Saving Money on Childcare and Housecleaning

March 25, 2008

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This is a guest post by Rhonda Duckett of Life Made Simple — the complete source for all your domestic care needs.  Rhonda is the Queen of household management – from nannies to house cleaners to home managers.  You can find out more about her company at www.lifemadesimple.net. 

Here are 3 great ways to save money on Childcare:

  1. Use a mommy nanny.  A mommy nanny is a nanny who brings her child to work with her. Mommy nannies work (salary or hourly charge) for 25% less and usually are more experienced.  We have mommy nannies with a college degree or 2 years of nanny experience who work for $8/hour! For More Info www.LifeMadeSimple.net
  2. Try Sitter Social.  Need a babysitter? Can’t afford the high fees associated with babysitting agencies? Try Sitter Social with Life Made Simple-it’s where moms meet sitters. For $50 you can meet up to 15 sitters and receive resumes of each sitter that  includes their childcare experience and references. Then, you negotiate the hourly wages and call the sitters directly when you need them. The $50 registration fee by Sitter Social is ONE TIME. Small Fee, UNLIMITED uses.
  3. Hire your own nanny with a little help.  Want to hire a nanny on your own but not sure how to conduct background check or “check them out”? Life Made Simple will do consulting for you starting at as low as $60. (That is a huge savings in compared to placement fees) We also can check out roommates, boyfriends etc. For more information about our consulting services go to www.LifeMadeSimple.net and click Nanny Consulting Services.

Bonus tips: Saving money on a house cleaner: 

  1. Go Bi Monthly instead of weekly.  You can save a significant chunk of change if you schedule a house cleaner every other week.
  2. Do the easy stuff yourself.  House cleaners will estimate higher if there is a lot of “pick up” or if they have to make beds, wash dishes, etc. If you want a house cleaner to do the hard work like bathrooms or scrubbing kitchen floors, then make sure you have the “easy” stuff done. The easy stuff will usually drive the cost up 25-30% because of the time involved.  For more info visit www.LifeMadeSimple.net and Click House Cleaning Services.

This post is part of the Frugal Life+Kids Week brought to you by Once Upon a Child — the best place to find kids’ stuff with previous experience in Fayetteville.

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Posted by Terri Chadick | Filed Under Blog, The Frugal Life+Kids Week 

Comments

2 Responses to “Saving Money on Childcare and Housecleaning”

  1. Lindsay on March 25th, 2008 9:21 am

    These are great tips! thanks for sharing.

  2. Terri on March 25th, 2008 5:11 pm

    Lindsay,
    I agree. Housecleaning and childcare are big budget items, but are often sanity savers. I’ve always said (only half jokingly) that I would work just to pay for a house cleaner!

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