How much kid your kids change your budget? - Page 2

[Herausgeber]

1. Daycare is a massive expense -- more than $10K a year -- and that won't go away or get much cheaper until DD is school-age.

2. We bought a different, much more expensive house (mortgage doubled), with an eye toward school options long term and to live in a more family-friendly neighborhood (lots of cheap/free activities in walking distance, a great park, etc.) No, we didn't *have* to do this, but we knew we would eventually and the timing seemed right. It significantly improved our quality of life.

3. My share of the health care premium went up about 50 percent when we went to a family plan. There were no real expenses associated with the birth. I was able to get reimbursement for my pump rental from my FSA, which was nice.

4. "Stuff" wasn't a burden; we got a lot of things as gifts, and picked up many other things as hand me downs or cheaply secondhand. I breastfed for 2 years. Cloth diapered PT. I spent more money on my own maternity clothes while pregnant than I did on DD's clothes in that first year.

In terms of the big picture, we just don't save like we did pre-baby, and we've gotten into debt that I doubt we will dig out of until DD is in school. We spend way less on stuff like travel and eating out, and clothes for ourselves.

[Sonnenwende]

Nothing really changed that was shocking. Things like formula and disposable diapers weren't planned for, but weren't unexpected either.

We had to move up to a two bedroom apartment and eventually had to get on and off daycare after the first year. Our household income increased substantially after I went back to work full-time.

Edit: Ah wait, there was one unexpected thing, but it won't apply to a lot of people here. That was that it has been nearly impossible for me to get a discount for children over 12 months when flying. I have had to pay full adult fare since she was, well, 12 months.

[Luckiestgirl]

Our increases weren't too bad at first, but we now have an almost-2, almost-4, and 5-year-old. Our expenses have increased in the following areas:

1. Food. I've heard others say that their little ones don't eat much. My oldest two are great eaters. We spend a sizable portion of our food diet on organic produce, organic dairy, and organic meat. Also on healthier convenience foods for the nights I can't get dinner together. I'd like to cook everything from scratch but that would mean giving up my writing career which I have recently resumed part-time from home.

2. Clothes. We live in an area with no decent thrift stores. I'm not going to pay $3 for a worn-out shirt from Wal-mart, KWIM? I buy almost 100% new Hanna Andersson clothes (which wear like steel) on end-of-season clearance or ebay and save them for the next year. We then hand them down. This is a cost-effective strategy for us, but it still adds up.

3. Shoes. One of my kids has very narrow feet and requires quality, fairly pricey shoes to fit her feet properly.

4. Health insurance. We are self-employed and thus self-insured. Each child has increased our monthly premiums. If we have a 4th child, the rate won't increase further.

5. Health costs. Our oldest caught RSV when he was six months old, and struggled with asthma for the next five years as a result. Thankfully, he seems to be outgrowing it. Still, that's meant thousands spent on co-pays for meds and hosptializations.

6. Housing. After our third we moved to a larger house. Our mortgage doubled. We had planned on staying in our first house for several more years, but that was easier said than done; it was tiny and my older two really suffered from lack of room to run and play.

Hope this helps.

[phathui5]

We didn't have many extra costs when they were babies. It's now that they're getting older that things are more expensive. And I was one of those moms that thought that we could get by just not spending money on outside activities and do things for free, but my kids love their classes and sports and we're not going to deny it to them.

Our kid-related budget items (at least lately):

$600/year for homeschool supplies
$120/month for my 8, 5, and 3 year old to take gymnastics
$ 89 back in the fall for ds1 to take ceramics at community college
$ 75/month for ds1 to take taekwondo

[Amys1st]

Everything

MEdical benefits. We used to just pay for the two of us. In the last 10 years medical insurance has tripled. Where in 2000 it was about $200 a month from our checks for medical and dental, now its $1200 a month for our medical. Thankfully that is picked up by DH's clinic for the partners like himself but if it wasnt, I would be back at work.

Property
I am at home so our utilities are higher because we are here all day to heat the place plus use electity. Plus we now have a bigger house so a larger house payment plus higher utilities to run the house. We moved for more space but mainly for a new neighbor hood more family and kid oriented. If we were childless, we would have stayed in our previous home with a smaller cost of running the place.

Needs that are not negiotable:
Car seats, Rxs, shoes, warm coats, warm bedding, Drs appts and all that entails.

Education.
We live in a good public school district so our property taxes are higher than some but not as high as others. IF we sent our kids to the private catholic school up the street, its an extra 5K a year but we use the public school. If you homeschool, there are costs associated with that as well.

Going to school is an expense too. The kids always need things for this. If you child is in any activity or you pay for preschool its an expense. There are many ways to cut costs and be creative which I do, but raising kids can be expensive.

food
IF you have allergies, trouble nursing, or just a picky eater or whatever your food costs will go up.

When we had dd1 Liz, I breastfed exclusely and our food costs were not bad. After the second, she had some supplement so we had to purchase formula here and there. I clothed diaperd my second but we still use pull ups as well. So there are always expenses that come up. If one gets sick, count on the other getting sick too and maybe one of you as well. So a small illness that came home is all of a sudden $200 in Dr bills and $300 in rx plus a whole day of washing linens someone threw up on.

I have noticed we have less money to spend on disposable things. Like going on expensive vacations, out to eat, clothes shopping, shoe shopping etc. There is always something else that the money can go to. Its not a problem since we waited a long time to have our kids anyhow for that reason.

[dsaucone]

The 1st kid changed the expenses a bit with dumb unnecessary purchases. I also left work, but we moved in with my parents and that sort of offset that cost.

The second kid we were more practical with and we know what necessities are.
breast pump & bottles if going back to work
boobs
nursing bras & pads
cloth diapers
clothes
a place to sleep
blankets
carseat
sheets
dresser
sling

You can use your sink, you can use your own washcloths/towels, they don't need solid food for a long time, and when they do it's very minimal.

I think we probably spend the same on food and waste less. Most of our child related expenses are one time things. Health insurance was a big expenses because at the time we didn't have any as a couple. With 2 kids our expenses have gone down because we now qualify for reimbursed premiums. Monthly bills like elec&heat can increase when you stay at home.

[mamayarn]

Expect the unexpected! Those tiny people bring a whole new set of surprises. One thing we did that I don't think I've seen here is increased our life insurance.

[ZanZansMommy]

I would beg, borow & steal for hand-me-downs. I was too proud when DD was 1st born so I bought brand new stuff...UGH. That was a huige waster of $$$. I put the word out to friends that I wanted/needed hand-me-downs. Now I have so many, I can literally go to the basement & find snow boots size 11 or socks 3T (Of course I have it all organized). I only have to buy shoes.

We also ordered out more right after DD was born. I just couldn't figure out how to cook, tend to my baby & also myself.

Now that my kids are 3 & 5 our food buget has gone up.

DD likes to do outside classes so that's an additional expense too.

[elephantmargaret]

Originally Posted by katheek77

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.

:

especially with 2 kids we almost never go out

[claddaghmom]

We have a very loving community (e.g. school, work, family, friends) which resulted in us not needing to buy a thing. Everything from a crib to clothing to a few packs of diapers/baby wipes to get us started. Even got a stroller/carseat set from my Grandma. The giving was so uplifting!

The only two expenses are diapers/baby wipes and $200 a month family insurance. Originally we had $50 deductions in our paychecks and we were both working, so the $200 is a ding for us.

[ilovebabies]

We really didn't find having children that much more expesive until our oldest two became teenagers. Now it's a different story entirely.

Early on, we received mostly hand-me-downs and what we did need to purchase was found at thrift stores for the most part. If you're a family that wants to "keep up with the Jones'" and you want to give your children everything, then you'll have a problem. That's not a problem for us. I breastfed, and like someone else said, we stayed (and still stay) home a lot more so those other expenses are gone so it kind of equaled out. I did quit my job to stay home from the beginning, so that took some adjusting.

You have to take into consideration saving for college. We jumped on that too late and now all of the sudden our two oldest are teenagers and it's right around the corner! We're trying to prepare for that and finding it very, very difficult. Start saving for college when they are babies!

Yes, children are an expense, but I think more so, it still boils down to your lifestyle.

[jennybear]

Before even having kids, I can tell you the following will be big budget busters for us:

1. Loss of my income during maternity leave
2. Cost of daycare (1500+/month around here)
3. Increased monthly cost of insurance premiums to add a baby

Without even adding in additional food, diapers, etc. having a baby will be in the 2,000 neighborhood/month for us. Of course, we plan on trimming in a lot of areas to compensate, but it will still be...an adjustment.

We need both incomes to make it work in this area, so having a SAHP isn't an option right now.

[kirstenb]

The main thing is daycare- we pay about $1200 a month here.

Food. This went up a ton. Before DS we didn't have the best eating habits and spent very little at the grocery store. Now we cook full blown meals every night and weekend, get lots of fresh produce and less convenience foods, and our costs have risen accordingly.

Diapers/wipes/clothes- These add up. I only shop sale and 2nd hand, but I spend more on clothing for him in a year than I do on myself. Shoes are expensive for him! We cloth diaper and use cloth wipes, and I know I am saving money there, but it's still a chunk of change. There's also carseats, toys, and other misc. items.

The good thing is we have insurance through the military so we don't pay anything there for check-ups, prescriptions, etc.