Country Kids 07:48 AM 11-07-2011
I used to be on the food years ago but when I went down to part time care it wasn't cost effeciant to be on it.
My question is how much are they paying now? Does everyone find that they receive enough money or are you still taking money out of your pocket to buy enough food.
Right now, I figure we are taking a loss by not being on the food program. Also, its less paperwork/inspections to keep up with. Not many of the providers in my area are on it because there always seem to be problems with the agencies that do it.
I don't do breakfast so it would just be two snacks and lunch.
I have 2 Monday through Friday full-timers
1 Monday through Thursday all day
1 Monday through Thursday just mornings for pre-school
1 Monday through Wednesday (Monday is all day, T and W are 1/2 days)
1 is a drop in 3-4 days a week
I'm figuring maybe $200.00 a month which just doesn't seem worth all the extra work you have to do for it. I want to do really healthy, healthy, meals but not if I'm having to shell out a ton on top of the food program. I've looked at the meals you guys feed and its just looks very expensive and then if I have kids that aren't wanting to eat it, I really don't want to throw it away.
Crystal 07:53 AM 11-07-2011
they pay about $2 for lunch and 55 cents for snack.
Blackcat31 07:55 AM 11-07-2011
I say yes.
I am a bulk shopper, list maker and pre-plan my meals. I also pay attention to what is on sale and in season. I don't know how much of that helps as far as the reimbursement from the food program goes but I feel that being on it is absolutely worth it.
MyAngels 08:02 AM 11-07-2011
I think it's worth it. I would serve the same meals whether I was on the food program or not, so the cost of food is not an issue for me. I have lots of meal templates that I've saved, which makes planning, shopping and recording meals very easy. I also have an awesome program sponsor that makes it very easy on me as far as paperwork and visits go.
I was bumped up to the higher rates this year due to some change in the rules, but even when I was on the lower rate it was still worth the small amount of time and effort over and above what I would do anyway.
Current rates are:
Tier I - Bkfst $1.24, Lunch $2.32, Snack $.69
Tier II - Bkfst $.45, Lunch $1.40, Snack $.19
KEG123 08:11 AM 11-07-2011
I'm on tier 1 so totally worth it. last month i had 4 full timers and got 300!
Meeko 08:18 AM 11-07-2011
So worth it. I average around $1000 per month from the food program. (I'm licensed for 16)