http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CollegeandFamily/Raisekids/P150437.asp?GT1=8200 Now, I KNOW that raising a child isn't cheap. I mean, I've been preparing for months now... But this article, and many others, have been saying that it's hella expensive...They cite numerous "expenses" that aren't really needed at all... I mean, if all goes well with this baby, my expenses will be as follows: 1. Clothing (second hand or given to us from relatives so minimal) 2. Extra food/water for me while breastfeeding (which will probably just be the cost of more water filters for our brita) 3. Washing/Drying of cloth diapers (using dad's washer/dryer, so just the cost of supplies) 4. Gas for car (for appts. and such) Everything else seems to have come into place with relative ease. Anything we bought for the baby ourself was second-hand. Our carseat was given to us brand new from a person that had bought one but not used it. The baby is the fourth girl in Brian's family, and the next one is 2 years old. So her mommas has all of her clothing, and is passing it on to us. Our cloth diapers were bought by my gramma. And after we're done with all of the things, as she outgrows them, we can take them to consignment stores and make our money back...or just plain make money...This baby hasn't cost us very much at all so far... And I know not everyone is as lucky to come across so much stuff for free or relatively cheap, it just doesn't seem like raising a child would be THAT expensive if done wisely... I mean, I know it's going to be tough. I won't kid myself. I know how financially demanding I was in high school. But I also know that expenses can be minimized and such....And some things aren't necessary... Any thoughts?
I agree that having a newborn usually isn't as expensive as "they" make it sound. We bought our cloth diapers, but they were still cheaper than using paper. Clothing for newborns can be hand me downs and consignment sales, etc. And I really, really wish someone had explained to me that I really, really didn't need all that JUNK i thought I had to have for a baby. Crib, anyone? LOL. But I do find that it is more expensive as ds gets older. Clothing for one. It is darn near impossible to get decent hand me down boy clothing for the summer. It's either covered in camoflauge(sp?) or monster trucks, or totally worn out. And I buy him toys and art supplies more often. Not every time he asks by an means, but I am so incredibly enamoured by him and his newfound ability to have specific desires (no, it has to be the GREEN shoes!!!!). But that is more me than him. I think the clothing situation is better for girls based on what I have seen at the consignment sales. (And if you haven't found out about the bi annual sales in your area, I have to say they are the best deal going. Almost everywhere has them and if your area doesn't you should start one! ) And we are not there yet, but I imagine the costs really kick in in the school years, with backpacks and supplies and field trips and sports and....then high school with prom...and graduation, and homecoming and band and more sports, and incredibly fast growth rates requiring new shoes and clothes...and then COLLEGE! Oy! But you are totally right about a newborn not costing a fortune. I have had friends who talked about how "it costs so much I HAVE to work" well, I guess it does when you buy formula and only HUGGIES diapers (no off brands, puh-leeze) and every baby video that comes on the market and a car DVD player and pay a sitter and the list goes on. ***Sigh, now I am wishing for a baby again, but I really DO have to work to pay for the new house**** Maybe the biggest cost of raising a child is the emotional cost of having a piece of your soul walking around outside of you.
I completely agree! (This is earthy mama btw, too lazy to log out of Chris's name). None of our kids costed alot. Croix I was given everything, Noah it was past down to. Riley, I was given a surprise shower and given everything I needed and more. All I bought this time was a cloth sling (I finally found an awesome one that works for me, I loveeeeeeeee it), a breast pump and breast pads. I say I've spent 100 dollars total on this kid with those supplies.
Yeah some people don't really seem to know the diffrence between want and need. It surely couldn't have been that expensive to raise my brother and I ... * In Britain we have the national health care (free if you squint right), so medical expenses take care of themselves. * We were cloth diapered [no diapering service] and breastfed * good quality but reasonably priced clothes (not designer), and some hand me downs * Eating real homecooked meals, taking packed lunches to school * No idea about the legal stuff, knowing my father he probably didn't bother because he doesn't figure he'll be dying any time soon. That and my mother stayed at home until we started school; so maternity leave# and child care weren't really an issue. Seriously once you factor in the expenses of working (work clothes, fuel costs/fares for the commute etc) it probably is cheaper to stay home. OK maybe you won't have that bit extra for treats, we certainly didn't have exotic holidays and fancy toys as kids but all that crap doesn't matter when you know your mama is there and loves you. Hell if you waited til you 'could afford it' nobody would have kids, you just make do. # it was the mid/late 80s, did they even really have that then?
with my first child, we were spending over $100 each month just on diapers and wipes because her sensitive skin couldn't tolerate the cheap ones. Then I switched to cloth, which saved us boocous money! But food ain't cheap. Breastfeeding means you need at least an extra 500 calories each day, and you have to be very careful about allergens (you and baby). Having two highly allergic children means I'm spending about four times on groceries what I used to spend, before kids. We also have to spend a little extra on other items, like shampoo and soaps and cleaning supplies that don't irritate their sensitive skin, or we have major sleep problems. Then there's books, I spend lots of money on books. And art supplies, we go through lots of paint, crayons, markers, paper, and stuff. We had to purchase a car because my 1986 model Buick just was not dependable enough to drive my kids around town in it. I quit my job because the cost of daycare and other expenses meant I would have been taking home maybe $100/wk. So now we have one income instead of two. For those moms who have to work, there's the expense of daycare and bottle feeding and/or pumping breastmilk. And then there's clothes. Even though we were given a huge boxful of premie sized clothes when DD1 was tiny, I still spend lots of money on clothes. If you buy them out of season, in hopes baby will fit by the time the weather changes, chances are you will have guessed the wrong size. There's a lot of hidden costs in raising kids, and for those people who buy into the commercialism of it all, it gets really expensive really fast. Doctor visits ain't cheap either, even with insurance. I haven't taken them in for well visits since my little one was two months old (my kids just don't get sick like their friends who are in daycare or school every day), but those weekly visits when DD1 was little sure did add up to lots of money. And vaccines are very very expensive, if you go that route.
I dont really know what to expect. I know we have spent a lot of time and money recently preparing our home for this baby. The oh so knarley bathroom is finally getting remodeled so I can have room to bathe a baby. I am the bread winner in the family so I plan on returning to work asap. Luckily I work in an environment where I can bring my child to work as well as work from home. Which is real nice since none of my maternity leave is paid.My prenatal care as well as the birth will be paid in full by the time the baby arrives since I am paying monthly even with insurance it was aroun $2,100.00. Also nice since I wont have a large bill hanging over my head while I enjoy my new baby. My mom still has my crib and has purchased a new mattress as well as crib bedding for it and has a bassinet which may be overkill. We have clothes comming out our ears since my cousin has 2 boys and my Mother is a shopaholic. I have been collecting gently used cloth diapers from garage sales and thirft stores- also where I have found my maternity clothes. I am having a shower so I am sure thats when I will get the breast pump and all the other goodies. Gotta love overexcited grandparents. I know the rest will be on us down the road. Hopefully my folks will move closer so Mom can watch the baby too. School will cost us $$ in the future since I cant stay home to homeschool and there is no way I will subject my kids to the public school system. Not to mention toys, outings, trips and doctors visits! It should be interesting.
Hummmm, well, we spend a decent amount on baby stuff, and when I was first pregnant, I was one of those ones who bought into everything. Now, I see that we didn't need half the stuff we bought. Each month, we have to buy formula (about $60/month) and for those of you who've read my obessive posts about not being able to bf Leane, yoou know why. As of right now, we're using *blech* 'paper' diapers (about $60/month as well). I bought the cloth daipers and was all ready to go....but my mom is refusing that I use her washing machine for that.........says it'll cost her too much money. I looked into the diaper services around here, and they're WAY too expensive for our budget right now. Next baby is going to be breastfed (now that I know why I couldn't do it (thanx maggiesugar)) and cloth diapered, as we'll finally be living in our own place. As soon as we move out, if Leane still isn't using the potty, then I'm switiching to cloth. We have health care here provided by the government....there's usually a monthly payment of about $50, but because we're low income, it's subsidized.....we have to get sperate coverage for about another $200 every 3 months for ambulances, perscriptions, dental and eyecare.....what we're paying the government for, I have no clue. Thankfully, since Cody's in college, and I'll be joining him soon, we get the ambluance and all that covered by a different company. Daycare you can also get subsidized here if you're low-income, so we don't have to worry about that. I found a nice day hom for Leane to start going to in the fall......I hate the thought of another person spending the day with my daughter, but we need to go back to school. As for clothes, I buy things for her once and a while....Cody's mom volunteers as a free thrift shop and is always bring us new clothes for her......she just bought 3 huge stuffed garbage bags of clothes.....we're not even keeping 3/4 of them, and we still can't get the dresser drawers shut! Once she gets a little older and stops growing so fast, I'm going to start making her some clothes, too. Basically everything was bought for us when I was pregnant by family.....the 2 main things that I use that were bought for us, is the change table (the 3 of us keep ALL our stuff in a bedroom, so it's great for storage) and is at a nice height for changing her....when I do it anywhere else, like the bed, my back starts to kill me.....and the other thing is our carrier. I love that thing! Oh, and the carseat....can't go without that. The biggest thing that we had to buy was a new car, as we didn't have one when we moved up here. We sold our little Chevette to buy a larger car, but the car we bought broke down litterally the second we brought it home, no lie. It never moved after that. I was mad......I wonder is that guy felt even remotely guilty selling a car to a pregnant girl knowing that it was going to break down. He even lied to me later on telling me that nothing was wrong with it....even though there HAD to have been for what went wrong....... sorry, got a little off topic...... We also make a monthly payment for an RESP for Leane. We don't want her to go through the financial hell that we're going to endure once we done university......we're looking at at least $500 000.00. ouch. yeah, if you do things carefully, kids aren't that expensive. If you want to go the conventient, name brand route, then yeah, be prepared to fork out hundereds, even thousands of dollars.
Wow, formula is inexpensive where you live, kirsten! The average, for non-predigested formula in the Chicago Area and DuPage county is about $3,500 a year. Predigested formula (Alimentium, Pregestamil ect) is about 2 and a half times more, for the powerded and as much as $12,000 a year for the ready to feed. Living even 40 miles from a huge urban area like Chicago is expensive. BUT, I didn't find ANYTHING else to be anywhere near expensive as the magazines said. I've seen estimates of $10,000 !! I can't imagine spending that kind of money on furniture that you will only use for a few years or less. Everything for the first two kids was second hand. I breastfed, couldn't afford to "work" (figured it out, I did day care, as anything else would have costed me MORE than I was making.) Day care costs can be unbeleivable, I think you have to make a couple of a hundred thousand just to use it, at least in this area, unless you use "unlicensed" day care, which can be great, or could be a nightmare. The person I used, when I did go back, part time, turned out not only to be neglectful and a nut, she was also an alchoholic! You think you know someone......Anyway, those things in magazines don't take into account WHERE you live, as things can really vary in price, HOW you parent, as Attachment Parenting is going to be much cheaper than a lot of other styles, in many cases, and WHAT you spend on things. They NEVER include cloth diapering. Like it dissappeared or something, and the ALWAYS include bottles, and some formula, even if you are breastfeeding "so dad can help." (Yeah, help induce nipple confusion.) They rarely include the cost savings of SAHMs, and what you WON'T need, if you are fortunate enough to be able to do this. I know I spent a LOT less than my friends who went back to work. If a mama has no choice, I understand, that can't be helped. But I know too many womyn who were only working to pay for the Lexis and the SUV ("we need a 'safe car' now that we have a baby" )and the mortgage on their McMansion (a lot of those, where I live.) When they could have gotten away with a lot less, and many of them weren't even making a profit while working outside the home at all. And for clothes, if you are home, or working from, you don't need new clothes. In all, I think most of those things which calculate how much you will spend are ridiculous. Especially, if you are imaginative.
We just buy the regular Enfalac concentrate, which is $22/box....the powdered stuff is only $13 a can...but cody was strickly against it, and when he explained how most of the time is doesn't mix well, I understood. He used to be really into weight lifting and drank a lot of protein shakes and he said you could always taste the powder. yuck. We would prefer to buy the Enfamil A+, but it's upwards of $45 per box, and we go through at least 3/month! We really don't have that kind of money. Pretty sad how only the "rich" parents can only afford the best food like that. grrrrr. Yet another reason I'm beside myself about the breastfeeding.
I think this article would sound a lot more unbiased if it would compare those costs to the costs of a grown human. They eat more, buy more ecxpensive clothes, drive cars. Yes, it's not ultra cheap to raise kids, but then again, we need them!
Kirsten, you did the best that you could. What is, is. Don't sweat it. I know I beat myself up about having a C section for quite a while after my first baby was born. You did the best you could. I agree with your dh, the powdered forumla is nasty. It not only tastes worse, the nutrient components have broken down, they test the nutrients BEFORE they spray dry and powder it. So, the concentrate is better. Ready to feed is so expensive! People usually only use it in emergencies, or when they are on vacation or something. When I was a doula, though, I worked with some RICH people, and they would only use Ready to Feed, as it was "easier." It cost them an arm an a leg. But, Chicago is an expensive place to live, even if you are out as far as we are.
