I remember how much excitement and joy summer vacation would bring me as a child. As a mom of two boys, the feeling of summer now brings dread and anxiety, not because I don’t want to spend time with my kids, but because the uncertainty and added expenses are just something else on my to-do list.
While I still don’t have everything figured out (I still shudder thinking about a few summers ago when I found myself with no child care or camp), this article will provide parents with things I learned along the way, including how to plan and budget for a fun summer for you and your young children.
Budget for summer child care costs
The best way to financially plan for summer child care costs is to budget for them throughout the year. To get started, in September start to review what you spent last year and then divide that by nine. This will help you save and plan accordingly. A best practice is to create a separate account and set up automatic transfers to ensure you have enough come summer.
Additionally, if your child is 13 or under, consider maximizing your savings by utilizing a Dependent Care FSA (DCFSA) each year to help pay for summer expenses. A DCFSA is a pre-tax benefit account used to pay for eligible dependent care services, such as preschool, summer day camp, before- or after-school programs and child or adult daycare. You can submit up to $6,000 in 2024.
However, despite trying to plan ahead, we had a lot of unexpected expenses arise this year. Because of that, my strategy next year is to space out booking camps for my older one (the younger one is luckily still in preschool, which does stay open year-round), so I’ve been booking one activity each pay period so I can quickly pay it off. We’ve had to adjust our other spending, but so far, it’s working out!
Child care options
The good news is that there are many summer child care options. Here are a few of the most common ones, including their pros and cons:
College student/mother’s helper. This option works best if your kids are a bit older, but it is a very cost-effective option. Most college students want to work and make some cash over the summer, and their rates will be lower than a traditional nanny’s. While this may work for many, students can sometimes be less reliable, so you will need to be a bit more flexible and plan accordingly. Depending on the student, you may want to be more present during the workday (or at least work from home) to provide some oversight.
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