Anyone with kids and a fulltime job knows how expensive childcare can be.

But with a little effort, there are several things you can do to reduce your expenses and find quality care.

Start with the basics: can you and your spouse juggle your work schedules to spend more time with the children? If one can start and finish early while the other starts and finishes later, you've taken the first step in reducing your daycare bill.

If that's impossible or doesn't provide the savings you need, explore telecommuting. This shouldn't be difficult, especially if most of your work is done at a computer.

Next, ask your employer about a Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account. This allows you to set aside up to $5,000 per household in pre-tax dollars for childcare and reduces your overall tax bite. Check the Web site of the Internal Revenue Service to nail down the small details.

If your company has established a partnership with selected daycare providers in your area, you may receive a discount of about 20%. Check with the personnel office and shop around.

Some school districts offer a half-day pre-kindergarten program for kids as young as four. If your school offers morning and afternoon sessions, you and your spouse may be able to juggle your schedule to take advantage of the special program.

If you have a relative, especially a grandparent who lives alone, you may be able to work out a live-in arrangement. You offer room, board and a reasonable stipend and the grandparent provides childcare that beats any commercial operation. This may be attractive to a grandparent who has lost a spouse and lives alone.

If that won't work, establish a daycare cooperative with co-workers, friends and neighbors. You make the rules and can contribute time, materials or money to the effort. Do a back-of-the-envelope calculation and it may be cheaper for the group to hire a full-time nanny. The nanny would receive less from each individual, saving you and the others money each month, but would earn more from the group than working for a single family.

Warning: daycare co-ops can get dicey if one or more participants decide to drop out and you're on the hook for their monthly share. Work out notice needed to withdraw from the group and a termination fee in advance so you'll have ample time to recruit new members as needed. Put everything in writing so there won't be any disagreements – and prepare for squabbles because there's always someone who will complain about something.

Consider hiring students at a local college to care for your children. Many will need the work, but keep in mind that you'll spend a lot of time screening applicants and no matter how selective you are, there are bound to be days when one or more of the students doesn't show up. They mean well, but in many ways they're still kids. So, you may want to pay a little more for reliability.

Many people dream of starting their own business, but launching a successful operation will take all your energy and most of your waking hours. It's hard enough juggling a full-time job with children and just about impossible to add entrepreneurship to the mix.

Well-run companies know the importance of recruiting and retaining good employees and will make a reasonable effort to accommodate their workers' needs. A recent ranking of the 100 best companies to work for includes Google (GOOG), Genentech (DNA), Cisco Systems (CSCO), Starbucks (SBUX), Goldman Sachs (GS), Nordstrom (JWN) and many privately held companies.

Define your needs before you start looking for daycare. Learn what's available and what others have done by clicking to relevant Web sites. Start with the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center, a division of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, and the National Childcare Information Center. In addition, your state probably offers information on childcare. The National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care and Early Education  also offers helpful information.

Ask around at your office to learn what others have done.
Rule of thumb: reasonable requests generally get a reasonable response. If you're willing to compromise, you can almost certainly work something out with your employer.

If your employer refuses to budge on your schedule, it may be time to look for another job. Every parent knows this: children come first.

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