I live in a VLCOL area. Day care in a center, full-time for an infant is about max $500 a month. Adding a child to our insurance wouldn't cost anything extra as it's "self" or "family." Our deductible for a birth would be about $2000.
Ideally I'd cloth diaper and breastfeed. I estimated $500 to start up a cloth diaper stash, but I might also be able to find some gently used for sale. I have no problem hitting up craigslist for used furniture, refurbishing old dressers, or buying used baby clothes.
Having a baby in this area could be very very cheap. The schools aren't too great though, so private school might be on the table in the future.
To cut down on cost, we buy a lot of her clothes at good will. I know a lot of people look down on this and think it's gross. But they grow so stinking fast. Why would I spend 20 bucks on an outfit she will wear for 2 weeks at Target when it's only 2 bucks at Goodwill?
Really? People "look down" on doing that? Who are these people? It's called a washing machine, people.
On the average month, I don't spend much money on anything other than daycare. I EBF and CD, so no formula or diaper costs. A huge box of wipes is $20 and that will last us 2-3 months.
I'd say the average total is about $1500- $1200 daycare, $200 529 and $100 for extras (wipes, BM storage bags when I need them, clothes when she needs them, toys, etc).
To cut down on cost, we buy a lot of her clothes at good will. I know a lot of people look down on this and think it's gross. But they grow so stinking fast. Why would I spend 20 bucks on an outfit she will wear for 2 weeks at Target when it's only 2 bucks at Goodwill?
Really? People "look down" on doing that? Who are these people? It's called a washing machine, people.
There are huge consignment events in our area, we head to them all the time for the nieces toys and whatnot. I get it though, people want to get some nice new things for their kids. Also, sometimes taking the time to do so can be really out of your way to go look. Not everyone may have the time if both spouses work full time.
Along the lines of Goodwill, in my old neighborhood in NY we used to organize regular clothing swaps. Some local moms put it together to use space at a local church and picked a day and time. Other moms showed up with outgrown clothing in bags and then we all helped organize them by size. It was awesome. Whatever people didn't take home with them was donated to a textile recycling org that did pick-ups in our neighborhood. If you have a neighborhood list serve or parents' group or are part of an active church or something like that, you can organize something like this.
Post by whitepicketfence on Aug 6, 2012 11:40:40 GMT -5
For us, the biggest expense has been the loss of my salary since I now SAH. If we were to enroll both kids in daycare right now, it would cost $1500/month in a LCOL area. I do save money on my clothing now that I'm not working, however. I get by with clothes from Old Navy, Target, and eBay vs suits and dress clothes from pricier stores.
Our health insurance premium increased about $40/month when we added DD1. Since we are now on the family plan, it didn't cost anything to add DD2. I didn't have to pay more than one $20 co-pay when I delivered DD1 but I had to pay around $400 after DD2's delivery.
We're in the process of potty training DD1 but we still have to buy her pull-ups for overnight and naptime. We are also still using up our stockpile of diapers for DD2 that we received as gifts after she was born. I expect to pay around $50/month for diapers and pull-ups once our current stash runs out. I also spend around $12/month on wipes.
DD2 is now on whole milk but we were previously spending $80/month on generic (Target brand) formula. The girls have easily added an additional $100/month to our grocery bill. The amount of money we now spend monthly on organic milk for the two of them is shocking.
The only clothing my girls have that was purchased new are those items that they received as gifts for birthdays, Christmas, etc. Everything else I bought second hand or from garage sales. Even so, my MIL is a garage sale junkie and has probably bought 90% of my kids' clothing by herself. I spend very little in this category.
I also spend almost nothing on toys. My MIL buys toys for them almost every week from garage sales so they certainly don't need any more. I only buy toys for birthdays and Christmas. DD2 just had her birthday and I spent around $35 for her gift.
We contribute to a 529 plan and a savings account for each child each month.
I anticipate our kids being more expensive when they're school age since we plan on sending them to a Catholic school and will need childcare during the summer months.
Our biggest expense is day care. 900 per month. They provide all my sons meals and diapers and wipes. So we only go through one box of diapers every 90 days or so at home. We never purchased baby food (I made my own) and I breast fed. LO has never had formula.
So the real cost is $900 per month in day care. $40 biweekly for health insurance.
As far as clothes I only shop the twice yearly consignment sales and spend about $150 ever 6 months. I never ever buy clothes at walmart, jcp, target, carters etc for my son.
To cut down on cost, we buy a lot of her clothes at good will. I know a lot of people look down on this and think it's gross. But they grow so stinking fast. Why would I spend 20 bucks on an outfit she will wear for 2 weeks at Target when it's only 2 bucks at Goodwill?
Really? People "look down" on doing that? Who are these people? It's called a washing machine, people.
Some ladies on here commented on how my daughter looked like she was wearing a "Good Will hand-me-down onsie" because it was older looking. Not stained or anything. Just something that was obviously from the early 2000's or so. Sorry, but I like money lol.