Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

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jasper
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Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by jasper »

hi all,

tax season is upon us, so I am mulling finances and trying to get the energy to (finally) get a budget in place. the last few years with young twins has been emotionally (and financially) trying

do children become less expensive as they get older? I realize there is no firm answer on this, just looking for your perspective

some background: 3.5 yr old twins, wife is stay-at-home mom

no childcare costs, everyone healthy. plan on public schooling in the future
plan to contribute to 529 plans as we go for the duration and pay 100% of college, expect no financial aide. so this college cost is fixed for the duration. I may be off in my final estimates but lets ignore this for this post

we made it through cribs, strollers, car seats, diapers, formula. all that. they are boy/girl so cannot share much (clothes, most toys) and will surely develop even more different interests as they grow

can we reasonably expect things to settle down some day?
i can foresee more scheduled activities, braces, vehicles, higher entertainment costs, etc, in the future. and a lot more i am sure i haven't even thought about

I am looking for some input/experience. is this a relatively fixed cost until they are adults? I guess I am hoping you will tell me it is a curve with the peak in the early years, but doubt this is the case

thanx
livesoft
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by livesoft »

Nope, kids do not become less expensive. Since your only costs are really food and they need more food as they get bigger, the costs go up. We send our kids to their friends' homes if they want to eat. That saves us a bundle.

Clothes don't cost much since my daughter worked in a thrift shop and my son can wear my clothes.

We live in a low cost of living place and did the usual: music lessons, art lessons, summer camps, away camps, youth sports: soccer, swimming, football, basketball, and travel to Europe, South America, Hawaii. And then college where a bundle was dropped.

We did not buy cars for our kids, but they still needed auto insurance.
Last edited by livesoft on Mon Feb 24, 2014 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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harrychan
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by harrychan »

I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old boys so I somewhat can share your sentiments. Cost is up to what each family makes of it. My wife works but should be quitting soon so she can stay at home. The boys have multiple extra-curricular activities so those cost a lot. I just bought a baseball glove and pants for $50. It's not a lot and the entire family enjoy these activities. We have been looking at private schools but are leaning towards public as well. We are not breaking bank to fund the 529. We are funding it to where we feel comfortable and will likely be short. My wife and I were fortunate to not have to pay for school but I don't think it would be out of line to have our kids get a loan to pay for their own higher education cost. Another reason we are not comfortable funding the 529 to the max is what if they get scholarships and end up not having to pay much out of pocket? It seems the money would go to waste.
This is not legal or certified financial advice but you know that already.
Twins Fan
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Twins Fan »

You wish! :D

I have twin girls that are 8 now and a 12 year old son. Those baby expenses just get replaced with new expenses. And, then those expenses replaced with new expenses, and so on... College and vehicles alone will probably make you miss the early years, as far as expenses. The only "fixed" part about it is, kids are expensive! :D But worth it!! Don't stress the numbers, keep it reasonable and do the best you can for them.
sscritic
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by sscritic »

Here is what you don't have now. Hockey traveling team. Ice skates for your figure skater at $700 a pop (2012 prices) - that's without blades ($300). [Did you know that feet grow?] Coaching is by the half hour, say $50 - $75 (it's been a long time for me, but Olympic coaches don't come cheap). And when you travel to competitions, you pay the travel and hotel costs for the coach.

No, the costs don't drop unless you lock your child in a room and don't let them out.

There was a previous thread on tennis. Gymnastics can be the same. Figure $20,000 a year (per child, although if they share the same coach, the travel and hotel costs are split).
chw
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by chw »

Not a chance.
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nisiprius
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by nisiprius »

I am afraid we did not find that to be the case. A lot depends on what the peer culture is like in junior high school and high school, and what you feel is the right balance between indulgence and denial. But by high school they are getting to be little consumers.

We happen to live in a town whose median household income is 90% of that of the state we live in, and we do not live in the swanky part of town. Growing up, our kids were, you know how it is, were bothered by having friends whose parents had nicer houses and cars than we did, and yet strangely were not reassured by having friends whose parents had houses and cars that were not as nice as ours.

Pretty soon every time you turn around it is $30 here and $80 there. It's not unreasonable for a kid to want a bike. My daughter tried to be frugal and when she got to be cosmetics age, prided herself on buying all her cosmetics at CVS, but hey, it adds up. Stylishly shabby clothing for my son was still clothing. The fundraising sales for the scouts and Campfire, and I didn't work at the sort of companies where it was easy for a go-getter to sell a hundred candy bars--I'd put them out by my cube with the shoebox and slot, and come home having sold five, and then of course we'd buy the other nineteen ourselves. Sigh. Fundraising candy. Linen calendar towels. 18-in-one screwdriver sets.

So one of my kids was selected for one of those trips that a teacher has to nominate you for, that is sort of halfway in between just travel and a valid educational experience. If you can afford it, it's pretty hard to say no, so there goes another $3,000, and then of course when the other kid gets selected for something similar, having sent one kid you have to send the other.

And there were ski trips. And summer camp. And money to buy the two-by-fours and the plywood to build the skateboard ramp.

And then they get their drivers' licenses and your insurance goes up. And whatever deal you think you've cut with them, somehow the car is always out of gas and somehow you are always the one that pays to fill it. And they didn't do anything and yet the muffler didn't have a hole in it when they left and has a hole in it now.

Oh, right, livesoft mentioned food. Yes, a sixteen year old kid consumes enough food to make a difference. Pow! There goes a whole loaf of bread. Bam! an entire half gallon of ice cream. And they have food preferences. And it doesn't tend to be for five pound bags of rice, or apples, or canned tuna fish. And they are always begging to go out for pizza or McDonald's.

Uniforms.

The guitar. The amp. Even new guitar strings aren't cheap.

They let the water run a lot. You will see it on the water bill.

Did I mention orthodonture?

And back then it was a $40 Walkman and now it is a $300 iPod. I haven't thought about it but I do believe if our kids were growing up now we would probably feel that yes, they "needed" cell phones, it seems to me that at least 3/4 of the kids in high school have them.

So, no, we found that expenses started to climb about junior high school age, and really seemed high junior and senior year of high school.
Last edited by nisiprius on Mon Feb 24, 2014 8:41 pm, edited 8 times in total.
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Texas hold em71
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Texas hold em71 »

Not in my experience. Depends on how you do it, but we have not gone the cheap route - probably middle of the road.

When our children were younger, we were too. We were earlier in our careers and made less money. Our expenses for them made up a larger percentage of our income then than it does now. I do remember thinking it felt like getting a raise to get them out of diapers and off of formula.
Professor Emeritus
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Professor Emeritus »

We bought brand new outfits for our two daughters One for her Bar admission and the other for her PhD defense.

I Never ever spent money with as big a smile !!

Except on the new grandson. (Grandpa is a sucker for a smile)

More seriously you keep investing in your children's human capital for many years.
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Crimsontide
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Crimsontide »

You are just getting warmed up :D
tj
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by tj »

Not if you pay for their college!

I think i wanted less stuff as I got older...but I am a boglehead...most people aren't like me. :-D
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Kenkat
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Kenkat »

For the most part, my experience has been no, it doesn't get cheaper and that feeling you have of being squeezed is perfectly normal. Do not be alarmed! Perfectly normal... :D :D :) :( :o

In all seriousness, you will find a way to pay for it all. An older gentleman who raised 9 children once told me: "it took every penny I had, but never a penny more than that". I think that's a pretty wise statement.
Userdc
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Userdc »

When your children reach the age of 5, they will become eligible for free child care for 6-7 hours a day for approximately 35-40 weeks per year.

Although you say you have no child care costs, for many people this makes up the largest chunk of providing for young children through either direct care provider costs or foregone income.
J295
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by J295 »

No, but that's ok,

You might consider giving them a stipend every 6 months when they reach a certain age. We gave stipends every 6 months from age 13 through college in amounts that we thought were sufficient for them to enjoy a certain lifestyle and have extra left over for saving. The idea (which was successful) was that the children/young adults decided what they wanted to spend "their" money on ..... do they want the new dress for the school dance that costs $X or $Y, or do they just trade with a friend. Do they want the new gotta have phone -- fine, they just need to pay for it, or maybe wait out the two years and get a cheaper upgrade, etc., etc. It wasn't as much to save us $$, but to teach them money management through experience and observation, and also relieve us of the constant "can I have $20 for XYZ"

Have fun.

Oh, and by the way, those earlier posts about food expenses ..... agreed. We really notice it when everyone is home over the holidays ..... the fridge gets emptied out very quickly!
Draak
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Draak »

delete
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peppers
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by peppers »

Small children small expenses
Big children big expenses

And then the grandchildren suddenly appear...... :)
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swaption
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by swaption »

I have to laugh. Definitely not. I see the mention of figure skating expenses. I can check that box. For my other girl it was gymnastics and now dance. This won't be applicable to everyone, but throw in summer camp and in my case two Bat Mitzvahs. Given that I have saved well for college, the irony is that I'm looking at those years for all this to finally subside.

Now excuse me while I prepare to go pick up the perfect, non-shedding puppy raised by a responsible breeder (I'm bringing my check book).
Roadhog
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Roadhog »

My wife have raised our three children who are now all in their mid-20's, all graduated from top-30 colleges in four years, and all found jobs upon graduation. My wife was a stay at home Mom and I was steadily employed but by no means in a high paying job. We scrimped and saved as much as possible and had some help from our parents. Lived in an affluent suburb but were very modest in our means compared with other families.

It does get more expensive as they get older but one of the biggest costs is "the failure to launch" when they leave high school/college. Some of the things we did along the way in their teen years mostly:
1. We participated in as many church/community mission trips and community service projects as possible. My wife and I went along as sponsors on many of these. Taught the lessons of work, humility, appreciation. objects of value.
2. If they wanted to go on a school-sponsored trip or summer camp, they had to find a way to contribute half of the cost. This tested the firmness of the desire and showed them goal-setting and achievement. They made most of the trips they wanted to.
3. We talked frequently about what things cost and how much effort it would take to pay for something. They understood money in terms of labor and effort - mostly theirs - but mine as well.
4. We set up "401k's" at home - whatever they saved, we would match 50% in their own accounts and made it clear we did not expect them to make withdrawals. We talked about saving, investing of the index variety, and compounding of returns.
5. We offered to pay them not to get their drivers license when they became 16 - All their friends had cars so they had plenty of mobility. So I paid them to their separate accounts the amount of insurance I was saving telling them that I would rather this money go to them. Two out of three took the deal. Then I matched the contribution - see 4 above.
6. They didn't get cars at 16. I thought a 16 year old in a car was not a good idea. I did acquire a third car for their senior years in high school but made clear it was my car and I was letting them use it - or not use it. They didn't have cars in college until they were seniors.
7. They didn't have cell phones until they were 16 and then it was the "dumb" phone version.
8. They had allowances equal to their age and that was it. They learned to manage their "budget". We didn't pay for grades but expected them to do their best. They all had chores/responsibilities at home to contribute. All had jobs during high school.
8. We tried to teach them to be independent in their thinking and to think about goals and their future. To challenge themselves, solve their own problems, and work hard then success in some form usually follows.

I know yours are still young but time passes quickly. Enjoy the ride.
hiddensee
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by hiddensee »

The necessary cost of a child is very small, but like good wine and bad art one can pay as much for them as one chooses. Think about it this way - if you decide not to have a child on the basis that you would spend too much on it, ask whether the child would rather you spend less, than to have not existed at all.
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by TomatoTomahto »

sscritic wrote:Here is what you don't have now. Hockey traveling team. Ice skates for your figure skater at $700 a pop (2012 prices) - that's without blades ($300). [Did you know that feet grow?] Coaching is by the half hour, say $50 - $75 (it's been a long time for me, but Olympic coaches don't come cheap). And when you travel to competitions, you pay the travel and hotel costs for the coach.

No, the costs don't drop unless you lock your child in a room and don't let them out.

There was a previous thread on tennis. Gymnastics can be the same. Figure $20,000 a year (per child, although if they share the same coach, the travel and hotel costs are split).
I didn't know that we had this in common, although it was lots of hockey and not figure skating for us. At least coach costs are spread among an entire team in hockey, although there are more coaches.

Let your kids grow up to become cowboys, but not goalies. Those lessons aren't cheap either, and I see that Brians Sub Zero pads are up to $1700 (my daughter got hers at a bargain $1500 a couple of years ago). Some teams let goalies play for free to balance the high cost of equipment and special coaching, but ours didn't.

Re sports costs, my daughter got her fencing equipment for less than $200 for high end equipment that you don't really outgrow. She gave the sport up, but colleges recruit fencers (yes, really), and unless you're competing internationally or nationally as an individual (as opposed to for the school team), the costs are moderate. From what I've seen, it does not require extraordinary athletic ability to be a potentially recruited fencer -- not intended as a slag on the sport; it's because of the shortage of candidates.
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Call_Me_Op »

hiddensee wrote: Think about it this way - if you decide not to have a child on the basis that you would spend too much on it, ask whether the child would rather you spend less, than to have not existed at all.
Based upon this way of thinking, we should all have as many kids as physically possible [regardless of cost, etc], given that not doing so would deprive many of the opportunity to exist.
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Rupert
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Rupert »

harrychan wrote:I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old boys so I somewhat can share your sentiments. Cost is up to what each family makes of it. My wife works but should be quitting soon so she can stay at home. The boys have multiple extra-curricular activities so those cost a lot. I just bought a baseball glove and pants for $50. It's not a lot and the entire family enjoy these activities. We have been looking at private schools but are leaning towards public as well. We are not breaking bank to fund the 529. We are funding it to where we feel comfortable and will likely be short. My wife and I were fortunate to not have to pay for school but I don't think it would be out of line to have our kids get a loan to pay for their own higher education cost. Another reason we are not comfortable funding the 529 to the max is what if they get scholarships and end up not having to pay much out of pocket? It seems the money would go to waste.
You know you can withdraw the 529 money penalty free if they get scholarships, right? You just have to pay normal taxes on the earnings. See http://www.savingforcollege.com/questio ... cle_id=137#.
lws6772
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by lws6772 »

Huh? :shock:
lloydbraun
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by lloydbraun »

You can also just keep him/her as the designated beneficiary and then transfer it to his/her children if/once they have any. A 529 doesn't have a time limit.
stoptothink
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by stoptothink »

Userdc wrote:Although you say you have no child care costs, for many people this makes up the largest chunk of providing for young children through either direct care provider costs or foregone income.
LCOL area and our childcare is highly subsidized because I am a director-level employee for an organization with a great childcare, but it still represents 80% of what she (my daughter) costs us. Just a few bucks a month to add her to my insurance, maybe $75/month in food and diapers, maybe $100/yr in clothes (it's what she gets from relatives for birthday and xmas, plus we have a child clothing exchange with our church). 3 more years of $400/month before she starts school.
RobertAlanK
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by RobertAlanK »

There are some wonderful recollections expressed here. My daughter just turned seven and this gives me some things to consider.

And also much to look forward to experiencing as she grows.
hiddensee
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by hiddensee »

Call_Me_Op wrote:
hiddensee wrote: Think about it this way - if you decide not to have a child on the basis that you would spend too much on it, ask whether the child would rather you spend less, than to have not existed at all.
Based upon this way of thinking, we should all have as many kids as physically possible [regardless of cost, etc], given that not doing so would deprive many of the opportunity to exist.
Should we not?

However note I did not say anything about deciding not to have children because we would rather consume the money ourselves.
likegarden
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by likegarden »

That young age is only the beginning. Lateron kids will have their own families and financial problems possibly, like during a big downturn in the economy with layoffs. Then you might have to help out big time. Consider that also in your retirement plans.
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Jay69
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Jay69 »

As others noted it gets to be more expensive, my spouse stayed home so we had no child care and that can be a big number.

For us sports fees was/is one of the bigger hits, its not like is was 30 years ago when soccer was just played for 2-3 months. They now have it turned soccer into a year around sport with indoor training etc. Toss in all the other activities, let not talk about gymnastic fees and it all just adds up, much more then when a bucket of sidewalk chalk. We spend more time with our kids gym parents then we do with our family and friends, would not change a thing.

It seems to me: As the cost to raise kids go up as they age the faster the time seems to go. The older they get you have same amount of problems they are just bigger.You may feel the need to ramp up your beer drinking when the kids are teenagers, that's another cost :wink:
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RadAudit
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by RadAudit »

In the kids' high school senior year, one of the teachers at a financial aid application meeting encouraged us to limber up that ol' check writing arm. I now know she wasn't joking.

Our state requires a four year undergrad degree and a masters' for teaching above the elementary level. OK, five years. And the next one was a little late in choosing his major for his masters'. Six years.

That said, so far they haven't come back except to visit. They seemed to have turned out OK - but we won't know for sure until we see how the grandkids turn out. Worth every dime compared to some others' life experiences that I've seen.
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beachplum
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by beachplum »

sscritic wrote:Here is what you don't have now. Hockey traveling team. Ice skates for your figure skater at $700 a pop (2012 prices) - that's without blades ($300). [Did you know that feet grow?] Coaching is by the half hour, say $50 - $75 (it's been a long time for me, but Olympic coaches don't come cheap). And when you travel to competitions, you pay the travel and hotel costs for the coach.

No, the costs don't drop unless you lock your child in a room and don't let them out.

There was a previous thread on tennis. Gymnastics can be the same. Figure $20,000 a year (per child, although if they share the same coach, the travel and hotel costs are split).
If I had to do it all over again, I would not have let my daughters get so involved in figure skating. THankfully I got one to quit when she started high school, and I didn't spend 20k a year (they were never going to the olympics), and grandpa helped in the later years. Totally ridiculous amounts of money. There should be a sign on the door of ice rinks that states the costs for 14 years . Though we all had a lot of fun sometimes.
beachplum
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by beachplum »

RadAudit wrote:In the kids' high school senior year, one of the teachers at a financial aid application meeting encouraged us to limber up that ol' check writing arm. I now know she wasn't joking.

Our state requires a four year undergrad degree and a masters' for teaching above the elementary level. OK, five years. And the next one was a little late in choosing his major for his masters'. Six years.

That said, so far they haven't come back except to visit. They seemed to have turned out OK - but we won't know for sure until we see how the grandkids turn out. Worth every dime compared to some others' life experiences that I've seen.
In MA teachers are required to have a masters' K-thru 12.
SamB
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by SamB »

No. The cost increases each year until they become self sustaining adults.

As I reflect on this, it is just self evident. How much money would it take to sustain you as a young adult? Hopefully, this equates to your income. If it does not equate to your income and you still demand that lifestyle then either your parents will supply it, or you will have to be satisfied with less.

I remember when my daughter was a toddler. I gave her a very inexpensive toy car as a Christmas gift. She thought it was the best toy ever. My total expenditure was under $5. Now fast forward to the HS years. Material wants go up by a couple orders of magnitude, and so will your expenditures.

Hopefully, your outlays climax with college, but that is still not guaranteed. There is of course more to life than money and finance, and that applies to having children.
MathWizard
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by MathWizard »

No they do not become less expensive.
The years from K-4 were our cheapest. Then band started.
With middle school, we started adding more extra-curricular activites.
With HS even more activities, then came cars/insurance, testing fees for
ACT/PSAT/SAT, and college applications.

But wait until college:

I wrote 4 checks to the University this year (2 kids in college), you have to write small
to get all the numbers in.
sls239
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by sls239 »

I think there is a bit of a lull between the baby stage and say middle or upper elementary.

But maybe we are atypical. DS's activities don't cost near as much as what other people are quoting. For example we pay $40/ month for gymnastics. And $25 total for an 8 hour (1hr/wk) Spanish program. Baseball is probably the most expensive of the activities, but it doesn't cost more than $150 / year because he only plays in the spring. He's old enough to pick out his own books from the library, has accumulated more toys than he really needs since he plays so much outside just with other kids so we spend less on stuff like that. I probably spend more on clothes, but not much more since he wears clothes for longer. Food costs a little more I'm sure. What was really costing was letting him order off the kid's menu. We don't do that much anymore unless it is just a small portion of an adult entree and doesn't include a drink. No $5 hot dogs. Another things is that we've made the choice, now that DS is older to do more traveling. Obviously traveling has costs and traveling with an extra person is more expensive. But most places charge for kids as soon as they use their own seat, so traveling with a 7 year old isn't much more expensive than traveling with a 3 year old. Just more enjoyable.

I'm sure that if DS gets really into some activity that the costs could go up, and that eventually he'll want an Ipod or something. But for now, we are pretty much coasting.

If next year we become a 1.5 income family, since DS will be old enough to spend very short periods of time at home alone, that will be icing on the cake.

I suspect that the people who don't remember this lull didn't experience it because they had more kids in this time frame so it would seem like expenses continued to climb.
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serbeer
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by serbeer »

harrychan wrote:...Another reason we are not comfortable funding the 529 to the max is what if they get scholarships and end up not having to pay much out of pocket? It seems the money would go to waste.
Not true. You can take out amount equivalent to scholarship out of 529 accounts without penalty. So that would not be a waste, on the contrary, would become another tax-deferred account.
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serbeer
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by serbeer »

Roadhog wrote: 8. They had allowances equal to their age and that was it.
Thanks for the useful tips.
Were those weekly allowances?
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Jay69
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Jay69 »

beachplum wrote:If I had to do it all over again, I would not have let my daughters get so involved in figure skating. THankfully I got one to quit when she started high school, and I didn't spend 20k a year (they were never going to the olympics), and grandpa helped in the later years. Totally ridiculous amounts of money. There should be a sign on the door of ice rinks that states the costs for 14 years . Though we all had a lot of fun sometimes.
Not into skating but have a gymnast, I assume you end up with about the same medical bills, sometimes I think the medical bills are more than the gym fees :annoyed

As far as high school, we just leave our check book at the office!
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swaption
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by swaption »

Jay69 wrote:
beachplum wrote:If I had to do it all over again, I would not have let my daughters get so involved in figure skating. THankfully I got one to quit when she started high school, and I didn't spend 20k a year (they were never going to the olympics), and grandpa helped in the later years. Totally ridiculous amounts of money. There should be a sign on the door of ice rinks that states the costs for 14 years . Though we all had a lot of fun sometimes.
Not into skating but have a gymnast, I assume you end up with about the same medical bills, sometimes I think the medical bills are more than the gym fees :annoyed

As far as high school, we just leave our check book at the office!
I don't think anything rivals gymnastics in terms of medical bills. Happily my daughter switched to dance. My other daughter is now a figure skater. Definitely, nothing like gymnastics from a health perspective. But I think other expenses more than make up for it in terms of spending. Not a small number of kids at my daughter's rink are being home schooled. Can't imagine what that implies.
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HomerJ
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by HomerJ »

0-5 Expensive if you use daycare - not too bad if don't
6-12 Pretty cheap (just clothes really, a few activities)
13-15 Getting expensive again - Braces, more activities, they care about their clothes (if girls - still fairly cheap if they're boys)
16-17 - car and insurance - they eat a lot.
18 - college (!!)
rjsob58
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by rjsob58 »

To set the stage, I have 13yr twins. At 3.5, you just have their needs to pay for. As they get older, not only do their needs increase (e.g. - more food, more clothes), but their WANTS grow exponentially. I can't say I've done this well, but providing them a good understanding of what their WANTS cost and teaching them at an early age that they need to partially contribute to paying for those wants goes a long, long way. Also, providing them choices of getting what they want now vs. saving is important.

I love the idea of offering to pay them to not get their license at 16. I am definitely going to give that a shot, cause the cost of insurance for 2 teenage male drivers is probably more than what I pay for my mortgage.
Roadhog
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Roadhog »

serbeer wrote:
Roadhog wrote: 8. They had allowances equal to their age and that was it.
Thanks for the useful tips.
Were those weekly allowances?

Yes, weekly.
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Jay69
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Jay69 »

rjsob58 wrote:I love the idea of offering to pay them to not get their license at 16. I am definitely going to give that a shot, cause the cost of insurance for 2 teenage male drivers is probably more than what I pay for my mortgage.
I'm on the other side of the fence. If they get a license (I'm not buying them a car) they can drive themselves to practice, that would give us an easy 3-4 nights a week back to do what we like. Looks like that's going up the spending does it not, insurance will go up and will have more time to spend cash ourselves :wink:
"Out of clutter, find simplicity” Albert Einstein
mayday23
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by mayday23 »

As someone who has a 17 month year old, i was just thinking of upgrading our bathroom. That $ is now going into a savings account for when she starts to grow up. I'm also going to leave work early and go drinking....sheesh at all these expenses....
rjsob58
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by rjsob58 »

Jay69 wrote:
rjsob58 wrote:I love the idea of offering to pay them to not get their license at 16. I am definitely going to give that a shot, cause the cost of insurance for 2 teenage male drivers is probably more than what I pay for my mortgage.
I'm on the other side of the fence. If they get a license (I'm not buying them a car) they can drive themselves to practice, that would give us an easy 3-4 nights a week back to do what we like. Looks like that's going up the spending does it not, insurance will go up and will have more time to spend cash ourselves :wink:
Twins make it more complex. One of them could take the deal, the other not. So they'd still have one licensed driver between them. I'd be paying one of them not to drive, the other to drive and we'd still have the extra time to go out and spend more ourselves. No matter how I look at it, there's no financial upside. :oops:
livesoft
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by livesoft »

Some insurance companies do not increase the cost of insurance for kids with learners permits. So they can be driving with you in the car for a number of years before they get their licenses. This was an important factor for which insurance company we chose.

I think it is a disservice not to give kids all the practice driving that they can get, so if my kid is in the car with me, then they are driving.

Also note that one's umbrella insurance will go up, too.
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HomerJ
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by HomerJ »

TomatoTomahto wrote:
sscritic wrote:Here is what you don't have now. Hockey traveling team. Ice skates for your figure skater at $700 a pop (2012 prices) - that's without blades ($300). [Did you know that feet grow?] Coaching is by the half hour, say $50 - $75 (it's been a long time for me, but Olympic coaches don't come cheap). And when you travel to competitions, you pay the travel and hotel costs for the coach.

No, the costs don't drop unless you lock your child in a room and don't let them out.

There was a previous thread on tennis. Gymnastics can be the same. Figure $20,000 a year (per child, although if they share the same coach, the travel and hotel costs are split).
I didn't know that we had this in common, although it was lots of hockey and not figure skating for us. At least coach costs are spread among an entire team in hockey, although there are more coaches.

Let your kids grow up to become cowboys, but not goalies. Those lessons aren't cheap either, and I see that Brians Sub Zero pads are up to $1700 (my daughter got hers at a bargain $1500 a couple of years ago). Some teams let goalies play for free to balance the high cost of equipment and special coaching, but ours didn't.

Re sports costs, my daughter got her fencing equipment for less than $200 for high end equipment that you don't really outgrow. She gave the sport up, but colleges recruit fencers (yes, really), and unless you're competing internationally or nationally as an individual (as opposed to for the school team), the costs are moderate. From what I've seen, it does not require extraordinary athletic ability to be a potentially recruited fencer -- not intended as a slag on the sport; it's because of the shortage of candidates.
Real bogleheads have their kids play volleyball... :)

Much cheaper sport. My daughter was on a travelling competitive team, and even got a scholarship offer to a smaller college (which after much thought, we declined), and we never spent anywhere near the numbers you guys are throwing out. :)
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HomerJ
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by HomerJ »

By the way, my kids quite a few years apart..

At one point, I had a 18 year old, a 12-year old, and a 2-year old.

I was paying for college, braces, AND day-care all at the same time!

Although I guess I shouldn't complain... I never had two in college at the same time :)
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by livesoft »

HomerJ wrote:Real bogleheads have their kids play volleyball... :)
… and they get a shoe contract, so they don't even have to pay for shoes. At least that's what my daughter's basketball team did.
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Toefuzz
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Re: Do children become less expensive as they grow up?

Post by Toefuzz »

As someone else said… Just getting warmed up.

My kids are 11 and 8… the oldest has a mouth worth about $4,000 (that's for phase 1) and the youngest is up next year. Now I understand why my parents were so pissed every time I lost my retainer!
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