Reply to Making financially imprudent choices for sake of childcare

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Since you are renting, you don't need the security of good schools.

Your children are 2 and -6 months.  You will not need to worry about elementary schools for 3-4 years.  In that time you could save a lot of money by moving to a lesser neighborhood that has a decent commute but lousy schools.  Rent in that area and you will save a considerable amount of money (a few hundred dollars a month at least).  I would rather move to a lower cost rental without good schools and apply the extra money from lower rent towards getting a nanny I trusted than decrease retirement or dip into savings or stop saving for rainy day/house down-payment.

In 3-4 years, when your oldest is ready for kindergarten, then you can start to look at buying in a neighborhood with good schools or renting in a neighborhood with good schools.  When your oldest goes to school, you can make a different decision when you have more disposable income due to lower childcare costs (and your wages may have gone up).

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Move with a two year old and a 6 month old to a crummy neighborhood to save money for a few years? Sure, except what about all the costs, time, and inconveniences of moving with two tiny children? And also what about the safety of the so called lesser neighborhood? Will it have a good grocery store, short commute, public transit, safe places for kids to play, a good library, etc?  How much is a moving truck and movers? A new security deposit? The time and cost of apartment hunting, changing addresses, drivers licenses, mailing addresses, rerouting all mail, packing and unpacking, getting settled in a new home? The time and cost of finding new child care (ie center and nanny) in the new location? Many DC child care centers have waiting lists years long. Moving to a new part of the city is a great way to blow up your deposits on all those daycare or preschool waiting lists the OP may be on. Also, living in a neighborhood with good schools gives the OP flexibility to send their child to the neighborhood school if they haven’t found their dream house or can’t afford it in 3 years time. If you move to a crappy school district, you’ve just wasted a boatload of money, messed up your quality of life, potentially blown up your child care arrangements, and given yourself a ticking time bomb to move again before the oldest is ready for K. None of this seems wise to me for a savings of what may amount to a couple thousand dollars. [/quote]

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