The childcare sector is one of the highly regulated industries. Reasonably, this is relatable considering the vulnerability of the kids.
This best explains the expensive nature of childcare. Nonetheless, it plays a crucial role in your child’s development.
It is also a viable option considering that it gives you peace of mind knowing that someone responsible and highly trained will be taking care of your child. If you enroll your child at First Steps Preschool @ Admiralty, you will not have to worry about issues like babysitter getting sick or failing to accord your child the care, affection, and attention he/she requires.
By choosing the preschool, you’ll be assured of meeting professionals who will be dedicated to taking care of your child each day. It doesn’t even end there, though. You also get to know them just as much as you would know a babysitter.
How Can I Reduce my Childcare Costs?
Now to reduce your childcare costs, it is prudent that you start your planning early. Ideally, you may need to start planning for childcare from as early as when you’re pregnant, so you don’t get caught up in a mess when you finally have the baby. Here are six creative ways to significantly reduce your childcare costs.
- Know what you are paying for
When it comes to childcare, there are some hidden costs that you may not be really aware of, thus making it expensive. As a basic rule of thumb, it would be better if you do your math, so you know how much you will be paying in childcare.
High-quality childcare in Admiralty will share with you the prices beforehand. From the cost breakdown, you can look for add-on services that may not be overly necessary and scrape them off.
- Find a Good Employer
There are employers who will be willing to extend a helping hand in terms of benefits to help reduce your costs. Therefore, if you’re preparing to have a baby soon and currently switching your job or job hunting, be sure to have childcare benefits included in your decisions.
Some employers can also offer to help pay a portion of your costs or help you negotiate discounts with your preferred childcare in Admiralty. With that being said, it would be better to check with your employer to see if they offer any benefits and utilize them.
- Register for a Subsidy
Some subsidies have been put in place to help Singaporean families reduce childcare costs. Now, the level of subsidy you can receive will be affected by factors like whether you’re a working or non-working mother.
Other factors that may affect your level of subsidies are the type of program your child will be enrolled in and your household income. For instance, if you have a household income of $7500 and below, you can benefit from an additional subsidy. You will therefore need to check with the preschool and register for the subsidies you qualify for.
- Reduce the Amount of Childcare Hours
To benefit from reducing the number of childcare hours, you will need to find childcare in Admiralty that allows flexible hours of care. If you’ve found one that offers that, you can then work out your schedules to stay at home with your child(ren) on a part-time basis.
Here are more straightforward ways to navigate this;
Option 1: Talk with your employer and negotiate with them to cut down your time to part-time hours so you can spend some time with your child and reduce the number of childcare hours.
Option 2: Talk with your employer and negotiate with them to set a new schedule where you work for a specific few days each week but more extended hours. If that’s not possible, but you fancy reducing the number of childcare hours, you may also consider switching jobs and sticking to one that allows you the flexibility that you crave.
Option 3: Organize with your employer to work some hours from home. With the COVID-19 pandemic that wreaked havoc in the world, many companies embraced remote work. You may therefore organize with your employer to allow you to work a few days from home. This will help you save a lot of money by reducing the number of childcare days.
Option 4: You may also speak with your spouse to coordinate work times, so your child spends fewer hours in the preschool. For instance, if your work schedule runs let’s say, from 7am to 3pm, and your spouse’s schedule runs from 9am to 5pm, you may have your child go to the childcare from 8:30am to 3:30pm and save money from those extra hours.
- Consider Asking for Help from Family Members or Loved Ones
Now, the help you can organize for with a family member may not be full-time care for your child, but at least it can help save you a few bucks. Here’s how to go about this; if you have close family members who may be willing to assist, consider approaching them to see if they won’t mind looking after your child for a few hours when you go to work.
Depending on your preferences or agreement with the family member or a loved one, you may take care of their transport and food-related costs that the child may need when they’re taking care of him/her. Either way, you may pay them for the few hours they look after your child.
- Make Childcare a Priority
If you’ve looked into your options and decided on a practical way to lower your childcare costs, it is prudent that you include it as one of the priority expenses in your budget. For instance, you may find that your travel costs go up if you need to drive to drop and/or pick your child up.
On the same note, you may reduce food allowance if the childcare option takes care of meals like breakfast and lunch. One thing which should be at the top of your priorities is getting all the help you can benefit from at the childcare center without overly stretching your budget.
Over to You
We acknowledge that childcare in Admiralty can be costly. However, the cost should not be the biggest block to dragging your child’s development. If you’re contemplating sending your baby to childcare near you but still worried about the cost schedule an appointment with us today to discuss the possible options we can help you with.