Everyone is aware that having a baby and raising them for the first 18 years (and beyond) will be expensive, but recent research suggests that today’s parents may be looking at spending close to a quarter of a million dollars.
according to life insurance broker Reassured, precisely £225,521,35. This equates to £1,045 per month or £12,540.02 annually.
But where does all that money go exactly?
While it goes without saying that some of it will be spent on food and clothing, we asked four mothers of children ranging in age to document their expenditures for a month to learn about additional expenses.
These expenses include anything from birthday celebrations to broken thermometers over the course of just four weeks.
Baby: £631.37
“I’m already discovering that there are many unforeseen charges,”
Julia Kyriacou, 36, manages complaints for a car firm. She resides in Manchester with her partner Paul Kay, 35, a navy lieutenant, and their infant son Roman, 7 months.
Just five months in and we’re already spending a lot of money on Roman. Well, in fact it all started before he was born. We were really lucky because we had a baby shower and everyone was so generous. They bought us our Moses basket, hundreds of nappies and lots of gorgeous clothes. But of course, there was still lots of things left for us to get, like the pram and the travel system.
This month, we’ve spent a lot on clothes, as we were going on holiday and, judging by the way Roman gets through clothes, we could need about 50 or 60 outfits for just one week. I’d like to think that this was going to be unusual, but I know that even if we weren’t going on holiday, we’d still need new outfits for him, because he just growing out all of his most recent size. At this stage, they are constantly growing out of clothes.
But I’m aware that we would still need new clothes for him even if we weren’t going on a vacation because he has recently outgrown his most recent size. They are currently rapidly outgrowing their clothing.
I’m already becoming aware of how many unforeseen expenses there are, such as the £12.99 bath thermometer we paid for in the first week. We’ve had three in the last five months because they keep breaking. in week three, the £12.99 teething medication. You simply can’t anticipate or prepare for these things.
We recently began attending a parent and baby sensory class, which costs £12 a week but is highly worthwhile for aiding Roman’s socialization. It was the first time he had also sat up while we were seated next to a young child who was doing so. Additionally, we spent £89 for a jumparoo in week two because he is now big enough for one.
Despite the fact that we are only beginning to wean him and that we don’t spend much on food, his formula is more expensive than the standard one because he requires the reflux and regurgitation formula, which costs about £18 each box.
Naturally, I’ve now been reduced to receiving only the statutory maternity pay, which, at £156.66 per week, is less than what we’ve spent thus far this month. The first time my income decreased, I called my boss to let her know I might need to come back to work earlier than anticipated. The only downside is that I didn’t anticipate how much childcare would cost. Even with the discount I’ll get, a family member’s nursery will cost me £700 per month.
Maintaining control of our finances will require a lot of juggling, but we can do it.
Infant: £1,537.18
Our biggest expense is without a doubt nursery.
Theo, 4, and Immy, 2, live with their parents, Tom, 42, a music administrator, and Sarah Pearmain, 37, a freelance writer, in Gateshead.
I’ve always known that raising children would be costly, but seeing the exact figures makes me shudder a little. Immy only attends nursery three days a week, but even so, it is by far our largest outlay. We presently pay between £230 and £250 a month for our son Theo, but since she turns three in October, the cost will significantly decrease once she receives her 30 free hours in January. Theo and Immy will be staying with my parents on Monday, so I didn’t include the price of the soft play they frequently take them to or the food they buy for them.
I’ve always known that raising children would be costly, but seeing the exact figures makes me shudder a little. Immy only attends nursery three days a week, but even so, it is by far our largest outlay. We presently pay between £230 and £250 a month for our son Theo, but since she turns three in October, the cost will significantly decrease once she receives her 30 free hours in January. Theo and Immy will be staying with my parents on Monday, so I didn’t include the price of the soft play they frequently take them to or the food they buy for them.
Since I don’t have to work on Fridays, I usually bring Theo and Immy to toddler club at our neighborhood community café, which costs just £2 per family. But when we eat lunch at the café downstairs, our expenses start to add up. It always costs more than £20 by the time we all get a drink, lunch, and a cupcake for the kids to mark the beginning of the weekend.
The cost of taking the three of us to the movies to see Sonic 2 came to £39.93, and a day in our local park cost £31.10 after I bought them lunch boxes from the café, paid for a ride on the Thomas the Tank Engine train, and gave them ice cream treats. I had actually hoped that the cost of the activities wouldn’t be as high this month because my husband was away visiting a friend one weekend and then had Covid the next.
When it comes to clothing, I’m fairly organized, so when bundles of the various ages appear on Marketplace, I buy them and add to them. Immy wouldn’t have had a lot of needs this month, but when she saw her brother buying tracksuit bottoms in Tesco, she noticed that she needed a new pair of shoes, and when we went shopping, we got her a new T-shirt from H&M. Now that her hair is becoming longer, we also bought her her first set of bobbles and hair clips.
We frequently visit our neighborhood charity shop to hunt for new (for us!) books. We also bought a jigsaw for Immy, who is currently obsessed with it, which accounts for the £8.35 in week one. When my husband Tom and I needed to replace our phones in week four, we brought the kids with us to the store and stocked up on craft supplies and bought them a new Sonic toy.
Eating out is the one expense I am confident we can reduce, especially because the kids seldom ever partake. But since Tom and I don’t often get to go out together, we should treat ourselves to a lunch when we do. It’s a lux we’re willing to spend money on.
Tween: £1,672.01
At this age, school is also highly expensive.
In addition to running Exodus Youth Worx UK, Tara Hanna, 41, lives in Enfield with her husband Rafat, 47, a night bus driver, their two daughters, Demiana, 16, and Gabriella, 11, as well as two foster children.
This month has definitely been one of our most expensive ones of the year, as it has been Gabriella’s birthday and we’ve let her buy some extra clothes to wear. She’s about to start secondary school and her style is changing, so we’re buying more outfits than usual.
For her party, we took her and six friends bowling and for burgers afterwards, but although it was nothing extravagant, it ended up being expensive.
At this age, school is also quite expensive; last month, we spent £100 on a residential trip she’s on. We believe that, despite the expense, it is a really beneficial thing for her to do because it will be the first time she has spent an overnight somewhere other than my parents’ place and she will have the opportunity to try zip-lining and archery. Additionally, in week two, we also bought her a prom dress.
We don’t adhere to a rigorous budget, but we are always cognizant of our finances. I work at a food hub throughout the summer, so I am aware of how difficult it is for everyone. Rafat and I make enough money to live comfortably, but we also exercise caution.
When I buy products in bulk at Costco, I always make sure we can’t find a better offer elsewhere. We often shop at Lidl and Aldi for groceries, and since I’m the queen of coupon codes, we constantly look for deals when we go on vacation. To avoid paying for childcare, Rafat and I have always worked different shifts – Rafat at night and me during the day.
The first week’s purchases were sporting goods for the garden that I know will endure for a very long time. And in week four, the £4 was used to rent a Prime movie, which was much less expensive than taking the whole group to the movies.
We’ll visit my parents’ home outside of London on other weekends. We won’t spend much money there. Therefore, despite the past four weeks did cost a lot, it isn’t like this every month.
Teen: £3,723.25
“A adolescent is like a mini-adult, but without the money,”
Betsy Benn, 47, runs her own personalized gift business (betsybenn.com), and she resides in Cheltenham with her husband Andy Williams, 50, who works as a director of a software company, and her 15-year-old son Ben.
A teenager is very much a mini-adult with adult aspirations, needs and wants – but without an income. Gone are the days when we could take Ben out for lunch and pay £6.95 for two courses, a side and a drink. Now he needs a full meal, which costs two or three times the price. It’s a really expensive time of Ben, and our, lives.
Our largest outlay is Ben’s tuition, which comes to £9,429 every term, or roughly £2,375 per month. Even though it is very expensive, we would go to any lengths to keep him in it. He was given a dyspraxia, dyslexia, and ADHD diagnosis when he was seven years old. He was tormented since the other students at his state school quickly saw he was different and made no accommodations for his modest requirements.
Our youngster had never before appeared to be so stressed out. And I realized we had to take action when he started to feel like he didn’t deserve to attend to school and suggested I burn his outfit. We tried another public school, but it wasn’t much better, so we eventually enrolled him at the institution he is currently attending. There, almost all of the students have special needs, and all of the staff have had SEN training. The costs were formerly far lower than they are now, but they have gradually increased over time, requiring us to make adjustments to our budget.
However, the school has had a significant impact. He has really nice friends, some of whom visited him in the first week. We spent £19 on a pizza delivery for them, although they frequently alternate between going to different homes. Ben also bought a shirt in week three for £45. We agreed to buy one for him since he rarely requests for clothes and had found one in a Hawaiian-style that he liked. He added he’d like to acquire one for his friend also after remembering that it was his pal’s birthday.
He goes through clothes like crazy. He managed to smear his old school shoes in paint in the first week, so I had to get him new ones. Fortunately, we were able to purchase a pair for £26.60 during the sale, so it wasn’t as horrible as it could have been.
But in week two, he also required new shorts because the weather was becoming warmer, and I gave him a hoodie as well, so that came to £57. The children’s shirts in his size were sold out, so I had to purchase him adult ones instead, which was much more expensive at £39 for a pack of three. I also needed to get him some new items for his school uniform.
Ben also has ongoing expenses that an adult would typically cover on their own, like a £25 dental plan, a £13.60 mobile phone contract, and a £20 haircut.
We also give him £50 in pocket money each month to help him develop money management skills. He typically purchases a new computer game, though we frequently supplement that with add-ons throughout the month.
It is very expensive to raise a teenager, especially one with special needs. But we couldn’t live without him.
Wow