Whoa is day care expensive! Each child costs a few hundred dollars a month just for them to be watched while they play and Mom and Dad go to work. The costs for every child are hard for many families to pay each month, especially during this recession when many lose pay from lost hours, lost jobs, and benefit reduction.
When day care costs become too high, for some families, the smarter decision is for one parent to stay at home with the children as the expenses of child care become the equivalent to a pay check. Others adjust their schedules so one parent can be home while the other works to drastically limit the amount a child is in day care so the bill becomes much lower, and others lean on family and friends more to watch the children.
When the bill continues to become too high, doing the math with a paper and pencil to make a new budget plan can tremendously help struggling families find areas to save money or re-work their schedules and jobs to adjust to the changing times and mounting bills.
Homeowners may refinance while renters may look for cheaper places to live to save a couple hundred dollars on a smaller place with less rent and electricity costs. Other households trade in their cars for one with a smaller payment or a used vehicle instead of a new one. All across America, people are cutting back and saving money.
In addition to making major changes like the aforementioned, there are some other solutions that are smaller but can reap big benefits each month to bring in a little more cash. One very simple method is getting an old jar from mayonnaise, peanut butter, etc and collecting everyone’s change each night into the jar until it’s full or you reach a goal amount. It’s amazing how quickly $100 adds up just from emptying pockets everyday from the family and letting it add up. That money can go to day care costs or gas and groceries.
Collecting change helps bring in some but of course it may not be enough to pay a child care bill; so while keeping coins, parents can also save money by carpooling, having family and friends babysit once in a while, buying less snacks and bringing a lunch to work. The key is to find little tricks that save money here and there, then doing them all together to save a couple hundred bucks each month.
For moms and dads that are very tight on money, there are available programs to help pay or reduce the costs. Depending on the child care facility, they may provide discounts to those that have more than one child enrolled with them. Most states also have their own programs to help needy families and single moms get help paying those child care expenses or programs to reduce the costs when the income isn’t enough to pay bills.
Most states, such as California, offer free child care from 9-5 for qualifying families and students with lower incomes. Head Start is a program across the country that offers free day care for children from birth until they are ready to enter elementary school. They also provide services to moms and dads to help their child grow properly nutritionally and developmentally to prepare for their school years ahead. Their services provide resources to parents and single mothers to plan for the future for careers and parenting or refer them to other aid programs that may provide additional assistance.
As tax season begins, most parents could certainly use a huge tax break to help pay the costs for the year ahead. The Child Tax Credit is awarded to single parents and married couples that had their children in day care the previous year while Mom and Dad worked or looked for work. Parents may get up to a 30% tax relief on the expenses they paid last year. The Child and Dependent Care Credit also helps and some families could receive both tax credits this year in their return.
For more information on tax credits and how to file them, visit tax services such as H&R Block; and for more information on saving on monthly day care bills, contact your child care provider and county Social Services building.
