Cost of raising a family?

Indie_Kid

lilian1977 wrote: »

All I would say apart from what has been said before is if/when you do get pregnant, after you are viable at 24 weeks, start stocking up on nappies immediately, bung a pack in with each shop you do, take advantage of all the vouchers etc that you'll get given. It'll make a huge difference both to your pocket and your stress levels when baby arrives if you don't have to be going out all the time to pick them up!

If you do this, you may end up with nappies that are to small and you can't take them back for a refund.

Plans_all_plans

In your situation I'd not start trying for a child until you are in a bigger house/totally on top of debt repayments.

Once you achieve this, then bringing up a child can be as cheap/as dear as you want it to be!!

In terms of childcare: I'd give up work in your shoes, cos I don't think being better off by £100 a month makes going to work worthwhile.

We bought a cheap house with a big deposit so I could give up work, I shop fairly cheaply and don't spend a lot.

Our mortgage repayments on a 3 bed house: £350 a month, petrol £80 pm, food £300 pm (2 adults, 1 child), insurances £80pm. I spend very little on our daughter now that she is out of nappies to be honest. She gets a lot of her toys and clothes at Christmas and for her b'day and I'm not one for buying things just cos she's asked for it.

Zeddy

The biggest expense for me was being on maternity leave. We had lived for a number of years on over £4k a month net wage and our lifestyle was as such, so mortgage was £1,200, car loan, kitchen loan, etc - when I want on maternity leave my income went down from £2000 net a month to £350 net a month - that's why it can be hard for people on more money than on less. We had always been good with money and built up savings so that we didnt' notice this decrease in wage, but if someone doesn't manage that, it can be struggle.

Other than a decrease in income, which for me was the biggest killer, the costs aren't much if you do not want them to be. We spent a lot on bits which I kind of knew would be a waste but they gave me peace of mind for a bit, but went on ebay soon after.

Now I'm back at work our biggest expense is childcare which works out at around £500 per month.

onlyroz

The most expensive outgoing will be childcare - everything else pales into comparison. But if you want to maintain a career then it's prob worth it. It also sounds like you'll need a larger place to live soon. When my boy was born we were in a two-bed flat. We lasted 18 months before it pretty much became essential to move somewhere bigger. If you drive a small car then you might also find that you need a bigger one...

kindofagilr

SVM wrote: »

We bring home circa £5,000 per month and still struggle with just one baby (and dog)! Others I know take home circa £2,000 per month with 3 kids and manage just fine. All depend on your individual cicumstances, eg, debts, mortgage, life style etc.

Only you know the answer for your circumstances.

Totally agree with this, we bring in just under £2000 a month and manage with one baby (we could manage two babies but not quite there yet lol)

Whereas my brother and his wife are wondering if they can cope with £4000 a month, but they do something every weekend, they are very sociable so thats why they are worried

I hope that makes sense

kindofagilr

lilian1977 wrote: »

All I would say apart from what has been said before is if/when you do get pregnant, after you are viable at 24 weeks, start stocking up on nappies immediately, bung a pack in with each shop you do, take advantage of all the vouchers etc that you'll get given. It'll make a huge difference both to your pocket and your stress levels when baby arrives if you don't have to be going out all the time to pick them up!

I agree and I dont, def stock up on baby things but not too much nappies

We had loads of size 1's and 2's and then my baby was born and was 10 pound 11oz and was straight in size 3's!

honeypop

sh1305 wrote: »

If you do this, you may end up with nappies that are to small and you can't take them back for a refund.

Places like Boots, Asda, Tescos etc normally let you swap them for the correct size without a receipt, at least they did when my last was born 18 months ago. So it doesn't matter how long ago you bought the nappies to stock up, if you have too many of a size too small, then you can still change them (and pay the difference to the correct size if needed).

chanie

Here's my breakdown of baby related costs.....

For baby, we bought
Cot matress £200 (I wanted a bedside cot, hence the cost, but you can get them cheaper)
Travel system £230 (again you can get them cheaper, but can also pay a hell of a lot more)
Then there's the smaller stuff like clothes, nappies, wipes. In terms of nappies, I buy a big box which lasts about a month (so about £12). Milk is about £9 and a carton lasts about a week.

Then there is your maternity leave. Statutory maternity pay is 90% of your average weekly earnings for the first 6 weeks and then 33 weeks of £125 ish. I was lucky because I got 20 weeks full pay, but you should check what your company offers.

The biggest expense by far is childcare. Like you, we don't have anyone to help out.

A full time place at nursery is £850 (yes that right). We aren't entitled to any tax credits, so we have to pay ourselves. Not all employers offer it, but you may be able to claim childcare vouchers, which in real terms, should save you £70 a month (double, if you both can claim).

Once our baby reaches 2, the cost of nursery does go down by about 50-60, as the ratio of staff to children is less. Then, at aged 3, they get their 15 free hours a week, so another saving.

teacherandmum

i'm surprised no one has mentioned cloth nappies. (don't think terry towelling as they have come a long wasy from this and are easy to store and wash). I have enough to wash every other day and the total outlay was £200. they are birth to potty and are adjustable in size so will last till my daughter is out of nappies.
there are a wide variety of things for babies and get to know what really is needed and what isn't from friends who are already parents.
there are baby products for every budget.
car seats from£40 to £200+
pushchairs from £100 - £1000+
clothes from pennies on ebay or NCT sales to £20/£30 per item/outfit at places like debenhams/jihn lewis and loooaaads more for designer wear.

i see you are getting married. is that paid for? perhaps cut down on something at the wedding and put it in a special bank account like a baby saving accout. try putting a small amount in this per month sltho this may not be a good idea if you have loan repayments to go out.

when i'm NOT on maternity leave, i earn £2000 a month and so does my husband. we pay out £1200 on the normal bills like mortgage, electric, sky, oil, BT, internet, charity donation to dogs trust, tv licence, water, council tax etc. we both have enough to save in out independant savings accounts which we use for big purchases like tv fridge etc or diy or home improvements. we also save £50 a month into a separate account to cover xmas presents and birthday presents during the year.
Currently daughter 1 goes to presdchool and this is around £250 a month ( we pay using childcare salary sacrifice), when she was in nursery it was £32 a day/£160 a week/ £624 a month.
we run 2 cars and diesel is our most expensive outlay on this as i travel 50 mile round trip to work with extra 10 miles to get to nursery.
we don't have takeaway as often as pre child days and don't go to the pub any longer. we tend to go for walks or to the park or swimming at the weekends.
we've never done expensive holidays and do a lot of camping
food wise - we cook from scratch and i'm really getting into meal planning

yummymummy1987_2

We are a family of 4, i have never worked since having children and my dp brings in 26.5k after pension payments.
We do have debt but its only accured since we moved to a new build property and bought everything completly new which we could have easily gone without(as we did in our old house), but are happy to pay for as we have a beautiful house and it is more than affordable.

I would say i dont find babies/toddlers expensive even in nappies its now my son is at school and doing after school clubs at roughly £4 per session and needing school shoes,football shoes, pe trainers, home shoes etc that it is more costly.

We also made the same "mistake" with buying newborn nappies and clothes etc. When my gorgeous monkey came out at 11lb 10oz alot was given away and never used!!