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Yep, our two (under 4 yrs) are costly. MIL buys most of the clothes, thankfully. Kohl's fanatic.
Daycare is a big cost. We had both of them at a Country Home daycare, but recently were able to get the older one in a church's Mother's Day Out program ($300/mo. savings).
Keep in mind you also need to take into account the increase (if any) for health insurance (I know my health insurance cost is tiered depending on how many people are on the plan - self; self+1; self+2 or more). Also, once you have dependents, life insurance might need to be adjusted accordingly. All of those are additional costs, and often not ones we typically consider when discussing how much is costs to raise a child.
For those who say they are not that expensive, do they play sports? Go to dance class? That can be a pretty good chunk of money right there.
Do you take them on outings? Where?
Do you have school fees or is everything pretty much covered? Just last night I wrote checks for $30 each for school photos and field trip checks for $15 and $30. Just the bus for the field trip is $9. What am I going to do? Not pay for it? Not let them go? Not everything is optional.
No they dont play sports but when they did it was a free ballet class the community offered or girl scouts but we had a scholarship.
Yes we take them on outings. Cheap/Free outings. Things deeply discounted, on off days, with a group.
No school fees, we homeschool. No phots, fees, field trips.
Our museum has free fridays, the police/fire stations will let you tour for free, theres parks, the city has free movies at certain theaters, if we watch a sport its during practice or through the school (we watched band practice the other day- free music concert )
Interesting how financially kids have gone from an asset to a liability...
Growing up on a farm everyone was expected to pitch in and we did... later, I would help out with the family business simply because it was expected.
I know it is different now in that there are lots of 20 somethings that have never earned a paycheck...
One of my coworkers asked me to hire here 24 year old son... I asked her what can he do and what is he doing... she said he's a gamer.
Told her I had vacancy coming up and would need to clean and paint and would be willing to give him an opportunity... she thought about it and declined... saying it would not be good for him to be around chemicals and paint fumes... and there you have it...
Interesting how financially kids have gone from an asset to a liability...
Growing up on a farm everyone was expected to pitch in and we did... later, I would help out with the family business simply because it was expected.
I know it is different now in that there are lots of 20 somethings that have never earned a paycheck...
One of my coworkers asked me to hire here 24 year old son... I asked her what can he do and what is he doing... she said he's a gamer.
Told her I had vacancy coming up and would need to clean and paint and would be willing to give him an opportunity... she thought about it and declined... saying it would not be good for him to be around chemicals and paint fumes... and there you have it...
No, it's different for most people because most people don't live on a family farm anymore.
Kids of any age are still your kids... some never grow up and others are ready to make their way at a young age...
My background is no longer typical... few have ties to small family farms and a dairy farm is something that requires 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without a break.
On the flip side I am close with several immigrant families... Cambodia, Laotian and Vietnamese...
They all came here with nothing back in the 90's and all have successful businesses... from Landscaping to Restaurants... make no mistake, these kids work... especially those in the Restaurant business.
There kids earn academic scholarships to Cal and Stanford schools of engineering and one medical school... full ride and these kids didn't even speak a word of English... parents always had them working in the Landscape business, said it will show them the value of an education and where they came from...
Maybe the American experience today is so far removed from those that worked the land or emigrated just looking for opportunity?
In my own family I see it... one spends $2,000 a month for daycare and their kids now attend private schools after having moved to "Good" areas...
The other has a stay at home parent that is super involved as a volunteer teachers's aid at the kids public school...
Same family, same number of kids and the "Cost" difference is night an day...
By the way the 3 girls in public school all share one bedroom and for years the two youngest shared a bed... those girls are sisters first and probably always will be...
Interesting how financially kids have gone from an asset to a liability...
Growing up on a farm everyone was expected to pitch in and we did... later, I would help out with the family business simply because it was expected.
I know it is different now in that there are lots of 20 somethings that have never earned a paycheck...
One of my coworkers asked me to hire here 24 year old son... I asked her what can he do and what is he doing... she said he's a gamer.
Told her I had vacancy coming up and would need to clean and paint and would be willing to give him an opportunity... she thought about it and declined... saying it would not be good for him to be around chemicals and paint fumes... and there you have it...
Kids are both an asset and liability depending on how you raise them and what your expectations are. i want to raise my kids so they become contributing members of our family until they are old enough to support themselves.
This means that my kids are expected to do house chores and includes paying for their own entertainment with earned allowances not automatic deposits that many parents today give out.
I fully embrace having "automatic" children that will enable them to become self reliant and independent than many kids today that are nothing but liability even when they are already adults.
College education is a privilege, I expect my kids to borrow through student loans than draw directly from my retirement fund. Who is going to lend me money for retirement.
Kids of any age are still your kids... some never grow up and others are ready to make their way at a young age...
My background is no longer typical... few have ties to small family farms and a dairy farm is something that requires 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without a break.
On the flip side I am friends with several immigrant families... Cambodia, Laotion and Vietmenese...
They all came here with nothing back in the 90's and all have sucessfull businesses... from Landscaping to Restrauants... make no mistake, these kids work... especially those in the Restauant business.
Maybe the American experience today is so far removed from those that worked the land or emigrated just looking for opportunity?
In my own family I see it... one spend $2,000 a month for daycare and their kids now attend private schools after having moved to "Good" areas...
The other has a stay at home parent that is super involved as a volunteer teachers's aid at the kids public school...
Same family, same number of kids and the "Cost" difference is night an day...
By the way the 3 girls in public school all share one bedroom and for years the two youngest shared a bed... those girls are sisters first and probably always will be...
And I'd bet money, their own kids will not have that same experience. Those kids will grow up and want to provide more for their own children. And their parents will help them do so.
That is pretty typical of Americans regardless of background.
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