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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I keep reading (maybe from one single disgruntled nanny) how cheap the AP program is.  And I wanted to counter that impression for any potential HFs reading this board.  We've done this for a few years now and really love the program because it gives our only child someone consistent in her life, someone she sees as a big sister.  And we love that while our APs speak English in our home, they expose DD (and us) to another culture.  But.  Our new AP arrived a month ago and I started to tally up the costs every year.  It is not "cheap":

$600 Driving lessons.  All of our APs have had them.  
$150 New linens/towels/etc.  Every other year
$100 Welcome gifts
$500 What we pay for their insurance
$50  Stocking the house with their favorite foods for their arrival
$300 New cell phone (this is the first time we've had to buy one, long story)

That's on top of what we pay the agency, and before we're issued their first paycheck.  It doesn't include the $500 we pay for their educational credits (the first two years we ended up paying more because they picked expensive classes, now we just give $500 and that's it).  It doesn't include the 500+ we pay to bring them to Thanksgiving at grandmas, or the $500 we pay to for weekend trips.  It doesn't include the hundreds we spend when we order takeout or the hundreds we spend on food because they go through 3 Kcups a day and a jar of peanut butter a week.  It doesn't include who knows how much we pay for gas for them to go to the gym every day and visit friends every night.  It doesn't include Christmas and birthday gifts ($200), end of the year gifts ($200), extra water and AC bills (our first AP took hour-long showers), new pots because the AP didn't realize they couldn't go in the dishwasher, and plenty more.  Some families do less, many families do far more.

All in, it's 25-28K/year, depending on the year and how much the car repair bill is.  Before/aftercare would be FAR FAR cheaper.  Even an after-school nanny would be cheaper (if I could find someone who wanted the job.)  And I would not have APs coming in after midnight waking me up, getting into car accidents (which each of them has done), dealing with their shifting moods.  But I'm not complaining.   We believe in the program and think it's a great opportunity.

[/quote]

You believe in the program and it’s a great opportunity.
Ok.
Think about the amount of money that’s actually paid to the AP.[/quote]

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