When I sat down to write this post I made a guesstimate on how much I spent in the first year's of my children's lives and it sure made my eyes water. Here was my guesstimate for Darcie for the first six months;Pushchair = £650
Car seats = £120
Decorating her Nursery & Furntiture = £350
Changing Bag = £45
Monitor = £40
Cot & Mattress = £120
Moses Basket = Free
Clothes & bedding = £300
Toys = £200
Nappies = £415
Nursery (Childcare) = £888
Feeding equipment = £180
Shoes = £35
Formula = £1500
Totalled = £4843 (I actually think this final figure probably was a lot higher).
At the time my husband and I were at the start of our careers, I didn't have the second income that I now make on the blog (this second income is now more money than I earned back then alone!) and so things were already tight. We made sure we spread the cost. Had families help with some large items and some things were secondhand. I eventually decided to return to work after just 6 months in order to make ends meet.
We definitely juggled and it was bloody hard work and we did accumulate a little bit of debt but I think the first year was pretty successful.
Henry, our second baby, probably cost around the same (if not a little more). We did reuse some things, like the cot and we never formula fed so that saved us quite a bit. Pretty much everything else was new as Darcie's old things were not really fit for purpose and as we were a little bit better off, our spending habits definitely reflected this.
Busy Bee's Child Care has created a fabulous infographic to highlight just how much (on average a baby can cost with some handy comparisons too.
Many parents worry about the financial implications of children and how they will cope with this extra cost. But how much we spend on our children is solely down to your own preferences, circumstances and of course budget. There are many things we got for our children that other people would say is not a necessity, especially with Henry, where I could spend a little more than with Darcie.
Of course, babies grow into toddlers, then into children and then teens - they cost even more then. When I get Darcie's invoice for her ballet, tap and disco lessons my eyes water slightly and when she's asking to join even more clubs it really does all add up. You do end up making sacrifices when you're a parent and it's not just financial ones. However, you always make it work because you have to.
Are you surprised by any of these figures? The financial cost is a huge factor for many families, it is certainly one of the reasons we are just a family with two children - having a third may mean we wouldn't be able to give them all the opportunities we'd like.
Mummy B xoxox
*Collaborative Post