Spouse unsure about home daycare

[Inspired by Reggio]

If you returned to work would you have $1000.00 left after paying for daycare and all the other work expenses ???

Does he realize the tax savings - you will pay less tax being home and can write off portion of mortgage payments ????

[Connect]

Hi,
I did not know that you could write off portion of the mortgage payment. Inspired you are right. It is taking a toll on my relationship. I am very good at what I do because I love what I do. Being an educator is my passion and I love teaching young children. He knows I am good and I do work in a place where I love being an educator but have grown tired of the centre experience as it limits my ability to fully facilitate teaching experiences. It is sad that my husband does not see the value of teaching my own kids. I have handed in my police clearance and now I have to make a quick decision. Maybe start off with doing it as a drop in basis evening and weekend? i will see. We have to come to some compromise. Thanks all for reading. You are all wonderful!

[Connect]

When I have talked to moms considering it but wondering about the benefits and the costs I have them do a cost comparison. If you have kids of your own then it almost always works out in favour of staying home.

Take the amount you make working as in your take home amount, subtract the cost of daycare for your own kids, the cost of transportation to work, half the cost of lunch out if you buy, a portion of the money spent on clothing for work and upkeep such as drycleaning. Subtract a portion of your grocery bill if you eat out a lot or buy convenience foods because you don't have time to cook after work.

The result is the amount of money you need to make in childcare to equal what you made at your old job - which usually turns out to be not very much. Divide this amount by the daily fee you plan to charge and that gives you a pretty good idea of how many children you need to have in care to make ends meet. If it is more than 3/4 of the allowable limits for your area then it could become stressful at times of low enrollment since there isn't a lot of ground made up when full so something to consider.

If your calculations are totally to your advantage that can help with your arguement. I have four kids so if I had had to find daycare for them all plus work there would have been very little take home pay for me.

Ask him what his concerns are. What is it about the kids that concerns him. I am assuming you have kids of your own so they must have toys and must play somewhere in the house. There are lots of ways to have a daycare during the day and a family home evenings and weekends. You don't have to have a large playroom with fancy decorations and such.

I know some that have two kids and moved the two into one bedroom and then turned the other bedroom into the playroom. With time spent outside, in the kitchen for meals or gathering to sit in the middle of the livingroom for circletime/storytime having only a small bedroom for freeplay will still allow you to offer a full program but close the door on it at night - out of sight out of mind for hubby. It comes and goes while he is gone to work.

Do you have any friends that provide daycare that have husbands that would talk to your husband about his issues, maybe able to reassure him that it can work.

no, so this makes it hard.

[Littledragon]

My husband was worried about the mess initially, and he still gets a little irritated when he steps in a small pile of sand, or finds cracker crumbs on his socks, but he's pretty good about it. He knows this is what I want - to provide care for children while I provide the amount of love and care I want for my own son. Plus, is makes sense for us financially. Even if I only have two kids, I still take home more than I would if I worked out of the house and paid for childcare

[Littledragon]

You can write off almost EVERYTHING. ALSO if he's worried about the start up costs, you could apply for a small business grant through leadership grants if you're in Ontario. If you do it right, organize you're money properly, get the right amount of clients and are good with your money, you could make more than you did at the center. That is, if you're private. If you're with an agency, I'm not sure. I know for me, what i charge and with 3 kids, I can make 15,000 more a year than I did before I had my son - and that's after taxes and expenses....

Go to the Revenue Canada website, it has all the things you can deduct on your taxes. When my husband read the list, he got all excited. Now, he can't wait until next tax season haha

[Inspired by Reggio]

Hi,
I did not know that you could write off portion of the mortgage payment. ...

Just to clarify - you can only write off a portion of the 'interest' you paid on your mortgage owing and 'property tax' not the actual 'principle' on your house - but it is a huge help ... seriously our interest last year was over $8000 and property tax was almost $3000 ... so getting to write off a portion of that $11,000 reduces your taxable income considerably depending on how much of your house you use for business, hours you work and so forth

[Nurse]

I have not officially opened and started yet, but it was my husbands idea to do the dayhome as he works away from home 90% of the time and my job is very high stressed and effecting my health. Once I explained the insurance and what my income could potentially be he was even more for it. Wanted me to quit my job that day, but I'm waiting until I can get all my ducks in a row. Good luck!!

[kidlove]

Oh My Dear.......not sure what he is not sure about....but mine was AGAINST it in the beginning. He didnt want people in and out of our home, didn't like the noise when I started, complained of the running and yelling, the annoying (his words) parents coming in and out.....he is a crab from time to time!!!!! if your is anything like mine....HAVE FUN! ha ha it's worth it though, just keep it running smooth, keep the rules enforced, outside behavior is for outside and such. Keep a good schedule and make sure you thank him for allowing you to use your home for this GREAT business. It would really help if you had a separate place to have the kids, play room etc. GOOD LUCK! just like anything, he'll get used to it.

[mimi]

If my husband was not completely on board with my daycare I wouldn't be able to do it. My day is so full with the d/c kids that I would not be able to deal with an unhappy or disgruntled spouse. These men need to support their partners and their partners business. We would do the same for them. Home daycare does envelope alot of your homes space and yeah, it can be noisy, but the pros need to be weighed against the cons. Our spouses need to put our business in perspective and respect it and us. We are not admitting dangerous offenders into our homes (ok sometimes ) and if we are happy and satisfied with our work and income they should stop complaining and perhaps involve themselves occasionally.

[gcj]

not only the mortgage, but everything you use and touch for daycare....phone, computer, TV, heating, water....you need it for daycare, it's a right off! The details I'm unsure of....my accountant is the best $200/year I spend!