How much does a baby add to your budget?

onlyroz

pinkshoes wrote: »

We are having twins this time, so I cannot afford to work ore than 2 days a week when I return, as childcare would be more than my take home pay as a teacher otherwise. DH earns just over the amount to get any additional help, and we live in an expensive area, so money is going to be tight.

You might find, in the long run, that it's better to take a financial hit for a few years, even if it means paying more than your salary in childcare. You might end up missing out on key promotions and find that a few years of minimum part-time work might cost you a decade in career prospects (or so I'm lead to believe by my mum, who thinks she could have made deputy-head if she hadn't taken time out to have kids).

FreddieFrugal

sweetilemon wrote: »

Oh no I lost my big long post there. I was just wondering what the £436.50 figure included?

Well we'd get the c£80 child benefit a month + £35 child tax credit

£380 of it is 3 full days of child care a week for 38 weeks (possible we could have at least 1 day when grandparents pick up at lunchtime and have for afternoon) I currently only work 3 days, term time.

Then the rest was come to by increasing our weekly shop budget by 50% and then adding to holiday eating/food shopping bill, assuming we'd be doing self catered. I've set up the spreadsheet with a holiday section to input individual costs of accommodation, food and extras, for each holiday in the year, it then takes that info and changes it to monthly equivalent payment.

I increased our household goods and clothing spend, also our 'outings' and meals out, although we have National Trust and Historic House Association membership and North Yorkshire Moors and the Peak District within 1-1.5 hours away. So we rarely spend anything extra on outings.

I know those figures will be inaccurate but I was going for a sort of broad overview of child costs, despite saying I was aiming at a one year old.

I always prefer a worst case scenario budget, because then I'm never shocked finding we've spent more money than is budgeted, it's always the opposite.

mrsHall2b

babies can cost as little or as much as you wish to spend.. toiletries etc er just a gimmick really (although they do smell lovely) babies dont need anything on their skin for about the first year.
Breastmilk is free and means you dont have to buy bottles, steriliser, etc.. although you may want to buy them too.
clothes, go second hand especially at first, newborns get hardly any wear out of their clothes so why buy brand new. so far Ive spent about £40 on baby clothes, and that is everything im going to need up to 6 months, and ive gone waaaay over the top.
bouncers and swings are fab but again can be bought second hand. nappy bags are cheaper than nappy bins, nappy useage slows down considerably after weaning as they have more solid poo so it doesnt explode everywhere every 5 minutes (or was that just my newborn?)

we have 2 toddlers and I spend a lot more on my partner monthly than I do for both the girls and getting baby items.. hes much more expensive than a baby

susancs

onlyroz wrote: »

Yes, you should never make assumptions about what people are willing to do. Unfortunately, some Grandparents find themselves unable to admit that they're finding it hard running around after a toddler all day, and end up wearing themselves out.

For me, my mum is happy to help out for a few days during the school holidays but I would never ask or expect her to commit to anything more than this. She is a reasonably fit and sprightly 71-year-old, but I think full time childminding would finish her off.

Totally agree with this. I have seen grandparents in my family who were looking after their grandchildren and we really unable to cope, but unable to admit it as they did really love their grandchildren, but did not have the energy to do it on a full time basis.

jackieblack

onlyroz wrote: »

You might find, in the long run, that it's better to take a financial hit for a few years, even if it means paying more than your salary in childcare. You might end up missing out on key promotions and find that a few years of minimum part-time work might cost you a decade in career prospects (or so I'm lead to believe by my mum, who thinks she could have made deputy-head if she hadn't taken time out to have kids).

Not all mothers prioritise the possibility of some future promotion over spending time with their young children.
Neither can some afford the 'financial hit' - if childcare costs more than take home pay this may mean spending beyond the household's means and incurring debt.

ellesbellesxxx

Jackieblack: I agree! I would love to be a mum(ttc over a year) and would gladly kiss goodbye to my teaching career prospects if it means I can have my own family.

onlyroz

jackieblack wrote: »

Not all mothers prioritise the possibility of some future promotion over spending time with their young children.
Neither can some afford the 'financial hit' - if childcare costs more than take home pay this may mean spending beyond the household's means and incurring debt.

Families should do whatever is best for them in the long term. This might involve quitting your job entirely, or it might involve paying out more in childcare than you bring home for a while. Or it might even involve dad going part time while mum becomes the main earner. There are many options and they should all be considered.

I have, however, seen far too many women sacrifice their careers entirely, purely because they felt it was what they ought to do. These days, when it is possible for both parents to equally share parental leave, there are far more options available for both parents to advance their careers while still spending quality time with their children.

merlin68

Tax credit thresholds are going down in April so i wouldn't bank on the £35. Mine have never cost me that much.
Breastfeed, use washable nappies and get clothes from primark. There not in them long enough to make buying dearer ones worthwhile.
I would also get second hand baby equipment or the cheap stuff from argos. You only use a pram for six months then they go in the fold up pushchairs its easier. I cant see a baby adding 50% to shopping bill max £20 a week if you bottle feed and use disposables. You can munge up your own meals as long as they dont contain salt or sugar.

Rambosmum

duchy wrote: »

Babies are pretty cheap - going back to the OP the eyewatering costs are childcare as you've mentioned your wife will be returning to work.

I found it ended up nett better to work 3 days a week rather than 5 once I costed in tax, travel to work and childcare -even ignoring indefinables like more takeaways, lunches and more time to shop so more sensible shopping and less corner shop emergencies as well as more cooking from scratch.

I need to do this analysis too. My career IS important to me, however I know I'll never get these years back with my kids and the cost of child care as you say is eye watering. We have no family close by so can't utilise them, though my mum has said she'll do a day a week, which is lovely, but it's 1.5hours each way for her!

Rambosmum

FreddieFrugal wrote: »

Well we'd get the c£80 child benefit a month + £35 child tax credit

£380 of it is 3 full days of child care a week for 38 weeks (possible we could have at least 1 day when grandparents pick up at lunchtime and have for afternoon) I currently only work 3 days, term time.

Then the rest was come to by increasing our weekly shop budget by 50% and then adding to holiday eating/food shopping bill, assuming we'd be doing self catered. I've set up the spreadsheet with a holiday section to input individual costs of accommodation, food and extras, for each holiday in the year, it then takes that info and changes it to monthly equivalent payment.

I increased our household goods and clothing spend, also our 'outings' and meals out, although we have National Trust and Historic House Association membership and North Yorkshire Moors and the Peak District within 1-1.5 hours away. So we rarely spend anything extra on outings.

I know those figures will be inaccurate but I was going for a sort of broad overview of child costs, despite saying I was aiming at a one year old.

I always prefer a worst case scenario budget, because then I'm never shocked finding we've spent more money than is budgeted, it's always the opposite.

Have you managed to find a term-time only nursery then? There are none round here that take babies so you have to commit to 52 week contract, even though we'd only need the nursery for about 40 weeks! The only other alternative for us would be to cancel the nursery at the end pf each term and then reapply, no guarantees that they'd have a space when we needed it.