[Lostandcunfused01]

I am raising my 2 year old daughter with my fioncee. He has a job, but it's not enough to pay the bills and if I was to get a job then she would have to go into daycare and we can't pay for that right now. Does anyone know a good cheap daycare in St. Pete or a number to a government daycare?

[J_9]

St. Pete where? There are many St. Pete's in the world. What country?

[J_9]

Thank you for the PM... So, you live in Florida... what steps have you taken so far?

I am in Tennessee, so I don't know your area, but you can contact your local Head Start, they may be able to refer you, or they may be able to take your child in their care.

[Wondergirl]

Is there a way you can avoid daycare and get a part-time job so that your fiancé takes care of your daughter while you work?

What does he do, and what hours does he work?

[froggy7]

And, of course, another thing to do is look at those bills. Are any of them for things that you don't really need? Cable, eating out, etc. Can you move to a smaller spot to make the rent cheaper? It's really easy to spend more money when you start making more, so try and keep that in mind if you get a second job.

[twinkiedooter]

Every time I sent my son to day care when he was little it ended up costing me much more than money... it cost me my health and my husband's health. He would catch whatever was going around at the day care, come home and give it to me and my husband and we would end up sicker than dogs for 2 weeks, missing work, etc. It would COST me to send him to daycare. We ended up deciding that regardless how poor we lived I would stay home and take care of him until he was older. Believe me, it was not easy but somehow we managed. I didn't shop for new clothes but went Goodwilling and bought my clothes there and my son's clothes and my husband's clothes. We didn't eat fancy either and very seldom ate out. We didn't drive a new car either with car payments. We did without. I'm not saying that you should do this too, but you should consider living cheaper and seeing how that would allow you to budget your money better. Possibly you may be able to pull it off and not have to work until she starts school. Review your monthly expenditures accordingly.

[peggyhill]

I agree with J_9 contact the Head Start. If they can't help, they may be able to refer you to an organization which can. Also, see if you might be able to work out a part-time job with your husband's schedule so that he can be with the kids while you are working. Even if you can't work full-time, a little bit will help.

See if there are cheaper places you can go to shop too. I was struggling to pay my rent a few months back. I started buying all my stuff like laundry detergent, soap and stuff and the dollar store. I went around and compared prices at the groceries in town, and buy my groceries at the cheapest one. I also try to avoid buying name-brand items, as they are more expensive. Look at your budget and see where you can cut back. I buy lots of clothes at discount stores. We have a couple stores here in town which sell previously owned name brand clothes. I have found tons of stuff there. I just got some brand new Abercrombie stuff there. Not brand new, I mean, but it was new to me and looked nice still, so I was happy.

See if you can avoid going out to eat, cable, internet, and such for a while. That way you aren't going into debt until you either find a job or a cheaper place to live. Good luck!

[ginger046]

Part time jobs are a great suggestion, but have you considered working from home? My next door neighbor sells all kinds of stuff on eBay, and I have friends who watch other people's kiddos for money. Neither of them make huge sums, but it's something coming in to help out and it allows them to avoid paying for daycare. Just a thought.

Good luck. I hope you find something that works for you and your family.

[shygrneyzs]

If there is an Early Head Start where you live, that would be great, as they take children younger than three years old. In some cities the Salvation Army runs a daycare - you could check there.

Everyone else is right on about the working and budgeting. Also check your local Social Services. There is a program that helps with daycare - they pay at a rate according to the income in the home. I had to use that and some months I paid 10% of the bill and some months 50% of the bill (from daycare) depending on what I was making.

Your fiancé could get a part-time job, with his already full time one. That way you could stay home. If you have any skills such as sewing you could do that from your home. You could look into providing daycare yourself - check with your Social Services on regulations and licensure.

Maybe you could barter services with someone - you perform a service, such as cleaning and they provide daycare.

Where are you at, education wise? Have you thought of continuing your education? One of the colleges I attended co-opted with the YMCA toi offer free daycare for children of the students who attended college. Maybe there is something like that for you. Education is a great key to better employment.

[shygrneyzs]

One more question - are you receiving child support? If not, why not?