Realistically, how much do you spend per month on a new baby?

Student_Mrs

Hi All

Forgive me if this has been answered before, I've searched this site but found nothing as of yet. Hubby and I have been married 3 years and finally feel mentally ready to try to conceive our first child.

Though we feel mentally ready, I realise we actually have no clue how much it costs to provide for a child? I've seen articles about average cost over a lifetime and tried to average but people often include rent etc. etc. and most seem American centred.

Excluding rent and utilities, if you don't mind me asking, what roughly per month, do you lucky parents spend? I know it's sort of as long as a piece of a string question and I am being so nosey so tell me to butt out if needed

Thanks in anticipation

lisa26_2

I'll be interested to see the answers to this as I am currently expecting my first baby. i'm pretty sure though that above a certain basic level the answer will be as much or as little as you want! Obviously if you breastfeed that can save loads of money and they also say that using washable nappies gives a big saving too so they are both things to consider (and that I hope to do). With regards set up costs for a first baby then again that can vary greatly, we are getting an expensive pram as it'll (hopefully) get a lot of use but I have negated the expense buy buying other stuff (eg. moses basket, some clothes etc.) second hand.

Alot of people have said that if you wait until you feel you can afford a baby you'll never have one but if you get on and have one you'll find a way to afford it, I'm pretty sure this is true to a certain extent as the whole thing of having a baby is a lifestyle change and as such your expenditure and priorites will change to accomodate the new arrival!

I hope that makes sense!

rachbc

depends on many factors,obviously there are one off costs but from 0-6 months mine cost me nowt in regular outgoings- breastfed, cloth nappied, washable wiped. As she was born in Nov I probably had the heating on more as I was home.

However if you formula feed, use pampers and start weaning on to jars at 4 months then costs will be considerably higher.


If I had gone back to work FT her running costs would have been more than our mortgage in childcare, as it was with vouchers and 4 days a week it costs a 'reasonable' £500 a month!

fannyanna

Firstly, if any mods are reading this I think it would be really, really useful to make a thread like this a sticky. This is a question that often comes up and I think many people would find it useful.

OP - I don't have any children yet but we are trying to conceive and like you I wanted to get a very good idea of costs.

From what I understand the main financial considerations are the drop in salary when you're on maternity and childcare for if you decide to go back to work.

Other than that I think the general consensus is you can make having a baby as cheap or as expensive as you want.

With regards to all the “start up equipment” you can buy the majority of things second hand. Also friends and family are normally quite generous with gifts when people are expecting.

Once you have the baby the monthly costs are then nappies, formula milk (if you don’t want to or are unable to breastfeed) and then clothing.

Just remember as well as there being costs involved in having children you may find that you’ll be entitled to benefits. There’s child benefit and then things like child tax credits

Student_Mrs

Thanks for the answers so far. Was really expecting people to be mean, I think as I've read quite a few posts that can spiral out of control and end up quite bullying in nature... I think you're right about start up costs, I'm probably thinking more about the month to month living afterwards and that's why rent/mtg can be different to everyone as well as how necessary the wage of the mother is (or father if he takes paternity and stays home) to the overall swing of things. It's likely there will be no clear winner but I'm interested to see current expenditure if anyone is willing to share

Gillyx

As others have said all depends on what road you take, breast feeding - you'l not spend a penny. Bottle feeding - you'l have formula to take into account, which is probably about £9/10 a week to start with then more if you need more than one tub.

Nappies if you use cloth, you'l have the initial outlay but not much else, if you use disposables then the cost of those.

Then obviously with work, childcare etc is where the real expense is, if you take 9 months maternity, how do your work pay you is it the standard 6 weeks at 90% pay and then SMP or do they offer a better maternity package? How many hours do you work, do you have someone to look after baby or will you require childcare?

Marisco

If your asking how much it cost literally (by that I mean not how much you lose if you give up work or childcare etc,) then the cost will just be formula and nappies on a month to month basis. Much less if you use terries and breastfeed. As it's donkeys since mine were babies, I've no idea how much a box of formula or pack of nappies are, but just times the amount you buy per week by 52 then divide by 12 and that will give you the monthly amount, e.g. 5 pks nappies @ £8 = £40, and 4 boxes food @£7 =28, so that's £68 per week, times 52 = £3536 per year, divided by 12 = £294 per month Of course the costs will escalate with age, best not to think about it really

rachbc

oh and remember in 13 years they become a teenager and the running costs then are outrageous!

skylight

For a baby only - after start up items you need nothing more than nappies and milk if you are not feeding. Add in an extra £10 for minor extras (ie, need new colic bottles, colic drops etc)

£8 per tub of baby milk will require 1 to 1.5 per week.
£3 Per pack of nappies - these get more expensive the larger the nappies get/use more. Newborns use around a large pack a week
£1 for toiletries max per item - midwife advice is actually to not use anything! It can upset baby skin. I however have used the basic stuff (not basic brand!) top to toe wash and baby lotion. One of each can last a month or more.
80p per pack of baby wipes if buying Asda/Tesco own in bulk of 4 at a time.
Washing powder etc - you will use far more as you'll be surprised how may extra washes you end up doing!

Nothing else costs - you would pay the same for rent and utilities etc whether baby is there or not.

Even when baby is older the usage doesn't really change. Food is changed eventually to the same stuff you eat (less salt though) so there is no real expense there. The big expenses come when you end up falling into the baby food trap - that the stuff on the shelves is better than your own home made stuff; when its not (if you can cook that is!)

The second biggest expense trap is buying branded clothing that baby doesn't need or so much stuff it will never wear half of it.

And the third baby trap is buying equipment that is never going to be used or see the light of day. You really do not need a moses basket and a cot with a basinett and a travel cot etc. A moses basket/cradle is used for a maximum of 6 weeks depending on the size of your baby and actually placing a newborn feet to foot in a cot is no different at night-time. I had a travel cot downstairs for daytime as having a moses basket in a small and really busy household was too dangerous (IMO). Do you really need a swing and a bouncy cradle? One or other will do. Do you really need a baby back carrier thing or a sling or either at all? Test, test and test again the pushchairs in Mothercare (but buy cheaper elsewhere!). Work out how much walking you really do, the size of your car boot, handle height and basket capacity - what features are important to you. Pram, pramette, lie-flat pushchair - the only difference is price!

Best of all, have fun in practising....!

onlyroz

If you breast-feed, not a lot. Child benefit is plenty enough to cover the actual costs of nappies, clothes etc..

The biggest cost is the loss of earnings while on maternity leave, and the cost of childcare when you go back to work. For me, this meant going down to 1/4 salary when on maternity leave, and now paying £1000+ a month in childcare.

magenta22

This is very interesting as we too are trying for a baby :-)

I have seen that you can get things like the cot far cheaper in Ikea than somewhere like babies R us or mothercare.

Baby clothes you can get fairly cheap in supermarkets and I wouldn't expect to clothe my baby in more than babygro's for the first few months.

As someone else said, if we wait until we can afford a baby we'll never have one so you have to do the best you can.

Good luck :-)