Nanny - how to cover small expenses for the kids?

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I have a nanny joining soon and I’m wondering if I give her a bank card to cover small expenses she needs to cover when out and about with the kids. I’m thinking bottles of water, wipe restocks, the odd ice cream at the park? Curious how others manage those kinds of expenses with their nanny. Thanks so much

When my children had a nanny- this was many years ago, we just reimbursed at the end of each month for any small expenses & gave money up front if we knew of a planned expense- day out somewhere etc... This is what she wanted, so took her lead on it.

I'd be wary of a card, just because we had to really clamp down on our nanny's spending as it was, she wanted reimbursing for things she should have never purchased in the first place- endless drinks & snacks for the children, because she had forgotten to take the ones we provided at home- obviously don't mind the occasional time things are forgotten, but every time was too much. So if you do go with a card, set out clear guidelines would be my advice.

Set clear guidelines on what it should be used for. Get a Monzo card (or equivalent), that you can top up and see all the transactions, that way you can set limits.

How about a debit card and ask her to spend no more than about 10 pounds a day? She will definitely need money for swimming, classes, playgroups, occasional snacks for the kids etc.

Set a budget per month and get a Monzo or Revolut or similar. You will be able to see all the transactions easily and top up for any unforeseen expenses. Also, if there's only a certain amount of money in there each month, the spending can't get out of control.

And buy her a nice re-usable water bottle!

Pre covid we used to give our nanny a cash kitty that was topped up as needed. This was for toddler groups and snacks, etc. Bigger expenses like fuel were reimbursed monthly.

Post Covid so few places take cash our nanny now just pays on her card and submits a list of expenses at the end of the month and we pay that. If she was unable or uncomfortable doing that we would provide a pre-paid card.