Financial burden of your first child?

Dh and I have been going back and forth for a while now about starting a family. This is a large decision that we are taking seriously and we want to be as prepared possible all while remaining realistic.

One thing that comes up a lot is the cost...
Please be as candid as you'd like to be. Was your child more or less of a financial burden than you expected?

Financial burden of your first child?

Less. I think the only thing I actually notice is the cost of daycare. But diapers and formula never phased me.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

A LOT LESS, thankfully. Luckily we have very generous friends and family and got pretty much everything we needed at my shower. I still have babies r us gift cards and BBB credit- so when we need things like diapers and diaper rash cream I can just use that.
I have a feeling more expenses will come up when he's older.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Less. I am a SAHM so obviously losing my salary was an adjustment, but the actual expense was less.

Financial burden of your first child?

Less. Honestly, I am a cheap-o, so this was a big worry of mine before I had DD. But, it hasn't been bad at all.

Financial burden of your first child?

So much less. We are very blessed with our families too. We received every item possible for our shower and as for formula and diapers, they are much less than we thought. Of course, as he grows, we will need other things, and we will figure it out as it comes up.
I feel like it's something you can only plan so much for. I am a HUGE planner and I still feel like it's way less than we thought it would be.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

As a baby, a lot less than anticipated. Over 2.5 yo, a lot more than I thought. Between nursery school, activities, toys, educational toys, birthday parties, clothes and shoes etc we are in shock

Financial burden of your first child?

Less but my ILs watch the baby and will not take money from us. It would be a LOT more difficult for us to get by financially if we had to pay for day care.

Financial burden of your first child?

It is what you make it. Diapers and wipes are available at various price points, same goes for food- you make your own, you buy, you go organic, you go conventional, again different price points.

You can breastfeed, that's free. I'd say overall it was MORE than I thought it would be because I choose to feed a very high quality diet (which then translated to a complete food overhaul for the whole family) and pay more for organic diapers and our electricity costs have skyrocketed due to laundry and heating. DS has a nanny so that is also pricier than daycare...as he's gotten older we've added activities (again, a choice) which are pricey.

Message edited 2/19/2013 3:28:04 PM.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

More than we expected. The cost of having a child, IMO, gets higher each year! We were lucky in that we didn't pay for child care. But here are some things that I have noticed.

-Our firstborn was healthy, but had torticollis due to neck muscle weakness. He needed PT and that cost $200 a month in co pays for about 6 months. We didn't anticipate that.

- Your electric bill will go up. You do more laundry, run the dishwasher more often, etc.

- Diapers/formula not bad at all. There are tons of coupons.

- we saved a lot by shopping sales/outlets for clothing, and use hand me downs! Same goes for toys!

My boys are 2 and 5 now. My grocery bills are much higher!!! Mainly from cooking at home a lot, and it seems that eating healthy and using whole foods is more expensive.

I hear from friends that sports/lessons/gear/costumes costs can really add up. So I know as they get older, more things will crop up!!

It is worth it though. We decided to go for it since we had room in our house, good health insurance, an emergency fund, and we had some wiggle room after paying bills. There is never an "ideal" time. But if you feel ready- go for it!

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

sorry double post!

Message edited 2/19/2013 3:26:18 PM.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Less. We have two kids and we are doing fine. You also have to think about future expenses college etc. My boys better be scholarship worthy lol. If you wait for the perfect time it might never come. That's why dh and I just took the plunge.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Financial burden of your first child?

Less. I work from home so we don't use daycare. I use whatever diapers are on sale, DS eats whatever we eat for dinner, his milk is probably the biggest $$ but thats because we choose specific milk. Insurance was the biggest $ difference but we knew that was coming...When DS was born I chose to BF which saved $, pumps are even covered by insurance now. I made his baby food and also bought jars when on sale.

I would look at your health insurance premiums first, for us that was the biggest change. You can decide if you want to breastfeed, think about making your own baby food, decide if you are will to use generic diapers or formula etc. All of those things can save you $$ if you are worried.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

I really didn't feel a difference.
With the EXCEPTION of daycare.
Yeah that's a lot of money.
But to be hoenst, I really didn't feel much pain even from that.
We never really lived extravagently - in fact we are pretty frugal- so I didn't feel too much pain.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Less. We were also fortunate and got mostly everything at our baby shower. Plus we got a ton of gift cards. I also breastfed which helped.

Actually I just remembered, his birth cost us about 2500.00 out of pocket, but even with that is than I expected.

Message edited 2/19/2013 3:45:25 PM.

Financial burden of your first child?

The only thing that has really made an impact is heating oil. We took out our wood stove for both space and safety reasons and I am home all day with DD so we have the temp much higher than we used to during both the day and night. We will probably spend close to $2k more on oil than past winters!

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Less than expected. We saved a bit to account for l&d as well as furnishing a room. It think it depends upon your insurance as to the cost for having a child. For my son we had insurance where it cost us a lot - and it varies. We had different insurance for DD and her l&d cost less. Some things to think about:
get life insurance policies before pregnancy (younger/no pre-existing conditions)
necessities:
l&d costs
car seat
stroller
crib
crib mattress
sheets (you do not need a bedding set)
clothing
diapers/ointments/wipes

nursing costs less than formula and I would see if you can get a free manual pump in the hospital.
If you like nursing, then invest in an electric pump, nursing bras, sleep bras

If you want an inexpensive crib Ikea has one for about 100. You don't even need a changing table - you could change the baby on any flat surface. I just used a pad on top of the dresser. You don't need baby specific furniture other than a crib if you are on a super lean budget. A glider/rocker would be a nice thing to have too. As would a bouncer, swing, rock and play. But it really depends upon your budget.

As they get older - camp, preschool, classes, activities (museum trips, plays, circus, arts and crafts, etc.) It can cost a lot or a little. It depends upon your budget.

Message edited 2/19/2013 4:09:07 PM.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Financial burden of your first child?

Daycare to me, is the only true expense. All the clothes, accessories, formula, diapers etc didn't phase me.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Less than expected. Plus we go out less and spend less so it all evens out in the end, I think.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Honestly, I didn't really feel like having a kid was that much of an expense in terms of what she needed. I gave up my salary to be a SAHM but that was my choice. Aside from diapers and formula I don't really feel DD cost us much early on. Now that she is older and has joined things like dance she is starting to cost us a little more but as a baby, I don't really feel she was an expense.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

Less. Diapers aren't as much as you would would probably imagine. A box last a while.

If you nurse that eliminates the formula expense. If not, it's still not much.

Necessities...hopefully you get almost everything from a baby shower.

Care is the expense you have to consider. I worked through the first and stopped with the second. That was an adjustment but you make it work.

Re: Financial burden of your first child?

I thought I could handle it. I prepared, I was thrifty. I had budgets etc. I planned (ha!)

2 days after we came home I collapsed into my father’s shoulder and cried. I cried like a lost soul who could find no peace no matter how hard I looked. Why? Money. I had no idea how to make ends meet anymore. If I got sicker (which I did) how could we carry on? What about daycare? It was catastrophic.

We sold things, got rid of more stuff and I planned my exit from NY. Its been ‘better’ since I’ve moved to Texas but she’s expensive. Daycare is by far the most expensive part. We made our own food. I originally bf then went to ff but there are price points that can be found. She didn’t have a lot of the things that seem to be unimaginable to most babies here to not have.

I sold my entire book collection. Something I held very dear and close to me. For next to nothing. I can easily say that not having another child definitely factored in costs. The only way we could manage it was if she was in public school, which is this year. Still, Id rather not spread that thin. Things are better here, as I said. We can do more. But only because we have just one.

Worth it? How could it not be? Worth seriously considering before having one? Absolutely.