Current Events > Preschool at ~$300/mo isn't so bad.

(+) Yeah! (+)

We've had luck in having our parents watch our child (in return, we bought each of them a house and take care of their finances (medicare and social security)), but with her becoming 3 years old next year, figured it's time to get her on a waitlist for pre-school, so I called around and set up tours, interviews, and information sessions.

I called four different locations, and costs are $45, $49, $51, and $65 per day. Given that pre-school runs September to May (standard school year), and given that there's about 25 days of no school due to holidays, spring and winter break, consider that about 8 months of schooling. Kindergarten runs 3 days a week, so I'd like pre-school to have the same tempo, and have our parents continue to watch her for the remainder of the 2 days a week (the weekend = us, of course).

Math:
$45/day * 3/days a week * 4/weeks a month * 8 months = $4,320; or at $65/day = $6,240. Subtract $1,050 in federal child tax credits and another $1,050 in state tax credits = ~$2k to ~$4k a year.

I've heard horror stories about childcare costing like $2,000/mo, so color me surprised when I found out it's "only" ~$300/mo.

We have two places scheduled for this Thursday (5/9), and the other two places next Wednesday (5/15).

/blogfaqs

I pay $190 a week for a two year old

here's a picture of the $300/month pre-k:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/6a5ee21c.jpg

MrResetti posted...

I pay $190 a week for a two year old

How many days a week? If 4 days = $48/day, and if 5 days = $38/day which seems cheap. And I also assume thats before any federal and state tax credits.

Shit. Mine was $250 a week and that was 15 years ago.

Daycare is a lot more than that for us. Luckily our school system gives us free pre school when the time comes. I say free but we pay up the ass in school tax.

IdiotMachine posted...

How many days a week? If 4 days = $48/day, and if 5 days = $38/day which seems cheap. And I also assume thats before any federal and state tax credits.

5 days. Certainly not the finest program but the care team gives a shit and it's a thirty second drive from home. Biggest downside is they close at 5.

boomgetchopped3 posted...

Daycare is a lot more than that for us. Luckily our school system gives us free pre school when the time comes. I say free but we pay up the ass in school tax.

I wish our school system had free preschool we pay $12k/year in school taxes for just our house! Our property taxes (which are separate from school taxes) are only like $3k/year.

You know what is even better? Not having kids so you don't have to spend money on them.

Lonestar2000 posted...

You know what is even better? Not having kids so you don't have to spend money on them.

Counterpoint: kids are pretty cool

You bought two extra houses and cover bills for two sets of parents just to compensate them for watching the kid?

archizzy posted...

You bought two extra houses and cover bills for two sets of parents just to compensate them for watching the kid?

Kind of. Theyre reasonably sized, at around 1,500 sqft each, and they gifted us some funds for the downpayment. Our two sets of parents needed help in their golden years, so we lended them a hand in exchange of them helping us out too. Its a win-win; we get to help our parents, they help us. Cant just leave them on the streets

IdiotMachine posted...

we pay $12k/year in school taxes for just our house! Our property taxes (which are separate from school taxes) are only like $3k/year.

Wat?

For my son's pre-school, they charged $180 per week and that was one of the cheapest we could find. I guess that's pretty cheap compared to the daily rates you were quoted, but an extra $720 per month really hurt back then.

Our KG1 places here are about $50k for one child for the year.

Dat_Cracka_Jax posted...

Wat?

Yea, it's nuts how high the freakin' school tax is here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9cd2a2f3.png

I would assume that if I sent my kid to a daycare that only cost $300/month that I wouldnt be getting them back.

IdiotMachine posted...

Yea, it's nuts how high the freakin' school tax is here:
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/9/9cd2a2f3.png

That's crazy. I thought our property tax was high, and it includes any school taxes