Parenting Information

8 Tips To Save On Child Care Costs


Child care costs are are one of the most expensive costs associated with going back to work. Finding ways to cut down on child care costs without sacrificing quality child care is a top priority for all working parents. Here are a few ideas that can help trim your child care costs without sacrificing child care quality:

See if your employer has a child care flexible spending account. This is a special account that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw87.html - created that allows you to set aside money for child care expenses with pre-tax dollars. You ask your employer to take out a certain amount of money each month from your paycheck and you can use this money tax free for child care related expenses.

Inquire if your company has partnerships or offers discounts for certain child care provider services. some larger companies will sometimes negotiate discount plans with local child care providers to help offset child care costs.

See if your public school district offers a half day pre-kindergarten program for 4-year-olds. These programs are usually free and by signing-up your child, it will reduce your child care needs to a half day from a full day.

Check to see if your employer would be open to flex hours, job sharing or telecommuting. If so, you may be able to use these to juggle your schedule and cut your child care costs.

If both you and your spouse work, see if it's possible to arrange your work schedules so they overlap as little as possible. This will allow you to reduce the number of hours your child has to spend at child care.

See if there is a relative or good friend that can help with child care.

Consider hiring a nanny and sharing the cost of child care with a few good friends. This will allow you to pay less individually for child care costs and the nanny will make more money overall.

For a list of child care resource and referral agencies, you can visit the Child Care Aware website - http://www.childcareaware.org - which is a nonprofit organization that helps parents find quality child care in their communities.

Copyright Jeffrey Strain. He is owner of http://www.savingadvice.com - a website dedicated to saving you money.


MORE RESOURCES:

WAY OUT PARENTING: SANTA CLAUS LIKES GAY FAMILIES!
Proud Parenting - 2 hours ago
If he finds out your parents are gay, he stops coming to your house. Have you done your Santa education so your child can refute the meanies and offer up ...


Los Angeles Times

Hollywood's mommy network
Los Angeles Times, CA - 11 hours ago
PARENTING TIPS: Jennifer Waldburger, left, and Jill Spivack run Sleepy Planet, a business that counsels showbiz parents. In Tinseltown, film and pacifiers ...


Elizabeth Edwards reminds us all parents are perfect
DetNews.com, MI - 11 minutes ago
I never really thought of Elizabeth Edwards, wife of former presidential candidate and US senator John Edwards, as a parenting expert. ...


Clovis woman sentenced to parenting class following truancy charges
Clovis News Journal, NM - 12 hours ago
A 32-year-old Clovis woman whose three elementary school children missed school more than 20 times each last year has been sentenced to a parenting class ...


Part 2 of Parenting 101
Norman Transcript, OK - 8 hours ago
This is Part 2 and the conclusion of Parenting 101, an overview of the fundamentals of effective parenting. Last week's class dealt with such basics as ...


Oklahoma DHS parenting program success cited
NewsOK.com, OK - 8 hours ago
The Safe Care Plus program consists of teaching basic skills to parents of children ranging in age from infants to 5 years old in high-risk households, ...


MiamiHerald.com

South Florida Parenting's 14th annual Holiday Show
MiamiHerald.com, FL - 6 hours ago
The two-day South Florida Parenting's 14th annual Holiday Show offers a snow-tubing hill and play area, visits with Santa, Hanukkah fun, holiday crafts, ...


Drugs, Porn and Parenting a Recipe for Jail for Missouri Couple
ShortNews.com, Germany - 3 hours ago
Authorities believe that his actions were a direct result of his parent's poor parenting skills. It is unknown if the teen will be charged in those cases.
Both suspects in child endangerment, porn case in custody News-Leader.com
all 12 news articles


Chief Parenting Extends C-Level Parental Suite to Include Chief ...
PR Web (press release), WA - Dec 4, 2008
Empowering men and women to become exemplary parents, recognizing those that do and honoring them with their earned executive level parenting titles, ...


The Intersect Between Reporting and Parenting
Tecumseh Herald, MI - 22 hours ago
Sometimes, though, circumstances make it so that all I can do is be the parent. Take last night's band concert in Britton. Just take yesterday in general, ...

Parenting - Google News

home | site map
© 2006