Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Planning for parenting
What does it cost to have a kid? For those of you who are recent parents, what have your major costs been for each year of your child's life?
Just curious. No kids coming down the line.
Just curious. No kids coming down the line.
chirag — Oct 25, 2006 3:20:26 PM — # ↩
Diapers: 1500
Milk Powder: 2500
Nanny: 3000
Pediatrician: 500 (average cost of consulting + vaccinations)
So that is a recurring cost of around 7500 per month for the must haves. Not counting small things like special soap, shampoo, powder etc.
There there is a one time cost of things like:
- Stroller: 6000
- Bed: 3000
- Bottles (whole bunch of them): 4000
- Bottle sanitizer: 1500
There there are things like clothes that need to change every 3 months cos the baby gets bigger and toys that the baby is bored of after 6 minutes. There is no limit to money that you can spend on clothes and toys ...
This is just a list of things off my head!
chirag — Oct 25, 2006 9:36:24 PM — # ↩
Kiran Jonnalagadda — Oct 26, 2006 10:20:18 AM — # ↩
Rs 7500 a month in 2006 money for a 15 month old baby. Do you have estimates for earlier costs? Something that can be graphed? Should make an interesting planning tool.
chirag — Oct 26, 2006 10:50:10 AM — # ↩
You are partly correct about the toys. Only issue with buying not so expensive toys is the finishing and other things like chemicals used in some cheap Made in China toys. I generally buy http://www.fisher-price.com toys for Shaylee.
Ones that she no longer plays with are hidden in a closet and come out after 2 months and she thinks they are new!! So we keep rotating them. :)
quizling — Oct 26, 2006 11:47:47 AM — # ↩
Cheap is fine, so long as it doesn't involve (a) sharp edges and (b) toxic colours. But by that yardstick, most of the toys I played with in childhood wouldn't make the grade. Wood was popular, but the paints were suspect. Metal toys rusted quickly and had sharp edges. The only good thing was that plastic was not very common.
Based on
Diapers: Unknown at the time; they were home-made at very little cost from discarded cotton sarees.
Milk Powder: Minimal expense. I was breastfed till I was over one year old. A tin of Balamul or Farex cost less than Rs 5 and lasted two weeks.
Nanny: Rs 20 a month for a part-time maid. No obliging grandparents or babysitters.
Pediatrician: About Rs 100 for the whole year, including vaccinations and consultation charges.
Special soap, shampoo, powder: Around Rs 10 a month. I recall a large value-for-money plastic can of talcum powder from Johnson & Johnson with cute nursery rhymes on it. It lasted a whole year.
Stroller: Unknown; never had one.
Bed: Shared mother's bed; father slept in the living room
Bottles: Rs 15 for a year's supply (2-3 glass bottles; plastic was unpopular because the material available at the time couldn't be sterilised in boiling water, and it smelt).
Bottle sanitizer: Never hear of it.
Toys: Mostly inexpensive. A year's supply of rattles, balls and blocks would have cost around Rs 20.
Clothes: Minimal cost; many were home-made from old white cotton sarees.
That adds up to approximately Rs 50 a month, which sounds very cheap, but it wasn't so because the monthly household income at the time was around Rs 300. So, raising a baby in 1970 took around 15 percent of the household income (for my parents at least). It still does for most middle-class profesionals, so things haven't changed all that much.
The difference is that much of today's expenses can be reduced if you can bear to bring up your baby in a *sensibly* middle-class fashion. I never wore diapers that cost Rs 200 a pack, or played with expensive toys, but I don't feel deprived because of it. :)
Kiran Jonnalagadda — Oct 26, 2006 11:53:10 AM — # ↩
quizling — Oct 26, 2006 12:16:09 PM — # ↩
Anonymous — Oct 26, 2006 12:10:11 PM — # ↩
Even though we are not planning to have a baby right away, it is good to know what it costs (7500/pm yikes!).
And the question of one parent taking a break to bring up the kid is even more relevant in that context.
-pradeep
brainz — Oct 26, 2006 11:29:09 AM — # ↩
quizling — Oct 26, 2006 12:01:25 PM — # ↩
But it's still too much if you ask me. Besides, expenses shoot up sharply when they enter school, and peak in late adolescence. Even slum dwellers' teenaged children wear branded jeans and sneakers. I wouldn't be surprised to see at least some of them with mobile phones and iPods as well.
chirag — Oct 26, 2006 1:44:24 PM — # ↩
Babies just need food, sleep and someone to clean their sh*t. Babies are happier playing with a cardboard boxes, plates, spoons etc compared to expensive toys! :)
chirag — Oct 26, 2006 1:39:36 PM — # ↩
But still ... here is what they must be doing or what I would have done if I did not have some extra cash:
- Diapers: Use reusable cloth diapers instead of disposable ones
- Milk Powder: Use normal Nandini milk instead of milk powder
- Nanny: No need of Nanny. Mommy is enough.
Pediatrician: Go the a regular doc who charges 30-50 Rs per visit.
- Stroller: No need to stroller. Carry the baby and develop more bonding with it.
- Bed: Make it sleep in your regular bed
- Bottles (whole bunch of them): Use regular bottles instead of Dr. Brown Bottle (http://www.handi-craft.com/index.shtm)
- Bottle sanitizer: Sanitize the bottle by heating them in normal container.
There you go. Cost will drop from 7500 to 500 or even less! :)
anitab — Oct 25, 2006 4:04:25 PM — # ↩
interesting question. though i haven't a clue :) but through friends' experiences i can safely say that they're very expensive. my parents didn't have to spend much, now that i think back to the good old times! but then parents will also assure you that they don't mind spending any amount on their children. so at the end of the day, i'd say it doesn't really matter!
Kiran Jonnalagadda — Oct 26, 2006 10:04:42 AM — # ↩
What if circumstances compel one to forgo a regular income? Surely it suggests planning in advance?
anitab — Oct 30, 2006 10:52:59 AM — # ↩
planning in advance? yes, totally recommended. i shudder to think what would happen in any other situation :) but it would be fun never the less. i think as someone pointed out in an earlier comment, it is actually possible to bring up a baby on a much lower cost, but most parents feel that they don't want to "deprive" their kids, who might turn around and point a finger at them for doing that when they grow up!
kadambarid — Oct 25, 2006 6:29:32 PM — # ↩
(i) Daily needs (inclusive of food, house, clothing et al.)
(ii) Education
(iii) Entertainment
(iv) Health care
IMO, the expenditure depends on the strata of society to which the family belongs (the ability and willingness to spend, that is to say) and the age group of the kid/s. Where the family is based is another criterion that can be looked into...
I calculated the amount my parents are spending on me, the other day and found that to be a monstrous Rs.7500 a month, on an average inclusive of my hostel fees, my college fees, travel expenditure, mess bills, clothing, healthcare, phone calls and other misc. or random expenses...
Being a parent must be nightmarish, to say the very least...
enigmaticash — Oct 25, 2006 6:33:56 PM — # ↩
quizling — Oct 25, 2006 6:48:17 PM — # ↩
tsk1979 — Oct 25, 2006 7:11:29 PM — # ↩
1. Have permanet dark circles.
2. Crave for even 2 minutes of sleep
3. Are heading towards poverty line
4. Smell of pee no matter how much Dior they put
5. Holiday means a 1 year plan, no packing bags and leaving.
we have decided not to have kids till we are much much reacher, which means atleast 5 years to go for kids
tsk1979 — Oct 25, 2006 7:11:57 PM — # ↩
quizling — Oct 25, 2006 7:14:58 PM — # ↩
charlesj — Oct 26, 2006 12:39:16 AM — # ↩
veenven — Oct 26, 2006 11:26:00 AM — # ↩
mat_attack — Oct 25, 2006 6:55:39 PM — # ↩
purplehazerads — Oct 26, 2006 8:01:32 AM — # ↩
It all depends.
fatmuttony — Oct 26, 2006 2:18:19 PM — # ↩
quizling — Oct 27, 2006 10:54:06 AM — # ↩
deponti — Oct 26, 2006 2:24:50 PM — # ↩
But it is just NOT practical to say, strollers and nannies are NOT needed. Sometimes they are, indeed. The mother also needs a little rest once in a while.
Babies....are VERY expensive. And that's not only in currency; in terms of the time invested, in terms of the sacrifices (willingly ) made, the anxieties, the worry....and the amazing thing is....those little tykes are WORTH IT!
Anonymous — Oct 26, 2006 9:36:32 PM — # ↩
I'm NEVER gonna forget that
-you know who
deponti — Oct 29, 2006 12:54:14 PM — # ↩
quizling — Oct 27, 2006 10:47:26 AM — # ↩
deponti — Oct 29, 2006 12:59:00 PM — # ↩
But that view can change...as one parent told me, the first baby got Johnson's Baby Soap, the second got Hamam, and the third got "besan" (gram dal flour)..and they all did equally well.
booodha — Oct 27, 2006 1:31:02 AM — # ↩
urmila — Oct 28, 2006 2:38:41 AM — # ↩
(don't beat me up, please)
"pregnancy" is in the "air".
5 of my friends are pregnant. 3 of who, want to know if I am. My mother keeps asking as well. My colleagues are planning (saving, scheduling, planning, physically training) to have a baby (or two). Rachael delivered a baby last night on TBS. Monica and Chandler humped (in vain) for one. And now this question on LJ.
Why, is it such a big deal? It is scary.
deponti — Oct 29, 2006 1:11:21 PM — # ↩
This isn't really off-topic you know.
The insidious pressure really builds up and up and up and unless you are VERY thick-skinned, it can either make you decide to have a baby, or it can get to you.
I do wish having a baby was a personal decision that two people, or even one person, could take, but no, everyone around seems invested in this question...but the thing to do is smile and smile and do what you want!
sajith — Oct 29, 2006 12:29:39 AM — # ↩
frozenaftermath — Oct 30, 2006 12:12:27 PM — # ↩
Are you available via mail etc right now? Promise it is not for a quote for yet another article and sort of an emergency.
Kiran Jonnalagadda — Oct 30, 2006 12:18:33 PM — # ↩
Yes, online at the moment and reading mail.
click4cash — Dec 27, 2006 7:24:28 PM — # ↩
THE costs of having kids varies with every country in the world but one thing’s for sure and that is bringing a baby into the world doesn’t come cheap. Even in First World countries like the US and in European nations, buying milk and other baby products does pose serious expense for the would-be parents.
Still some of the baby items listed by the readers are curious; for one, I know of some people who had their first child recently and the father is hard-pressed to find money just to buy milk for his newborn son. Thankfully he has his immediate family to fall back on but even relatives can’t be relied on all the time to shoulder the financial burden of raising a baby.
Having said that, it’s better to plan ahead by securing some financial safety nets to cushion the considerable expenses one can encounter. This may include but is not limited to cash advances which can help supplement the budget and still be easy on the pocket when the day for payment comes.
Simply access these online payday loan sites over at the Web and you can secure the financial cushion you need in the event you do decide to have kids.