How much do your children cost per month?

Questions on how we spend our money and our time - consumer goods and services, home and vehicle, leisure and recreational activities
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anonforthis
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How much do your children cost per month?

Post by anonforthis »

I downloaded all the bank statements and credit cards for the last 5 months just to see how much we spent a month precisely. I was so shocked at how little we spent since January 2015. We didn't really have a budget but I did control our spending because I thought we were spending too much. We live comfortable and eat well food mostly fish, veggies and rice for me, cheese, milk, eggs, beef, chicken and bread for husband and the kids. We spent an average of $202 a month on groceries and $83 on restaurants (blow money category). Our expenses are $3900 to $4000 a month including daycare of $900 a month. I thought we were spending about $5000 a month. This is a good problem to have LOL. We are a family of 4 with 2 children under four. I figured we spend $1050 on them a month including daycare. Everything else is fixed whether or not they exist. If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children :D
stoptothink
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by stoptothink »

We have a 3yr old and a 2-month old, my wife just went back to work this week. To preface, it was 100% her choice to return to work, and to do so full-time. We are in a (what I believe) is a medium COL area, full-time childcare for both is going to run us $1400/month. Other things, such as food, diapers, etc. are very nominal compared to childcare (at most $150/month for both children).
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market timer
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by market timer »

19-month-old child
$450/month nanny
$100/month food
$50/month diapers
$50/month clothes (mostly gifts)
$50/month health care
$50/month toys and books (mostly gifts)
$50/month other stuff: crib, stroller, monitor, etc.

Next year:
$1000/month nursery instead of nanny
$800/month extra imputed rent from buying a 3BR condo instead of a 1.5BR
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Boglenaut
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Boglenaut »

anonforthis wrote: If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children :D
This will not last. Our costs are increasing like crazy as they get older.
Mike Scott
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Mike Scott »

Children cost however much money you have.
When we had little income and 3 kids they cost very little.
When we had more money they cost more.
tigermilk
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by tigermilk »

anonforthis wrote:We spent an average of $202 a month on groceries and $83 on restaurants (blow money category).
:shock:

I guess it really depends on what you eat. I don't eat meat so I splurge on good quality produce, dairy, nuts, etc. Just my wife and I spend anywhere from $400-$600/month at the grocery store.
OatmealAddict
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by OatmealAddict »

We have a 13 month old and spend the following:

$950/month for daycare (soon to be $1150 when we put him in a new school)
$166/month 529 contribution
$150/month on odds and ends like diapers, wipes, clothes, etc
$100/month on doctor visits (wife has $50 copay)
$90/month on swim lessons
Maybe an extra $40/month at the grocery store
Last edited by OatmealAddict on Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Jack FFR1846
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Jack FFR1846 »

Let's see.....

18 yo college expenses $5100/mo
Food when home $200/mo
Other $200/mo

14 yo if we pay for private hs $1000/mo
Activities and transportation $500/mo
Food $300/mo
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nordlead
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by nordlead »

I believe that anyone can eat cheap, but that is pretty impressive (and more likely missing data) for a family of 4. The USDA thrifty food plan (the plans are thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal) for your family of four comes out at $571.00/month, which comes to $1.57/meal, compared to your ~$1.75/day. Meat is expensive, and even a single 1/4lb cheeseburger (with no toppings) comes out to over $1. That would leave $0.75 left to eat for the rest of the day.

Our family of 5 spends ~$870/month on "groceries", which includes all cleaning supplies, paper products, bath supplies and baby products (diapers mostly). The USDAA Thrifty plan for our family comes out at $633.08, the moderate plan comes to $995.6. So, I figure we are doing a pretty decent job considering I also bundle other things in my grocery budget.

Anyways, now that I have 3 kids, it probably breaks down like so (per month per child, rough guesses are on some of them)

Health/Dental insurance: $40 (any more kids are added for free, so this would drop)
Food: ~$100
Diapers: ~$35 (for the youngest only)
Housing/Utilities: $186 (had to move out of our first apartment which was very cheap)
Auto: $50 (have to buy bigger more expensive cars)
Clothing: $30

So each child is costing ~$417/month, and that doesn't include gifts, sports leagues, things they break, and other incidentals that don't occur on a monthly basis. Of course, each additional child would be less as I already have the house, the car, clothes, etc...
Mr. Meow
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Mr. Meow »

market timer wrote:19-month-old child
$450/month nanny
Only $450/month for a nanny? For how many hours? Is one of you a stay-at-home parent or do you have family help?
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anonforthis
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by anonforthis »

Boglenaut wrote:
anonforthis wrote: If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children :D
This will not last. Our costs are increasing like crazy as they get older.

We really hope not.
nordlead wrote:I believe that anyone can eat cheap, but that is pretty impressive (and more likely missing data) for a family of 4. The USDA thrifty food plan (the plans are thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, and liberal) for your family of four comes out at $571.00/month, which comes to $1.57/meal, compared to your ~$1.75/day. Meat is expensive, and even a single 1/4lb cheeseburger (with no toppings) comes out to over $1. That would leave $0.75 left to eat for the rest of the day.

Our family of 5 spends ~$870/month on "groceries", which includes all cleaning supplies, paper products, bath supplies and baby products (diapers mostly). The USDAA Thrifty plan for our family comes out at $633.08, the moderate plan comes to $995.6. So, I figure we are doing a pretty decent job considering I also bundle other things in my grocery budget.

Anyways, now that I have 3 kids, it probably breaks down like so (per month per child, rough guesses are on some of them)

Health/Dental insurance: $40 (any more kids are added for free, so this would drop)
Food: ~$100
Diapers: ~$35 (for the youngest only)
Housing/Utilities: $186 (had to move out of our first apartment which was very cheap)
Auto: $50 (have to buy bigger more expensive cars)
Clothing: $30

So each child is costing ~$417/month, and that doesn't include gifts, sports leagues, things they break, and other incidentals that don't occur on a monthly basis. Of course, each additional child would be less as I already have the house, the car, clothes, etc...
I shop for groceries late Friday night to get half off deals such as rotisserie chicken, pizza at the deli section, or premade salads(these foods are for my husband but not very often). I also shop at Costco but I am not a member. My mom buys Costco cash card for me so I can shop there. My husband and I don't eat a lot. I eat 1 meal a day and so is my husband.

Edit: We eat 1 meal a day but not everyday. We eat 1 meal a day during the week but not on the weekend.
Last edited by anonforthis on Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:51 pm, edited 2 times in total.
playtothebeat
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by playtothebeat »

I'm impressed by the low figures for groceries. For us - me, wife, toddler - we spent close to $1500 (live in HCOL area), which includes eating out. We do order sushi or pizza a couple times a month, and eat out one or two meals on the weekends, so that adds to the costs. We also buy a lot of organic foods, although I've noticed that while organic food is more expensive, it's not a killer. We eat a good amount of fish and chicken, with some red meat here and there.

We do eat about half of our lunches out of the office, which is not economical at all.

I think I can cut the bill down to $1000 if I work extremely hard at it (part of my to-do list for the second half of the year, actually), but I'm not willing to sacrifice the quality of our meals.

But, back on topic - our daycare runs 1300/month. Diapers/etc are another 50 or so I'd say. Other "incidentals" are probably 50-100 (a doctor visit here or there, maybe some clothes, etc). We do spend about $200/month on weekly swim lessons for our son. Haven't started contributing to a college fund yet as we aren't close to maxing out own accounts yet and have some debt to work through as well.
MN Finance
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by MN Finance »

I don't have our figures on my phone but I can tell you that children under 4 are nearly free compared to children over 4. Of course you can spend nothing at every age, but depends what you value
essbeer
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by essbeer »

anonforthis wrote:I shop for groceries late Friday night to get half off deals such as rotisserie chicken, pizza at the deli section, or premade salads. I also shop at Costco but I am not a member. My mom buys Costco cash card for me so I can shop there. My husband and I don't eat a lot. I only eat 1 meal a day and so is my husband.
I think my family runs a pretty tight ship and we avoid things like pizza and package food because of cost, but we still average about $800/month on groceries. I can't even image how to get near $200. Maybe with a lot of rice and beans.
OatmealAddict
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by OatmealAddict »

MN Finance wrote:I don't have our figures on my phone but I can tell you that children under 4 are nearly free compared to children over 4. Of course you can spend nothing at every age, but depends what you value
This is excluding daycare, I presume?
Rodc
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Rodc »

I figured we spend $1050 on them a month including daycare. Everything else is fixed whether or not they exist. If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children
I have two teenage boys. Might spend that much feeding them every month. :)

We might spent $202 a month on fancy cheese. :)

Then there are voice lessons, piano lessons, guitar lessons, summer camps, clothes, summer theater, scout trips, vacations, occasional weekend trips, not to mention Christmas. Oh, and saving for college, can't forget that one!

I'm not in particular inclined to add it all up, but it is a substantial sum.

And I am ok with that - I did not have them to save money. :)
We live a world with knowledge of the future markets has less than one significant figure. And people will still and always demand answers to three significant digits.
stoptothink
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by stoptothink »

essbeer wrote:
anonforthis wrote:I shop for groceries late Friday night to get half off deals such as rotisserie chicken, pizza at the deli section, or premade salads. I also shop at Costco but I am not a member. My mom buys Costco cash card for me so I can shop there. My husband and I don't eat a lot. I only eat 1 meal a day and so is my husband.
I think my family runs a pretty tight ship and we avoid things like pizza and package food because of cost, but we still average about $800/month on groceries. I can't even image how to get near $200. Maybe with a lot of rice and beans.
We're at $225-275/month for a family of four and I have spent a ton of time perfecting how to feed our family whole nutritious food for as cheap as possible in a medium COL area. It's been the discussion of several threads. I have no clue how they get it down that far.
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bertie wooster
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by bertie wooster »

anonforthis wrote:I downloaded all the bank statements and credit cards for the last 5 months just to see how much we spent a month precisely. I was so shocked at how little we spent since January 2015. We didn't really have a budget but I did control our spending because I thought we were spending too much. We live comfortable and eat well food mostly fish, veggies and rice for me, cheese, milk, eggs, beef, chicken and bread for husband and the kids. We spent an average of $202 a month on groceries and $83 on restaurants (blow money category). Our expenses are $3900 to $4000 a month including daycare of $900 a month. I thought we were spending about $5000 a month. This is a good problem to have LOL. We are a family of 4 with 2 children under four. I figured we spend $1050 on them a month including daycare. Everything else is fixed whether or not they exist. If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children :D
You have kids and spend $50/week on groceries??? That is impressive.
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HomerJ
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by HomerJ »

I have a 13-year old son.... He eats more than everyone else in the house combined.
Last edited by HomerJ on Wed Jun 17, 2015 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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SmileyFace
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by SmileyFace »

Rodc wrote:
I figured we spend $1050 on them a month including daycare. Everything else is fixed whether or not they exist. If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children
I have two teenage boys. Might spend that much feeding them every month. :)

We might spent $202 a month on fancy cheese. :)

Then there are voice lessons, piano lessons, guitar lessons, summer camps, clothes, summer theater, scout trips, vacations, occasional weekend trips, not to mention Christmas. Oh, and saving for college, can't forget that one!

I'm not in particular inclined to add it all up, but it is a substantial sum.

And I am ok with that - I did not have them to save money. :)
Teenage boys can eat their weight in food daily it seems :)

The activities do certainly hit you hard. If you let your girls go to dance lessons their is not only the cost of the lessons but then the expensive outfits they are expected to buy to wear one single time at a receital. Someone told me that it gets cheaper as they get older as things like Diapers and day-care/pre-school costs go away - I find it has been the opposite (but like Rodc - I didn't do this to save money so maybe if I was trying I could do things like limit the number of activities or get the teenage girls to stop buying brand-name clothes, etc.).
MN Finance
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by MN Finance »

jimday1982 wrote:
MN Finance wrote:I don't have our figures on my phone but I can tell you that children under 4 are nearly free compared to children over 4. Of course you can spend nothing at every age, but depends what you value
This is excluding daycare, I presume?
Yes, sorry. We have a stay at home parent. I figure that amount is fixed for most people (either at $0 or the actual cost of care.) Childcare is also fairly temporary covering the first 4 years.

The number of kids also impacts this dramatically. There's a high entry point for the 1st kid (new/used everything), the 2nd and 3rd are marginally low cost because not much needs to be purchased, but then as you get to 4+ there's actually an increase because you have to pay for more convenience items (occassionally required to eat out; had to move beyond a used accord to minivan, etc).

Here's my estimate for annual figures based (just) on the last 3 months I've been tracking, which seems fairly typical.

$14k direct costs
-- $7k for activities (sports team costs, athletic gear, swim/piano lessons, summer camps)
-- $4k for school related (tuition/programming, lunches, etc)
-- $3k for miscelaneous (b-day parties, clothes, books/toys - excluding christmas)
$12k grocery/restaurants/household (applying 1/2 of the family cost to kids)
$7k healthcare (applying a proportion of total family ins premiums and payments to them)

That's $33k for 4 kids (elementary school age).

You can/should apply other capital amounts for the fact that you probably live in a different home and drive different vehicles because you have children. In addition the family vacation and other items could change dramatically (like disney instead of camping.) Now, I don't have to go to disney and the kids like camping a lot, but those are the life choices that get presented
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Grt2bOutdoors »

Never tallied it up, nor do I really care. At least $1K a month but that includes the school tax, daycare, food, educational materials, etc.
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anonforthis
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by anonforthis »

DaftInvestor wrote:
Rodc wrote:
I figured we spend $1050 on them a month including daycare. Everything else is fixed whether or not they exist. If we keep spending like this, we can afford many more children
I have two teenage boys. Might spend that much feeding them every month. :)

We might spent $202 a month on fancy cheese. :)

Then there are voice lessons, piano lessons, guitar lessons, summer camps, clothes, summer theater, scout trips, vacations, occasional weekend trips, not to mention Christmas. Oh, and saving for college, can't forget that one!

I'm not in particular inclined to add it all up, but it is a substantial sum.

And I am ok with that - I did not have them to save money. :)
Teenage boys can eat their weight in food daily it seems :)

The activities do certainly hit you hard. If you let your girls go to dance lessons their is not only the cost of the lessons but then the expensive outfits they are expected to buy to wear one single time at a receital. Someone told me that it gets cheaper as they get older as things like Diapers and day-care/pre-school costs go away - I find it has been the opposite (but like Rodc - I didn't do this to save money so maybe if I was trying I could do things like limit the number of activities or get the teenage girls to stop buying brand-name clothes, etc.).

If they are small like me, they won't eat a lot :D . My husband is big 6'3 195 pounds and he told me he used to eat a lot when he was younger. Our kids will probably not doing much activities because we live on a farm. It is too far to drive them around town. They can help their dad around the farm.
Rodc
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Rodc »

We have a stay at home parent.
FWIW: I think one really should include the amount of lost wages if someone else is supposed to include daycare costs.
We live a world with knowledge of the future markets has less than one significant figure. And people will still and always demand answers to three significant digits.
kjvmartin
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by kjvmartin »

We have a 13 month old child. I have a "baby" category in my finance software.. it got phased out and the items are now under "clothing" or "household" or "groceries"

Before I phased it out, on her May birthday, we had spent $967 on the baby this year. This includes baby foods, clothing, formula, diapers, wipes, decorations, the 1st birthday party, a photography session, photographic prints, medical copays, books, toys, a 2nd car seat, replacing our initial crummy high chair, etc. We're bargain hunters, but....

The expenses are endless. We have less time for cooking, especially now that the wife is training full time to work part time. I can't really quantify it yet, but we're spending more on dining out. This will level off once her training is done at the end of July. We're sleeping less and seem to get ill more often, so there are those kind of costs!

It is certainly worth it all, and more, as they say :)
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pennstater2005
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by pennstater2005 »

Mike Scott wrote:Children cost however much money you have.
When we had little income and 3 kids they cost very little.
When we had more money they cost more.
Very true.
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hirlaw
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by hirlaw »

Our children are grown .. BUT, daughter's wedding next year, >$60K.
Son had 8 years (undergrad and med school) at an Ivy League school > $400k
So, keep saving! :moneybag :moneybag
Ron Ronnerson
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Ron Ronnerson »

Not all that much for one child (13 months old) in a VHCOL area (S.F. Bay Area).

Day Care: The tax savings from the extra deduction on federal and state taxes plus child tax credit of $1000 (which we fully qualify for by keeping our taxable income under $110k) comes to about $200 per month for us. Day care costs only $200 per month because there is a child care tax credit, wife works 4 days a week (same as she did prior to arrival of kid), grandma watches our daughter twice a week, and I cover summer and winter breaks since I'm a teacher. So day care costs are covered fully from the tax savings.

Education: Our home is in an area with outstanding public schools and I am elementary school teacher so I'll work with the kid at home as well. No tuition for private school or tutoring is expected in our case. No money is being saved in a 529 for her either. We do hope to help pay for college so the college years are likely to be the most expensive ones for us. We may use funds in our retirement accounts when she's headed to college (we'll be over 59 by then).

Groceries: $100 or so per month.

Health: Almost nothing. Wife's employer provides insurance coverage for the family and so far all the appointments for our daughter have been routine and cost nothing. We've spent maybe $50 out-of-pocket in the last year.

Other items (diapers, crib, etc.): $100-$200 per month. Many items have been hand-me-downs or gifts. As long as it's functional, safe, and not too dirty, we welcome people's used items. All toys and books have been gifts. She usually prefers to try to eat the books and play with the box that the toy comes in. There is a moral in that.

In short, we're not spending very much on the kiddo. We give her as much of our time as possible instead. I could tutor after school or teach summer school and my wife could go to work full time in order to be able to afford more things. We choose to bank the time instead. As a quick example, just yesterday, my wife worked from 8-2 and I was off completely because it's summer time. The kid got to spend a regular Tuesday playing at the park with her dad in the morning, visit her 3 cousins who live next door to us in the early afternoon, go swimming with both parents in the late afternoon, and had both parents read to her in the evening. There was no cost for any of the things we did. We save $3000 per month (about 27% of our gross income) in our retirement accounts though my pension should cover virtually all our expenses in retirement. Kids, like everything else, have a broad range as to how much they cost. It's possible to spend a lot but it's also possible to spend a lot less.
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TxAg
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by TxAg »

JimmyD wrote:We have a 13 month old and spend the following:

$950/month for daycare (soon to be $1150 when we put him in a new school)
$166/month 529 contribution
$150/month on odds and ends like diapers, wipes, clothes, etc
$100/month on doctor visits (wife has $50 copay)
$90/month on swim lessons
Maybe an extra $40/month at the grocery store
This saves me some typing. Pretty close to where we are at except daycare is $735
DVMResident
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by DVMResident »

The biggest cost by far has been the cost of opportunity: DW hasn't worked 1.25 years. Looking like she'll start working again when the kid hits ~2. That'll be ~$140k gross (excluding SS contributions) and long-term damage from resume gaps.
alexnk
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by alexnk »

We spend $2200 for two kids for daycare alone. (HCOL)
OP, Would you post an example of your monthly grocery list or bill. I am floored that you can get away with spending $202/month. For our family of 4 we spend that much a week. I would not say that we are extravagant in our food choices either but it all adds up.

Thanks,
surfstar
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by surfstar »

OP admitted to a starvation diet where she and DH eat 1 meal a day during the week.

I don't see this saving money in the long run, as that cannot be healthy.
davebo
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by davebo »

We have 3 kids and the big one for us is preschool/daycare @ $2,000 per month. Everything else is small enough to where I don't know what the number is, but all adds up. I can tell you for sure that If I didn't have kids, I wouldn't:

:: Have 3 different annual memberships to zoo, museum, nature park.
:: Gone to Disneyworld this year at a total cost of $7K.
:: Drive a minivan
:: Have paid so much for a house just so I could be in the desired school district.

There is so much other stuff that I haven't named. Kids are expensive, but like others have said, it can be capped for sure.
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anonforthis
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by anonforthis »

alexnk wrote:We spend $2200 for two kids for daycare alone. (HCOL)
OP, Would you post an example of your monthly grocery list or bill. I am floored that you can get away with spending $202/month. For our family of 4 we spend that much a week. I would not say that we are extravagant in our food choices either but it all adds up.

Thanks,

I don't keep the receipts but I can tell you that it is cheaper to buy veggies and seafood at my local Asian markets. I buy ground beef and chicken at Costco. The kids drink Costco whole milk $1.89 a gallon. We don't spend money on alcohol at all. We drink organic orange juice at Costco but it is expensive $7.99 a gallon.

surfstar wrote:OP admitted to a starvation diet where she and DH eat 1 meal a day during the week.

I don't see this saving money in the long run, as that cannot be healthy.
We are not starving. My husband and I just do not like to eat so much by choice. How can it not be healthy? I cook dinner every night but mostly for the kids. We like to go to bed with little food or empty stomach.
Rattlesnake
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Rattlesnake »

Yep, we decided to stop after 2 because we thought at that time we could not afford 3 back in the day.... Woulda did some more if God was willing but we decided 2 was it...

It in ends up with your decision....
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MikeWillRetire
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by MikeWillRetire »

$200 a month to feed a family of four? I thought to myself, "Bolshevik!". But then I saw this:
anonforthis wrote: Edit: We eat 1 meal a day but not everyday. We eat 1 meal a day during the week but not on the weekend.
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Kosmo
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Kosmo »

alexnk wrote:We spend $2200 for two kids for daycare alone. (HCOL)
OP, Would you post an example of your monthly grocery list or bill. I am floored that you can get away with spending $202/month. For our family of 4 we spend that much a week. I would not say that we are extravagant in our food choices either but it all adds up.

Thanks,
Finally someone I can relate to! Daycare is our single largest expense at $1800. Our grocery bill is about $700 for 2 adults and 2 toddlers. They eat most of what we eat, but we do buy some "kids" food. Diapers and other supplies add up to about $50 pet month now, but when the kids were younger it was in the $200 per month range. Clothes run at least $50-75 per month. Without going to my spreadsheets, I'd say all total we're spending about $2300 per month on 2 toddlers. And that's down by a few hundred from a year ago.
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MikeWillRetire
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by MikeWillRetire »

My kids are now 17 and 19. When they were infants, childcare was $10k per year per kid. When they went to private elementary school, tuition was $10k per year per kid. They went to public high school, so I saved $10k per year per kid. And now I have enough saved to pay $10k per year per kid at the local state university. Funny how that worked out.
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TomatoTomahto
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

Just don't let your kids become hockey goalies. There's a reason goalies often don't have to pay to join the team.

Or equestrians. Running is usually inexpensive.
I get the FI part but not the RE part of FIRE.
itstoomuch
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by itstoomuch »

Our Only didn't "cost" that much: (1985-2006)
-We had cloth diapers and trained Asian style.
-We had a food ricer and didn't buy commercial baby food. We grow a lot of our vegetables and know when and what to buy.
-Wifey bought Hanna Anderson clothes at their outlet store. And Oshkosh coveralls from toddler thru kindergarden.
-We had grandparents as sitters and we had different work hours.
-We did public schooling.
-DS had a few summers overseas at friend's home and other experiences funded by the UGMA.
-5% of gross income towards college fund to age 12. [Frontloaded from gifts from his grandparents and some fortunate investment 199x years]
-College (2002-2006, minor scholarships amounting to 17% COA, private university) was funded by massive student loans but was financed @~2.5% and the PI was paid from the UGMA. The airfares made substantial dents in the budget.
2006-2008:
-MS Grad school was courtesy of a governmental grant. He did have the academic credentials and appropriate/meaningful, summer, work experience.
-Post grad internships were earned and generously provided by Microsoft. Thankyou, MSFT/Bill.

We got Lucky. :happy
Last edited by itstoomuch on Wed Jun 17, 2015 8:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rev012718; 4 Incm stream buckets: SS+pension; dfr'd GLWB VA & FI anntys, by time & $$ laddered; Discretionary; Rentals. LTCi. Own, not asset. Tax TBT%. Early SS. FundRatio (FR) >1.1 67/70yo
dad2000
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by dad2000 »

3 kids, 4th-7th grade right now. Public school. About $50k/year if I exclude certain costs like the bigger car, bigger house, higher utilities, etc.

Sports/Camps: $17k
Food: $10k
Travel: $8k
Childcare: $7k
Shopping: $5k
Healthcare/Dental: $3k
Drew777
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Drew777 »

This thread is great birth control. It certainly reaffirms my decision to put off having kids for a while.
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ResearchMed
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by ResearchMed »

anonforthis wrote:
alexnk wrote:We spend $2200 for two kids for daycare alone. (HCOL)
OP, Would you post an example of your monthly grocery list or bill. I am floored that you can get away with spending $202/month. For our family of 4 we spend that much a week. I would not say that we are extravagant in our food choices either but it all adds up.

Thanks,

I don't keep the receipts but I can tell you that it is cheaper to buy veggies and seafood at my local Asian markets. I buy ground beef and chicken at Costco. The kids drink Costco whole milk $1.89 a gallon. We don't spend money on alcohol at all. We drink organic orange juice at Costco but it is expensive $7.99 a gallon.

surfstar wrote:OP admitted to a starvation diet where she and DH eat 1 meal a day during the week.

I don't see this saving money in the long run, as that cannot be healthy.
We are not starving. My husband and I just do not like to eat so much by choice. How can it not be healthy? I cook dinner every night but mostly for the kids. We like to go to bed with little food or empty stomach.
You spend about $50/week for groceries for the 4 of you, and of this, $8 is just for the orange juice (assuming only one gallon per week; it can't last too much longer than that)?

Yes, a list of the groceries/prices for one month (or even one complete week) would help us all understand how you are figuring out a way to do this so economically...

RM
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market timer
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by market timer »

Mr. Meow wrote:
market timer wrote:19-month-old child
$450/month nanny
Only $450/month for a nanny? For how many hours? Is one of you a stay-at-home parent or do you have family help?
This is for 360 days per year, around the clock care. It's in Thailand where labor is cheaper. I should add maybe $200/month imputed rent to this cost, since shelter is provided for the nanny. We provide her with a separate house for her family of 3, free of charge.
HJ1830
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by HJ1830 »

Monthly Expenses for two children (3 yo & 1 yo) in VHCOL area:

Extra Rent (ratty 2 bedroom instead of ratty 1 bedroom): $1000
Nanny incl. nanny taxes and worker's comp insurance (we have tried to get into daycare, but waitlists are huge): $3340
Extra Health Insurance Premiums (family vs. employee & spouse): $60
Extra Travel Costs: $50
Medical Co-Pays: $70
Preschool Starting This Fall (no public school options before kindergarten at our income level): $1500
Estimated Increase In Grocery Bill: $120
Estimated Other Misc Expenses (clothes, diapers, car seats, furniture, toys, books, strollers, random junk): $200
Total: $6,340 per month
denovo
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by denovo »

A few posters hit on it, but outside of daycare for the toddlers, your biggest cost relating to having a kid is that larger house in a better school distict you may be paying through the nose for. And the price of commuting from suburbia.
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FireProof
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by FireProof »

Encourage them to eat some vegetables, or the obesity-related costs will rise quickly!
German Expat
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by German Expat »

It really depends how you count it and if you also add in opportunity costs, e.g. my wife only worked part time for 2 years. Currently our expenses are very high because of private school and also part time Nanny.

Per month for 1 child:

2800 private school
1200 part time Nanny (including taxes etc.)
2000 rent difference
200 food (groceries and additional costs eating out)
450 additional travel expenses (we like to travel, e.g. this year 1 trip to China , 1 to the US and a decent amount of travel in Europe)
100 clothes
100 toys, books, ipad etc.
350 language and summer camps (averaged out)
250 health insurance
50 cable TV (would not have it otherwise)

Total: 7500

We are now in Switzerland for a couple years and it was much lower in the US (approx 3k instead of 7.5k, e.g. public school in the US). I do get some of it reimbursed by my employer (e.g. 80% of the private school but it is taxable so in reality it is less). I also did not put in the 500$ per month we save in a 529 for college.
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Chan_va
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by Chan_va »

2 kids - one in preschool and one infant.

$4000/ month in childcare costs.
dad2000
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Re: How much do your children cost per month?

Post by dad2000 »

Drew777 wrote:This thread is great birth control. It certainly reaffirms my decision to put off having kids for a while.
Slightly off topic, but your decision seems to be consistent with a growing trend. While we are finally out of a baby "recession", birth rates for young mothers have been decreasing, while rates for older mothers have been increasing: http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/ ... rate-rises

This would seem to suggest that financial security has finally become a greater factor in the process :oops:
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