Incidentals? Budget?
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Anonymous
| Would love some advice. We had a nanny who didn't work out for us and left with a significant amount of cash (which was our fault - we paid her in advance rookie move). We have a new nanny now and we're so impressed with her. It's like night and day. However, I think we're a little scarred about giving her cash. We have set up an electronic weekly payment (on Fridays, after she has worked her week) but how do you handle incidental expenses? We want her - and she seems very eager - to take our kids on lots of field trips (zoo, museums etc). We want to cover incidentals - admissions, parking etc as well as have her get some groceries. We are fine with her taking the kids out to lunch too (especially when our cleaners are in the house). Obviously these are all minor expenses - I mostly want to make sure what we give her is appropriate and doesn't lend itself to abuse. Do you give your nanny a house credit card? Do you do cash budget or just reimburse? How do you track it? Would love anyone's advice. |
Anonymous
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I opened a second checking account at my bank, and made her an "agent" on it (that means she can't open or close it, but she access to the funds). She has a debit/credit card linked to the account. I keep $300-$500 in it, and I can see what it gets spent on.
This seemed like a good way to keep track of those incidentals without having her save receipts. She has been very trustworthy and never done anything crazy, but I figured this way I could also see if she was using the money badly or for things I wouldn't want to pay for. I also figured that if she did something truly unwise, like draining the account to pay her own bills or go out on the town, the damage would be pretty limited. The only issue I've had with this is that gas is expensive, and there have been a couple of times that they've gotten to a venue and not had enough money in the account because I just haven't been paying attention and she's filled the tank a few times. I do not have overdraft from my primary account to prevent abuse (I did not want to have to trust her friends and family as well as her, to be honest). I am able to jump online and transfer funds from my primary account right away, though. |
Anonymous
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We keep a petty cash envelope for these kinds of things. We restock it routinely and the nanny puts in receipts for what she spends. Larger expenses (like a day at the Aquarium with lunch, mileage, etc... she will ask us to approve in advance.)
It works well, as long as we remember to restock the cash. Occasionally she'll end up putting something minor on her credit card and we just write her a check for anything owed. |
Anonymous
| I just give my nanny cash when she needs it -my kids are older so I know their schedule. This week she took one of my kids out to dinner before sports practice - I left her $20 and she leaves me the change. If she is taking them on an outing, I leave cash (more than I expect it to cost) and she leaves me change. When she grocery shops she leaves me the receipt, which I don't check anymore. |
Anonymous
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I used my personal credit card and kept the receipts. Once a month when i got my bill I added it all up and MB reimbursed me. I preferred doing this than having petty cash and it got my credit rating up.
One family I worked for were super nice but never left enough petty cash and I always felt like I was asking for money. |
Anonymous
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We gave our nanny a credit card. She is extremely trustworthy and it has made life so much easier for me as she has taken over all of the ordering for my child. We are never out of diapers, formula, milk, child's food, etc and she handles all of my child's class payments (Music Together, Gymboree, etc) which I constantly screwed up. She even looks for bargains on line when DD is napping!
Nanny has never bought so much as a cup of coffee for herself on the card although I always tell her to. When she takes DD out to lunch, she always makes it her treat. |
Anonymous
+1 This is what we do, too. I ask her to let me know when the cash is low. |
Anonymous
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A nanny should never have to front an expense for your children. If you cannot trust her then hire someone else.
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Anonymous
wow she sounds amazing! how did you find her? |
Anonymous
| Each weekend I look at what the kids have planned for the week based on what I've lined up and what the nanny has lined up, and put enough petty cash to cover everything in an envelope in the kitchen. The nanny takes however much will be needed for the day when she heads out in the morning, and puts in receipts at the end of the day. |
Anonymous
Care.com - but I searched the profiles myself rather than take someone who answered my ad. She is not inexpensive but I wanted a college graduate with teaching experience. I just lucked out and got an amazing college graduate with teaching experience! On top of everything else, she and my daughter truly love each other. And my DD can count to ten at 17 months old, knows her primary colors, months and speaks in full sentences - including "please" and "ta ta" (thank you). . Nanny has narrated for her since the day she was born and racks up about an hour of reading to her every day (generally ten minute increments). And nanny is a joy - always in a good mood and absolutely no drama. We love her!!! |
Anonymous
If your child says "ta ta" for thank you, she doesn't speak in what most people would consider full sentences. |
Anonymous
We leave cash in a pouch with DD's library card, our membership cards, etc for her use. We've told her that we're imagining spending about $100/month on incidentals/outings, but that doesn't count anything we ask her to buy, replacing any supplies or anything that's a grocery store purchased meal (i.e., if she decides she wants to cook something normal for DD and buys the ingredients, that just offsets future grocery store purchases, so that doesn't count to our extras budgeting). She generally tells us when she spends money (always if it's an "outing" because it comes up when she tells us about the day) or a food treat (because we try to make sure DD doesn't accidentally get 2 ice creams in one day ), but not always (e.g., occasionally we'll find apples in the fridge and assume she bought them with the money). No problems and, if anything, the money has disappeared slower than we expected.
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Anonymous
"Either "ta ta" or "thank you" is never a full sentence, PP. No verb. My DD speaks in full sentences (eg "Please come back, Mama") AND says "please" and "ta ta". So sorry that confused you. |
Anonymous
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Not that it matters in this context, but "Thank you" is a full and complete sentence. The subject, I, is implied as in "I thank you". To thank is the verb.
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