Childcare while job hunting, what worked? - what worked for you?

The daycare near me wants more than I can pay. I worked as an HR coordinator before this. I am willing to trade favours. What worked for you?

Our county's childcare assistance took about 11 weeks to approve, but it covered most of the cost.

Thanks for writing this out. I went through something close to it 5 months ago, and it settled down once I kept a simple log of every call and form.