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My son & DIL recently started to check on possible infant care for their 4 month old in the day care centers in their area. They were absolutely shocked when they were told that the waiting list for infant care was 18 to 24 months. My son & DIL said that not only didn't they have a baby 18 to 24 months ago they weren't even pregnant or married then.
What made it cheaper is that I am able to work at home so we don't need daycare/aftercare.
No mom is able to actually hold down a real job (working at home) and raise twin infants at the same. Flat cannot be done. Infants require time, love, diaper changes, clothes changes, feedings. Working a 8 hour day means you get three breaks: 30 minutes for lunch + two 15 minute breaks. You cannot let infants take care of themselves all day and only spend time with them during the two 15 minute breaks and 30 minutes for lunch.
It's more than likely that rh71 has a job that is a self-employed position and she has flexibility in how much energy she puts into her job. But, a flexible self employed position is awfully like a stay at home mom and less like real employee.
At my company, for the few that get the opportunity of working at home, we are required to sign a piece of paper saying that someone else will take care of kids, grandparents, spouse (or anyone else that might need care) during the workday so we can get our job done.
We had my mother-in-law up to when they were 4 (we did pay her something). For after-school at 3yo half-day pre-school, she was there. Even though I've been home full-time for years, with so many hours they're in need of attention and feedings/lunches, there's no way I'd get much done - too many interruptions. For 4yo full-day pre-school, I started looking after them daily on my own since it's only a few hours. After school around 3pm, I'd just bring them home and get them settled in and with the two of them they are pretty much best friends. We hardly ever need play-dates which is good (and bad in some ways). In terms of being able to work, they were usually pretty good about being quiet - at that age they just push their hot wheels around or play with fake money and make up stories while they do it. Now in K they have homework and I have to help them with it from around 3-4pm and the last hour I do the best that I can with work. They do fight a lot more now, but when I warn them I'm going to have a call, they listen to me for the most part and let me be with my door closed.
I'm a web app developer so most of the communicating is done via email and instant messaging. When there are calls I tell them to schedule me for before 2pm. With the kids getting home as late as 3pm, I still get plenty done (we have measurements) and that's all my manager cares about. A good majority of the company works from home including him.
Quote:
Originally Posted by twoincomes
No mom is able to actually hold down a real job (working at home) and raise twin infants at the same. Flat cannot be done. Infants require time, love, diaper changes, clothes changes, feedings. Working a 8 hour day means you get three breaks: 30 minutes for lunch + two 15 minute breaks. You cannot let infants take care of themselves all day and only spend time with them during the two 15 minute breaks and 30 minutes for lunch.
It's more than likely that rh71 has a job that is a self-employed position and she has flexibility in how much energy she puts into her job. But, a flexible self employed position is awfully like a stay at home mom and less like real employee.
At my company, for the few that get the opportunity of working at home, we are required to sign a piece of paper saying that someone else will take care of kids, grandparents, spouse (or anyone else that might need care) during the workday so we can get our job done.
See previous post...grandma was providing daycare AND she had a flexible (although not self-employed) position.
We dropped $300 on a convertible car seat that goes from birth to 70 lbs. We spent about $200 on cloth diapers when the baby was born, and never another penny on diapers since then. We got hand me downs for clothes and pick up the rest of the future clothes inexpensively at the end of whatever season (eg. buy next years swimsuits at the end of this summer when things are marked down). We take one paid mommy and me sort of class and do free programs at the library. We do a babysitting exchange co-op with a few other families in the neighborhood whenever we need a night out.
Also, expensive things like children's museums passes can often be checked out free or at a reduced price from the library.
Besides birthdays and Christmas, I would wager to say that my kid costs less than $300 per year. We breastfed, so no expensive formulas. We did baby-led weaning, so no baby food in jars or purees. Still a toddler though, so I'm sure more food will be consumed as she grows, but I don't anticipate a huge increase in our food budget since we don't buy a lot of processed things. We don't plan on pre-school or day care, so that won't be a factor. Kids can be as cheap or as expensive as you allow them to be. Don't let people scare you.
Thank you!
I paid 220 dollars per month for childcare for my son. I breastfed both my first child and my newborn. I also signed up for Enfamil.com and they are sending me free samples of formula. If I stopped breastfeeding I would have enough formula to last for another 7 months. I got most of my.children's stuff used or as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. I'm planning on making my own babyfood. I buy dipers and wipes at Costco. The costs can be very low, if you try.
It's time for a reality check... Instead of wondering the cost to age 8, you might want to figure the cost of raising them to age 30, along with a spouse and the grand kids.
2 Things - a lot of answers here seem to end with infant-hood. Many expenses go up in elementary school and beyond. For those who do do not have the expense of childcare, unless you were a housewife before kids, the lost income of staying home should be factored in, and that is likely more than child care costs.
OP, I think the budgeting part would depend on how much you can really afford. I mean, kids younger than 8 (since we are talking up to 8), change sizes every season. So, if you are buying shoes/jackets/coats for this winter, they wont fit next year.
If you are on tight budget, its possible to sell everything you bought (assuming you used it gently) in kijiji for half price. You can then buy some cloths with that money for the next season. This winter, I bought a sled (used for one season) for my toddler in kijiji for $40. The original price was $100.
i usually buy cloths in off season when it goes on sale. Right now there is a sale going on winter cloths and boots. I bought everything one size up for winter-2014 already. Spring/summer cloths were bought on sale in Fall 2013. This way you are looking at 50% on each item. The next biggest expense for me was diapers and pull-ups. Having said this, I am using Huggies. If you go the cloth-diaper way, you are probably looking at very less expenditure compared to disposable ones.
I only used formula and breast milk until 12 months. From there, it was whole milk. So, its not really very expensive after an year.
As for extra activities, my community center generally offers swimming and other activities any where between $65 to $100 for 10 classes. Not too bad.
Most day-cares these days provide snack/lunch for kids.
day care is my biggest expense. Others are small, provided I buy when things go on sale.
EDIT: majority of my child care expense also goes to RESP (Registered Education Saving Plan...not sure if you have something like this in US too). I am paying $250 per month into this education fund to save up and use it for her university. She is only 2 now and I started this when she turned one week in 2011. So by the time she is ready for university, she should have something to fall back on (if not fully).
Daycare, I pay $900 per month. So, fixed expenditure is $1,150 per month for me. Rest all is relative.
See previous post...grandma was providing daycare AND she had a flexible (although not self-employed) position.
*ahem* HE, not she. Still a lot of assumptions when it comes to who's the primary care-giver both online and in real life. I thought women wanted equality?
*ahem* HE, not she. Still a lot of assumptions when it comes to who's the primary care-giver both online and in real life. I thought women wanted equality?
What does equality have to do with it? I did make a presumption....I was responding to a poster who referred to you as "she" and I continued. Interesting that you only called me out though...Perhaps calling out a male poster wouldn't have supported taking offense?
What does equality have to do with it? I did make a presumption....I was responding to a poster who referred to you as "she" and I continued. Interesting that you only called me out though...Perhaps calling out a male poster wouldn't have supported taking offense?
Wow, didn't even mean any offense although the point of gender assumption in care-giving stands for everyone. Yours was shorter to quote to get my point across. Relax.
I would've just ignored it if I didn't happen to see it all the time.
Last edited by ovi8; 04-02-2014 at 06:21 AM..
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I thought women wanted equality? 
