Nanny Costs...$20,800/year

We have a nanny that watches our 3-years-old son and 6-month-old daughter during the day.  We pay her $80/day or $400/week.  That's $1,600/month for typical months and $2,000/month for longer, 5 week months.  Annually, we're paying $20,800 to our nanny.  Not a large income, but it's a huge sum of money for us.

I've seen a number of articles stating that daycare costs more than college.  I'm not sure about that, but it's pricey indeed.  We have reduced our nanny's schedule to three work days a week, for $240/week, while I am not working.  This arrangement gives me three days a week to focus on my job search, while saving us $640/month for typical months and $800/month for longer, 5 week months.

We choose to go with a nanny over daycare for a few reasons:

• We love the personal attention that our kids receive
• We can come home anytime to see our kids
• Using our home security camera system, we can check on thing remotely

I dream of the day our kids begin public school.  The boost to our cash flow will be awesome.  Sure, there will be other expenses, but they will be small by comparison.  Technically, our son is already in school, but it is preschool and costs $297/month.  LOL!  Kids are expensive, but worth every penny.