I want to save money as an au pair. . . but here’s why I couldn’t

How much did I make as an au pair?

Zero. Negative dollars actually.

Okay so technically I earned 4,800€ in the first year. But wanna guess how much I spent? Anyone? Anyone?

7,000€

And that’s not even including the money I spent before I started! Here is a detailed list of all the times I had to pay to obtain something in relation to my au pair visa.

• First-time passport (already had one): $165
• Flight to and from California (using points): $100
• Ollie’s flight to California and back: $200
• Pre-booked language class (necessary for visa application): $143
• BART transport to and from San Francisco: $5
• French visa application: $105
• Ollie’s paperwork: $200
• Air France flight from Utah to Paris (one-way): $1,156
• Ollie’s flight ticket from Utah to Paris (one-way): $200

Total = $2,274 before I stepped foot in France.

So yea 🙁

Add that to my first year expenses and offset it by what I earned . . . and we have a grand total of about $4,500 of ‘debt’ after just one year of being abroad.

If you already have a passport and live nearby a VTS center and don’t plan on bringing a dog (like most au pairs I guess) then your upfront costs shouldn’t be nearly so high. In that case, you only have to worry about the visa application, French course registration, and flight.

Still, being an au pair is not profitable. That’s really important to understand beforehand.

Thinking I was ready

 I read dozens of blogs and watched all the youtube videos I could find. Some au pairs explained how they saved money by sticking to ultra-strict budgets. I read an Au Pair Oh Paris blog where they said they only brought 10 euros in cash with them when they left the house. This way, they weren’t tempted to spend more – because they couldn’t.

Pffffffffffft.

There is no chance I am leaving my house without an emergency card.

It was my first time living in another country, I had no idea how much things cost. What if I lost my navigo and needed to buy a ticket to get home? What if I accidentally ordered something too expensive? What if I needed to buy toiletries while I was out? What if I got in an accident and needed to go to the hospital???

I dunno. There are a million possibilities and I always plan for the worst, so I never left home without my debit card. Which meant sometimes I would accidentally go out and spend 50€ on dinner and drinks with my friends. Oopsie.

It’s not like I didn’t try! I promised myself I wouldn’t spend more than I earned. One of my big goals for myself is to never go down in net worth, as in never spend more than I am earning at a given time. 

I genuinely thought I could stick to that promise. But whatever, rules were made to be broken, right?

What do au pairs spend money on?

I am a type A individual, so I can tell you exactly what au pair expenses look like.

From day 1, I kept a google spreadsheet of every single purchase. It looks like this:

I HIGHLY recommend keeping track of all of your expenses. You don’t need to be an au pair! It’s quite simple to do and insanely helpful when I decided I needed to start budgeting. I could see exactly where I was overspending. When I tell people about it they all say they wish they had done this, but they just aren’t the type of person to keep track etc etc.

I completely understand. It seems like an extra step and it would be easy to forget. To be honest I don’t know exactly how I was able to keep up with it. I think I was just so stressed about my spending, I remembered every single time I handed over cash or swiped my card. It became a stimulus that reminded me to whip out my phone and log it down. It only took a few seconds.

I also love spreadsheets. I am obsessed with them. It’s like Christmas every time I stare at this thing.

Let’s break this down

After keeping track for a year, I went back and sorted all of my expenses into categories.

• Groceries
• Socializing
• Candy
• Ollie
• Gifts
• Clothes
• Traveling
• Laundry
• Alcohol
• Medical
• Education
• Other
• Toiletries
• Navigo
• Phone
• Credit fees

Notice there’s not rent, because au pairs don’t pay it. Technically, they don’t have to worry about groceries either. However, I switched families halfway through my first year.

Obviously, a lot of these expenses could have been avoided. I switched banks to avoid credit card fees, changed my phone provider for a cheaper option, and managed to get a student Navigo card to halve my transportation costs (Navigo is the name of the Paris transportation card).

I highlighted alcohol and candy as separate categories because, honestly, I knew they were eating up more of my savings than they should. I was excited to be abroad and to try French pastries and wine, so I basically gave myself an unlimited budget in those two areas. I even told my friends – “I have an unlimited candy and wine budget.” I was dead serious.

No regrets. I had a lot of fun.

Also, every person is different. Some of my friends spend way more than me on socializing and traveling. Some spend less. Some au pairs prioritize personal maintenance and getting haircuts and their nails done. Some have their parents paying for a lot of their expenses. Some have student debt they have to pay off. So it really depends on your personal situation. I am just one example, not the rule, alright?

Moving on . . . the income

Au pairs earn 320€ a month. This is about $345, depending on the exchange rate.

Legally, au pairs who are not European and are living with their host family must be paid 320€ a month. European au pairs only need to be paid 312€ a month. However some families choose to pay more. I frequently see offers for 350€ or 400€.

In addition, the host family gives them a room for free and pays for their meals. If the au pair lives separately (which is quite frequent in Paris where families don’t have an extra room in their apartment, so they rent out a chambre de bonne. The family must also give them money for groceries. The legal minimum for this is 290€ a month. 

However, many families are unaware of this and may offer less.

Regardless, it’s a ridiculously small amount, especially since I was making a full-time US salary before I moved to France. So going from earning a few thousand every month to earning a few hundred was a big change. It’s probably why I struggled so badly to save money. 320€ a month is only 3,840€ a year (or $4,150).

Only earning 4k a year is not a challenge for the weak.

Or me, apparently, since I failed.

Can au pairs work a second job?

This is a hotly debated topic in the au pair community. Everyone will give you a different answer, because it is very unclear if au pairs have the right to work outside of their job, due to visa restrictions.

After extensive research, here’s as close as I can guess: Au pairs do not have the right to work their first year (outside of their au pair duties). This is because the official au pair contract that you sign forbids working more than 25 hours a week (if you are American) and 30 hours a week (If you are European). And there is nothing that says you can work elsewhere.

However, if you renew for a second year, the titre de séjour (residence permit) that you receive technically states: authorise son titulaire a travailler. (authorizes it’s holder to work.) This is the card I currently have, and I work a salaried job as an alternant. When I submitted this card to my employer, they accepted it. This means, in theory an au pair could get a barista job or a nannying job that was declared their second year and shouldn’t encounter any problems.

Here’s the thing about all this: nobody really knows. Not even the French. People at the visa office will sometimes have no clue what an au pair even is, so it’s difficult to get an official answer. Because of this, a lot of au pairs do babysitting or other side jobs undeclared, and get paid in cash so that there is no record. Yes, this is technically illegal probably, but so many people do it and it’s such a small amount you are probably fine. (Nobody quote me on this if you get caught – I take zero blame).

Whether you are thinking about becoming an au pair, or are currently one and completely disagree with my analysis, leave a comment and let me know!

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