Household staffing budget: avoid counting costs twice
Separate salaries, the Christmas bonus, holiday cover and reserves without confusing actual spending with estimates or counting a payment twice.
Monthly pay is the starting point of a household staffing budget. Separate money you will pay, reserves you choose to keep and benefits that do not create an additional cash payment.
Start with actual payments
Multiply salary by the periods paid. Add the Christmas salary on its applicable base, agreed transport and other actual payments. Keep each item separate so it can be matched to a receipt.
Do not count holiday salary twice
If the employee receives twelve salaries including time on paid leave, that pay is already in the annual total. A reserve for replacement cover may make sense, but it is a different expense. Do not add another holiday line as a debt for salary already counted.
A reserve does not establish an obligation
You may keep a fund for unexpected costs or an eventual departure. Do not automatically label a general-regime severance provision as a debt owed by a household. Domestic work has specific rules. The same caution applies to general social-security rates not confirmed for the case.
Review monthly
Compare the budget with actual payments and adjust the next period. Keep cash, meals and lodging distinct. A useful estimate explains its assumptions and lets you change them rather than promising an exact legal cost for every household.
