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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>GRRRR.... I'm So Peeved Off!!
pfund2233 07:20 PM 09-21-2011
I have 4 DCK. I charge by the hour and only charge when they are here. Well I'm getting screwed!! I have had 1 DCM just this week decide to take 2 days off!! Might I add she dose this alot... Thing is I get NO advance notice! Tuesday DCB is to come at 530am I get a text at 515am saying oh I took the day off DCB won't be there. And now I get a call saying oh I took tomorrow off and DCB won't be there!

Then my other DCB's mom owns her own nail salon and informs me she has no clients Friday so her DCB will not be here!

2 DCKs were picked up over an hour early today with no notice... nice right!

HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSE TO BUDGET AND PAY MY BILLS!!!

I'm thinking of throwing in the towel and finding a job outside of the home or changing the way I charge to a daily fee of $25-$30 and you pay me if I don't give a WEEK notice!! Thing is only 1 family dose this all the time and 1 family very seldom and the other 2 families like never. I feel like I'm punishing the GOOD families. I mean where is MY common courtesy?? I take a day off and I give them 2+ months notice and they don't pay me for that day off! GRRRR.... Sorry had to vent!!!!
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cheerfuldom 07:28 PM 09-21-2011
this is why very few people offer drop in care and super flexible charges. you need to decide a minimum of what they have to pay in order to keep their spot. find families that fit into what you want and don't stress yourself out trying to be everything they want. be prepared for all your current families to leave once you change your policies.
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awestbrook713 07:28 PM 09-21-2011
I hear you, sometimes they don't think of it as money lost for us but that you are getting more personal free time. And as far as not calling you until 15 minutes before been there done that and it is the most aggravating thing. Hope things work out for you and you figure out what to do.
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Nellie 08:13 AM 09-22-2011
A idea that you could do if you are going to stay with charging for the hour is: have them turn in thier schedual X weeks(2,3,4) in advance. Charge them the hourly rate based on that weather they come or not. Where I live this is common to charge by the hour. A friend that does daycare this is what she does.
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sharlan 08:22 AM 09-22-2011
Stop charging by the hour and charge a flat rate for Xhrs per day. If they go over those hours, it's then $X per hour.
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Cat Herder 08:25 AM 09-22-2011
Originally Posted by pfund2233:
I charge by the hour and only charge when they are here. I'm getting screwed!!
You are halfway to solving your own problem.....
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Auntie 08:27 AM 09-22-2011
I would set a flat rate per day no pt rate. And they have contracted hours. Just because you are open lets say 6:30 to 5:30 doesn't mean they use all those hours unless it actually is true that they need those hours. (Poor kiddo in that case.) If they go over contracted hours you expect to be told in advance if no advance courtisy notice then an inconvience to your schedual charge will apply. X amt per hour for example.
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MichellesKiddos 08:47 AM 09-22-2011
I started out this way too, then went to just daily charges and now I'm at a flat weekly fee for either part time or full time. So if they are paying for a full time spot and all of a sudden decide not to bring the child one day they still are charged the full amount. Best way for me not to get taken advantage of and the easiest way to determine how much I will actually get per week and that way I can budget for the bills. Figure out what's best for your daycare and stick to your guns about it. It sucks when you feel like you're being taken! The hard part is that most parents don't fully understand the business aspect of it and therefore do only what's best for them without any regards for you.
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pfund2233 09:54 AM 09-22-2011
Originally Posted by MichellesKiddos:
The hard part is that most parents don't fully understand the business aspect of it and therefore do only what's best for them without any regards for you.
This is so true! My husband and I were up until 1130 last night talking about what I can do and what I NEED to do. I always told myself I would never charge a family if their child wasn't with me because I had a provider that did this and at the time I thought it was CRAP. Well now being in her shoes and being the provider I COMPLETELY understand that she HAD to do it. I figured it out last night and with all the changes in the schedule this week I'm out $77!!! That's my cell bill or student loan payment for the month!

I love all the kids to death but I'm going to have to be honest with the parents and just tell them I have to have a "regular" check every week in order to make this work or I'll have to go back to the work force outside the home. I don't know if my families would like to have to find a new provider considering all my families are 1st time parents and I have had their kids since day 1 and I'm all they know. I have never asked the parents for a dime for anything other then caring for their kids. (Like field trips, crafts, or food) I pay for all that out of my pocket. I wouldn't charge them for my vacation or holidays... even tho they still get paid for theirs. And as long as they give me 1 month notice of days kids wouldn't be here I wouldn't charge for that either. I mean I do give them at LEAST 1 month notice of any days off for myself. And I'm not doing this to hinder them in anyway either but I can't hinder myself and family!

This is all sounds fair... right?
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nannyde 10:13 AM 09-22-2011
Originally Posted by pfund2233:
I have 4 DCK. I charge by the hour and only charge when they are here. Well I'm getting screwed!! I have had 1 DCM just this week decide to take 2 days off!! Might I add she dose this alot... Thing is I get NO advance notice! Tuesday DCB is to come at 530am I get a text at 515am saying oh I took the day off DCB won't be there. And now I get a call saying oh I took tomorrow off and DCB won't be there!

Then my other DCB's mom owns her own nail salon and informs me she has no clients Friday so her DCB will not be here!

2 DCKs were picked up over an hour early today with no notice... nice right!

HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSE TO BUDGET AND PAY MY BILLS!!!

I'm thinking of throwing in the towel and finding a job outside of the home or changing the way I charge to a daily fee of $25-$30 and you pay me if I don't give a WEEK notice!! Thing is only 1 family dose this all the time and 1 family very seldom and the other 2 families like never. I feel like I'm punishing the GOOD families. I mean where is MY common courtesy?? I take a day off and I give them 2+ months notice and they don't pay me for that day off! GRRRR.... Sorry had to vent!!!!
It's not about being curteous. It's about them being able to use you as a drop in care provider for a daily rate that is equal to what you would charge them if they were full time contracted kids. it's about money. Nothing else but money.

So you need to go to them and tell them that the drop in rate is 10 dollars an hour. The contracted SCHEDULED X days a week is X per day. They must schedule in advance and pay in advance. They can't switch days or make up days. If they need additional days then you will charge them additional days fee.

I require a minimum of three full scheduled days. Absence on one day does not mean they can swap out hours or get a refund. If they are scheduled M-W-F and they are absent Wednesday then they have already paid you. If they want Thursday they need to pay in advance for Thursday in ADDITION to the M-W-F rate.

You can't budge AT ALL. Not one time.. not one day.

That way you are guaranteed X amount per week and if they cancel you keep the money. If they need a different day you make more money.

Drop in care is VERY expensive. It's expensive because it's not guaranteed money. She has found someone who will do it for cheap. She won't stop doing this until it's not cheap.
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cheerfuldom 10:39 AM 09-22-2011
stop being so nice and keep it strictly business. the parents that care about the bond between you and their kid will accept your changes. if they leave, they didn't care about that bond very much in the first place and it IS about money to them. Why shouldn't the money be the biggest factor for you?
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MarinaVanessa 10:52 AM 09-22-2011
And this is why many of us charge weekly flat rates for full and part time. Base your fees on enrollement and NOT on attendance or charge them drop-in rates that are higher than your other rates.

For example:
Full-time: $160/wk 50 hrs/week= comes out to $3.20/hr
Part-time: $108/wk 29 hours or less/week = comes out to $3.72/hr
Drop-In: $5 an hour or $40 a day (for 10 hours).

Full and drop in may require payment whether they need daycare or not and they might not like it BUT they are paying for you to be available. They will ALWAYS have a spot if they need it. Drop in may be cheaper for them when they only need daycare a couple of days a week and they only pay only for the days that they need it BUT it's more expensive hourly and they run the risk of not having a spot available for them if you are full. Have them decide what they want to do, pay more hourly or pay weekly and always have a spot.

And whatever they choose have them sign a contract and don't let them flip flop week to week. In other words if they only need daycare (10 hours each day) one day a week don't let them pay the $40 one week and then let them try to pay the $160 for full time the next week because they need daycare 5 days that week. It's one or the other. If they want drop-in, they get drop-in rates and when they need 5 days of childcare it'll cost them $200 for the week not $160.
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wdmmom 11:12 AM 09-22-2011
I went as far as charging a weekly rate AND they are required to provide a 1 hour notice prior to their contracted drop off time if DCK isn't going to be in attendance. Failure to provide notice results in a $10.00 convenience fee in addition to your regular daily rate. I win!
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Tags:backbone, enforcing policies - consistency, hourly rates, not in vent section, peeve, provider - burnout risk, rates - flat fee, taken advantage, vent
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