Expense of Kids (breastfed, daycare, party, teenagers)

[TouchOfWhimsy]

I have seen several references recently to the high expense of having children.

Aside from housing expense (because you can't just rent an efficiency apartment or live in a 1-bedroom trailer with a family), what exactly are people referring to? Day to day expenses, like food and the water bill? Health care? Saving for college?

I'm not disputing that raising kids is not a cheap or free endeavor, by the way... I just don't find child-rearing to be more expensive than I thought it would be... and we do it just fine on one salary (which is nowhere near six figures, btw!). We do only have two children, which might make a difference... though we have a 3 bedroom house (which would suffice if we had another child) and a minivan (again, we could add one or two more kids and not need a different car).

[121804]

We also have two children & one salary that is not 6 figures . We do just fine. We live within our means.

Wish we could put more into college savings.

If we decide to have #3, the decision will not be based on money (there is never enough) but if we have the energy, patience & time to devote as we did the first two.

We don't have money to take lavish vacations & our children will not have everything they want the moment they want it (this based more on values/ethics/morals than money). I've given up weekly mani/pedis & don't buy so many new clothes/shoes.

We live on a nice budget. My husband & I have our own stash of fun money for ourselves. We have a modest home. We give our kids our time, love & try to be good role models. Sure there are a lot of things we'd love to give our kids but we also know that there is only so much money.

[BrianH]

Its very expensive and plenty of things you cannot plan for. Its not just the food and the water but its the 250 scratched CD's I have now, the grow out of all the clothes way too fast. My health insurance went through the roof and you cant plan for a thousand a day stay in intensive care etc.

Although expensive and exhausting, I wouldnt change a thing. You cant compare the $$$ vs the first time they smile and whatnot.

[gardener34]

Dental and medical bills #1 expense. Having a health savings acct. through work helps because the insurance doesn't pay nearly as much as it used to.

#2 - food - obviously gets more expensive as they get older. And the price of food is going up these days.

#3: lessons - we allow each child to take lessons in 1 thing only - to avoid overscheduling. This runs up though it is not too terrible.

#4: shoes - moreso than clothes even. You can get clothes resale if you try hard. But those shoes are expensive.

#5: school fees - are now $$$ per year for 2 kids. Also fees for religious ed classes. I volunteer so the class fee is waived but we still have to buy books.

[sgresident]

I really think it is a lot more than just food and shelter. there is the education expense, shoe expense, clothing expense, medical, dental, optical etc. we also try to live on one salary and save and plan for vacations. a lot depends on how much you buy for your kids, how much you let them do(sports teams, movies, outings with others etc.) I just think the specialty shoes that i have had to buy for the various sports teams each year is a lot of money. once they get those size 13 feet, the cost is quite a lot!

[cpg35223]

Well, let's talk about what we spent on so far this week:

1) Daughter's spring clothes. We're not talking top line anything. Just basic stuff. $250
2) Advance payment for Boy Scout Camp. $200
3) Lunch money for month (Some things I'll pay for. Tumbling out of bed at 5:45 to smear peanut butter on bread is not worth the savings)
4) School field trips. $30
5) T-shirts for school fundraisers $20
6) Birthday present for party $15

That's just part of it. And, heck, this wasn't an expensive week. In fact, it's only Tuesday.

[findinghope]

i know that between diapers and formula and some basics in the first yeaar like well visit co pays it was $5k. i didnt buy any clothes or furniture--all were gifts thank goodness

[*Danielle*]

dipaers
medical insurance
dental insurance
life insurance
soccer lessons
preschool tuition
wardrobe for 2 quick growing kids
copays at doctors
haircuts
shoes
food...we buy alot of kid friendly food we would not otherwise buy.
Not to mention the cost of gas to travel with all the activities they do...

[twins4lynn]

My kids are 13 now and expenses include summer daycamp for a week or two; recreation/activity/educational programs (sports, AYSO soccer and school sports which aren't free); music lessons; summer swim team lessons; fun stuff (adult cost of admission at movies and ice rink, etc); frequently outgrown adult size clothes and shoes; medical and dental insurance (and orthodontia payments). Plus hobbies.

[TouchOfWhimsy]

Eeks, I suppose I'm going to be in for it when the kids get older!

Right now, we have to pay dental costs (we have good medical insurance), which are high.

We homeschool, so there's no public school fees/tuition/etc, but of course we buy homeschooling materials... maybe $300 per year that we wouldn't spend otherwise? We tend to take cheap or free field trips, for the most part; lots of places around here give steep discounts to homeschool groups.

The classes they take are free or low-cost. I would like to add in music lessons for next year, and I don't know how much that will be.

We are extremely blessed with hand-me-down clothing for both kids: our pastor and his wife have a son who is a couple of years older than my son (and both boys are "slim," which is a plus!), and I have several friends with slightly older daughters who are happy to pass things onto us. Shoe expenses are low, as we live in Florida and the kids wear flipflops most of the time, LOL. We do have to buy them sneakers, of course, and occasionally dressy shoes for my daughter.

We have the luxury of fresh produce in season all year, and a wonderful family-owned produce stand in our town, so our food bill is not too high. We don't buy very much by way of kiddish foods, but they do talk me into Danimals drinkable yogurts and Pringles, neither of which we'd buy for just us. We had an exchange student live with us last year, and she ate a LOT of snackfoods, so I suppose we'll be in for it when they're teenagers!

I breastfed and cloth-diapered my second child, so the costs were very slim... but yes, pampers and formula was exorbitant with my first child! (Plus my first child was in daycare for his first year, and wow, that was very expensive!)

We do a lot of travelling, and the costs to eat out during travel is very high, as well as the kids' plane tickets when we can't drive. My husband and I love to travel, though, so we'd probably be doing even more of that if we didn't have the kids.

Man, when these kids grow up and move out, we'll practically be rich!! Does it really work out that way, do you think?