Want Kids? It’s Gonna Cost You.
Posted by DDOCS in Economy, Family, tags: Economy, Family, Food, moms, Money, Parenting, pregnancyIf there weren’t already enough reasons to make you think twice before you have kids, potential parents and irresponsible teens just got one more: Kids are really expensive. A recent report finds the average cost for raising a child born in the U.S. is now $221,000. This number only includes the money spent on the child until the age of 17, so college is not included.
If you already have kids, then this news is probably no surprise. Cell phones for the elementary school set? Check. Computers for “homework?” Check. TVs in every bedroom? Check. Whether it’s a Nintendo DS, Leapster, or an XBox, chances are that your child has one of them. Kids want THINGS. Mostly, they want what the other kids have in order to keep up.
Nowadays, however, it’s not just the fancy extras that add up on a parent’s child-rearing bill. Turns out the biggest expense categories in the report were for the basics. Kids need to eat and that’ll cost you. They need to wear something and that’ll cost you. And, they need a roof over their heads (usually), so that’ll cost you. In fact, housing is the largest single expense that parents shell out, followed by food and child care/education costs.
Over time, all this adds up to almost a quarter of a million dollars per child. So, before you have any mouths to feed, sit down with a calculator.
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And thus another reason to never refuse immigration for folks over the age of 21 — most of the costs have already been paid by residents of another country. Duh.
my kids cost my almost 1000 dollar per month.