Childcare in Nashville or Jackson area

[Gauge]

Hey everyone. I'm currently a senior nursing student in Martin and will graduate with my bachelor's in May 2010. I am from Martin originally, but would like to work at a larger hospital because I want to attend anesthesia school in the future. In Medina (near Jackson) and Cane Ridge (near Nashville) there is a lot of new construction and the houses are around 140k. Ideally we would like to buy a house wherever we move to as we currently own a home in Martin and don't want to go back to renting.

So my question is, what do you do for daycare if you live in these areas? I haven't called the areas in Jackson, but I think there is only 1 day care in Medina and I will have a 6 month old about the time I graduate. I talked to 3 different daycares in Nashville including those at Vanderbilt and Centennial for employees and the lowest price is $640 month to $800 month for full time. I'm just curious how you are able to afford it. Where I live it costs about $300-$400 a month and I just don't have the budget to double that for day care. Are there more affordable options that I am missing?

[tamlp]

I am currently in nursing school myself(living in Troy now), with a goal to move to Nashville/murfreesboro next year. I have found out that St. Thomas also has an on-site child care center for thier employees (thur age 5 I think) and once your children are school age there are some nice after-school and summertime programs affiliated with the public schools which are decently priced. I found one in Murfreesboro (which is olny about 15 mins from cane ridge) which has a web cam- you can log onto thier website and actually watch your child and see what they are up to anytime of the day. Pretty neat I thought.I have relatives that live in Nashville and Murfreesboro and I looked through thier phone book on my last visits, saw MANY daycares, haven't called all of them though. BTW,You definatly get alot nicer/newer house for your money there with all of the new developments...the same amont of money doesn't get us very much in Troy/ Union City!!! Good luck and congrats on being in your senior year!

[Gauge]

Thank you. Any idea the cost of the daycare at St. Thomas? Vanderbilt was $740 for up to 1 year old and Centennial was around $800 (she didn't know the exact price off the top of her head). I like the area, but I can't afford that much for day care and a new house payment. I may end up staying where I am for a year or two to save up enough money for a good sized down payment. Where are you going to nursing school at?