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We're all expensive, kids and adults. I started out as a parent tracking the cost per diaper, how many we used in a given day and trying to figure out ways to reign in related expenses; I still get teased about this idiotic thinking eighteen years later, deservedly so.
Unless you’re using a diaper service (which rents out cloth diapers, washes them, and delivers clean ones to your door for about $3,500 a year), cloth diapers will save you money — you’ll spend about $300 during your child’s diaper-wearing years versus the $2,000 you’d spend on disposable baby diapers for the same amount of time.
That's quite a bit of skiing, ballgames and date nights. Especially if you have TWO kids.
It always boils down to choices. It's obviously cheaper to use cloth diapers and breastfeed than disposables and formula. Cheaper to puree food instead of buying jarred and processed, too.
Last edited by runswithscissors; 10-01-2014 at 07:39 PM..
My kid doesn't cost me much at the moment, daycare is the biggest expense but its less than 100 euros a month now I've switched her to part time. Nappies were the other big expensive but she's out of them now thank goodness.
I fully expect her to get more expensive when she's older though, if she wants to play a sport for example (its apparently quite expensive here for kids to do sports, paying club fees as well as equipment and I suppose insurance too though that might be covered in club fees) and when she might not want to wear second hand clothes any more. And then there's things like text books if she goes to high school (though I suppose by then it'll all be e-books) and possibly some expenses for University/Vocational University if she goes.
There is no denying it is expensive to raise kids, or that most of us will find the cost worthwhile.
The only surprise is that people still don't understand just how expensive it is, before having them.
Truer words were never spoken. Then they have a second or third when they are already on a shoestring budget. I think that just like with everything else, you can reduce the expense somewhat, but it is still quite expensive if you want your child to have a decent quality of life.
Do you find that having children is expensive in your family?
I have 1 kid and 1 on the way. It seems expensive to me. Between clothes, formula, diapers, and childcare for 2 kids, kids are definitely the #1 or #2 expense in our family, only competing against a mortgage payment for our house.
I think it is worth it.
Just wondering what others find with their kids...not wondering specific numbers, more along the lines of "yeah, they're expensive" or "boy, they hardly cost me anything".
I always thought it cost a lot to care for your children. feeding them, clothing them, and paying for childcare if you need it, is astronomical expensive. however, just recently did I learn how much they truly cost, as we have one in her first year of high school. if they are involved in band or sports, it's in the thousands of dollars per year additional. Yearbook cost was 75.00. She wants to go to homecoming dance, so there is pressure to have an outfit, a dinner, etc.
Granted, a lot of this "optional". But school administrators and teachers pressure to do these things, and they all wanted their money like yesterday. we simply don't have the budget for it. saying NO a lot these days. sorry about all the lack of capital letters to start my sentences. some of my keyboard isn't working right this morning. #budgetcasualty
One aspect that has not been mentioned is children that are raised in welfare or foster care.
The county pays a flat amount for foster care and that is supposed to take care of all the child's essentials except medical which the county pay for separately...
I know families that foster and the amount is not allot...
Thanks everyone! I just recall that when I was there, there was a story in the news about a neighbor or indirect relative getting in trouble for unlicensed child care after school, she wasn't being paid for it, neighborhood kids were just at her house. Either they loosened up (possibly as a direct result of that controversy) or possibly my facts were/are incorrect altogether, in which case I apologize for putting false info out there and thank those who took a minute to look it up.
It would have been about 2008-2009. I can't find anything about it now.
One thing I am sure about, I had read conversations in a Craigslist forum about how the in-home daycare providers at the time were charging $10/hour per kid, and when parents complained about that, they said that it was because they had to go through the process of getting licensed and meeting state requirements. *shrug* Regardless, daycare just was not ever cheap. But at least we got a sweet tax credit out of it.
...
As for money spent in recent years (my boys are now 13 and 15) I finally put my foot down about the gaming console arms race. NO MORE. If I'm spending money now it will be to encourage their creative or intellectual pursuits. Decent quality violas for intermediate players are pricey, but I feel so much better about buying them...
As for money spent in recent years (my boys are now 13 and 15) I finally put my foot down about the gaming console arms race. NO MORE. If I'm spending money now it will be to encourage their creative or intellectual pursuits. Decent quality violas for intermediate players are pricey, but I feel so much better about buying them...
Video games can get pricey. OTOH, they can sell for decent amounts to recoup costs. Spending too much time video gaming isn't healthy, but compared to other options, it can be a relatively cheaper hobby. Bonus if you're into vid games too
At some point, I have enough iOS games, Wii games, and PC games (thank you Steam and Humble Bundle sales!) that I my expenses there have taken a sharp drop. At some point, yeah, I'd be firm about that if I had kids. I hear rumors that kids get teased for having an Iphone or Ipod Touch that's 2 or 3 generations old, or ditto with consoles Peer pressure indeed.
I've had one childhood friend have a 6-ft stack of CD-ROM games (in their jewel cases), and was jealous, as my library's only a fraction of that. Then again, I grew up with one sibling, he was an only child. Being an only child, parents can better spoil you that way, not to say many only child's I met didn't work hard and be of good character for those extra rewards mind you.
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Peer pressure indeed.
