Nursery x Nanny

So since I went back to work we had this lovely lady - should call her a girl as sh.e is about 4 years younger than me :-) - helping us out with little cheeky guy. She is lovely and even though it took me a while, these days I'm happy to leave Harry with her when I have to go to the office. Not to mention that it is a bonus to get home to a nice, clean and tidy flat - she likes house chores  I am only very happy to let her do it, as the nice person that I am!

Harry is particularly keen Nanny S. He smiles her a biiiiig grin when she gets in and never cries
when I leave or arrive.

Our only problem with the nanny is paying her. If you have stopped by before you have probably noticed that we don't really have grandma or any other family who lives near by and can give us a hand every now and then. Different from most of the local mums we know, if we have to go to work we need to pay for childcare.

If you live in the UK then you also know that childcare can cost most of your monthly income and that is exactly our situation at the moment.

A couple of weeks ago I was about to write a post on how upset I was for not having money for holidays - we haven't had a break since June 2011 - when I heard much worse news, I no longer have any holidays to take this year. That means no breaks until Christmas. What was my point again? - oh yes, no money for holidays when you need a break can be hard but even harder is, no money to buy little guy the new shoes he needs because he is outgrowing his very quickly.

I have been looking into ways to save us some money, as much as I love where we live, we are considering moving from "pram town" next year, when our contract expires. Renting on Pram Town is expensive and our flat costs us a fortune to heat during the winter.

I have taken a cheaper mobile plan - saving us £23 a month - and as from last week, I have decided to try the Saisnbury's Basics Range and shop around for good quality nappies on a reasonable price.
All that is well and good as every little bit helps but my main bill really is childcare. I considered working more hours but that will mean paying the nanny for extra days.

We are not entitled to work tax credit and our nanny isn't Ofstead registered so I'm not using the Childcare Vouchers the company I work for offers.

Last week while sipping Ginger Grouse and watching Harry and his little friend have fun in the paddling pool, I had a chat with a local mum and she actually reminded me that if Harry went to a nursery I would be able to use my childcare vouchers AND if I was to hop on a 5 minutes bus to the next borough I wouldn't pay the extortion that the nurseries in "pram town" charge you a day.

I have been researching since. The difference isn't massive but there is a difference and I would probably save about £80 a month just by using my Kiddcare Vouchers.

I found this one particular Nursery with a very good location for me to get to work after dropping Harry AND easy for daddy to pick him up on his way home - sorry hun, I forgot to speak to you about this little detail :-). This one nursery also supplies everything our little guy will need through the day; food, nappies, milk, cream and so on.

The good thing of having a nanny is that if the little one is unwell but able to stay away from mummy, I can actually leave him with S. and go to work - at nursery that wouldn't be possible.
In the other hand the nursery is never ill, needs holiday or last minute parental leave, the nanny does.

I know we will have to loose the nanny one day but that will be hard as we really like her. We have a hard decision to make very soon.

What do you prefer? nannies, childminders or nurseries? How do you save money on your childcare?

Money matters

Went to the office today to talk about going back to work, I know, very early after all Harry is only 14 weeks but it turns out I might be able to work from home so I decided to jump in as soon as possible before someone else did.

We are still discussing the details but if I do manage to work part time from home that will be amazing.
The company I used to work for - where I was really happy, used to love my team and was building a lovely career withing the events industry - went under last year, when I was in the end of my 2 month of pregnancy.

Luckily I have left my previous job in really good terms and once I emailed one of the company's owner soon I received a lovely reply and a job offer. Even though changing jobs at that stage meant I was no longer entitled to statutory maternity leave (up to 1 year) It was such a relief to know I would have a job during pregnancy. When I heard of administration I was already starting to imagine how our little boy's life was going to be, with me out of work we wouldn't be able to rent a bigger place and he would have to share a tight space with mum and dad.

I was even more fortunate when - on my last week of work, about a month before Harry was born - I was offered a permanent contract by the current company which meant I had a job to go back to.

The only problem? maternity allowance only lasts for 39 weeks and my little boy will be only 8 months by the time I am running out of money. Even worse, because the income cut off for Tax Credit Benefit is now £26k we are not entitled to any help at all so from February I'll no longer have an income.

I really don't like the idea of leaving my boy on childcare on a full time basis, let alone at this young age. I do find socializing is important from very early but i don't want my baby to be raised by nursery assistants or a childminder.

Money won't be amazing and doing some work whilst looking after a baby on my own will be hard work - I could do my work in the evenings but lets face it, until he starts sleeping through the night that isn't really an option as by the time he goes down I'm on my last legs.

All in all it's been good news and after very anxious week looking at prices for nurseries I can't afford and where I don't want to send my boy to any time soon, i can finally calm down and enjoy my little bundle knowing we still have some time to enjoy each other before i actually need to go back to the office.