question for parents.
the wolf
Posts: 7,027
just looking for some estimates on how much it costs a year to to raise a child in the first years.
clothes
food
diapers
health insurance
docters shit that insurance may not cover
care while at work
and anything else i am leaving out.
just curious.
clothes
food
diapers
health insurance
docters shit that insurance may not cover
care while at work
and anything else i am leaving out.
just curious.
Peace, Love.
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel
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If i didn't have mine I'd have a different Merc for each day of the week.
I've rather have them though. Absolute joy!
It's all worth it.....nothing like having your own family. I would rather spend time with my kids now more then anyone else.
oxc
*May the Peace of the Wilderness be with YOU*
He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
— Unknown
It didn't wind up to be nearly as much as I would have imagined in the beginning.
And I don't feel right when you're gone away
I agree... we were lucky to get the crib and furniture as a gift, so that saved us a big expense.
As far as medical care, our insurance doesn't charge us a copay for pediatricians, so besides the few copays on medicine, we haven't really had any medical costs.
Diapers aren't that expensive if you use coupons and buy them at warehouse club types of places.
Clothes pretty much come down to what you want to spend. The basics aren't that expensive, and you can find good deals on end of season clearance, or buying slightly used clothes.
We had to pay a decent amount for feeding thought. My wife breastfed for the first three months, so we spent some money on a breast pump. My son had some stomach issues, and after a lot of trial and error and doctor's advice, we put him on Nutramagen, which is an expensive specialty formula. That was pretty costly, but by the time he was 6-7 months, we could switch him to normal (cheaper) formula.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
It costs me € 400 a month.
Health insurance isn't expensive in Belgium. The second more expensive is "clothes". Especially during the first year, when your child wears the clothes for maximum 3 months...
2007: Copenhagen, Werchter
2009: Rotterdam, London
2010: MSG, Arras, Werchter
2012: Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin
2014: Amsterdam, Stockholm
why? I thought you are single. Are you adopting?
I am childless. You need a shit load of money. That's my advice.
8/08 - Ed solo in DC, 6/09 Ed in B'more,
10/10 - Brad in B'more
i'll send you coupons!
8/08 - Ed solo in DC, 6/09 Ed in B'more,
10/10 - Brad in B'more
tracey had some good pointers on hand me down clothes, and I would add to that hand me down baby furniture. changing tables, cribs, dresser(s) - all don't need to be new. Any toddler consignment shop is a good place to start. other items...baby swing, exersaucer, packnplay...all are nice new, but they cost a fortune so go used. shoot in the last month alone I have GIVEN away a highchair, stroller, crib mattress, and some other oddball stuff. tag sales are good places too.
baby formula is about $25/can
diapers/wips - $25 per week
onesies/burp clothes/baby blankets - varies, but all needed.
Clothes are not much, you can get most of those at a baby shower. Food which for a newborn would be formula cost alot, unless your wife is gonna breatfeed. Evey state has a program called WICK. Every month you get free formula, milk and other things for a year. Its very much worth it. It saved us almost 2000.00. Diapers are probably the most expensive thing because your always using them so your always buying them, Check out Ebay, they have good deals on bundles. As long as you have insurance health should not cost much, if you dont every state has a program that will cover your baby until its 1 year old. In Tenneesse its called Tenncare. Im a stay at home dad because the amount of money I would make at a job, all of it would go to daycare so it just makes sense for me to stay at home, my wife makes triple what I would make.
IMO it just seems to work itself out. You can't plan kids around your finances.
Well......that depends. We did not for the first but we want another but my wife does not wanna work full time then and that would make it tough since she likes to SPEND!! lol.
One child is not to tough really. It just seems to work out in the end.
Sweep the Leg Johnny.
crib, changing table, dresser, and a good stroller were the big ticket items.
care? as in nanny or as in babysitter?
nannies are expensive-some make as much as $700-$1000 a week, but thats full time.
Babysitter 10-15 per hour.
Not really sure about daycare, because we have never used it, but nursery school is EXPENSIVE
diapers, formula, food and clothes-expensive, but if you shop smart-costco, old navy etc., then its really not too bad
I take it that Jr. isn't behind the wheel of a car yet. lol
It gets more expensive as they get older. College, while an investment, can become a sink hole for cash. And with the current economic problems, loans and grants are becoming more difficult to obtain. Many college students graduate with debt equaling a mortgage without having a place of their own to live. Parents often find themselves financially helping their children well into their early 20's or even later.
My advice is to inflate every cost you can think of to budget for and then double that amount!!!
Everything does seem to just flow. You go out less and thereby have more to spend on them.
but you're ok b/c you are a RICH store owner. you can do anything you want.
8/08 - Ed solo in DC, 6/09 Ed in B'more,
10/10 - Brad in B'more
It's my #1 headache right now.
I also would never ever purposely have a child alone. It's really difficult.
my gf keeps telling me that in my mind we will never be in the right sitiuation to afford a kid. she is probably right.
plus , im getting up there , im 36 !!! and i really dont want my kids to have to go through what i did growing up. my parents were the ages of my friends grandparents. i didnt bother me, the were way cooler than my friends parents. but kids can be brutal to other kids. lol.
im coming to the opinion that ( after i get my ass back to work and for a while ) that we should just go for it. cause i know how she is, and myself, and there is no way that the kid would go without things it needs.
we would find a way.
thanks all.
-steve
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel
1.set up some alarm clocks to go off every 2 hours and at night place 2 on your nightstand also set to go off every 2 hours.
2. Only go out with your gf/friends once a month. (being optimistic)
3. take out about $50 a week from your pay and put it somewhere (savings account)
The money always seems to work out. (my fourth is due in Feb) For our 1st, it was unexpected and I went and got a 3rd shift job so that I can watch him during the day and go to night classes 3 times a week. By our second, I was able to find a job from going to said night classes. By our 3rd I was making decent money. Now with our 4th, I need another minivan...argh;)
8/08 - Ed solo in DC, 6/09 Ed in B'more,
10/10 - Brad in B'more
ah, the getting up thing wont bother me. if i sleep 2 hours at a time im lucky anyway.
going out. dont think i will care. ive turned into a home body recluse in my older age.
its just the money that i worry about.
"To question your government is not unpatriotic --
to not question your government is unpatriotic."
-- Sen. Chuck Hagel
if you want kids-dont wait.
I waited for the same reason-and deprived myself of years of happiness.
A few pointers on saving money in the first year with a baby.
Clothes and equipment: Get as much second hand furniture as you can. Baby's don't care what brand you use, or how expensive everything was. Only thing I wouldn't compromise on is a good stroller......... you use them a LOT....... and a car seat. Best to buy a new one so you are certain it's never been in an accident.
Food: Breastfeed, breastfeed, breastfeed!! The only food a baby needs in its first six months is breastmilk. It's free, it's always sterile, always available and the perfect food for a baby. Formula feeding isn't just the cost of the formula, it's the cost of the bottles, teats, sterilizing equipment..... then the inconvenience of having to make the stuff up, pack it whenever you do somewhere etc etc. Breast fed babies are healthier, smarter, have less allergies, less asthma, less skin problems, better gut flora, healthier digestive systems...... they acquire natural immunity from their mother to a host of bugs and germs in their environment........ the list of benefits of breastfeeding go on and on and on......
Diaper: Use cloth nappies. Better for the environment, better on yer bank balance and no plastics, chemicals or other nasties on your baby's skin. Babies goes through about 8 - 12 cloth nappies a day...... and make up about one load of washing a day. Really, they aren't the inconvenience people seem to think they are.
Doctors and insurance: I can't really comment on this one. We have universal healthcare over here, and lots of public options for maternity care. We pay an annual medicare levy with out taxes, I think it's about $800 for a family and this gives you access to all public hospitals, for anything you need. I would recommend midwife care for a normal, healthy pregnancy and birth. Doctors are only needed when the woman or baby are unwell and things are not going along normally.
Child care: Another I can't really comment on. I stayed home with my children, worked part time in the evenings here and there when the kids Dad was home from work. We did it tough, there were plenty of lean years but I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Time: Babies will cost you a LOT of time. When you are not changing nappies, feeding, bathing, soothing, rocking, walkin the floor at 4am, grabbing a shower between feeding, wiping baby spew off yer shirt, trying to clean the house etc........ you will spend hours and hours gazing at them, marveling at how perfect they are, delighting in their first smiles, first words, first teeth, first roll over, first crawl, first steps........ you will even delight at their gorgeous little baby farts, when you take their nappy off and they pee all over you, when poo squirts out the nappy and down their legs. You will be amazed when those gorgeous baby farts become the loudest, wettest and most hysterical things you ever heard. You will clap your hands and yell " wow, look at that DISTANCE you little champ!!" when they projectile vomit and manage to hit the tv screen. And the first time your baby laughs, every sleepless night, every piercing cry will dissolve away and you will fall in love with that baby over and over and over again.