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JDubs
different, not less
Member since 7/09 13160 total posts
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
we are still OK financially with this baby even after formula, diapers, etc. This is largely in part because we were lucky to not have to put DS in daycare, which would have eaten up my salary (and we need both of our salaries). Although, I worry how we are going to swing it when we eventually have a 2nd child.
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Posted 2/20/13 9:51 AM  |
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Long Island Weddings
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sleepie76
enjoying every minute
Member since 12/07 3881 total posts
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
I wouldn't use the words financial burden...financial adjustment.
1st one..... $1200 daycare
$100 diapers/wipes
+ some formula
We were ok. we adjusted. We weren't going out as much.
X 2 = $2500 daycare
$200 diapers/wipes
We feel that.
But you get used to it.
It's like a car payment, hurts in the beginning but just becomes a bill you pay. You readjust your spending habits to compensate.
Clothes - every 3-6 months, not a big deal to me.
Toys - you can control that
Food - we have to eat anyway, so no big difference there.
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| Posted 2/20/13 10:29 AM |
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Posted by alisha
Just another thought on this subject....
Many people are saying that the cost is a lot less than they expected... But are then qualifying that statement by saying that they go out less, or buy themselves less stuff, or don't pay childcare, or decided to stay at home, etc. Those are all choices that were made to OFFSET the cost of a child -but they don't NEGATE the cost of a child.
Adding more people to your household is going to cost you more. The way around that is to budget better by reducing costs in other areas.
This may be obvious but these responses are shocking for sure esp. when generally speaking people usually agree that children are 
well, for us I don't think much has changed. We still go out (maybe less but that's only because I want to spend all my time with dd). I still have money to go out and buy myself things. That really hasn't changed. I work full time and pay childcare (that's the only part that sucks- the cost of daycare).
I do think that as we got older our salaries also changed for the better, though, so it evens out. When I was younger I made less but now with a child I make more and it just evens out.
Children are expensive, don't get me wrong but I feel like we better ourselves as we get more established in our careers, etc and tend to make more as we get older. At least, that's been the case for us.
Message edited 2/20/2013 11:15:39 AM.
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| Posted 2/20/13 11:13 AM |
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Bridex100
Two Under Two Mommy
Member since 3/08 10420 total posts
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Momx100
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Much less. I was surprised at how little we spent on the baby in the very beginning. I had almost everything I needed from my baby shower.
DH and I used to go out a lot and we stay in all the time now. Any costs associated with the kids was offset by the savings of not going out.
Nothing prepared me for my time commitment though. If you consider time = money, it was waaaaaay more expensive but I don't think that is what you meant.
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| Posted 2/20/13 11:15 AM |
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TheLucille2
Yayicanpickmyowntitle!
Member since 6/11 1058 total posts
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Posted by InShock
I didn't read the whole thread, but I hate the connotation of "burden" - yes, kids bring on extra costs, but I don't think it should ever be classified as a burden!
Not at all what I meant, but thanks for pointing that out. 
To everyone else, I truly appreciate all of the feedback!
Message edited 2/20/2013 12:06:09 PM.
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| Posted 2/20/13 12:03 PM |
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Sparrow
LIF Adult
Member since 11/10 6826 total posts
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Financial burden of your first child?
I would bet up until daycare started (which wasn't until DD was 20 months) we were probably actually saving money. We used to go out for nice dinners all the time. Once she came along those days were OVER. I think I can count on one hand how many times we've been to a decent restaurant since we had kids.
We also got most of our big items from my shower/family members. I EBF so there was no formula cost. So many people bought us clothes (and both grandmas still do it to this day) that I actually complain that I can't shop for my own kids.
To me, daycare is the kicker. I don't know how people, especially on LI and with more than one kid, afford daycare. DD only goes 2 days a week and it's $800 a month.
I totally agree with the people who say it gets more costly as they get older. We intend to send our kids to Catholic school and I don't even want to think about what that's going to run. . .
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| Posted 2/20/13 12:24 PM |
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Tina1117
LIF Adult
Member since 11/07 1447 total posts
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Tina
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Less. There is no doubt that children are expensive but like everything else in life you adjust to it and we've done just that. We are ok but we cut back on a lot and we're bargain hunters now.
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| Posted 2/20/13 12:30 PM |
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Maybe it wasn't responsible of us, but we wanted to start a family, when we wanted to. Financially we were fine, but honestly even if we weren't, we would have found a way to make it work. Kids are a blessing and things always seem to have a way of working themselves out. I also don't feel children are a financial burden, they have necessities like adults do, it really comes down to what you want to spend on items.
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| Posted 2/20/13 3:37 PM |
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Atherley
So in Love with my DS
Member since 1/11 1122 total posts
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Posted by missfabulous
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.
This
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| Posted 2/20/13 10:25 PM |
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Michelle1123
Baby #5 on the way!
Member since 9/05 7919 total posts
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Re: Financial burden of your first child?
Posted by alisha
Just another thought on this subject....
Many people are saying that the cost is a lot less than they expected... But are then qualifying that statement by saying that they go out less, or buy themselves less stuff, or don't pay childcare, or decided to stay at home, etc. Those are all choices that were made to OFFSET the cost of a child -but they don't NEGATE the cost of a child.
Adding more people to your household is going to cost you more. The way around that is to budget better by reducing costs in other areas.
This may be obvious but these responses are shocking for sure esp. when generally speaking people usually agree that children are
For us, we havent changed anything. We still vacation 1-2 per year, go out frequently, etc. The only thing that would be different is that we would have more $$ in savings. But in terms of what we spend on ourselves, nothing changed. I was also never a "big" spender to begin with - most of my clothes are bought at Target, I've never owned a "brand name" bag, I buy shoes and sneakers from payless.
The baby part really WAS much less than we were expecting. Most of our baby gear was bought by family for my shower. I BF my children so didnt have to pay for formula completely (I did supplement with #1 and #3), I never paid daycare since i had free family childcare. The only thing we had to lay out money for was diapers. We were even set on clothes for the first 2 years for my first child, thanks to my baby shower.
Now that they're older, we have sports, dance, various clubs and activities. The clothes are starting to get out of control as they keep getting bigger. But even still, we make do really well on gifts from throughout the year.
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| Posted 2/21/13 2:04 AM |
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