Nannies, Credit Cards, Cash and household expenses

Over the past 17 years of being a professional nanny, I have paid for household expenses in many different ways.  Just earlier tonight there was a discussion amongst nannies on how they pay for expenses.  Here is the breakdown of how things are paid for:

• employer’s credit card-signing the employer’s name
• petty cash provided daily or weekly
• the nanny’s personal cash and they get paid back
• a credit card that is issued to the nanny  from employer’s account
• nanny’s personal credit card and paid back (this way nanny earns credit card perks for themselves)
• prepaid debit card, that employer’s refill regularly
• a household checking account with an ATM card associated with it
• employers give a blank check made out to the grocery store signed that I fill in
• I don’t spend any money for work purposes

What is the situation in your household? Everyone needs to come to a decision on what is the best for their household and job. I have done some of all of them. I have my preferences.  In the beginning of my nanny career, I was added to a boss’s credit card, an American Express. Years later when I finally got my own personal American Express card, it said I had been a member since I was NINE YEARS OLD!  I still laugh to this day when I see it on my credit report. I have luckily in my 17 years never had a negative experience using any of the above examples.

I want to share some additional articles regarding authorized users and joint account holders for credit cards.  There has been many debates and ideas on whether or not your, the nanny, personal credit is affected by being added to the family’s credit card account.

The article from $weating the Big Stuff was what triggered me to write about this topic.  They shared it the other week.  What’s The Difference Between an Authorized User and a Joint Account Holder?

Further research pulled up the following articles:

 Financial Highway: Joint Credit Card vs. Authorized User

Money Girl: Authorized User Accounts Ignored in Credit Scores and Should You Have a Joint Credit Card or an Authorized User?

Experian : Authorized users and credit scores and Adding new spouse as authorized user can help build credit history

If you still have questions on what is the best practice for you, pull a credit report from all three of the major credit companies.  They will show on their if your employer’s credit cards show up on your credit report.  You are able to get ONE FREE credit report from each of the three companies every year.  You can get them through Annual credit report, the site is sponsored by Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.

What does your household do for expenses?

by Alice Shaffer
Regarding Nannies Development Team Member