cost of kids

[neatokimmo]

You all are scaring me. DD is 3 now so that means fewer free meals and I have to buy her a seat/ticket for vacation now. Boo hiss

My housing and transportation costs have not gone up. I spend $200-300 a year on her clothes and another $200-300 a year on toys.

The big expense is preschool/daycare at 6K a year. Only one more year and she's in public preschool - woohoooo

I spend about $100 a month in feeding her, whether it's groceries or eating out.

Next year's vacations are costing an additional $1K for her. We are cruising twice and she's a 3rd pass. Plus she is old enough for her own train tickets. No more lap baby

 

[disykat]

When did this happen? When we were kids our parents had it or they didn't. You couldn't go to the movies every weekend. If you wanted something special, you worked for it- that meant you SAVED it- you didn't get the mani and pedi! You SAVED the money for the special trip or clothing item.

I think my kids would like to live at your house! Around here it's pretty much the same as you describe when you were a kid.

 

[mhsjax]

OMG, wait until they become teens! If you have a boy, he'll eat you out of house and home! I cannot believe how much my son (12) now eats!!!!

Do you steal my son. lol We call him the human garbage desposal. I tell anyone that comes to eat, hold on to your plate cause if he see you not eating it even for a split second he is trying to take it away from you. And the rotten kid just keeps getting skinnier. I look at food and oh well, you know what happens. And I have a 2nd son to worry about, he is 9 and eats a ton, what is goin to happen at 12 or 13. I am afraid for my life, well my financial life anyway.

Also $20.00 on school supplies. That can't be done where I live, the teachers give out lists and no matter how cheap you go, if you purchase everything that they require, you are way over $20.00.

Oh I just remembered the braces. We were supposed to go an a cruise this summer, DD asked why we postponed it, I told her to go look in the mirror open your mouth and smile. All the metal you see, to the tune of about $4000.00. That was our cruise.

Also, our kids do without a ton of stuff, last year no vacation what so ever, this year same thing, maybe a trip to Aunt and uncles house. We never go to movies, very rarely eat out, and they haven't gotten new clothes in I don't know when. They are in several activities, but they love it and I refuse to have kids that sit around the house.

It doesn't matter what you do, they are expensive, but so worth it IMHO.

 

[flea1267]

but aren't they more than worth it?

I wouldn't trade mine for the world!!!

 

[abmitch01]

yup!

 

[disney1990]

We raised 2 daughters and I KNOW it didn't cost us that much per child.

 

[Sunbeamblue2002]

Somebody in my house is gonna need a second job cause I have 4 kids. 2 to 16 well at least one might leave soon. But I dought it

 

[tzolkin]

We raised 2 daughters and I KNOW it didn't cost us that much per child.

I was also thinking that there is no way my kids cost that much.

However, I have stayed home for the last 6 years so I could say they have "cost" me whatever income I could have earned during that time.

my friend's son is going to Colgate. She told 60% of the kids pay the full bill- $54k a year. 60%! can't even imagine that

It's more than 60% and yes it's hard to believe.

I believe it was well over 70% when I went to school there (less than 10 years ago). And of the less than 30% who were receiving financial aid, many were still paying an incredible amount. My one friend fell into that category, but she only received a $1500/year scholarship. The reason for this is that Colgate is not need-blind in their admissions. This does allow them to provide greater financial aid to the few students who need it, but it also makes it nearly impossible to be accepted if you are poor.

I was from a family of 7 and the tuition alone was more than our family's income. It was hard to fathom that that many families had that amount in excess each year.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

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[Sparx]

I'd wager that it costs a little bit more of than that.

The USDA calculates the poverty line too, and their method of calculation has been challenged for not accommodating inflation into the calculating process.

 

[mhsjax]

We aren't that far from you, further south in Lee County. I just got back from Walmart and got my kids all their school supplies, plus some stuff for my Girl Scout troop. Total spent = $14.28 for all. I could have spent less but I don't feel like driving all over to Target, CVS, Walgreens, etc.

wow, your teachers must not require as much as ours do, although it does actually go down in middle school. It can't be done where we live for that amount. I don't care how cheap you go, it isn't going to happen.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

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[locolala]

I think a lot of it also depends on your (meaning the parents) careers and such. For example, we've already decided that we will not pay for our kids to go to college. If they want to go, they need to earn it through scholarships, join the military, or get loans. That's how our parents raised us, and we're both perfectly fine. I'm working on my master's degree and DH has his bachelors. Since we're military, many of the costs are lowered significantly. We don't have to worry about healthcare, until DH retires, everything is free. We get reduced tuition at many private schools if we choose to go that route, grocery shopping is cheaper on base in most places, and since we both have nice cars already, we don't need to worry about getting a new one to shuttle the kid around.

 

[mhsjax]

My DD is going into 6th grade, and my DS into 4th.

Some stuff on their list I have leftover from stocking up during previous years (colored pencils, colored markers, paper, binders & folders, etc.), some stuff I have already in the house (tissues, wet wipes, zip lock bags), and some they re-use from the year before (pencil box, crayons, pens, rulers, scissors, erasers), etc. They will reuse their backpacks and lunchboxes.

My biggest expense will be $6 for DS's school planner. For DD I will need to buy a PE uniform but I'm trying to get one from FreeCycle. She will need some new clothes since she'll no longer wear a school uniform, and I've already purchased those at the thrift store.

Gotcha. WE do have some stuff left over, so this year may be cheaper. Most of our other stuff seems to disappear, so I end up buying almost everything. I didn't even count DD PE uniform, but they are really cheap.

Also, I have 3 kids to buy for. So I guess that makes up some of the difference also. YOungest DS is so rough on his stuff that we had to buy a new back pack before last year even ended.

 

[mhsjax]

I think a lot of it also depends on your (meaning the parents) careers and such. For example, we've already decided that we will not pay for our kids to go to college. If they want to go, they need to earn it through scholarships, join the military, or get loans. That's how our parents raised us, and we're both perfectly fine. I'm working on my master's degree and DH has his bachelors. Since we're military, many of the costs are lowered significantly. We don't have to worry about healthcare, until DH retires, everything is free. We get reduced tuition at many private schools if we choose to go that route, grocery shopping is cheaper on base in most places, and since we both have nice cars already, we don't need to worry about getting a new one to shuttle the kid around.

JMHO but I can't imagine saying that I would not pay for my child's college education. Sure I hope they get scholarships, and maybe a few loans, but I am hopeful that they won't have to get loans. I just don't want the kids starting out their adult life with a loan from school.

It was just assumed when I was growing up that I would go to college and my parents paid for it, I didn't make the assumption, they did.

Anyway to each their own, and unless I am misreading it, you are having your first. So it is hard to say what you will and won't do for your kids. I am doing things that I never thought I would and not doing things that I thought I would do.