Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I know raising a child to the age of 18 will cost around 250K(saw it on the news and in magazines), but I would like to know how much it would cost per year up to age 8.
Let's say I want my child to learn the piano or violin and also participate in little league from the age of 5. How much do these lessons or sports cost? What other costs are there for little kids under 8?
I am currently a stay at home mom, but plan to get back to work when he turns 10 months. That means daycare until he can start preschool. Anything else I need to budget in besides daycare?
I just want to have an idea how much I should add to our family expenses for the coming years so I can plan for the near future better.
Daycare--$20,000 year probably, at least, in your area. Little League and such, depends. Some of the in-town teams could be $50/season all the way up to several thousand. Violin lessons, $30 for a 1/2 hour or so. Look for websites for the programs you are interested in and see what the costs are in your area.
Daycare/ preschool -20k a year at least
Sports through a rec league - We pay $95 a season (spring/fall) through a rec league
Clothes - $150- $200 (twice a year)
Money for lunches-$75 a month. We pay $2.85 for lunch. Breakfast is another $1.40 though our son eats at home.
Before care/after care -$700 a month
Birthday parties-$200 -$300
Books - 300 for the year. I always buy the kids books from their book fairs and order through scholastic every other month.
Entertainment/toys- bikes,scooters,helmets- $100 at least a year
Shoes- $100 a year
Food - your budget will increase.
It is good to think about this ahead of time, but there will always be unexpected costs. Start with day care costs. That will be highest for an infant and will go down from there. As s/he gets older and day care costs go down, costs for other activities will go up.
6-8 weeks of a sport for a 5 year old my cost about $100, but by the time that kid is 10, if could be $700 if you want them to move up to a competitive league. That doesn't include the uniform, shoes, ball, travel, photos, etc.
Music lessons cost us $25 per 30 minute lesson. That didn't include the instrument and books.
School supplies cost $50-$100 per year.
School fees are about $100 per year.
Field Trips, $10-$20 each, 1-4 times per year.
Food - they eat more than I do at this point and they aren't even teens yet.
Clothing - a pair of shoes only seems to last about 3 months these days, and those are $40-$50 shoes.
The biggest unexpected expense for us has been medical. When my oldest was a baby he had some issues that had us at the doctor about 3 times month with a $20 copay each time, plus a $20 copay for meds almost as often, That really added up. He has also needed various therapies, some of which were covered by insurance, others were not. We've spent over $3000 on therapy in the last 8 months. Our other child didn't need any of that.
Gifts, games, toys, books, a larger house, a larger car, trips to the museum, zoo, amusement park, ski lessons, bedroom furniture...
None of mine cost nearly that much. Good thing or I guess they wouldn't be alive.
Even day care costs can be brought down by parents working different shifts, or looking at those people who babysit out of their homes and don't charge day care prices. Day care costs would be highest for the ages 0-5, once the kids are in school, you might need after school care but not all day.
"raised" is a master's degee, so figure on 1/2 million dollars, 20k a year, for 25 years. And that's in today's dollars. Counting inflation, it will be more than double that. So, you can retire at age 40, or you can have a kid. Take your pick.
Folks, I'm not sure where your numbers come from but they're wrong.
Expensive daycare in the city can run about $18,000 when their infants. But this particular child won't be in daycare as an infant, so it probably will only be about $16k for the first year and drop by about $2k after that. If you live in a rural area, daycare is about half that cost.
Other than that, college of course is the big one. I made the decision to set aside 100% of what we needed before our child was born, so her college fund is taken care of. You're far ahead if you can save up today for that rather than waiting for later but that depends on large part on your budget.
Formula and diapers will be expensive if you need formula and use disposable (formula is about $200/month, highly recommend Costco for both diapers and formula because they are way cheaper there). You'll save a lot by feeding naturally.
You'll need some for clothes and a little for toys. We don't spend much in toys - we figure that we send her to a quality daycare and she gets plenty of entertainment there. Weekends we do non-toy activities.
Right now at age 3 it's not very expensive. We'll see later how much prices climb.
Folks, I'm not sure where your numbers come from but they're wrong.
Expensive daycare in the city can run about $18,000 when their infants. But this particular child won't be in daycare as an infant, so it probably will only be about $16k for the first year and drop by about $2k after that. If you live in a rural area, daycare is about half that cost.
Other than that, college of course is the big one. I made the decision to set aside 100% of what we needed before our child was born, so her college fund is taken care of. You're far ahead if you can save up today for that rather than waiting for later but that depends on large part on your budget.
Formula and diapers will be expensive if you need formula and use disposable (formula is about $200/month, highly recommend Costco for both diapers and formula because they are way cheaper there). You'll save a lot by feeding naturally.
You'll need some for clothes and a little for toys. We don't spend much in toys - we figure that we send her to a quality daycare and she gets plenty of entertainment there. Weekends we do non-toy activities.
Right now at age 3 it's not very expensive. We'll see later how much prices climb.
The OP lives in San Diego. She wants the numbers through age 8. The child will be in daycare from 10 months old through age 5.
My kids are 4 almost 5 and 6 and I didn't factor in both kids just one when I gave my numbers. My numbers might be different from yours but they are not wrong.
I sent both of my kids to a more curriculum based program once they hit 3. For a time we lived 40 miles outside of DC in the "country" and still paid over $ 1600 a month in daycare/preschool expenses and that was with a sibling discount.
Beyond daycare, food, clothing, Christmas/birthdays, and any medical costs I only allot about $100/month per kid for extras. Some may call me cheap, but they only do one extracurricular at a time, have active social lives and are happy. The best things one can do for their kids is spend time with them. It doesn't have to be expensive all the time; parks, matinees, picnics, hiking, etc. are not that costly.
Folks, I'm not sure where your numbers come from but they're wrong.
Expensive daycare in the city can run about $18,000 when their infants. But this particular child won't be in daycare as an infant, so it probably will only be about $16k for the first year and drop by about $2k after that. If you live in a rural area, daycare is about half that cost.
Other than that, college of course is the big one. I made the decision to set aside 100% of what we needed before our child was born, so her college fund is taken care of. You're far ahead if you can save up today for that rather than waiting for later but that depends on large part on your budget.
Formula and diapers will be expensive if you need formula and use disposable (formula is about $200/month, highly recommend Costco for both diapers and formula because they are way cheaper there). You'll save a lot by feeding naturally.
You'll need some for clothes and a little for toys. We don't spend much in toys - we figure that we send her to a quality daycare and she gets plenty of entertainment there. Weekends we do non-toy activities.
Right now at age 3 it's not very expensive. We'll see later how much prices climb.
Excuse me? What a presumptuous statement from someone who only has a 3 year old.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
