The Cost of Raising a Child
May 20, 2007 by Karen Weideman
Filed under family, financial matters, frugal living
I received an email from Baby Center this week. The email had a link for figuring how much it costs to raise a child. According to their calculator, it will cost $440,986 to raise my 3 year old daughter and $475,150 to raise my 1 year old son. This includes the cost of a state university.
Kelly and I believe these projected amounts can be seriously reduced. For instance, their calculator estimates that clothing will cost $1,129 per year. I can assure there is no way that I spend nearly that much per year, not even on both of my kids combined.
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I think that figure must include buying a larger house to accomodate children in their own bedrooms and to maintain a separate play room. And that expense, will be recovered when the house is sold later.
I don’t spend anywhere near that figure on clothes either. I think it might be more expensive once hand-me-downs are rejected by pre-teens, but really!
I’m sure the utilities are a small portion of the housing expense. You’re right. You’ll get the housing back when you sell your house, but if you’re renting that’s money wasted.
I have a relative that spends that much or more on clothes for her teenage daughters. I just can’t get over how much she spends!
I’ve got a 13 year old girl, 10 year old boy and my baby turned 4 yesterday – I don’t know if I spent $1100 on clothes for all three of them combined last year! That is a seriously inflated number.
I spend maybe $100 per year on my kids’ clothes, probably both together. Hand me downs, gifts from grandparents, and garage sales keep me within budget. I remember when Ainsley was 3 and she was just begging for this $15 pair of shoes to wear to my brother’s wedding. I was going to say no, but then I thought, “This seriously might be the only $15 I’ve ever spent on her clothes, come on – I can afford this!” She wore them every single day until they broke a year and a half later. At http://www.blogfabulous.com we’re super cheap and how green is it to reuse clothes, cars and furniture?!? Bonus!