How much does a child cost?

[buggi]

i once read that a child costs £2,000 basic expenses in the first year. The worrying thing is, i think i read this about 10 years ago... so if you add inflation costs, you're looking at a tidy sum there even before it's first birthday

 

[Trembler49]

Children cost you all of your money, however much that may be. That must be offset against the benefits they bring. Unfortunately I can't think of any right now.

 

[dellzeqq]

the biggest cost in the first few years is childcare. Get around that (you, your partner if you have one, relatives, that nice chap with the pipe down the road) and you save yourself a mint of money. Other than that it's pretty much as Arch says.

 

[Sh4rkyBloke]

the biggest cost in the first few years is childcare. Get around that (you, your partner if you have one, relatives, that nice chap with the pipe down the road) and you save yourself a mint of money. Other than that it's pretty much as Arch says.

+1,000,000,000,000!!!

We pay about £850 a month for child care - this is 4 days a week at Nursery for our youngest, and after school care 4 days a week for the eldest.

If you count up the cost you'll never do it!

 

[fossyant]

Don't forget, the first couple of years you'll be spending a fortune on nappies ! So glad when my two got out of them !

 

[007fair]

I;'ll sell you one at a special discount!!


My dad used to say that all his money was in livestock



For my own kids - they are expensive but you should really look at it as them becoming your life .. not a cost to your life

Its their expectations that are worst -- Ipods / phones / designer gear .. even cars when they old enough. Its always - 'xxx has one!' 'yyy is allowed that' Do you want your kid to be the only one without?

 

[twobiker]

Two teenage girls, no gender isn't important , just what I have, phone contracts, driving lessons, mum and dads taxi, still got Uni to come , the fun never ends, still best thing we ever did .

 

[swee'pea99]

I;'ll sell you one at a special discount!!


My dad used to say that all his money was in livestock



For my own kids - they are expensive but you should really look at it as them becoming your life .. not a cost to your life

Its their expectations that are worst -- Ipods / phones / designer gear .. even cars when they old enough. Its always - 'xxx has one!' 'yyy is allowed that' Do you want your kid to be the only one without?

Sure. My youngest was grumbling about the second hand laptop I got her off ebay. 'It looks ugly.' 'Tough shoot.'

Making it easy for yourself by caving in to the pressure to possess is an abnegation of parental duty. If you teach them that what matters in life is what you own, who's going to teach them otherwise?

Kids are expensive, but very good Value For Money. Much like dogs.

 

[XmisterIS]

Its their expectations that are worst -- Ipods / phones / designer gear .. even cars when they old enough. Its always - 'xxx has one!' 'yyy is allowed that' Do you want your kid to be the only one without?

You see, that's why I think aggressive marketing and advertising aimed at kids is particularly amoral and abhorrent - should be banned, like it is in Sweden. Adults have the capacity and social structure that allows them to not buy something if they don't want it, but with kids it's tantamount to extortion.

 

[007fair]

True
But it is wearing
Especially if you live in a well off area where everyone has everything
Its such a relief to find someone without something - Bring them in and force them to be friends with my kids!

 

[ianrauk]

the biggest cost in the first few years is childcare. Get around that (you, your partner if you have one, relatives, that nice chap with the pipe down the road) and you save yourself a mint of money. Other than that it's pretty much as Arch says.

Indeed.. childcare for my little ankle biter costs £60 a day, 3 days a week. And If we have a holiday we still have to pay the childminder.

 

[PpPete]

Its their expectations that are worst -- Ipods / phones / designer gear .. even cars when they old enough. Its always - 'xxx has one!' 'yyy is allowed that' Do you want your kid to be the only one without?

Unfortunately you can't escape the pernicious marketing that fosters that attitude, but if you start early enough, kids can understand that it just isn't going to happen....they know we've put all the money into a house that's big enough that they can each have their own room, in a catchment area of a school where bullying is at a minimum.

Ipods / designer gear ? - can't afford it - end of. And funnily enough they get a bizarre kind of satisfaction in being the only one in their class with a phone that has a 1" square mono screen...... and "your dad built you a bike out of bits he found in a skip? ... COOL ! "

Not saying its cheap .... just maybe it's not as expensive as the Daily Mail would have us believe.

 

[XmisterIS]

[quote name='swee'pea99' timestamp='1316595504' post='1850663']Sure. My youngest was grumbling about the second hand laptop I got her off ebay. 'It looks ugly.' 'Tough shoot.'[/quote]

Lol! In that circumstance, I'd be inclined to ask her if she wanted to decorate it herself ... a few pots of glitter paint and some varnish, et voila!

 

[User482]

Don't forget, the first couple of years you'll be spending a fortune on nappies ! So glad when my two got out of them !

#

We bought a complete set of re-usable nappies secondhand. Cost £30. In fact, I think a cot mattress was the only significant item we bought new.

As a general point, if you really want to have a child, you won't let the cost put you off.

 

[Arch]

Unfortunately you can't escape the pernicious marketing that fosters that attitude, but if you start early enough, kids can understand that it just isn't going to happen....they know we've put all the money into a house that's big enough that they can each have their own room, in a catchment area of a school where bullying is at a minimum.

Ipods / designer gear ? - can't afford it - end of. And funnily enough they get a bizarre kind of satisfaction in being the only one in their class with a phone that has a 1" square mono screen...... and "your dad built you a bike out of bits he found in a skip? ... COOL ! "

Not saying its cheap .... just maybe it's not as expensive as the Daily Mail would have us believe.

Hear hear.

I grew up in a very frugal atmosphere - Mum, Dad, and two of us in a one bedroom flat, until I was 10. I don't actually remember craving or pestering for expensive things, maybe I was a bit slow! I saved pocket money for stuff (£10 once, for an Action Man, it seemed to take for ever, but every week I emptied the money box and counted it all. I think I was on about 50p a week!), and otherwise, new things were got at Christmas and birthdays. Clothes were home made mostly - I didn't care much about clothes, I think my sister probably pestered for fashionable stuff more than me, but then she's still into clothes, and I'm still not.

And the great thing is, I still get a thrill from spending £20 on a treat, where many would barely notice. I can be delighted by a tiny cheap gift, if it's chosen with care. Of course, it's likely that my underlying temperament has something to do with it, but I'm sure my careful upbringing has served me well. And it's possibly significant that we didn't watch ITV. Advertising just wasn't part of my life. Other kids had stuff, but it didn't bother me, I just enjoyed what I had.

And my nephew (4) was as delighted by the £3 lego dragon I got him at a carboot last week, even though it was missing a bit of tail and the top of its head, as he was by anything new I've bought him. So hopefully my sister is carrying on the good work.