I took a loan to finance my baby's childcare costs - I really hope I did the right thing...

[Lauranicol]

Hi all !
I decided to take a loan to cover some of my 2-year-old toddler's childcare fees. I find gov help useful but limited (I am using all available options) when it comes to covering the childcare costs that a full-time working parent should pay monthly. Makes sense to me because I can protect my savings, continue working, and pay off the loan over time. Btw I find the terms of the loan quite good for the relatively small amount I received.
Has any of you borrowed (like friend’s money, credit card, anything else) to cover the extra costs due to childcare???
Knowing I am not the only one out there, would boost my confidence...
Thanks

 

[Sofia 7]

Hi Laura,
It looks like people are shy to talk about borrowing.
I am in a similar situation and ended up taking a loan for 8k to cover the childcare fees until I break-even.
I think that this is a big issue and I am surprised that we are the only ones... or at least it is a big issue for me!

 

[CherryOl]

Hello everyone! I think it's a common thing. It's just not all can talk about it in public. You've done the right thing. Good luck!

 

[Dommy]

Yes, it's sometimes uncomfortable to talk about financial troubles. But you've made everything right, Laura. How are you doing now? I'm in a similar situation at the moment. I also think that I need to take a loan to pay my bills. I'm in search of a reliable company. I was suggested Lightstream, but some of the reviews at https://lightstream.pissedconsumer.cоm/customer-service.html made me uncertain. Can someone share any good sources, maybe?

 

[DobbyForever]

I know this thread is old, but if it’s comfort to people: Yes, I have borrowed money to cover cost of childcare.

I can’t charge my son’s tuition, it’s paid in cash every Wednesday. Depending on his age, it’s ranged from $450-550 a week plus another $100 a week for medical services due to his special needs.

I work full time. I do receive child support. But it’s expensive. I have:
- Skipped meals
- Borrowed money from my mother, half of the time she’ll find a silly excuse to forgive the loan and I hate that but sometimes I’m not in a position to argue with her
- Charged other purchases and carried credit card debt to afford childcare
- I took out a home equity loan, initially to pay off my attorney’s fees from my custody battle but I have used it to pay for childcare once as well

I know some employees offer child care accounts where money is taken pre tax from your paycheck and they may match a percentage. It’d a gimmick and I wouldn’t do well to explain why lol, but I do have friends who swear by it. It’s just not for me.

My only cautionary is that every time I borrowed money usually was because my ex was withholding child support so I knew it would get sorted soon or I made an error in my budgeting. Generally I don’t advise taking on debt as a solution but last resort for most things. And with childcare, yes formal daycare or preschool is expensive. So for years I keep telling myself it’ll get easier when he’s is public school. We’ll see lol

I’m not a financial advisor, but I know that once I got that credit card debt moved to a heloc/ no interest credit card that I paid off within a year that my credit jumped 100 points.

End of day, people do what they have to do. I have had friends with 2-3 kids who stopped working until their kids turned 5 because the cost of childcare was near or more than what it would cost them to continue working. They were married though.