3 days.

I judged the amount based on what I was spending _ i've jsut had 12 months mat leave. If you're a relatively frugal household or on a tightly balanced budget then it's not fair on you for the nanny to be extravagent, but if you'd life well if you were out with the kids, you wouldn't expect her to only do free things with them.

Work out what you think she spends (travel pass, fees, drinks). Ask her whether she's OK with the amount you give her. Then either increase the amount or stop worrying.

I give just £5 monthly for her mobile phone as I don't expect her to use it much / at all.

I have a credit card and M&S store card from my employers account but I do the weekly food shop for the family, I have gym membership which my employer pays half for so swimming with the boys is free (just as well really, as they are real water babies and we swim 2-4 times a week!) Then I pay for anything else (baby gym, music group, ice cream, tea out etc., out of my own money, which I then write it in a book and they pay me back directly into my bank via phone banking,at the end of the month.

I do this (and have done in most of my jobs) as I find it is the easiest way, as I hate asking for money (always been the same!) so find if the kitty is not topped up then I end up spending my own money and it all gets too confusing doing both.

Ax

I also keep receipts, write it all down in a book and get a cheque at the end of the month!

i know of nannies who dont like doing this (as it uses their money) but i dont mind and find it easier to be honest!

As for a budget i dont have one.... i spend what ever i want / need to on the children. In term time its probably no more than a fiver max a week (+ family food shop) (but mum pays in advance for swimming / ballet / gym etc) but in the holidays its much more!

as we go out and do lots of nice things!

I have a credit card to use as I need to and take money from the petty cash in the office if I need cash. I also do a weekly grocery shop and pay for activities etc on the cedit card. I just give all credit card receipts to the secretary (home office) and any receipts for petty cash I place back in the petty cash drawer.

We give our nanny £20 for the three day week, and out of that transport, the odd lunch out or trip to cafe, entrance to cheaper things - a trip to the Zoo for eg is a convo in advance and extra cash in the kitty that week, but also out of that she does a fair bit of shopping locally - fruit and veg etc. If she runs low she asks for more and is very good at explaining why she has gone over. I don't ever ask what the money is spent on, see receipts or keep a book - this was after advice on here when I hired her actually. I am trusting her with my angels 10 hours a day so it goes without saying I can trust her with not to spend my £20 down the offie and get chips for tea, and it suits me that she knows I trust her IYSWIM, am happy to give her that responsibililty etc.

We also work on a monthly "expenses" system. I've just been so used to it in my own work that it never thought to do it any other way. . But then I'm used to my company owing me £1,000 £2,000 on expenses from month to month and me just having to cope so - never occurred to me that it might be a hardship for Nanny to be paid in arrears for such small amounts.

We get most shopping via internet and Nanny places the grocery order for herself and Helena online on Friday night; I complete it over the weekend for delivery Monday. So "expenses" really is just stuff like petrol, play sessions etc. The amount can vary wildly because Helena has a lot of hospital appointments and so petrol consumption and carpark charges can mount up some weeks or be virtually zero others. Trying to work that out in advance and sub the kitty would be impossible.

We have a weekly meeting where we discuss the activities for the week ahead - so there's never any surprises in the expense claim. I have encouraged them to go eg to the Zoo at half-term but they tend to use our RHS membership card and go to Wisley for free instead!

my first nanny would get through the kitty much faster than my current nanny does; the difference between hanging out at soft play areas and hanging out at the library/ Vauxhall City Farm, basically

we pay petrol and groceries. at the moment the kitty is mainly used for parking and things that run out before the shopping comes

£30 lasts nanny for AGES

I admire your attitude sinclair!