How to Tackle Summer Child Care Costs

A young girl plays with blocks on a windowsill.

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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.

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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.

Long summer camp. While this may be the most straightforward option, it can be a larger chunk of money that you have to pay upfront. There are plenty of camp options available, ranging from sports camps to arts-and-crafts camps. Camps can be privately run or through your city’s parks department. The cost varies according to the type of camp and where you live, so make sure to budget for this accordingly with my tip above. You also want to make sure that your child will be happy at the same camp the whole summer before committing; there’s nothing worse than spending a lot of money and having a miserable child.

Shorter summer camps. While these provide more flexibility and different options for your children, the logistics can be complicated. It can often be more expensive to book camps this way, but it does work well if you have other summer plans or travel.

Nanny sharing. Sharing a nanny with another family is a great way to cut down expenses while still having the flexibility of a nanny. While the nanny has to care for multiple children at once, she’s able to charge a higher rate, which is split between two families. But make sure you have a solid agreement and plan with the other family to ensure there isn’t any confusion or misunderstandings about care, expenses or where the kids will be spending their days.

Every option has pros and cons, but you need to figure out what will work for your family’s finances, what will keep your kids entertained, and what will be the least stressful option for an enjoyable summer.

Additional tips

This might seem like low-hanging fruit, but plan your family vacations around summer break. This way, you'll “save” on child care and get to enjoy your time with your kids while they are off and the weather is good.
Remember that as a parent, you deserve a break, too. One suggestion is to plan a kid-free vacation while they are at camp to spend some alone time with your partner or enjoy something you love.
Ask your parent friends about their plans and coordinate the camps or other activities together. This will help because your kids will be happy to have a friend, and hopefully, you can all create a carpool to help each other with drop-off and pickup.
Ask family members or close friends to help out. Since camp usually doesn’t last until after work, my parents will pick up the kids and keep them for some one-on-one time an afternoon or two a week. It’s a short time, but it pays off for those working parents.

Summer vacation seems to keep getting longer and longer for us, so planning is critical to your success. Try to come up with a plan and back into it for next year — your bank account will thank you.

Disclaimer

This article was written by and presents the views of our contributing adviser, not the Kiplinger editorial staff. You can check adviser records with the SEC or with FINRA.

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Kelli Kiemle holds multiple roles with Halbert Hargrove. As Managing Director of Growth and Client Experience, she sets the tone for the quality and character of Halbert Hargrove's client service relationships. She also manages the associate wealth advisers. Kelli is also responsible for overseeing the firm's wide-ranging marketing and communications initiatives, including their mentor program. She is also the Co-host of Halbert Hargrove's Fearless Money Talks podcast.