When netting zero dollars, would you put 20k towards college or a better infant care provider?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We found an in-home with a 2:1 ratio for $1200 / month in Arlington. No TV. Loving caregivers. I feel like we won the lottery; we put $800 / month into the 529 that we would've paid a commercial daycare.

There are unicorns out there, you just have to look.

Name? contact info?

So you can throw off my ratios!?

Sadly, she doesn't have availability for the foreseeable future (through at least July); we just asked yesterday for our neighbors.

[Anonymous]

This really is a personal decision as you can tell, OP.

For me, order of importance during little baby stage is:
1 - childcare
2 - emergency savings
3 - college savings

Though I'm sure many DCUMers would disagree

[Anonymous]

I would go with the daycare arrangement that you feel better about if you can afford it. Period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What makes option B better? I've toured a lot of centers and in-home providers and once you're above the $250/week threshold, I didn't find a strong correlation between quality & price. Price seemed to be more a reflection of the rent that the center was paying, and perhaps a premium that was meant to signal better care, but didn't necessary mean better care, ie - more administrative oversight, which can provide some value, but also may not mean much.

Same here. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to costs based on how the centers looked and were run. We're in MD so there's a state mandated ratio, so that variable was removed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What makes option B better? I've toured a lot of centers and in-home providers and once you're above the $250/week threshold, I didn't find a strong correlation between quality & price. Price seemed to be more a reflection of the rent that the center was paying, and perhaps a premium that was meant to signal better care, but didn't necessary mean better care, ie - more administrative oversight, which can provide some value, but also may not mean much.

Same here. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to costs based on how the centers looked and were run. We're in MD so there's a state mandated ratio, so that variable was removed.

Yup, same experience here. I would keep looking for other options. An in-home provider for the first year or two can be a good option, if you can find one you are comfortable with.

[Anonymous]

You can not afford the first daycare. It's pretty simple. It's too expensive. So either find a 3rd one you like, that you can afford, or send baby to 2nd daycare.

But making a commitment to something you can not afford is not a wise choice ever.

If you can find a way to cut $600 out of your monthly spending to afford the first daycare, then maybe. But if you can do that you should do that anyway.

[Anonymous]

I'd use savings to pay for the day care I was more comfortable with and wouldn't think twice about it.

[Anonymous]

Daycare is more important. BTDT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First few years are very important developmentally. Spend the money on better care.

For example, with a high staff:child ratio, some kids will be left crying for a while, as the provider attends to other babies. For little ones, that can be really traumatic.

This is exactly right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We found an in-home with a 2:1 ratio for $1200 / month in Arlington. No TV. Loving caregivers. I feel like we won the lottery; we put $800 / month into the 529 that we would've paid a commercial daycare.

There are unicorns out there, you just have to look.

Name? contact info?

So you can throw off my ratios!?

Sadly, she doesn't have availability for the foreseeable future (through at least July); we just asked yesterday for our neighbors.

What does that come to hourly?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd use savings to pay for the day care I was more comfortable with and wouldn't think twice about it.

This

[Anonymous]

"Net zero" ? Does that mean with an HHI of 200 you save nothing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Net zero" ? Does that mean with an HHI of 200 you save nothing?

I also net zero after taxes, and I have one rental. How do you have no money? Net zero doesn't mean you have no income. What are you spending your income on?

[Anonymous]

Daycare! High quality childcare is a big factor in whether your DC will use their college fund to pay for Stanford or NOVA.

[Anonymous]

For me, there is no question that better care for my children is where to put my money.