I wanted to take a minute and document the cost of raising a baby...you know, so I can really get a good look at it and realize how much we spend on this precious little being:-) Of course, she is MORE than worth every penny...but in case anyone is reading who is contemplating throwing a bambino into the mix, this might help.
Mikey and I are very blessed and fortunate to have amazing family and friends who went above and beyond to spoil us and our baby -to- be during my pregnancy. What I'm going to talk about today, is the day to day, month to month expenses we encounter...this does NOT include the hospital bills, nor everything that you need for a nursery. Let's not even talk about how much money I spent on Collins'...I've said before, it's probably the nicest room in our house. Maybe that's a whole post for another day. We were given almost EVERY major thing we needed for the baby (stroller, car seats, bases, diapers, necessities, swings, bouncy seats, exercauser, etc.) It was wonderful. But, this post is about how much we spend on a monthly basis for our little one.
1.)The BIG spender: DAY CARE. If you are going back to work, day care is the BIGGEST chunk of the pie when talking about spending money on a baby. Day care prices in Columbia range from $600-$800/month...and we pay $700. So, I'll just go with that number to be safe.
2.) Clothes. Yeah, this one could really get me in trouble. I'd say on average I spend about $200/month on clothes for Collins. This includes jammies, nice dresses/smocked clothings, play clothes, and shoes. Again, this is an average. Some months I may only buy one or two things, but then other months I stock up and probably spend closer to $400.
3. Diapers/wipes/necessities: $50/month. This includes diapers, wipes, diaper ointments, boogie wipes, etc. I buy all of my diapers online at diapers.com...best deal out there. I order HUGE boxes so they last a while...so again, this is an average.
4. Food: this one is tough. The first five months: ZERO. Although, breastfeeding is FREE...if you have to return to work and PUMP, those babies are PRICEY. Mine was $350, but thankfully thru gift certificates and ending up with two swings, I was able to get mine. We make a lot of Collins' food as I wrote about previously, so we really don't spend tons of money on food. But, formula ain't cheap. Collins gets two bottles of formula a day (12 oz) and we go thru one of the big tubs about every 10-12 days and those are about $20/pop. For us, we probably spend about $75/month on food between formula and buying fruits and veggies to puree. I have also started buying some pre made stuff to send to day care for lack of time. So, C gets a mix of homemade and pre made. Of course, this chunk of the pie could vary greatly for everyone...if you breastfeed exclusively you obviously don't have to spend any money on formula. But, there aren't many people that breast feed exclusively past 6 months...so bravo to those that do/can, but most of us can't! So be prepared to spend on formula!
5. Toys: $30/month. I am slowly stocking up on toys. That is one thing that we didn't receive tons of at baby showers, which is normal considering they can't really use them for a while. We received her exercauser and a play mat at our showers, but beyond a few rattles and books that was about it. Bigger purchases we have made include a walker, a rocking chair/seat, and a push/learn to walk walker.
So, that's a grand total of $1,055/month. WOAH. There are probably months where I go crazy on clothes and we spend closer to $1500, but there also have been a month or two where I haven't and we may only spend $900. This is just an AVERAGE. And I've only been doing this since August since my mom kept her for several months. It is what it is, and I wouldn't trade it for the world...I just wanted to document this to compare for future babes and maybe to get a laugh at one day when Collins has kids and is talking about spending $1500/month on day care or something crazy like that!! *or when she's talking about spending hundreds of dollars per month on doctors bills because OBAMA WAS RE-ELECTED WHEN SHE WAS 8 MONTHS OLD...bahahhaha, jokes.
But, of course...
this precious monkey is WORTH EVERY LAST PENNY.
Mikey and I are very blessed and fortunate to have amazing family and friends who went above and beyond to spoil us and our baby -to- be during my pregnancy. What I'm going to talk about today, is the day to day, month to month expenses we encounter...this does NOT include the hospital bills, nor everything that you need for a nursery. Let's not even talk about how much money I spent on Collins'...I've said before, it's probably the nicest room in our house. Maybe that's a whole post for another day. We were given almost EVERY major thing we needed for the baby (stroller, car seats, bases, diapers, necessities, swings, bouncy seats, exercauser, etc.) It was wonderful. But, this post is about how much we spend on a monthly basis for our little one.
1.)The BIG spender: DAY CARE. If you are going back to work, day care is the BIGGEST chunk of the pie when talking about spending money on a baby. Day care prices in Columbia range from $600-$800/month...and we pay $700. So, I'll just go with that number to be safe.
2.) Clothes. Yeah, this one could really get me in trouble. I'd say on average I spend about $200/month on clothes for Collins. This includes jammies, nice dresses/smocked clothings, play clothes, and shoes. Again, this is an average. Some months I may only buy one or two things, but then other months I stock up and probably spend closer to $400.
3. Diapers/wipes/necessities: $50/month. This includes diapers, wipes, diaper ointments, boogie wipes, etc. I buy all of my diapers online at diapers.com...best deal out there. I order HUGE boxes so they last a while...so again, this is an average.
4. Food: this one is tough. The first five months: ZERO. Although, breastfeeding is FREE...if you have to return to work and PUMP, those babies are PRICEY. Mine was $350, but thankfully thru gift certificates and ending up with two swings, I was able to get mine. We make a lot of Collins' food as I wrote about previously, so we really don't spend tons of money on food. But, formula ain't cheap. Collins gets two bottles of formula a day (12 oz) and we go thru one of the big tubs about every 10-12 days and those are about $20/pop. For us, we probably spend about $75/month on food between formula and buying fruits and veggies to puree. I have also started buying some pre made stuff to send to day care for lack of time. So, C gets a mix of homemade and pre made. Of course, this chunk of the pie could vary greatly for everyone...if you breastfeed exclusively you obviously don't have to spend any money on formula. But, there aren't many people that breast feed exclusively past 6 months...so bravo to those that do/can, but most of us can't! So be prepared to spend on formula!
5. Toys: $30/month. I am slowly stocking up on toys. That is one thing that we didn't receive tons of at baby showers, which is normal considering they can't really use them for a while. We received her exercauser and a play mat at our showers, but beyond a few rattles and books that was about it. Bigger purchases we have made include a walker, a rocking chair/seat, and a push/learn to walk walker.
So, that's a grand total of $1,055/month. WOAH. There are probably months where I go crazy on clothes and we spend closer to $1500, but there also have been a month or two where I haven't and we may only spend $900. This is just an AVERAGE. And I've only been doing this since August since my mom kept her for several months. It is what it is, and I wouldn't trade it for the world...I just wanted to document this to compare for future babes and maybe to get a laugh at one day when Collins has kids and is talking about spending $1500/month on day care or something crazy like that!! *or when she's talking about spending hundreds of dollars per month on doctors bills because OBAMA WAS RE-ELECTED WHEN SHE WAS 8 MONTHS OLD...bahahhaha, jokes.
But, of course...
this precious monkey is WORTH EVERY LAST PENNY.
my work has a daycare that is considered very "reasonable" in ATL- $1200/month. Be glad you are in Cola!! haha!
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