Cost to Raise a Child
The new figures regarding how much it costs to raise a child from birth through high school are out, and before you read the figure you might want to sit down or maybe brace yourself against something sturdy.
So What is the Cost of Raising a Child? $291,570.
Don’t panic. Let’s put this into perspective. This amount of money is over a long period of time. Seventeen years of expenses will certainly add up, no matter what the expenses. Take, for example, my daily drive through Starbucks. I usually get myself a coffee and some juice or milk for my kids, so it’s usually a daily expense of around $6. If I do this every day for a week (and don’t splurge on a Venti or a cookie for my kids to split) the weekly expense equals around $42, $168 a month, and $2016 a year. So it may cost me nearly three hundred thousand dollars over seventeen years to raise my child, but when you consider I’m spending around $34,272 over that same period of time just to feed my coffee habit, I think the perspective becomes a little clearer.
In other words, everything costs a lot when you do it for seventeen years straight.
Yes, Children are Expensive
Don’t let the numbers throw you. After all, we all know that diapers and clothes can get quite expensive, and there are some baby items a parent just can’t live without, but there are plenty of ways to curtail these costs. Really, does your child need the most expensive brand of diapers? Have you looked around for FREE Diaper offers or FREE Diaper Coupons? Does your baby really need to sport the latest designer fashions? If you are in a panic over the estimated cost of raising a child, realize that the figure isn’t a promise; it’s just an estimate, and there are ways to reduce these numbers.
You should also keep in mind that the figure varies according to your income level. Parents who have more money tend to spend more money on their kids, so if you have a low income you may never reach the $291,570 figure even though you adequately care for your child for seventeen years. Likewise, if you have an enviable income level and you insist on spending with reckless abandon for your child, chances are you will exceed the $291,570 long before your child’s seventeenth birthday.
Yes, Children are Expensive. Yes, you will undoubtedly spend ridiculous amounts of money on your child at one time or another. Don’t let the numbers throw you into a panic, though. Oh, and don’t fall into the same trap as I have and wind up in the coffee drive-thru every day, because that’s not the smartest financial decision to make, with or without children.
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