How much kid your kids change your budget?

[milletpuff]

I realize that this question is so individualized as to be almost completely useless, but humor me. In the first few years after having a kid, how much did your monthly spending increase? Not counting the cost of birthing the baby.

Perhaps more concrete and useful : what expenses did you have after your kid was born that you were not really anticipating?

[beautyful]

Medical expenses.

Our insurance is pretty awesome, but we still have to pay for medications (~$150/month), co-pays, and the occasional emergency treatment.

[Drummer's Wife]

well for us, the biggest expense was losing my income. If I had went back to work right after my maternity leave was up, we would have had to budget childcare.

[lolar2]

I needed more household help than anticipated. Also lactation help since DS couldn't nurse-- I had to rent a pump, buy bottles and formula, lactation consultant fee, etc. Also I overestimated my ability to resist a good deal on cute toys and clothes. Since DS turned one last year, the expenses have been closer to what I anticipated they would be.

[1growingsprout]

Mine was the onset of mental health issues that required meds as well as babies that needed RX formula. All those co-pays add up rather quickly. :

Also daycare can be a wrench in the budget.

Somethings just can't be determined, like if your baby is going to have digestive issues, breathing issues, etc. If you are going to have medical problems. Now i realize 99% of the time everything is great but when it rains it pours YKWIM??

[mtm]

we spent more on conveince foods and takeout for the first month or so. Put out the word you're hand me down happy, we hardly bought anything for our dd since our friends were so generous with their hand me downs.

[Norasmomma]

I am with Drummer's wife-it changed in the fact we lost my income. At the time I was a self employed hairstylist who thought that I'd return to work after my own maternity leave. the reason that it was expensive after DD is I was still trying to pay rent at my facility and not work(don't know how I thought that would work. After I quit and decided it was best in the health of myself and my DD(nursing/and major clogged duct issues). It was rough for a bit, but DH got a raise, I have become a rockin coupon mom and now it seems like we live better with less money.

I just spent $300 yesterday, but I stocked up a ton of food, bought next years Christmas paper and some gifts, and got us stocked on household items for at least 3 months. We have actually just gotten so much better with money, it's hard to really think about the things that cost more-right now it still just doesn't.

[woodchick]

Originally Posted by mtm

we spent more on conveince foods and takeout for the first month or so. Put out the word you're hand me down happy, we hardly bought anything for our dd since our friends were so generous with their hand me downs.

yes.

For us we spent some on necessities, but were given so much at our shower and as hand me downs that it is only now at 2.5 years that we're starting to notice that we're spending a bit more on food and clothes and shoes. Until now the difference in our budget has not been noticeable.

[elephantmargaret]

interesting question.
-no real change to grocery budget until DS was 2ish-now he eats a TON so now I figure an extra $10-15/month in groceries. Snack foods are the hardest-I use the dollar store and costco and sharp shopper a lot for those
-disposible diapers run me about $30/month per kid (I used to cloth diaper but I don't now-our water is super hard and I just couldn't keep them clean)
-I breast fed so no formula cost.
-DS is 3, DD is 10 months and between the 2 of them they have had 3 sick visits in the past year with 4 abx rounds plus DD is on albuterol and singulair for RSV wheezing so $25x3 = $75 (co pay for sick visits) and maybe $50 for meds, $35 for the spacer/face mask for the albuterol
-about $100-105/wk for day care for the 2 of them-I work 3 days a week and they are in a home day care.
-we had to go to the family plan for insurance which is more.
-I figure that we spend $150/each kid per year on clothes. I sell a bunch of their stuff but give a lot of it away too. I'm trying to buy more used stuff and stay out of the stores! I'm also trying to plan DS' clothes so DD can wear them too (mostly jeans)
-toys for them-probably $100/year for DS, less for DD but I'm sure that will change as she gets older. We also built an outdoor playset for them which was $900
-Don't get me started on the cost of the hospital/c-sections/failed induction/MD visits.... or the IUD which my insurance won't cover but will save us money in the long run

[katheek77]

To be honest, even though we make less, we save more, and spend less. And, yes, I do mean that in hard numbers, not just percentages.

Mainly because before we had Katie we had a lot more free time, and would eat out, go to movies, drink more, take vacations, go shooting, etc., a lot more frequently.

As far as unexpected, we did have formula costs that weren't anticipated, as well as pump costs (I have tubular breasts), so, we bought a can of formula every 10-14 days (the first year...more like every 3-4 weeks the second), and I went through two dual electric pumps (plus various replacement parts). The pumps/parts/storage bags/supplements were easily $700-800 total, plus the formula....which was $30-45/month. So, $1300-1400 in extra feeding costs, even though I was giving Katie every drop I could produce...

[milletpuff]

Really interesting! Thanks for posting all. We are going to start TTC in summer and I'm just at a loss as to how to adjust the budget (I do it a year in advance). I'm also trying to make some decisions about career, which is why I am trying to get a handle on this now.

[artemis33]

I don't really know how the numbers balance out since we didn't keep track much before DD (and still aren't great about it ) however I can tell you what changed the most.

Lost my income to stay home.

As a result of being home, the heating bills are higher and the grocery bills are higher.

However - we spend much less on going out to restaurants, movies, etc and take fewer vacations.

I have gotten much better at cooking from scratch (and like to!) so we don't get take out as much now - although I agree that for the first 3 months or so we had DD we got LOTS of take out and ate lots of convenience type foods (Amy's frozen pizza's and canned soups, for example).

I am also much better at shopping for food....I know what a 'good price' is for items we use all the time, so if I am able to I stock up then. I also try to hit the discount stores once every month or two to help with costs (like Grocery outlet and TJ's). I can spend more time on those things - and meal planning - now that I'm home and this helps save money.

I buy less for myself now, and most of DD's stuff is second hand (well, mine is too but still!) so I think that evens out pretty well.

[Think of Winter]

Originally Posted by katheek77

To be honest, even though we make less, we save more, and spend less. And, yes, I do mean that in hard numbers, not just percentages.

Mainly because before we had Katie we had a lot more free time, and would eat out, go to movies, drink more, take vacations, go shooting, etc., a lot more frequently.

:We've cut way back on unnecessary expenses. Our household income is less that pre-kids since I stopped working (and was making more than 1/2 our total income), and our mortgage is higher. But we're happy and managing to put a little away every month. We spend a lot less on entertainment (including recreational shopping) and travel. And I don't miss it one bit. But we also paid off our cars shortly after our first was born, so that helps a lot.

[onlyzombiecat]

Unexpected-
formula/pump... I expected to breastfeed. I expected it to be easy. I didn't really plan for anything else. I was able to borrow a pump for awhile.
medical costs... nothing dramatic but no insurance
clothes for me... my pre-pregnancy wardrobe did not ever fit again & maternity clothes didn't fit
I think we spent more on special laundry detergent & water than I expected.
camera/film... for some I suppose it would be professional photography expense too

[StephandOwen]

Right after having ds? The major expenses were just things like diapers and clothes for him. I breastfed so no formula, he came with me to work (as a nanny) so no daycare. He was/is on Medicaid so no huge medical expenses.

HOWEVER, a couple years down the road all that has changed. DS has autism. He's been in various therapies since he was 17 months old (speech therapy started at that time and continues to this day... 46 continuous months of speech therapy and counting. He's also been in occupational therapy, which continues to this day, feeding therapy which is still ongoing and had a period of physical therapy that he's since "graduated" from). I continue to be "low income" (specifically only working specific jobs with specific hours) so he will qualify for Medicaid, which helps out greatly. Right now Medicaid pays for about $400/week in therapy. If he weren't on Medicaid, I'd be wracking up medical bills and filing for bankruptcy every 7 years (or whatever that limit is). There's no way. Of course, there is still a LOT of things ds needs (which he wouldn't if he didn't have autism) that we pay for out of pocket because insurance won't cover it.

So, in our case, medical/autism expenses were the biggest surprise. I am frugal with everything else (heck, just today I spent $40 at the grocery store but saved $76!) but that is one thing that I didn't plan for.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by milletpuff

Really interesting! Thanks for posting all. We are going to start TTC in summer and I'm just at a loss as to how to adjust the budget (I do it a year in advance). I'm also trying to make some decisions about career, which is why I am trying to get a handle on this now.

What we did with my stopping work in mind was just lived off hubbies income and put mine into paying down bills (mortgage in our case) and savings. We were already used living on what we were going to live on. Kids still made a huge difference for us but we've got a lot of medical expenses with one kid.

[bobandjess99]

hhhmm...well, my income went away, but we knew that was coming.

We ended up buying an expensive pump and spent money on provate LC due to nursing issues..wasn't planned for.

Due to having a ginormous child, we went through clothes so much more quickly than just about anyone I've ever heard of...she was in size 2T by 9 months old, and alod I had to buy large cloth diapers by like 6 months old too...which I hadn't planned on needing until 18 monts or more in age...we also had to buy 2 new carseats before she was 2 because she kept outgrowing them...
Oddly, with ds it was the opposite..we prepared for another ginomous, quick growing baby. He was born at 5 and a half pounds..we had to run out at 1 week old and buy preemie size clothes..which he fit for almost a month..then he was in size newborn until he was like 4 months old..then size 0-3 months, etc.....now at a year he wears 6 month and 9months, depending on brand. i also had to run out and buy newborn/premie dipes cuz all i had were small and medium.

definitely more on convenience foods.....and she HATED just staying home all day, so we went out a lot..to stores, window shopping, to the zoo, out to eat, etc, which cost money sometimes...

[EviesMom]

The first 1-3 months are also such a learning experience that I would just expect to have more generic costs like convenience foods/ordering in; more laundry, maybe house cleaning if possible. However, those are short term expenses.

I would say for the first child, the extra expenses in the first 2 years were mostly:
Loss of (at least part of) my income

Childcare (Total ballpark, I would say for us that I make 40% less than I did pre-kids; childcare costs 30% of what I make now.)

Increase in food costs (We ate more convenience foods before kids, actually, and more expensive ones. If DH and I had been eating then like we eat now; I think DD would have added maybe 10% to the monthly food budget; both me eating more when pg and nursing, and her starting solids; about the same with DS I think.)

Family plan for health insurance, although we don't use it a lot anyway. We did start a dental plan owing to DD needing a fair amount of work starting at a young age.

More "doing stuff" costs like mother's meetings, coffee with friends, etc. that make SAHM easier (It can certainly be done without this, but it's nice to have if you're making a budget from scratch)

Toys n' stuff I would say are balanced by how much less DH and I spend on adult going out/bars/restaurants/movies. For us, DH was WAH before we had kids, so the utility costs didn't change much.

[josybear]

when my mat leave ended and ds' health issues made daycare impossible, dp had to drop out of school to support us and i had to stay home. when ds2 came we got a car because 2 kids and groceries on the bus would be a logistical nightmare.

otoh, i used to spend 3/4 of my income on booze and now i hardly ever drink, so from that point of view i'm saving major $$.

[onlyzombiecat]

I asked dh what surprised him and he said "everything".
He was surprised by how much dd ate (formula) and clothes being outgrown so quickly. We did get quite a few hand-me-downs and dd didn't have a giant wardrobe of expensive clothes.
That brought up the surprise expense of shoes... not an early expense but when dd started wearing shoes she would outgrow them rapidly.