Cost of a baby...

[hz80408]

I'm more of an occasional lurker and infrequent poster on MM (usually post on travel or S&B), but know MM will be able to give the best advice on this....H and I are trying to make a 10-yr look ahead plan/goal; which will include buying a home/condo and having children.

Obviously some expenses depend on COL, but I'm trying to figure out an estimate on monthly baby/child costs, as well as baby '"start-up" costs. Advice, references, etc are appreciated. TIA

eta: planning on BFing

[lanyac]

I asked this a while ago, and I basically got "As much as you want it to cost". Some people spend thousands a month, some spend almost nothing.

Formula
Diapers
Day Care
Insurance
Clothing
Breast Pumps (apparently these are expensive)

[chessie]

I been researching this for last few months myself and the folks on MM were very helpful, I was suggested 5k for startup- assume no showers at all, include insurance increase, childcare, food, formula, wipes, diapers, etc. For us we came up with 1500-2000 a month we would need to have 1 child, since daycare was the big ticket, and we live in a MCOL. For us gives us something to strive for and have accurate savings. Another thing to take into consideration is maternity leave for 6-8 weeks, just in case you have to get insurance for it or save for your time out of work.

[simpsongal]

I'm starting to think about this too.

Full time day care for an infant in a HCOL area is about $1800/month. Those costs drop a bit as the kid gets older, but you'll be paying them for the first 5 years until school starts. And mayb thereafter for after-school care.

[hz80408]

Thanks for the feedback so far. We live in Chicago now and have discused that it may be worth H being a SAHD, or seeing if he could work part-time from home.

[Deleted]

Someone posted this cost calculator a very long time ago. I used it as an estimate for start up but ongoing costs varied wildly for us since we were gifted a ton.

www.babycenter.com/baby-cost-calculator

[ladybrettashley]

Daycare is the biggest factor obviously. I live in a MCOL area and daycare for an infant at a center is around $275 a week. An in-home daycare is around $150-$200. This gets a little cheaper as they get older, but not much.

Start-up costs for us were around $5000, but we bought mostly new stuff, so this can be a lot less if you buy used or get a lot of gifts.

Additional expenses (formula, diapers, wipes, food etc.) were around $200 extra a month.

Also plan for savings if you are going to set up a savings account or college fund for your child, and determine how much you want to contribute per month.

[Deleted]

I think a lot of people forget about maternity leave. Make sure you save money for when you don't have a paycheck or are paid a % of your normal pay. I know too many people who had to go back after 6 weeks because they couldn't afford to take off 12 weeks (if covered by FMLA). Also, check to see what your out of pocket/deductible on your insurance.
And often you will have to put a deposit down to hold a spot at a daycare, so make sure you have that plus the first week.

[Deleted]

We have an almost 3 year old and she costs us approx $1600 a month between daycare, additional food costs, clothes, etc. It was slightly more when she was a baby- we cloth diapered and BF, so that saved a bit, but there were more doctor's bills, buying new bottles, buying clothes more frequently, etc. Our daycare costs haven't gone down but apparently they will when she goes to the pre-K next year.

Not included in this are the cost of classes, which we are starting in October. THat will be another $60/month for dance and not sure how much for swimming (still pricing it).

We have very generous friends and family and got a ton of stuff when DD was born, but we still had start up costs of around $2K (admittedly, we bought higher end stuff and things we didn't NEED). But it would have been more if we had to buy everything ourselves.

We were responsible for approx $3K of the cost for her birth/prenatal care/post natal care/pedi. She doesn't cost us more in health insurance premiums bc DH's company pays 100% but many people will have an increased cost in health care premiums.

I am in NYC suburbs.

[Deleted]

We probably spent about 1500 on "start up" costs - including nursery furniture and decor, our co-sleeper, car seat, a pack and play, cloth diapers and some of the odds and ends that I didn't get for my shower. Maybe slightly more, but it was spaced out over several months.

I did have a large shower though where I got most of the "big" items - strollers, breast pump, swing, etc. I also bought very few clothes in the beginning and my mom bought our crib for us. If we had to purchse all of that our costs would have gone up significantly obviously. We planned as though we weren't having a shower.

Each month we probably currently spend 1500 on him - but 1300 of that is daycare. So the other 200 is for diapers and wipes for daycare, breastmilk storage bags, and clothes for him as he gets old. And that 200 is a high estimate - but he is only 3 months old so his needs are pretty minimal and basic.

[hz80408]

Aug 22, 2012 8:33:16 GMT -5 flygirl said:

I think a lot of people forget about maternity leave. Make sure you save money for when you don't have a paycheck or are paid a % of your normal pay. I know too many people who had to go back after 6 weeks because they couldn't afford to take off 12 weeks (if covered by FMLA). Also, check to see what your out of pocket/deductible on your insurance.
And often you will have to put a deposit down to hold a spot at a daycare, so make sure you have that plus the first week.

Thanks, excellent point. Our benefits aren't really clear and I'm kind of nervous to ask HR about it; but I need to to make sure we're prepared.

Our benefits for short term disability say: "The benefit provides 60% of weekly earnings to a maximum benefit of $1,200 per week for up to 13 weeks of leave. Maternity benefits are included in this short-term disability program. The short-term disability benefit is providedto the employee without employee contribution."

[SusanBAnthony]

That sounds pretty clear to me. You get 60% of your pay, or 1200 per week, whichever is lower, for up to 13 weeks of leave.

I would say expect your groceries to double for 2 kids while they are kids, and even higher when they are teenagers.
Expect more in electric and gas bills when you are home with the baby or if your h stays at home.
Expect 1500 maybe in infant care in Chicago but that will depend on your neighborhood
1000-5000 in start up expenses depending on gifts, hand me downs, and how fancy you want to go,
200 a year in ongoing big expenses like bigger cars eats, booster seats, trikes, bikes, etc
For us about 500 a year for 2 kids for classes and lessons and sports, but that could be as low or high as you want
If you end up need formula (I nursed my first fine but my second needed formula) the cost peaked at 150 a month for organic formula.
Diapers/wipes 50 a month
Clothes can be as much or little as you want. Something like 200 a year would be reasonable.
Toys- almost nothing bc you will likely get gifts. But let's say 100 a year.
possible insurance costs to go to a family plan.

For us the biggest expenses by far were daycare, which was budget able, and medical expenses, as our son has some special needs, to the tune of 900$ for orthotics this morning, kill me now. You can't budget every little thing, just do your best to estimate.

[noonecareswhoiam]

Based on my experience, $1200-$1600 a month sounds about right for infant care in Chicago (unless you live in the bungalow belt, in which case it might be less, or a home daycare might be easier to find).

Working from home generally requires some sort of child care, especially when the child gets past 6-9 months old and sleeps less.

If you don't already have a car, you might want to think about that as well. While it can be done, there are definately times in the winter when it's not a great idea to stand outside and wait for a train/bus with an infant. And forget about getting a car seat in a cab once you're past the baby bucket.

[chessie]

Aug 22, 2012 8:55:52 GMT -5 namasteak said:

5k for start up costs? I used that baby center estimator (and assumed no showers) my number was just under 3k. I did reduce the price of furniture since we plan to buy used or ikea.

Includes safety measures too that have to be added to household to keep the kid safe. 5k was a good round number though, if you have any left over, roll over to use as buffer while on maternity leave.

[hz80408]

Aug 22, 2012 8:59:07 GMT -5 noonecareswhoiam said:

Based on my experience, $1200-$1600 a month sounds about right for infant care in Chicago (unless you live in the bungalow belt, in which case it might be less, or a home daycare might be easier to find).

Working from home generally requires some sort of child care, especially when the child gets past 6-9 months old and sleeps less.

If you don't already have a car, you might want to think about that as well. While it can be done, there are definately times in the winter when it's not a great idea to stand outside and wait for a train/bus with an infant. And forget about getting a car seat in a cab once you're past the baby bucket.

Thanks noone. We're in a popular neighborhood (Lakeview), so costs would be high; although we're not sure we want to stay here for the next 10 years (even considering trying to move out of state).

We do have one car already; that I'd trust for baby and is large enough to accomodate w/o any issues.

[ladybrettashley]

Aug 22, 2012 8:45:11 GMT -5 hz80408 said:

Thanks, excellent point. Our benefits aren't really clear and I'm kind of nervous to ask HR about it; but I need to to make sure we're prepared.

Our benefits for short term disability say: "The benefit provides 60% of weekly earnings to a maximum benefit of $1,200 per week for up to 13 weeks of leave. Maternity benefits are included in this short-term disability program. The short-term disability benefit is providedto the employee without employee contribution."

When you talk to HR, make sure you understand VERY CLEARLY what this means. For most short term disability plans, you only get paid for time you are actually disabled; so for maternity that is often only the 6-8 weeks after childbirth (or whatever amount of time your doctor says you're disabled). The rest of that 13 weeks may be unpaid unless it specifies otherwise.

[raangoli]

I've been wondering about this lately - probably spurred by the previous thread on MM recently. It helps to see the NJ posters since that's where we are. I started my own estimates of what would be needed (mostly daycare) and it's scary, but it's nice to see that I'm being realistic.

[hz80408]

Thanks ladybrett. I will try to clarify in a "just thinking about the futuer" kind of way. Plus with potential to job search in other cities; I'm thinking that this should be kept in mind when looking at potential to hire on somewhere.

[GailGoldie]

here in NJ daycare = about $1500/month for infant, and while it goes down as they get older- other costs go up (cost of swim lessons, dance class, etc) so you can budget $1500 ish/month for at least the first 5 year just for that.

costs are relative to what you WANT to spend. Anyone can make things work on any budget - you can buy used, yard sale, etc and save a ton... you can buy tons of clothes new, fun toys, etc, and spend a ton. It's all about what you CAN budget and how you spend that.