Costs of having a child

Tater

peachyprice wrote: »

Consider yourself lucky! Since September my little ballerina has cost me:

£26 New RAD leotard
£48 for matching skirt
£42 for pointe shoes
£12 for tights
£109 for grade lesson fees
£83 for pointe lesson fees
£81 for show lesson fees

I haven't even got the costs for the show costume, shoes and accessories and tickets, I'm dreading that bill, tutu's don't come cheap! But as it keeps them fit and healthy, it's worth every penny.


OP, pray for a boy!

I'm not sure praying for a boy will help, having grown up as the girl in the middle of two dancing brothers :rotfl:
Older brother is still dancing professionally in his mid 30s.

ahomemadetouch

in terms of laundry costs I suppose it makes a difference how many sets of clothes you own and get worn - my flat is normally at least 20 degrees - often closer to 25 to my lb quite often just has trousers or a vest on. I dont wash nappies everyday either. I could go up to 3 days between washes if I used the prefolds that I am not overly keen on

supermassive

Birdie85 wrote: »

Agree with Meer! Who has the time or inclination to go to a launderette with a baby when they don't need to?! Just accept the fact that yes, reusables and the other washing created by a tiny person mean that your bills will increase! We used to do 3 loads per week (whites, darks and DH's rugby kit) but now we do at least 5 (and we don't use reusables). This week our DS has been sicky so it's closer to 9 and the electric bill shows this!

Who has the time or inclination? Uhm, someone that has £25 added on their electricity bill for no good reason, that's who.

It's far cheaper to send OH to a laundrette once a week with a big bundle of washing to put in the industrial sized machines, then come back later on with a big pile of clean dry washing for £5 than the alternative.

ViolaLass

supermassive wrote: »

Who has the time or inclination? Uhm, someone that has £25 added on their electricity bill for no good reason, that's who.

It's far cheaper to send OH to a laundrette once a week with a big bundle of washing to put in the industrial sized machines, then come back later on with a big pile of clean dry washing for £5 than the alternative.

My OH has enough to do without me inventing more chores for him. Plus, after the laundry costs, time and petrol, I'm really not convinced the saving would be significant.

Also, we don't have enough baby clothes to go a week between washes.

ahomemadetouch - 20 degrees? Are you in the UK or elsewhere?

supermassive

ViolaLass wrote: »

My OH has enough to do without me inventing more chores for him. Plus, after the laundry costs, time and petrol, I'm really not convinced the saving would be significant.

Also, we don't have enough baby clothes to go a week between washes.

ahomemadetouch - 20 degrees? Are you in the UK or elsewhere?

That's blatantly a lie! Every woman liked to invent extra chores for men! "Pick up your pants" "Put on your pants" "Get your hands out of your pants" the list is endless!

peachyprice

supermassive wrote: »

Who has the time or inclination? Uhm, someone that has £25 added on their electricity bill for no good reason, that's who.

It's far cheaper to send OH to a laundrette once a week with a big bundle of washing to put in the industrial sized machines, then come back later on with a big pile of clean dry washing for £5 than the alternative.

I don't know where you live, but here you can't do washing for a family for £5, more like £10-£15 by the time you've sorted your whites and coloureds and done sheets and towels. Or does this mythical saving mean the family has to walk around wearing drab grey clothes, using dirty towels and sleeping in dirty sheets?

Even if it were possible, it would only be a £5 saving over washing in the convenience of your own home, hardy worth schlepping the streets with your laundry and running out of clean clothes/nappies/bibs/sheets/towels every week.

supermassive

peachyprice wrote: »

I don't know where you live, but here you can't do washing for a family for £5, more like £10-£15 by the time you've sorted your whites and coloureds and done sheets and towels. Or does this mythical saving mean the family has to walk around wearing drab grey clothes, using dirty towels and sleeping in dirty sheets?

Even if it were possible, it would only be a £5 saving over washing in the convenience of your own home, hardy worth schlepping the streets with your laundry and running out of clean clothes/nappies/bibs/sheets/towels every week.

What? How is it a £5 saving if you're doing more washing at once? It'll bring down the cost entirely.

It's an alternative to the £25 per week extra, that's all I'm saying. I didn't say you'd get some magical fairy transporting it to and from the laundrette.

Where? The laundrette 3 streets away from me has self service industrial sized washing machines for £3 a go, which will easily fit 5+ wash baskets full of clothing in (I co-run a homeless charity clothing shop, so have to wash all donations). And the dryers are £2 for the same thing.

If you take out the cost of 4-5 wash loads at home, which is what this equates to if you fill a washer - it's more than saving you the extra money, it's reducing the bills altogether.

Take the baby, they'll probably find it a sleepy environment.:rotfl:

dirty_magic

It's probably good that I don't plan on having any babies; the thought of having to wash reuseable nappies makes me heave! :eek:

meer53

supermassive wrote: »

What? How is it a £5 saving if you're doing more washing at once? It'll bring down the cost entirely.

It's an alternative to the £25 per week extra, that's all I'm saying. I didn't say you'd get some magical fairy transporting it to and from the laundrette.

Where? The laundrette 3 streets away from me has self service industrial sized washing machines for £3 a go, which will easily fit 5+ wash baskets full of clothing in (I co-run a homeless charity clothing shop, so have to wash all donations). And the dryers are £2 for the same thing.

If you take out the cost of 4-5 wash loads at home, which is what this equates to if you fill a washer - it's more than saving you the extra money, it's reducing the bills altogether.

Take the baby, they'll probably find it a sleepy environment.:rotfl:

I don't believe anyone's bill will go up by £25 PER WEEK by using a washing machine more often. My bills didn't increase at all when mine were babies. Having a teenager who showers for 20 minutes at a time twice a day caused my water bill to increase slightly though !

The figure quoted was £25 per month

view

I'm just over one week away from giving birth to our first and the best piece of advice I can give (along with some great advice above) is as soon as you conceive (or before if you're 100% convinced you will be able to conceive - a risk!) is to buy some little things each pay.

We bought newborn then larger and even larger still nappies each pay... muslin cloths, a few 0-3 suits and special colic bottles the next pay, the next one just a few 3-6 suits, bibs, baby wipes etc.. you get the idea. We kept an eye out for specials and took advantage. We just stashed it all away and looked it out a few weeks ago and were surprised at just how much we had accumulated. Didn't notice a few pounds here and there along the 9 months and to buy it all at once would be a large chunk. You don't need a huge amount anyway, but it's good to have bits and pieces. Friends were also very generous and we received a second (or third) hand moses basket, bouncy chair, steriliser and other bits and pieces.

I agree with buying a moses basket mattress and car seat new, however otherwise secondhand stuff is fine.

Shop around for your buggy and buying a special offer travel system when on sale is best.