Parents of ATOT:

[bignateyk]

How much does it really cost to have a kid?

I see all these studies saying it costs 250K for 18 years, but they always factor in a huge amount for housing and auto.

I already have a 4 bedroom house and 2 cars. I can't see how the rest of the stuff (ignoring daycare and college) would cost that much?

-Utilities would stay roughly the same (I already heat/cool my house).
-Health insurance would be an extra $100 a month
-Multiply food budget * 1.5 for an extra person
-Multiply gas by 1.5 for extra transportation?

I can't see how it would cost more than an extra $400-$500 a month or maybe even less if you were frugal.

Any parents keep data? My wife and I are trying to decide if she can quit her job and be stay at home when/if she gets pregnant.

 

[lxskllr]

It costs as much as you want it to cost, from virtually free to sky's the limit.

 

[etrigan420]

How much does it really cost to have a kid?

I see all these studies saying it costs 250K for 18 years, but they always factor in a huge amount for housing and auto.

I already have a 4 bedroom house and 2 cars. I can't see how the rest of the stuff (ignoring daycare and college) would cost that much?

-Utilities would stay roughly the same (I already heat/cool my house).
-Health insurance would be an extra $100 a month
-Multiply food budget * 1.5 for an extra person
-Multiply gas by 1.5 for extra transportation?

I can't see how it would cost more than an extra $400-$500 a month or maybe even less if you were frugal.

Any parents keep data? My wife and I are trying to decide if she can quit her job and be stay at home when/if she gets pregnant.

I sense a disturbance in your logic...

 

[bignateyk]

It costs as much as you want it to cost, from virtually free to sky's the limit.

I keep thinking, if anything, having a kid would save us money since we wouldn't go out to eat or go on vacation for a few years. Right now we spend like 5 grand a year on vacation and 300-400 a month eating out.

 

[highland145]

It costs as much as you want it to cost, from virtually free to sky's the limit.

This.

We paid for most of the delivery due to no maternity ins....$8K. Yard sales, ebay bulk clothing, ....diapers were our big expense.

 

[bignateyk]

I sense a disturbance in your logic...

Well, most of the studies don't factor those in either. If my wife stayed at home we wouldn't have the daycare expense, and my kid would get tuition for pretty much free if they went to the university I work at.

 

[highland145]

I keep thinking, if anything, having a kid would save us money since we wouldn't go out to eat or go on vacation for a few years. Right now we spend like 5 grand a year on vacation and 300-400 a montheating out.

Thanks for being considerate of others.

 

[bignateyk]

Thanks for being considerate of others.

Nothing worse than a screaming baby at a restaurant or on an airplane. I would never subject others to it unless I had no other choice.

 

[lxskllr]

I keep thinking, if anything, having a kid would save us money since we wouldn't go out to eat or go on vacation for a few years. Right now we spend like 5 grand a year on vacation and 300-400 a month eating out.

Gifts, ballet, sports, parties, activities... Insurance, fuel, clothes... It's a lot of nickel/dime stuff that adds up over time. It can be done cheaply too, but it takes a bit more work and thought to save money. Spending it's easy :^D

 

[dank69]

Well, most of the studies don't factor those in either. If my wife stayed at home we wouldn't have the daycare expense, and my kid would get tuition for pretty much free if they went to the university I work at.

They don't factor in college because most kids don't start college until ~18.

They do factor in daycare. Our daycare is $200/week for 1 child. If your wife quits work then great, you don't have daycare expenses but it still cost you her entire yearly salary for as long as she remains unemployed.

Also, while you can get away with wearing the same clothes for years, your child won't be able to do that.

 

[Jpark]

I have a 3 month old (my first) and we just started daycare. I could pay a nice mortgage payment on a second home for what that cost.

Formula and diapers are a big expense at first. Those studies do not factor in tuition but sports, camps, gadgets, cell phones, insurance, etc... are.

 

[Dirigible]

I live in the Bay Area. Moving from my tiny house in Oakland (I loved living there but the schools suck) to a town with excellent public schools cost almost an extra million.

My wife stopped working to be a stay at home mom. She had a six figure income.

I could go on and on, but that's depressing enough.

 

[leftyman]

you are better off getting a dog.

 

[highland145]

Nothing worse than a screaming baby at a restaurant or on an airplane. I would never subject others to it unless I had no other choice.

I took mine out of more than one place.

They do factor in daycare. Our daycare is $200/week for 1 child. If your wife quits work then great, you don't have daycare expenses but it still cost you her entire yearly salary for as long as she remains unemployed.

Also, while you can get away with wearing the same clothes for years, your child won't be able to do that.

That could be a big deal.

 

[dank69]

I took mine out of more than one place.

That could be a big deal.

I probably should have qualified that with "take home" :hmm:

 

[SunnyD]

My bar tab is still open. Let me get back to you on that when I die.

 

[bignateyk]

you are better off getting a dog.

I already have two dogs and a cat.

 

[kranky]

Nobody thinks they can afford to have kids (well, maybe people who are on the dole) but somehow people have been having kids and making it work forever.

If you can ignore childcare and college, cutting vacation spending from 5k to 2k plus halving the eating out budget would give you an extra $400+ a month and that would easily cover incremental household costs at least until the school activities start. Even with the frequent doctor co-pays.

 

[Vdubchaos]

It costs as much as you want it to cost, from virtually free to sky's the limit.

As a father of 4, this is the right answer.

It's not as expensive as these reports make it. Sure, if you buy your kid $150 sneakers, Ipad/Ipods on each release and pay their Iphone monthly's.......buy new car.....pay for insurance/gas/maintenance.......or pay for their University.

ALL of these have been "forced" onto parents as some kind of "MUST" when in reality NONE of those are parents responsibility.

If possible, it does help to pay for your child's higher education but that depends on how good the kid is and parents financial situation.

There is no such a thing as "financially ready to have a child"......you will never end up having one.

 

[leftyman]

I already have two dogs and a cat.

You're all set then.

 

[bignateyk]

You're all set then.

My dogs can't mow my lawn, cook me dinner, and put me in a home when I'm senile though :awe:

 

[blackdogdeek]

Why do you need to decide before she gets pregnant?

Things have changed so much while our kids have grown up (currently 7 yrs and 10 yrs) that my wife has done each of the following:

tried to go back to work
stayed at home
successfully went back to work
stayed at home
turned down an offer to go back to work

At each step we considered how much she could make, how much the kids cost with or without daycare/nanny/etc, quality of care, etc and made the decisions that made sense for us at the time.

 

[bignateyk]

Why do you need to decide before she gets pregnant?

Things have changed so much while our kids have grown up (currently 7 yrs and 10 yrs) that my wife has done each of the following:

tried to go back to work
stayed at home
successfully went back to work
stayed at home
turned down an offer to go back to work

At each step we considered how much she could make, how much the kids cost with or without daycare/nanny/etc, quality of care, etc and made the decisions that made sense for us at the time.

We don't need to decide before she gets pregnant, but will need to decide before she gives birth since we'll have to have daycare lined up if she isn't going to quit. And I don't want her to quit if we can't afford it all on just my salary.

 

[leftyman]

My dogs can't mow my lawn, cook me dinner, and put me in a home when I'm senile though :awe:

Neither will your children

 

[highland145]

My dogs can't mow my lawn, cook me dinner, and put me in a home when I'm senile though :awe:

Your kids won't, won't and will way sooner than senile.