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RSS FeedPotential parents: Can I afford a baby?
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| Yes | 71% | 128 votes | Total: 180 votes | |
| No | 29% | 52 votes |
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Add to FavoritesThis is a common question for people considering having a baby, but really the answer is always going to be yes. The simple reason being that once you have a child, your life changes for the better and you have to rearrange your priorities. The child becomes the most important thing in your life, not the latest gadget or DVD. Money may become a little bit tighter (especially if one of you gives up work to be a full time parent); but also the money will be spent differently i.e. you become less selfish and spend less money on yourself, and this money goes towards the child's needs.
Of course the initial outlay for a baby can be quite immense, if you allow it to be. But it really doesn't have to be, it just takes a little bit of thought and consideration. Do you really need all those ridiculous things in the baby's nursery? Do you need the mountain of soft toys you keep walking past in the shops? Do you really need the most expensive pram (and other travel items) on the market? Will your baby really play with all those garish toys? Does your baby need to be kitted out in designer clothes? I doubt it.
The most expensive items you will need for your new baby, such as a Moses basket, a cot or cot bed (and relevant bedding), a pram/travel system, can all be bought second hand (have a look on Ebay) at a lot cheaper prices than on the high street. And there is bound to be an obliging Grandparent or close relative who will want to help out with the costs of these items, or even donate said items (my daughter's Grandfather paid for our pram, and her bedroom furniture was donated by her Uncle). And don't forget you have 9 months of pregnancy to save some of your hard earned cash to go towards paying for such baby items.
Once you have all the baby gear you need, the cost of caring for a baby is very small. I can't understand people who say having babies is expensive.
They only drink milk for the first six months, and if you are breast feeding, the cost is almost nothing (apart from the breast pads (approx 2.99 a pack) you will have to buy for your leaking breasts). You don't need bottles or teats or sterilisers
Their clothes are very cheap, and let's face it; once your baby is born you will be inundated with cute little outfits from friends and relatives for your bundle of joy, so you might even get by without spending any money on clothes for the first few months. Having said that, Ebay is extremely good for second hand baby clothes and I have been known to buy my daughter various items from this source.
New babies do not really need many toys, perhaps a cot mobile and a couple of teddies or comforters. It's when they start to become aware of their surroundings that toys become an essential part of their life. However, you don't need to get your child every single toy on the market, mainly because they just won't get the use out of them. My daughter was happy with a couple of rattles that she could shake about, and then when she got older she had building blocks and a few other simple items. She was perfectly happy with this.
The cost of nappies can add up if you are using disposables, but if you use cloth nappies, after the initial outlay, the cost is again minimal. Terry squares are the cheapest option available, but there are many other types of cloth nappy on the market. If you can afford to buy 20 nappies & required accessories, you will be set for your baby's nappy life and will not have to worry about adding the cost of a pack of disposables onto your weekly shopping bill.
So really, they are not that expensive at all...
The reason I decided to write this article was because I feel quite strongly about the subject. In my opinion once you have a child, your world is turned upside down and your life changes completely. Once I became pregnant with my daughter, she immediately became my number 1 priority. This meant saving money so we could afford to buy things for her, which in turn meant that we stopped spending all our money on ourselves and began to think of her every time we felt like spending. This has now become a habit for us and is our new way of life. And the joy that our daughter brings to our lives is worth it.
Those people who think they can't afford to have a baby, probably want to keep the life that they have without children, and to be quite honest I think this is just plain selfish. When you decide to have a baby, you should be at a place in your life where you are willing to make certain sacrifices for the sake of your child. If you want to carry on going out every weekend, buy new things for yourself, have 3 holidays a year etc, but claim you can't afford a to have a baby, then maybe you are not ready to take the plunge into parenthood.
Learn more about this author, Keelar.
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No
There is no doubt about it, babies are expensive. I have three of my own. The newest bundle of joy is only 3 weeks old. As a couple thinking about how much a baby would cost you the truth of it could actually cause you to make the quickest appointment for the hubby's vasectomy. Data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey by the U.S. Department of Labor, conducted from 1990-92 was used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to put together a table to show the estimated cost of raising a child. What is interesting is that the more your family makes the more that child will cost to raise. Also, it stops the calculations at age 18. This does not include the cost in sending the child to college. By the time my sweet 3 week old gets there it should be in the millions the ways the costs are multiplying these days!
The figures in this table represent estimated expenses on the younger child in a two-child family. Estimates are about the same for the older child, so a family of two would then double the total cost. Thus, a family with two children and an income of less than $39,100, could expect to spend somewhere around $249,600, for two children by the time they each had reached age 18. If you have only one child, the USDA assumes you'll spend slightly more on that child and suggests multiplying the total expense for the appropriate age category by 1.24. If you have three or more children, the USDA assumes you'll spend slightly less per child.
What exactly does this all mean to the average couple deciding on whether to start a family? Let us talk about the basics first. The kid has to eat. Here is where the choice to breast or bottle feed has special significance. With my first child I tried to breast-feed and it was a miserable disaster. Now I had to buy formula for my baby to survive. Consequently my husband and I ate a whole lot of mac-n-cheese that year. With my second child I was able to breast-feed for the entire first year of his life. It saved us a boat load of money! This time I am going to breast-feed as long as possible. Is kindergarten too long?
Then there is the cost of what comes from the other end. Diapers are not what they were when I was a baby. Now there are as many brands and styles as there are stars in the sky it seems. If I could save the money that I only spent on diapers for the past 6 years and invest it I may be in the running for Oprah's spot on the richest people in America. Cloth diapers are an interesting alternative but I am not sure that I could handle washing that many nasty, smelly, slimy, gross .... you get the point.
Then there is the laundry. Hopefully you have a washer and dryer in your house or apartment. Heading to the Laundromat for all of those cute outfits that they pee on and grow out of WAY too fast is a real chore and quite expensive. Did I mention the cost of all of those clothes yet? No? Let's just say that if you do have a baby you better keep every outfit for the off chance that you might be crazy to have another one. Every penny counts when they start to multiply.
What about work? Will you stay at home to cut back on day care or will the loss of your income put too big of dent in the cash flow? I had to stay home and still do. The cost of day care around here I would have to be an executive in order to afford to pay someone to take care of my kids while I was working. If I went back to work now I would end up working for free!
Yes, babies are expensive and the older they get the more they cost. If you have to ask you probably can't afford to have a baby. If you really think about it who can afford to have a baby? I know that I couldn't when I had my first 6 years ago. We were so scared! We cut back ans sacrificed because the baby and his needs were more important. We are still sacrificing a bit every day. It come with the territory. The point is no one can afford to have a baby. I guess that is why in 2006 the United States reported the largest number of births in 45 years according to CNN. Almost 4.3 million babies we simply couldn't afford.
Learn more about this author, Kellyann Carney.
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