Weekly kitty for nanny

[HomeEcoGnomist]

Just want to canvass a few thoughts - nanny is looking after 2 yr old and DS1 is at school. She goes to 2/3 activities a week, one of which is paid up front. I've been leaving £40/ week, and all of it is always gone. Even allowing for bus fares to school every day, I would have expected some small change?

I've asked for receipts, got a few for a couple of weeks, back to none again.

Am getting a bit peeved, so what should I reasonably expect? Should I be covering her coffee if she takes DS2 to cafe? How do o keep track of what she's spending and make sure she has enough?

I realise I need to speak to her, but don't want to give the impression of accusing her of anything, I just need to keep a closer eye on the spending...

Why not switch to reimbursement on production of receipt, like with other jobs?

I used to get £10 a week to do soft play etc (and managed). What can she possibly be spending it on?

ooh, or - calculate the exact expenses required - the activities + bus fare and leave only that and say that any additional expenses incurred would be repaid on production of receipt.

She may not be able to get receipts for activities - depends on how the organisaio does things.

Just sit her down and say you want to talk about the kitty amount. Is it enough - what does everything cost? How much are bus fares, how much are the activities?
But try not to be too confrontational because tbh a good relationship is worth a coffee or two. So if these questions let you see the BULK of the £40 is going on things you would pay out and therefore only a small amount on frippery and hot chocolate then let it go. However if bus fares and activities is say £15 then you'd have a case to say 'I'm sorry I can't subsidise your choices to this extent. I think £30 is going to have to cover lo's expenses. Let me know how that goes.'

Hecate - did think about that, seemed a bit unfair to expect her to fork out up front...

Not sure what she's spending it on. Would it be obnoxious to ask her to write diary notes with details of spending?

I realised that after, and came up with an amended proposal

I give my nanny £20 per week and she very rarely asks for more

She takes DD out and about plus my oldest after school - many of the activities are free too

I think running through £40 is a lot per week

I always tell her if she takes the kids out for a snack then she should join them, but if she is planning on taking them out for supper or lunch then to let me know as I will give her more money (this is not often tho). I wouldn't want her to sit and watch them eat!

X post Northern - I agree, don't want to annoy her and don't mind the odd thing, it's just never getting any change at the end of even very quiet weeks is bugging me!

You are more than entitled to ask where your money is going

The £40 per week is not a target for her to spend and she needs to understand that

Ruby - does that cover travel expenses too?

What she needs to understand - and what you need to know she appreciates - is that the £40 is not a bonus to her wage. It's for very specific kid based costs plus costs she incurs because she's out and about with the lo. It's for emergency nappies, drinks and snacks, transport and trips. Some weeks - 1/2 terms for example it may not be enough. A lot of the time it should be plenty with some left - and that's what you want to talk to her about.

Perhaps address it as I notice the £40 is gone every week is it enough ??? !!!

Yes it does - she does walk a lot but uses the bus (oyster card so cheapest fares going) and the odd taxi

If your nanny is travelling a lot then spending more is to be expected BUT it still needs to be accounted for

Idontknow - I did that last time and she just said oh yes, it's fine... A bit too subtle!

Northern - I think that's the issue, it's become a weekly supplement

Ruby - good to know as we use oyster card too

Thanks for your replies, will speak to her tomorrow

Coud she be buying a season ticket to somewhere with 2 weeks money and hence you will notice the difference soon

Blimey!! I get about £50 a month from my employers.. And i always make it last well. I doa lot of free stuff...library parks walks and children's centre.. My local soft play has a special childminder card which means I can get in for £2 per child, and our other activities are aid up front. I will always buy my own coffee and lunch too.

Does she actually ask for more, or is it just not in the place you leave it?? When my boss puts my kitty in, I take it all out and put it in my nanny purse. If she were to look in the drawer it would look like it was all gone!!

My nanny does 3 days a week

I top her Oyster card up and she uses it reasonably given the journeys she has to make. I pay for all activities up front.

I leave her £20 and she rarely gets through it - in fact most weeks she doesn't spend any of it

When she does she always leaves a receipt. It will be food she's bought from the supermarket, if they've been to a restaurant (normally on my suggestion), cafe or if she needs to pay for a playgroup.

I'm not sure what my nanny could spend £40 on TBH!

My bosses leave me a minimum of £40 a week which they decided, not me. From this money I buy any shopping they've ofrgotten to buy or I need for recipes. Also any activities I take the children to and any school supplies or things for the house. If I run out they always top it up. As well as keeping receipts (where possible) I also have a little tally book that I write in so that htere is a detailed account as at the end of each month my boss throws the receipts away.I normally don't spend the whole amount but there is never a problem with providing more if it's needed. It's lovely to have bosses that are relaxed about money and her attitude is that she doesn't want her girls to not be able to go places, especially during the school holidays, because she hasn't left enough money. I have worked for bosses before who have been very tight with money and expect us to be miracle workers and stretch it beyond belief. My friend's boss leaves her £20 a week and expects her to get all the childrens lunches and dinners out of the money plus take them out to activities. She has a real hard time stretching the money for 3 children, as her bosses want her to buy organic too, and often she can't take them to indoor play centres when we all go as a group etc because she doesn't have any money left in the kitty. She has spoken to them but they feel that there isn't a need to leave more.
My nanny friends and I also have different attitudes as to what your bosses should pay for on your behalf. If I'm meeting friends for lunch with the children I buy mine and use the kitty money for theirs. The same if I'm going for coffee. I take money from the kitty for bus fares, entrance fees and the occassional coffee if I have to be somewhere on the childrens behalf hanging around for them.
My advice for you is to think about what you expect your nanny to use the kitty money for. If the fridge isn't stocked with shopping and she needs to buy food for cooking then a big chunk of the kitty money will go that way, mine does. Also she should have no problem in providing receipts for what she spends it on as I don't know any nanny that doesn't. The only time I can't provide receipts is for playgroups in church halls or food from market stalls etc.
You need to stand firm on this because as with any nanny/parent relationship any dubts will fester and could cause problems in yur working relationship.

I am actually expensed back.I find it easier.At the beginning my boss left a cash kitty but she rarely carries cash so it was easier to just pay upfront and get it expensed back.
I have 3 charges-2 are now in full time school and ones at home with me. Usually each wk I will pay £5 for music class and £1 for playgroup for the youngest. Occassionaly we will do soft play but usually we do play dates/park etc the other days. After school the 7yr old has ballet once a wk and both the 4 and 7yr old have swimming once a wk.Those are pre-paid. I also usually pick up milk etc. So on average each wk I spend between £10-£15 and that includes travel. I do have a merlin pass so if go on daytrips with the little one its quite often free if I can use the pass as the little one is 2 so still free for most places
School hols it can be much more though-often between 30-40 a wk depending on what activities we do,and we usually eat out more then

I have an allowance of £300pm, but, this can cover a wide range of things incl vets and docs visits (private). Sometimes it's used up, other times it's not.

It is your money and you should be receiving receipts for everything, even if the company does not provide receipts it should be detailed in the cash book, eg everyone knows it's £2.20 for a bus journey in London so if your nanny were to take the bus there and back to a swim lesson every monday morning then it's fair to assume £4.40 will be used for that etc etc

I would suggest separating out the travel element. Track the travel, such as journey detail and cost.

Then work out what you feel is reasonable as a daily activities budget. I often use the figure of £5 per day when I do nanny cost calculations, as in my area that is a reasonable figure to expect.
Today I will go to toddler group, it will cost £3. Tomorrow we may go to a Science Centre, cost will be over £5. So some days are under spend, others are over spend but it tends to even itself out over time.

I give the nanny an oyster card for any travel with my children which is on auto-top up. She writes down exactly what is spent (v often zero) on the nanny diary every day and clears big spends with me before hand. She never buys a coffee for herself out of the kitty. When the kitty is running low, she asks for more. I trust her completely, have told her I expect her to think like I do about spending money (i.e. not to fritter it away). I pay for activities upfront - and don't sign up for many as they are so expensive. So she takes my children swimming (monthly DD for that), I've made her a member of the WEtland Centre and the soft play and she does Rhyme Time once a week which costs £6.

We're lucky, we have a resourceful nanny who we trust completely. I've also given her a credit card (joint with me) so that she can scoop things up for me/put big purchases okayed with me (like son's shoes etc) on it. Any spend gets written in the diary and left with receipts.

I'd have a frank chat and say you do not expect the dosh to go and that you expect her to budget. Give her a tenner at a time and ask her to think about what classes etc. she wants to do with your children etc.