75p for a toddler's snack

[MrsJamin]

That's how much a childminder wanted to charge me! On that alone, I skipped to the next vacancy details. Seriously, how can anyone charge 75p for a breadstick/half an apple, and be taken seriously?

Depends what's in the 'snack'

Maybe she's cheaper per hour than others per hour, so in the long run it equals out.
I charge all inclusive, and never ask for extra money.
Parents provide nappies and wipes.

A cm friend of mine is 50p per hour less, but charges £4 a day food/nappies.

You pays your money and you takes your choice!

Sally x

She wasn't any cheaper per hour and charged £2 for lunch, too. Just feels a bit penny-pinching. I just can't imagine what she'd give for a snack that would cost 75p. But in the end it's all supply and demand, business is business, I know - I'm just going to take my custom elsewhere!

Why dont you provide your own snacks and meals. All my mindees do .

You must remember a CM runs a business. Like going to a baker shop and buying a sandwich (2 bits of bread) and paying £3. there is no difference really. You are paying for convenience.

It's you that's "penny pinching", not her. Good quality foods and snacks can easily cost that that much. It is her business and she's perfectly entitled to charge an appropriate amount for snacks and meals, to include heat, power etc. Either send your own snacks or don't let your child have them. But to dismiss a minder solely on that basis is very short sighted indeed. She may be the one you just click with , for example. I was more concerned with Ofsted ratings and actually meeting them in the flesh.

I could provide meals and snacks but it's an inconvenience, as you say. I just think 75p is ridiculous for a breadstick! I know CMs run a business, my mum was and my sister is a CM so I see it from their perspective too. I would have thought preparing several different meals for different children would be inconvenient for the CM too, plus the fact that most children hate it when they do not have what other children are having.

If all the snack was is a single bread stick I'd agree and simply send my own - hell a whole packet is less than a pound - but you don't know that, you haven't even spoken to her from the sounds of your first post. My cm's snacks are generally a fruit plate with a selection of at least three types, a plate of crackers and cheese cubes, and once a week something like a Goodies Organix crisps or fruit bar as a treat. All of which I would and do hapily pay for, and I expect they easily cost up to 75 per child.

I don't charge for snacks as in my hourly rate, but they probably easily add up to that.

I usually make a tray with a few foods they can help themselves to if there are 3 tots I do 3 things they can all share. Say brown toast squares, blueberries and chunks of cheese. It depends what you get for your money doesn't it?

On my training course there was a cm who refused to discuss fees until they had met her as she felt it was wrong to go just on fees before getting a feel of what was on offer.