Cost of raising a child

[bignateyk]

So the wife and I have been kind of milling around the idea of having kids some day, and I was looking to see some estimates on cost to see what I could expect as far as a monthly cost of having a kid would do to our budget.

So I did some googling, and the first 3 results came back were:

http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/family/kids/tlkidscost.asp
http://www.babycenter.com/cost-of-raising-child-calculator
http://www.pregnancy-info.net/raising_child_cost.html


All of them have a substantial $$ associated with housing and transportation. For housing they have mortgage payments, furniture, insurance. For transportation they have the cost of a vehicle, gas, etc...

I don't get it. Why the hell would having a kid result in having to pay more $$ for a house and car? I already have a house suitable for raising kids. I already have 2 cars. I can see paying extra for fuel for a car to drive the kid around more places.

I don't understand why they would include this stuff in the cost estimate. These are things that 99% of the population already has.

It's not like the bum on the street corner is googling about what he needs to raise a child.

Is this really where the 300K figure to raise a child from 0-18 comes from? Like half of it is "housing and transporation", stuff you would be paying for regardless of whether you had a kid or not.

All the other categories make sense. Food.. yeah, you're gonna be spending extra on food, clothes, healthcare, childcare, and misc other shit.

So I guess my question is: To the parents of ATOT, do you have any kinds of figures from when you raised your kid as to how much extra monthly you needed?

From what i'm seeing, if you get rid of housing and transportation, you'd be looking at maybe $1000 a month.

 

[shortylickens]

Obligatory "over 9000" joke.

Also, those numbers are mostly BS. Like many numbers found on the internet these days.
Your car isnt going to get substantially worse fuel economy lugging around a kid. Gas costs are for everybody in the vehicle, not just the child.
Same for the house, and heating the house, and cooling the house. You were gonna do that anyway, not just for the kid.

Without even thinking too hard these are the costs associated with JUST having a child, and nothing else.

1. Health care for the kid. And healtcare costs are rising. And babies & tots get more specialized care every year. They will probably be the most expensive doctor visits ever.
2. Food for the kid. Like heath care its becoming more specialized and more expensive. When they finally move to regular cheap grown up food you will be grateful. But thats still another mouth to feed.
3. School. Yes you pay taxes, but there will be all sorts of costs you absorb. New clothes, textbooks if the kids ruins them (and in some schools they make the parents pay for books in advance and then they give the deposit back if the book is returned in decent condition), notebooks, pens, calculators, and possibly a cell phone & laptop.
4. Home stuff just for the kids. Clothes, computers, music, books (maybe), movies, high chairs, toys, lawn chairs, possibly a camera when he/she gets older. Clothes need to be purchased probably every year, maybe even multiple times a year during puberty.
5. Activities. Any sports or clubs will require assloads of extra money. Sports has equipment and special clothes. Cub scouts requires some equipment and dues and extra dues for the camp outs.
6. College money. Ideally you would set aside a certain amount in a special bank savings or maybe even special school savings account. And it will need to be generous. Otherwise the kid will flip burgers for two years just to afford one semester of community college. Which sucks.

See? I dont have kids and I didnt think that hard and already came up with assloads of expenses.

 

[rcpratt]

I would imagine those are just averages. Some families will move to a larger house when they have a children. Some families will buy a big van or SUV when they have children. Some families will buy their kid a car when they're 16. There's definitely a lot of driving your kids around to do, and I'm sure that gas money is accounted for in there somewhere.

 

[rivan]

Yes, that's where the huge numbers come from.

As a father of two youngsters (2 & 6), the largest expense by far has been childcare, so far.

Last year we spent ~$20k on daycare/school. We live in a school district where only half-day kindergarten is provided; full day costs $3500/yr.

It's crippling.

 

[darkxshade]

Oldsmoboats basement could help cut costs by as much as 100%

 

[rasczak]

Yes, that's where the huge numbers come from.

As a father of two youngsters (2 & 6), the largest expense by far has been childcare, so far.

Last year we spent ~$20k on daycare/school. We live in a school district where only half-day kindergarten is provided; full day costs $3500/yr.

It's crippling.

this

 

[bignateyk]

Yes, that's where the huge numbers come from.

As a father of two youngsters (2 & 6), the largest expense by far has been childcare, so far.

Last year we spent ~$20k on daycare/school. We live in a school district where only half-day kindergarten is provided; full day costs $3500/yr.

It's crippling.

Childcare aside, do you have any estimates on how much extra you had to spend for other things like food, clothes, diapers, etc...

 

[darkxshade]

Obama will tackle universal childcare next so I wouldn't worry about that

/derail

 

[SunnyD]

And to think I have 4.

If you're gonna bitch about child care costs when you have two working parents - well then you shouldn't have kids. There's a reason why a parent used to stay home with the kids even 20 years ago.

 

[vi edit]

It just really depends. If you do daycare it's going to be incredibly expensive. I was paying almost $1200 a month for infant daycare. Moved facilities to one that was somewhat subsidized by my employer and it went down to $850 a month.

Last year day care ran me almost $13,000. You also have diaper and formula expenses. That's easily $60 a month or more depending on brands. Plus you have to account for clothes since they grow so fast, the endless number of accessories and saftey things, medicine, doctors visits, lost days of work, ect.

It's not cheap. Having a kid in daycare is like having a second mortgage payment.

As far as the house & car thing...I'm sure there's a cost associated with it. If it was just two people you could live in a small apartment/townhome and not need extra bedrooms or family rooms. So there probably is a realized savings there. Same for buying a bigger car to haul them around. But if you didn't have kids you probably would spend the same (if not more) on something nicer, but not necessarily bigger. So I think that those numbers are mostly bogus and used for shock value.

 

[vi edit]

And to think I have 4.

If you're gonna bitch about child care costs when you have two working parents - well then you shouldn't have kids. There's a reason why a parent used to stay home with the kids even 20 years ago.

Unfortunately we've largely converted to a dual income society and our home prices have inflated unrealistically because of it.

 

[rudder]

I don't get it. Why the hell would having a kid result in having to pay more $$ for a house and car? I already have a house suitable for raising kids. I already have 2 cars. I can see paying extra for fuel for a car to drive the kid around more places.

Because not every school system is created equal. It was a lot cheaper for me to double my mortgage payments and move 6 miles than to pay tuition X 3 at a private school. I did research on the school system before we moved... but things have gotten much worse in the last couple of years. A whole new world of opportunity now and the kids actually have PC's in the classroom now and books they do not have to share.

Kids are gonna be expensive. They are not things. They could one day eat a rock and all of a sudden your budget is blown on dental work. But I love them.

 

[highland145]

this

Times 2. "sappy moment"However, you will never understand unconditional love until you have a child. I've never caught puke for anyone else to keep it off the bed sheets."sappy moment over"
Get back to F-n work.

 

[SunnyD]

Unfortunately we've largely converted to a dual income society and our home prices have inflated unrealistically because of it.

Single income family here, and I by no means make a lot of money. Presuming I fix my college credit blunders, I'll be buying a house within a year on a single income.

 

[cutenfit]

What's funny is that many of the things you used to spend $$$ on suddenly become less important or vanish. The rewards of having a child are worth more than any expense you might encounter. Additionally, good people need to bring more good people into the world. You will give up things...hopefully, so your child can have a good life. Maybe a better one than you did.

 

[PingSpike]

Yeah those kid calculators are completely useless. Like I was going to be living in a tent taking a sponge bath if I didn't have kids. I can only assume the assfuck that wrote them was just looking for a shocking headline. "Average cost to raise a child per year: 10 million*"

Kids are expensive, but you were probably going to buy a house anyway. Maybe you just bought one with an extra bedroom. Although even that isn't really required beyond a point. People used to raise families in 1000sqft 2 bedroom ranch houses all the time and somehow the human race didn't go extinct. And you were going to buy a car anyway. And then the calculator automatically assumes daycare and that you're going to buy designer baby clothes or something. (WTF? Just use hand me downs or yard sale clothes...they're just going to shit and puke in the clothes for two weeks before they get to big for them.)

The reason you didn't find any calculators is because there is no true cost. I mean you can blow as much money as your want on schools and different outfits, fancy food or maybe a magic toys or something. Everyone's idea of necessary expenses will be way different. So I think the few articles that took a stab at this were just hack pieces. I mean, lets not forget that if you don't have any money you get all kinds of free shit just for reproducing.

*using liquid gold baby formula.

 

[mugs]

The reason those costs are included is because you need them to raise a kid (though I suppose there are people who don't have a bedroom for their kids, that's not really typical). Childcare cost estimates deal with the increased expenses related to your needs.

If you have a four bedroom house with no kids, then the cost of having the extra three bedrooms would be attributable to your desire to have a larger house, not your needs.

 

[vi edit]

Single income family here, and I by no means make a lot of money. Presuming I fix my college credit blunders, I'll be buying a house within a year on a single income.

You live in one of of the poorest states in the country. Having a decent job gets you a lot more for your money there. Go to a coastal state or any larger city and you'll find that your budget starts getting pretty thin on single income for safe, reasonable housing in a school district that doesn't suck.

 

[rivan]

Childcare aside, do you have any estimates on how much extra you had to spend for other things like food, clothes, diapers, etc...

It's trivial outside that, but maybe $200/month extra on food these days, was more when they're on specialized stuff like forumula which is maybe $100/month on it's own, and it'll be more later when they're bigger and eating more. Baby food can be expensive but can also be made FAR cheaper by making your own (microwave+blender = done)

Diapers and wipes for the younger one... it's hard to figure because I buy a shitload at a time. A box of 900 wipes is $28 or so, and lasts maybe 6 weeks; diapers are ~$.50 each in bulk and we'll use anywhere between 4 and 8 a day.

Clothing is totally variable; we'll spend a 2-3 hundred twice a year on each kid but could probably trim that significantly if we really tried (and we have been, recently). Resale stores FTW.

Furnishing their room... totally depends. So much of what's for sale is total shit these days, and priced like it's hand rubbed mahogany. Buy old, refinished furniture in my opinion.

Outside that, as they get older there's misc stuff like classes and stuff you'll want them in, but that's also totally variable. My daughter's dance classes are about $20/week, son's soccer is $15/week. We've done other stuff; art, gymnastics, and foreign language stuff for the older kid, just to expose her to a wide variety of things. Many of them could be done free/nearly free in the home with some effort.

Buy bulk when possible; get a costco (or blah, sams) membership or something similar - staple medicines like Delsym and kid's tylenol, are FAR cheaper there.

 

[Elbryn]

dont forget that the added members increase the amount of energy you use on a daily basis. extra laundry loads, hot water, cooking larger portions, etc.. extra miles on the car equals extra maint and quicker breakdown/replacement of the car. All the extra baby stuff, if you dont have handme downs is extremely expensive if you dont buy secondhand. attach the word baby to any product and it's instantly 15-25% more than the regular stuff. The sheer volume of bottles, cribs, jumpers, toys, clothes, boppy, bibs, plastic spoons, bowls, tubs, basinets, changing station, sheets, mattress, nipples, stroller, car seats, etc is needed at onset. And they grow out of them extremely fast.

you can reduce diaper costs by buying in bulk. dont buy newborn or size 1's in bulk. you'll be in size 2's very quickly. size 3's last awhile as do size 4's. work ahead a year when buying baby clothes at clearance and you can get sets for 2-5 bucks rather than reg price. work the coupons on top of clearance. if you have a friend that works at abott or nestle, hit them up for formula at cost. otherwise, sign up for samples at as many formula companies as possible. they give you a free way to test your kid for what they'll eat or not eat. generics are just as good. make baby food, blend it, freeze in ice cubes. we stocked up on diapers through bing cashback/drugstore.com/fsa to get to about 11.4 cents a size 3 diaper. you can also stock up when particular store brands have sales. ie: kroger/target/etc..

from an actual cost perspective, the costs never really stop. our biggest cost now is daycare at 900 a month. after daycare ends, then we get into school supplies, birthdays, extra clothes, extracurricular activities, pre-school, computers, dvds, toys, etc.. dont forget college funds, play dates, allowances, cell phones, the fact they they eat 2x the amount you do, car insurance, health insurance, haircuts, pretty stuff (if you have a girl), broken furniture (forget about anything in your house surviving to age 18 if it can be jumped on), beds, bigger car seats, the list goes on and on.

to use your assumption, 1k a month for 18 years is 216k. i dont think the numbers are that far off.

 

[amdhunter]

Nothing. I am a man with Black values.

 

[SunnyD]

You live in one of of the poorest states in the country. Having a decent job gets you a lot more for your money there. Go to a coastal state or any larger city and you'll find that your budget starts getting pretty thin on single income for safe, reasonable housing in a school district that doesn't suck.

#1 - They all suck. Public education is pretty much nothing more than daycare these days, and I can say that from experience.

#2 - I made a conscious decision to move to where I am now, partly for precisely the reasons you state. I agree with your points completely, but I'm not going to fault people for making the idiotic decision to live somewhere where a $900k home is considered a shit hole and requires 6 family members employed full time just to make ends meet, and still try to raise a family.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

the wife and i have 2 kids. ill give my monthly budget breakdown

Groceries - $600 - includes diapers, cleaning products, food...
Daycare - $600 - this is 2 kids only 3 full days a week
Clothes - as needed. hand me downs from child to child are a bonus. buy one year ahead when the sales happen for the really good deals.

and thats really it as far as kid costs go. kids really are cheap, as long as you dont have daycare costs... and you can never wait till you have enough cash for kids. Just do it. I find the people that budget for kids and determine them to be too expensive, or not affordable to be pretty despicable.

 

[chuckywang]

Don't think about it, just do it.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

The cost increases that come with housing and transportation come with needing more of it. You need more space and you drive more places.

My single dude, no kids lifestyle can get by easily on a single bedroom apartment, compact pickup and do 5,000 miles/year. But if you have two kids, that's not going to work.