https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 21 Jun 2026 00:06:01 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2549066 Sat, 14 May 2016 20:06:19 +0000 T.H.O.U. 2549066@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>A big expense for us as they get older is extracurricular activities and supplies. Things like dance is $45/month plus shoes and leotards. Soccer was $75 for the season. And that's preschool costs. As they get to high school level it will go way up. </p> <p>Also vacations are more expensive to take extra people. Even just trips to see family. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2549058 Sat, 14 May 2016 19:37:14 +0000 Pollywog 2549058@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a 3 month old, but here are our projected costs for the month:</p> <p>Daycare: $1450<br /> College savings: $400<br /> Clothes: $20 (mainly gifts)<br /> Diapers (we mainly use cloth): $50<br /> Food (exclusively breast Fed): $0<br /> Toys: $20<br /> Health insurance: $0 (no extra costs)</p> <p>So $1940 a month or about $24000 this year. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548919 Sat, 14 May 2016 10:29:03 +0000 808love 2548919@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Annual costs<br /> $0 Preschool/lunch is a work benefit<br /> $80 Haircuts<br /> $200 Clothing and shoes (we mainly do hand me downs)<br /> $500 Gifts for LO, bday party, gifts for friends/ Christmas<br /> $500 Educational things like apps, camps, lessons, art supplies<br /> $1200 Health Insurance (I'm guessing.)<br /> 2400 College savings<br /> We are not including Disney tickets in this budget! :) </p> <p>As LO enters Kinder, a few things will change including buying school lunch once in awhile, so I'm budgeting an extra $50 a month for things like fieldtrips, uniforms, school supplies, fundraisers, gifts for teachers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548914 Sat, 14 May 2016 10:09:57 +0000 MrsKoala 2548914@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>16,000 in daycare alone. I prefer not to think about the rest. Add another kid next year and there goes my salary! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548888 Sat, 14 May 2016 08:25:38 +0000 MoonMoon 2548888@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>It's really hard to calculate this, because he hasn't had any costs like childcare that are easy to track. We did increase our insurance to a family plan, which has been about about $100/month more, but has covered everything related to him. Other than that, diapers, supplies, and clothes ($100/month), and incidentals and classes ($100/month). So in 3 years, maybe $11000 all together?</p> <p>Starting this year, we'll be paying for preschool, travel and food costs will increase, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548662 Fri, 13 May 2016 13:59:24 +0000 Mae 2548662@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Lol it's probably mentally healthier not to do the math. :) </p> <p>If I had to make a best guestimate... per month... </p> <p>Daycare -1100<br /> Food - 200<br /> Clothes/random - 100<br /> Increased healthcare - 100</p> <p>$1500/mo x 12 mo = $18,000/year</p> <p>That doesn't include birthday, christmas, easter, halloween costumes, random one-time things (car seats, stroller, high chair, blah blah blah). </p> <p>It would probably be fair to say we spend $20,000/year on her considering that I'm probably forgetting a bunch of random stuff. Oh and that doesn't include college savings. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548657 Fri, 13 May 2016 13:49:46 +0000 youboots 2548657@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Good point to lost wages. I was making more than daycare would be a month. And we bought a bigger house knowing we would have children but our 2nd house was only 35k more than one first house and 3x the size- but we have put 1/3 of the purchase price into renovations. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548637 Fri, 13 May 2016 13:10:23 +0000 hellobeeboston 2548637@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@hb3233: your last statement is spot on... as our family grew from 1 child to 2, we moved further out of the city, into a bigger home with higher taxes due to better schools... so, bigger mortgage, taxes, and commute!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548630 Fri, 13 May 2016 13:04:32 +0000 hellobeeboston 2548630@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For just my 3.5 year old, here's an average:</p> <p>Daycare:1200/month (14,400/year)<br /> Clothes: lets say $400/year<br /> Activities: lets say $150/month (1800/year)<br /> Food: $250/month (3000/year)<br /> Diapers: $60/month (720/year)<br /> Toys/extras: $100/month (1200/year)<br /> 529 plan: $400/month (4800/year, need to increase this)<br /> Gifts: $200/year</p> <p>TOTAL for year: $26,520</p> <p>We have a 7 month old too - yikes. Scary to add it all up! Multiply that one number up to 18 years old and we're practically at $500,000 --- but, daycare costs will be gone soon, but will be replaced by sports/more activities/more food, etc, increased travel expenses, etc. :shocked: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548597 Fri, 13 May 2016 12:07:31 +0000 petitenoisette 2548597@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Daycare: 1225 a month (this is only 3 days a week, 2 with grandmacare who we pay 100 a month for gas) but only for 10 months of the year<br /> Diapers &amp; wipes- $20, mostly cloth<br /> Healthcare- going to family plan is about $100 more a month and then we probably have averaged one sick dr's visit per month, $125<br /> Food- Mostly on table food now but does love pouches (and avocados too! :happy:) $50 a month<br /> Clothes- $100 a season<br /> Misc/toys/books- Received a lot in gifts but probably have spent $500 for the first year + first bday<br /> Swim lessons/other activities- haven't done any yet<br /> College savings: $110 a month for now </p> <p>about $17k for the first year (I'm not including any of the initial baby gear bc so much were gifts and one time costs that will be used for second baby). </p> <p>@Ms maths: Yea, I feel like as kids get older that you have activities and more expensive clothes, and ideally we will at least be saving more money for college then too. The one problem with the article though is that when it says the first 3 year's of a child's life are the least expensive that it is probably not accounting for SAH parents and their lost wages (the average cost for WOH parents will be much higher and SAH ones much lower even though they have lost wages too). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548554 Fri, 13 May 2016 11:24:19 +0000 josina 2548554@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Ours will be a lot lower than most I think since we have cheap daycare and good/low-cost insurance...</p> <p>For DS:<br /> Monthly:<br /> Daycare - $450/mo<br /> Diapers/Wipes - $60<br /> Clothes - Avg. $50/mo<br /> Food - $40 (just for extras)</p> <p>Yearly:<br /> $7200 total from above<br /> $200 - gifts + misc. extras<br /> $250 - dental est.<br /> $1000 - Insurance est.</p> <p>Approx Yearly $8650</p> <p>My step daughter at 13 is half that (lives with us and no child support), So I think we will be well under the $250k to raise a child to 18. (est $150,000) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548510 Fri, 13 May 2016 10:31:04 +0000 ShootingStar 2548510@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>These are going to be really rough estimates...</p> <p>Daycare - $335/week, $17085/year<br /> Insurance - ~$100 (guesstimating this is the extra it costs us to have him on our insurance)<br /> Food - $50/week, $2600/year<br /> Clothing/Shoes/Outerwear - $300/season, $1200/year<br /> College Savings - $125/month, $1500/year<br /> Travel - $300 (roundtrip to FL)<br /> Diapers/Pull Ups - $50/month, $600/year<br /> Gifts - $700? </p> <p>Grand total for last year is somewhere around $22,311. I feel like I'm probably missing stuff though. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548500 Fri, 13 May 2016 10:24:37 +0000 kes18 2548500@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Based on what we spent a year and assuming kids are just as expensive when they get older (sports can be $$, braces, larger house, extra insurance premiums, clothes, electronics, college, travel, just eating out with extra people is more $) I think $250k per kid is a pretty reasonable expectation. That is about $14k per year.<br /> I live in the midwest in a very reasonable COL area and spend at least $12k a year (1 kid). $250k could be on the low side for high COL areas.</p> <p>If can be cheaper the first 5 years if you SAH but even then, you are losing the money you could have earned. So it's still an expense for most people (unless you're in the 1% or something where you don't have to worry). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548460 Fri, 13 May 2016 09:33:03 +0000 Ms maths 2548460@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I don’t do our family budgeting, so I don’t have a good idea how much we have spent on our kids. I do know we spent $25,000 on (part-time) daycare for two kids last year, so $250,000 per kid doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.</p> <p>I’m pretty sure that the $250,000 figure only includes actual expenses. So it factors in housing but not lost wages. Also, the figure is what median-income families actually spend. So it doesn’t tell you what you _need_ to spend to have a kid, and people with more or less income do spend differently on their kids.</p> <p>Here’s an article where they mention various estimates of the cost of raising a child:<br /> <a href="http://business.time.com/2012/06/26/million-dollar-babies-what-it-really-costs-to-raise-a-child/" rel="nofollow">http://business.time.com/2012/06/26/million-dollar-babies-what-it-really-costs-to-raise-a-child/</a></p> <p>Also, this article suggests that kids don't actually get cheaper as they get older :(</p> <p><a href="http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/how-much-does-it-really-cost-to-raise-a-kid/" rel="nofollow">http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/how-much-does-it-really-cost-to-raise-a-kid/</a> </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548427 Fri, 13 May 2016 09:07:09 +0000 Mrs D 2548427@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD1 is 2.5 in daycare fulltime.</p> <p>Daycare - $1K monthly ($12K annually)<br /> Insurance - $70/month ($840)<br /> Food - (20% of our budget) $1200<br /> Clothing/Shoes/Outerwear - $250/season ($1k annual)<br /> Activities - $600<br /> College Savings - $0 but should be $2500 annually<br /> Travel - $500 annual (assume 2 flights)<br /> Diapers - $40/month ($480 annually)<br /> Gifts (Birthday/Christmas/Random) - $500</p> <p>Total = $17,120 ($19,620 with college savings)...so ya thats $308K over 18 years. </p> <p>Now - this is probably the most expensive in theory (bc of daycare) but activities will get more expensive, school supplies will come into play and eventually we'll have to get her a car. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548353 Fri, 13 May 2016 07:47:26 +0000 Adira 2548353@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>These are just estimates...</p> <p>Health Insurance Premium: $2,000 (guestimate increase from two people to four)<br /> Other Premiums: $200<br /> 529: $10,000<br /> Utilities: $50<br /> Daycare: $22,100<br /> Clothes: $2,400<br /> Medical: $1,200<br /> Gifts/Other: $2,000<br /> YMCA: $191.40</p> <p>Total: $40,141.40 for two kids (aged 1-3).</p> <p>Obviously you can remove the 529, YMCA, reduce the cost of clothes, gifts, etc. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548330 Fri, 13 May 2016 07:30:02 +0000 hb3233 2548330@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I remember when I saw a breakdown of the $250,000 estimate cited, or a similar one, the biggest item was additional housing costs - i.e. you need another bedroom in the house to have an additional child and/or you move to a more expensive neighborhood in order to be in a better school district. These expenses seem pretty common and would drive the estimates up quite a bit, though from a quick skim no one has cited them. </p> <p>@JenGirl: is right that lost wages are another big cost that should be in there, not just for unpaid leave, but also for anyone who chooses to work fewer hours (to avoid things like the daycare costs!) or who chooses to take a lower paying job as a result of having kids, or whatever. This also drives the costs way up, as a lot of people would work more - and hence earn more - if they weren't working to take care of their family! It's basically like assigning whatever the costs of daycare are to yourself, except you'd use whatever earnings you could be making in the absence of caring for LOs.</p> <p>I don't have kids yet, when we do, daycare in our area is so crazy expensive that this will swamp everything else initially. We live in a small place now. It will work for one child, but definitely not for two. The school districts in our current neighborhood are also bad, so ultimately we'll have to buy a larger house in a neighborhood with better schools. This will also be associated with a longer commute, so I guess I should figure in those costs as well. Good thing we really want kids! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548308 Fri, 13 May 2016 07:14:33 +0000 JenGirl 2548308@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Anagram: But it was totally worth it! He became so much more confident, as a parent, over those 3 months. And if I hadn't had PTO, I would have taken the 12 weeks unpaid as well. </p> <p>Luckily, we anticipated the income loss and saved. It also helped that he'd been out of work previously for an extended period of time, so we knew we would be okay, for a short period, on my salary alone.</p> <p>And, now that I think about it, it probably wasn't actually the whole $24k. Because a chunk of that would have gone to taxes, anyway, so probably closer to $18-20k. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2548304 Fri, 13 May 2016 07:05:42 +0000 Anagram 2548304@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@JenGirl: oooh. Lost salary is a big one. I didn't figure that in, but that is certainly a cost associated with having babies in my house. I have only unpaid leave, so I'm out 3 months pay for each kid. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547631 Thu, 12 May 2016 13:17:10 +0000 JenGirl 2547631@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We're only 8 months in, but here's an estimate of the first year:</p> <p>~$3,500 - Medical care for him and me and breastfeeding supplies (use HSA money)<br /> ~$7,000 - six months of daycare<br /> ~$24,000 - lost salary when my husband took 12 weeks FMLA to care for our son when I went back to work<br /> ~$500 - gear / nursery - we had some hand me downs and a lot gifted to us at showers<br /> ~$50 clothes - we only buy second hand clothes except one special occasion outfit<br /> ~$450 Diapers and wipes<br /> ~$50 puffs - the rest of his food is table food and not worth counting, at this point<br /> ~$150 - swim classes and pool membership<br /> ~$400 - photography<br /> ~$500 - convenience costs - I find that I'm more willing to pay for convenience with a baby, especially for things like parking.</p> <p>A lot of this would be cheaper for a second child, since you can use reuse stuff and some stuff would be the same (or close) for two kids as one. </p> <p>And, obviously, we didn't have to have my husband stay home with baby for the whole 12 weeks, but I think it was really, really good for both of them. It's made us have a much more even split when it comes to parenting responsibilities. And, conversely, I had enough PTO to cover my 12 weeks, so it was all paid, but that isn't the case for everyone. For SAHPs they obviously don't have daycare costs (or not nearly as much) but you have to consider the salary that they aren't earning (if they were working prior to being a SAHP). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547624 Thu, 12 May 2016 13:11:52 +0000 PurplePeony 2547624@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Currently, we spend about $2k/month on DD. $1800 is for daycare, the rest includes diapers, wipes, clothes, "kid food," and toys. I don't really separate out our healthcare costs, but I would estimate that between higher premiums and copays/deductible etc, it's in the range of another $75/month (more the year she got ear tubes, though). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547475 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:57:46 +0000 Mrs. Pickle 2547475@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We have a $120/month baby budget and that covers everything. Cloth diapering, breastfeeding, and having no day care costs means we don't spend much on her right now. We'll spend more in her second year than her first because she'll start daycare and some activities. We did spend close to $30k in fertility treatments to have her. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547472 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:55:26 +0000 catlady 2547472@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The first year was obviously the highest since we had to get new furniture, gear, etc. so I'm not sure how much it was that year. These days, I would guess somewhere around 32k per year. Daycare accounts for almost 90% of that.</p> <p>At one point, I calculated that full-time daycare for 2 kids up until kindergarten will probably end up costing us around 250k in total. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547467 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:53:20 +0000 Meowkers 2547467@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Im not sure and I don't have the time to do a total breakdown but we spend $26,000 per year n childcare for one child. So yeah $250k over 18 years seems on the low side to me </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547461 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:49:24 +0000 ValentineMommy 2547461@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>School - LO1 $250 a month. LO2 - 0<br /> Diapers &amp; wipes- $50ish<br /> Healthcare- approx $100 a month for insurance for the two of them. For the entire last year LO1 went to OT and ST. Cost was $80 a week = $320 monthly. So $420 a month.<br /> Food- LO1 eats table food $100/mo. LO2 is formula and table food $150/mo. So $250 together.<br /> Clothes- Maybe $150 per season between the two of them....so approx $50/mo.<br /> Misc/toys/books- $75/mo<br /> Activities - (local pool, memberships, soccer, etc) breaks down to $150/mo.</p> <p>That breaks down to $1245/mo. </p> <p>Since they're both boys, I have a feeling that food bill is going to be killer one day :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547457 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:48:22 +0000 Anagram 2547457@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>LO1's first 5 years:</p> <p>childcare: $72,000<br /> healthcare: $18,000<br /> diapers/wipes $1,600<br /> Food $6,000<br /> Clothes $2,500<br /> Gear/toys $3000<br /> Furniture $2000</p> <p>That's $103,500 in 5 years for 1 kiddo, the worst being the childcare. Even when she starts school, we'll have some sort of before and after care since we both work full time. So 250k sounds about right. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547438 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:41:00 +0000 DillonLion 2547438@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I stole your list from above: </p> <p>Daycare: $920 a month (full time, extended care hours, meal plan, supply fees, etc.)<br /> Diapers &amp; Wipes- $15 every other month (we are potty training), when she was little it was $40/month, but our original daycare provided diapers and wipes, so that lowered our cost<br /> Healthcare- About $200 (comes out of DH's paycheck so I don't know the figure off the top of my head)<br /> Food- Milk, pouches, snacks are her main extra cost ($50 a month). Otherwise she eats regular food for dinner/weekends (I used to nurse and supplement with formula, so we had formula costs, but they were low because of the supplementation aspect and her daycare provided it when she was at school)<br /> Clothes- Very, very little. Her grandparents buy her play clothes and she wears uniforms to school. Maybe an average of like $5 per month if we grab something from the thrift store<br /> Misc/toys/books- $5 month, again, very very little because she gets so much as gifts during holidays/birthdays and I don't like clutter<br /> Other activities- we didn't start anything until this year. We have spent a total of $48 average per month this year for her to play soccer. I anticipate that will rise over time.<br /> College savings- We budget $450 per month into her college fund </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547426 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:37:39 +0000 MamaG 2547426@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our biggest expense is definitely daycare. For the first 5 years, we are looking at about $75K.</p> <p>In our school years, we will spend probably $4500/year for afterschool and summer camp (7 years). So that's another $32K. So simply a place for my kids to learn and be safe so that I can work from birth - 12 is approximately $110K.</p> <p>Holy crapola!</p> <p>Clothing gets more expensive as they age as well. Our almost 5 year old is wearing size 13 shoes and the cheapest "good" sneakers I could find were $32 on 6pm.com. She goes through them about every 4 months because she plays hard. They will continue to rise in cost as she ages.</p> <p>Our other spend on our kids is:</p> <p>Diapers/wipes<br /> Clothing/shoes/outerwear<br /> Gear to move them (stroller, car seats, wagon, trike, etc.)<br /> Furniture (crib, toddler bed, big kid bed, dresser)<br /> Gear for eating (high chair, booster seat, sippy cups, kid sized utensils)<br /> Toiletries (sensitive skin lotions/creams, shampoo, body wash)<br /> Toys/activities (art supplies, learning tools, apps, movies, music, toys, etc.)<br /> Outside activities (sports or other activity lessons) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547412 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:31:26 +0000 coopsmama 2547412@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Not that much. We have to spend $6k a birth because of our high deductible but I stay home so no daycare costs, we aren't finicky about clothes and toys, and we keep things simple. Food is definitely our next big expenditure. I would say food alone our two kids run us about $200-300 a month. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-much-do-you-spend-on-your-kid-each-year-approximately#post-2547382 Thu, 12 May 2016 11:11:06 +0000 runnerd 2547382@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I have no idea what I spend annually, but the first 5 years daycare will be about $50-55k.</p> <p>Other than daycare, babies aren't all that expensive if you don't go crazy on clothes and toys. We do have high deductible insurance so in his 2 years we've spent about $3-4K healthcare </p>