I am open 24/7 and am flexible with part time, full time, rotating shifts etc. I accept all forms of pay including, cash, dhs, va, college, direct deposits etc. I am offering a discount right now, only $300 month for full time rate! Even less if you have more than one child!



It seems like you would be so undercutting yourself with these types of rates. How could a person really make any wages for this. Makes all of us that charge more for our programs look money hungry-

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Wow! My lowest rate is $165 for 9 hrs a day. Most pay $200 or $175.
I could never live off that!

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Meh, all depends on where you live.

If I set my rates at $165+/week where I live I'd be out of business as no one around here would ever pay that.


I'm not undercutting myself, cost of living is just very low. Subsequently so is income and what people can afford for childcare.

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true...also depends on what they are doing with the kids too.
are they just sitting around watching tv all day? does that include food?

but wow thats crazy low..

I charge 250 a week... if you go up to the next city about 20 miles its about 50-75 cheaper. But gas and housing is also cheaper there too...

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The cost of living is not low here. Ironically we have had the highest unemployment in our state right here in our county but childcares average $110-$150 a week. I'm in the middle at $125-.

Our minumum wage is $9 an hour so this provider isn't even making that. The provider is only making $15 a day per child which is only like $1.75 a child.

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I agree, to the person who isn't doing anything with the kids its an "easy" $300/month income per kid.

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There are several licensed care providers within 20 miles of me that charge $20 per day and sometimes even less.

I know of a gal who charges $1.50 an hour. For whatever reason, she is happy with that amount and hasn't raised her rates in a long time. Of course she is always full but I have never heard anything bad or negative about her care so....

It is all in where you live.

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Yeah, where I live $75 is pretty average

I struggle to charge $120 and I offer preschool and home cooked meals and only keep 4 daycare kids (plus my own two for 6 kids max)

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I cant seem to charge much better

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Maybe the way they figured it they're actually saving money though.

Like working outside the home they'd be averaging that anyway after figuring in travel/commute, work attire and childcare expenses. If you look at it that way it could actually be quite the deal for a family with several young children.

Plus, if they're on a food program that could up it quite a bit.


I know being tier 1 now I actually MAKE money feeding my crew instead of just evening out what I was spending on groceries being in a tier 2 county before I moved. It definitely adds to my bottom line.

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This is so true

Sometimes providers can afford to charge less because they have been in business so long, they have no overhead. All the supplies and household debt has been long paid off.

They do it to be a productive member of the community and a little spending money. Not all "income" is financial. I know a couple providers like this.

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I charge $175 for 10 hours a day, but less for earlier pick ups. I have three at $175, the rest are part time. I do charge more for b&a but the kids I have were little with me and have sibs in care. I am within $5/day of center rates. I also offer a prek program, menus, pno, mainly organic, etc which most centers dont.

I am tier 2 on the food program.

The neice of my dcm is an infant and goes somewhere they charge $15/10 hour day. DCM asked what she could do to get them in trouble/report them as everytime her SIL picked up baby would be in a bouncer in front of the TV. Even at varied times. Diaper always full. etc etc. I interviewed her SIL a while ago but she would 'go as low as 100/week'. They drive a new escalade and one of those massive pickup trucks and have a really nice house and both have good jobs. I gave her the phone # but reminded her that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

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Yes, if you see this ad its is a 24/7 childcare so I wonder how long the provider will watch the child?

I was basing the $15 a day on a 8 hour day at $1.75 an hour. If the child was there longer it would be less money per hour-

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at 24/7 care she will be on burn out soon and you will be getting all of her kids soon.....lol

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Wow! I charge $65 for 2 days per week. Full timers pay $145.

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When I first started out in 1986, I charged $75 for 3 days for an infant -$25/day. Now I charge $40/day. Several years ago when the things were booming here in Silicon Valley, I was able to get $50/day...too many out unemployed now, so I backed my rate down again.

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In my area, parents want cheaper care. I only charge 100 a week and most find that to much... I have seen on cl in my area people charging anywhere from 60 to 75 a week...

I don't know how she will not get burned out from having some child 24/7.

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In my town there is a lot of care available on CL for $75-$100/week, most up to 12 hours/day. I think there are a lot of start-ups/unlicensed SAHMs who can't fill spots in my area so they start decreasing their rates hoping to draw people in. Then when others see so many low-priced ads they feel they can't charge much more than that. Unfortunately, for most it's about set-up, nutrition, unprofessional ads etc. and not so much about rates. I think it's hard for parents to be honest with their reasons for not choosing the care so the potential providers never realize they could improve a few things, charge more and have more clients.

(In our area, the best rated centers are $160-$195/week for full time care.)

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I am looking for childcare in V.A for my one year old daughter, but am a single mom. I would love to know where your home or other facilities like yours so that I could take a tour.Thanks!

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This is an older thread but if you register and PM (private Message) me, I will email your request to the member so she can contact you.

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Im a single mom of three I get paid under a thousand dollars a week I have a 3yr old that needs care 75 dollars a week is a great price for a mother like me. I have a College degree and the father is permanantly gone so I can definitely respect a childcare provider that work woth price she would make more money than most providers because she would have more children very smart and I need the info.

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I know this is an old thread, but you get paid under a $1000 a week...like how much under, because most people getting even remotely close to that amount would have no issue paying a decent wage to the person caring for their most prized possession!

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Being a single mother is not a disability.

If you don't earn enough to make ends meet, there are tons of programs designed to help those living below the poverty level.

If you make too much to qualify for those programs, then you'll need to adjust your budget to fit your needs. Then add in the wants.

Most the time, when people struggle financially (when its NOT a lack if income) its because they have trouble understanding the difference between a want and a need.

Choosing to pay the least amount possible for the care and supervision of your child is NOT something parents should ever do.

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That is what I get right now for full time. I just can't go any higher than $75 a week and compete with the "$10 a day for up to 24 hours a day care" providers. In fact, I get passed over by 80% or more of the contacts I have for these providers. Of course they don't offer what I do, but sadly that doesn't seem to matter. I wish parents would care more about quality care instead of warehousing their children. But I can't have more children because of the price, in fact I have less due to the cheap care and low quality offered by many SAHM's here.

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I am sooo sick of the "I can't afford that! I'm a single Mom!" calls.

I refer them to DSS. If you truly can't afford it, that is what those programs were designed for. Don't allow your child's absentee parent be an excuse to undercut and undervalue their care.

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You know what I say to the parents pulling a single mom card... Hey guess what, I'm a single parent too and this is my only income. It usually shuts them down quick

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I saw one on Craigslist not too long ago.......... $10 a day, no late fees

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she will do almost nothing with this price. Children need to eat and drink. They also need to use some art supply, books, toys as well as gas, water, and electricity. The provider pays for all of this as well as for many other things that you don't know about.

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I'm in tears for you. Well, I make under 1,000 a week too and work 60+ hours/week.
And I am a single parent too. So they *might* be tears of laughter .

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Sadly there are tons of SAHM's providing care for that here. Of course they don't actually "provide" much of anything. No meals and snacks, no arts and crafts, no learning of any kind. Limited outside time. Mostly sit in front of TV all day. I talked to a mom last week who had been using one of these providers in my town. $10 a day for up to 24 hours a day of care. Need care for half an hour or for 24 hours it was $10. Mom wasn't thrilled with her. Wonder why? But somehow parents just keep paying for this cut rate "care".

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This is so crazy!! Where I'm at we charge 225 for infant, 205 for toddler, 50 for school agers (per child- am OR pm) , infant drop in is 48$ a day, toddler is 45$

And we're one of the cheaper places

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You are literally the FIRST person that I have ever encountered who thinks that more children in a childcare is very smart. More kids=less supervision. Those cheap, unlicensed childcares never last. They get shut down for safety reasons or they close voluntarily because they can't live on $75 a week tuition. My EXPENSES are near $75/week per child.

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