I wanna be a mompreneur

Gerilee

Hi,
I adore my 1st born 8mth old and the prospect of leaving him to go back to fulltime work is killing me. I've managed to stay with him this long thanks to my SSIA savings, but I know these will run out in a few months and I need a Plan B. My husband works for himself and his financial situation is precarious to say the least - he can't support us both.

I've been working part time giving grinds to get some income, but this isn't enough to make the €600 a month I need to pay my half of the bills and mortgage. I don't spend foolishly, I'm the opposite in fact. Eddie Hobbs would be proud of me.

For my part time work I had an awful time trying to find a childminder, (the grandparents aren't an option) - I tried the registered ones in the area, the creches - all full, put an ad in the paper, to which only oddballs replied, tried all the private ones, and finally found someone I thought was ok - she wasn't, and so have had my fingers burned on that front. Plus we're living in a very rural area, so facilities are limited.

I really don't mean this to be a long whine - I want to find a practical home-based arrangement, and am desperate for advice from some of you who may have been in my predicament. I can't picture leaving him with anyone, and want to find a solution to earning that much money (€600-€700/mth) and staying at home. If only I'd asked some of the politicians while they were canvassing, they might have come up with something...!
My skills are: fluency in French and Spanish, office skills, and a bit of freelance writing experience. Translation agency? (Limited languages?) Secretarial service? (irregular very small income?) And part-time work just raises all the same issues with childminders I mentioned earlier.

Would anyone have an idea? The most I've ever earned working fulltime as a bilingual Customer Service Rep was €300 - 320 / wk - why give €150 of that to a childminder, work 40 hours a week and not see my beloved baby grow up?

Are all of you as sickened as I am?

EcoGirl

Hi Gerilee, I know how you feel - I was determined to stay home with my son too when he was born.

I suggest you go to www.iamawahm.com, which is all about being a momtrepreneur (or however you spell it). Lots of women are doing this, for the same reason you do - we don't want to leave our children.

There's a new phenomonen of being a virtual assistant - check it out, it might be a good idea for you.

Good luck with it!

deisemum

Have you considered becoming a childminder yourself? That way you'd be at home with your own baby and also earn an income. As there's a shortage of childcare places in your area you shouldn't have any problems finding families.

If you wanted to find out more information about childminding your local County Childcare Committee would be a great help. Also you're allowed earn up to €15,000 without paying tax. You could start with one child either full or part time and take it from there. THat's what I did and I enjoy it.

Gerilee

Thanks both for your advice. I didn't know about that website before, will investigate further.

On the childcare option, yes, I had considered it and would have all the facilities here available. Do you mind me asking you a few questions about it:

- what does the average childminder charge? Here in the west, a creche costs €150 for a week, should I go by that figure, and would that be Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm -ish?

- do you find it very restrictive, as in, your days off would presumable need to coincide with the parents' days off?

- and sorry to be a pain, this might sound silly, but since becoming a mom myself I've realised what a huge responsibility it is asking someone to mind a baby/toddler. Being responsible for someone else's life is a pretty daunting task. With my own I'm more relaxed obviously, but I'm afraid I'd be nervous minding someone else's kid, even if the house was baby/toddler-proofed to the last - was that ever an issue for you?

Thanks

Victor

With the child-minding the first 15,000 (?) euro is tax free.

KdjaCL

We/I forced her to stay at home with the kids, we poor very very poor But its worth it. Luckily she getting a work from home job soon so we be less poor but god damn its hard with only person working. The 4 kids dont help ranging from 2 to 8 but staying at home if possible is worth it (not in a monetary sense tho )

Good luck.


kdjac

Khannie

Gerilee wrote:

- what does the average childminder charge? Here in the west, a creche costs €150 for a week, should I go by that figure, and would that be Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm -ish?

As a reference point: We stopped using our childminder just over a year ago. She would take our son from 9am to 6pm when he wasn't in school, or pick him up from school when he was. As he got older, he was obviously in school longer, so that's worth bearing in mind. This effectively raised the cost per-hour quite a bit.

Anyway....we paid her 110 euro a week for that. We considered it pretty fair given that he was in school most days but....She was great with him. Really loved him and you could tell.

On the days off thing: She took time off when she wanted to, she just gave us reasonable notice and we organised someone else (usually granny ). We didn't pay her for these days as a lot of the time we had to pay someone else.

edit: Jaysus thaed..... Way to edit out my joke. You will forthwith be called "fun police" or "fun inspector". :P

SarahMc

what does the average childminder charge? Here in the west, a creche costs €150 for a week, should I go by that figure, and would that be Monday-Friday, 8am-6pm -ish?

Childminders are around 10-15% cheaper than a creche, so you would be looking at charging €135. However, as you have seen from your own experience, good, registered , insured and trained Childminders are scarce and you can charge a premium for this, bringing you back in line with creche fees

- do you find it very restrictive, as in, your days off would presumable need to coincide with the parents' days off?

It is common to get 10-15 days paid holidays, you can take them whenever you wish, but courtesy would dictate that you try to coincide with the parents holidays if possible, and if not, you give lots of notice. The idea of a Childminder is the child you mind becomes part of your family, so your life isn't that restricted, its best that you get out and about as much as possible.

- and sorry to be a pain, this might sound silly, but since becoming a mom myself I've realised what a huge responsibility it is asking someone to mind a baby/toddler. Being responsible for someone else's life is a pretty daunting task. With my own I'm more relaxed obviously, but I'm afraid I'd be nervous minding someone else's kid, even if the house was baby/toddler-proofed to the last - was that ever an issue for you?

Its not for everyone, it is daunting, but there is lots of support, networks, advice and grants out there to help you. Contact your local Childminders Advisory officer to find out whats available in your area.

Another gap in the market is after school care. You can mind more children, the hours are shorter, you don't have to do it in your own home, and there is an abundance of start up grants. Perhaps you could combine it with your languages somehow.

deisemum

I've been away for the weekend so just back a short while.

SarahMc has pretty much covered it. I'm in south east so don't know the rates in the west

luckat

You might join the Irish translators' and interpreters' association - http://www.translatorsassociation.ie/ - and register for work; if you have or can get an interpreter's qualification, there's some work, for instance with the Gardai - and I think some of this is done on the phone. You might also see if you could get similar phone work for the British health service, where they need interpreters for people seeking medical advice.

Victor

luckat wrote:

if you have or can get an interpreter's qualification, there's some work, for instance with the Gardai - and I think some of this is done on the phone.

I know a woman who does this and the hours and demands are not suitable for a childminder. An important part of interpreting is context and it all seems to be done in the station.