Child Expenses

laurenandbill3

Hi all - I just stumbled upon this board and couldn't be happier. My H and I have been discussing starting a family but ultimately decided to wait another year to pad our savings account. Would anyone be willing to share what their monthly expenses are like for your children and their age? We are very curious to find out how much extra a month would need to be dedicated to them. I apologize if this has been discussed before.

Edit: Revised my question to ask about all expenses, including childcare.

CuriousKiddosMama

Thai is really dependent upon where you live and what kind of child care you want. In home/nanny, small house daycare or a center.
To answer your question my son is going to a mommies day out program 2 days a week next year. The day is from 9-2 or so and its $215 a month at a church daycare center.
Newborn daycare is the most expensive because most states regulate the number of kids you can have per age group and under 1 is a very small number per adult, so whatever you find ask what the newborn to 1 year rate is, and then if it changes from there.

laurenandbill3

Thanks @CuriousKiddosMama! We live in a very high cost of living area so that will be good to start looking into. I edited my question to include all expenses, including daycare because we really have no frame of reference when it comes to this.

Xstatic3333

laurenandbill3 said:

Thanks @CuriousKiddosMama! We live in a very high cost of living area so that will be good to start looking into. I edited my question to include all expenses, including daycare because we really have no frame of reference when it comes to this.

I'm in a HCOL area too (southern New England), and at your same stage of thinking about starting a family.  To give some frame of reference, we will need either full-time infant care or three days a week of care depending on how a few things pan out, and have done a fair bit of research.  The best center in my medium-sized city is $1,500 a month for full time.  In the neighboring suburbs we might be able to find closer to $1,000.  My friend who lives closer to Boston, however, pays $1700 a month for her son at a chain center.  In-home care will be less, but a center is my preference.  I used to work in a daycare center and think they are a really great environment for children when done properly.  We would consider a nanny share but I haven't really looked into it.  It seems complicated and I don't feel rich enough to have a "nanny," though from what I hear the numbers can pan out to be better than a center.  

If you're in a major city or its suburbs (Boston, NY, San Francisco, LA, etc.) I'd tack at least $500 onto those numbers I listed.  The center where I worked was in a ritzy Boston suburb and infant care was around $2,000.  Most of the big city centers were also full time or nothing-there was no option to just pay for two or three days.  

I'll look forward to seeing responses from the already-parents as well!

hoffse

I'm not a parent yet, but H and I have been looking into this a lot recently because we may start trying within the next year or so.

As PP's mentioned it's highly dependent on where you live.  It also depends a lot on your employer (and your H's employer) and whatever random perks are offered.  Obviously you guys want to find the way to maximize those perks between the two of you.

For example, H and I will go on his insurance when the time comes, and that will increase our insurance premiums to about 5x what we pay now.  However, our OOP max will actually drop by $1,000/year when we do this. That's really useful with tiny ones because they get sick/injured more often than adults.

My employer's big perk is subsidized daycare - so instead of $1,000/month that we would be paying for full-time care 5 days/week, we'll be paying more like $500/month.  For us, health insurance is actually going to cost more than daycare.  That's pretty unusual for parents who both work full-time.

Other expenses you might want to think about besides health insurance and daycare, that I can think of off-hand:

-Sufficient life insurance

-Wills/directives - necessary once you have children if for nothing else than to designate who will raise them if both of you pass

-Maternity leave benefits if you plan to go back to work - find out if your mat leave is paid or unpaid

-Lost income if you stay at home

-College - lots of differing philosophies on this one, but knowing where you stand on it EARLY is useful in case you guys decide to pay or help

-Obviously the day-to-day expenses: diapers, wipes, formula (budget for it even if you plan to BF, just in case you have difficulties), clothes, toys - it seems like mentally budgeting $200/month is usually more than sufficient for this when they're real little

-Some larger expenses that pop up when they are young - upgrading to a bigger car seat, their first birthday party where you spend more than planned, transitioning to a big kid bed, etc.  Any one of those might run you a few hundred bucks at once.

And of course, the "start-up" expenses that you will want to buy before baby arrives. They really don't need much, but you'll probably need to invest at least a little money here.  I think a lot of parents find themselves going overboard.

Then as they get older things like:

-Private school - is it necessary where you live or did you land yourselves in a good school district?

-Upgrading to a larger vehicle

-Birthday parties for other children

-School fundraisers 

-School field trips

-Baseball/ballet/soccer/etc.

For both H and I, the big "extracurricular" expense was music lessons - those necessitate a musical instrument, not just lessons.... and we both got seriously into it, so we went through multiple instruments until we reached semi-professional range.  Our instruments are actually our second-most-valuable assets, behind our house.... we insure them for more than an our cars.  Thanks, mom and dad!  Seriously, though.  I don't think our parents were expecting that one.

Not to scare you.  Costs seem to go up as they get older, but incomes typically go up as well.  And really, people just find ways to adjust to it.

smerka

I formula fed and used disposable diapers and I would guess my monthly costs were more than $200 per month and that was five years ago. When they are babies, it is not unsual to go through 10+ diapers a day. It slowsdown when they get bigger, but the individual diapers get more expensive (less diapers per box). I buy almost all their clothes used at resales. I HIGHLY recommend it. The stuffcan be in excellent condition and really cheap, especially for the smaller sizes. Www.consignmentmommies.com is good place to look for sales. Our water bill doubled,but most of the other utilites stayed the same.

CuriousKiddosMama

Diapers vary a lot. The best advice there is start stockpiling when you find out you are pregnant, and buy on sales. Never pay full price for anything for baby. Start following a couponing blog, or just try to figure it out for yourself, but if you are willing to clip coupons you are going to get better deals in physical stores than from anywhere online.
Formula we bought from SAMs club. We got a membership from living social and the savings in formula more than paid for the membership for the year. We will do that again when number 2 comes.
The only thing I will not buy used is car seats. Those you can get a decent deal on during target clearance time (January and July) or during babies r us trade in time (February???). For babies r us you trade in an old baby item and get a 25% off one item coupon good in many things they don't normally allow coupons to be used on. So if you can find an old car seat from a friend for free or $5 it can save you a lot with the coupon.
And do not over buy clothes!!!!! My son was in size 18 months I believe when he was like 11 months. They go through those small sizes so quickly.

smerka

I also wouldn't buy a used crib. Especially not one built before June2011. Ikea has some really nice and highly rated ones for less than $150.

HoneyBee973

For already moms, what are your favorite good quality, safe and MM strollers and car seats?

DH and I are expecting our first in January.  And boy are there are a lot of options out there! 

laurenandbill3

Thanks everyone for your responses! Definitely gives us a lot to think about. @hoffse that was an amazing list!

KatieCutie05

170/week for childcare but we live in a LCOL area. Closer to the city it was about double that. 

I think his insurance is costing me about and extra 250/month

Diapers were insanely expensive especially in the first month - we were litterally burning through about 18 diapers a day. My son is now 5 months old and i'm using mostly cloth at home and a disposable at daycare and at night. I just got the cloth diapers free from my older sister tho so it worked out well for me.But seeing how much diapers were costing us - i would have bought them. For the next baby i'll use cloth right from the start - atleast to supplement.

I had this whole plan to shop sales and coupon and stock up on diapers - that failed miserably. There just wasnt that good of sales. and even fewer diaper coupons. 

CuriousKiddosMama

HoneyBee973 said:

For already moms, what are your favorite good quality, safe and MM strollers and car seats?

DH and I are expecting our first in January.  And boy are there are a lot of options out there! 

We got an Eddie Bauer travel set from target for our stroller and car seat. I love that the infant seat snaps into it, but that once we are done with the infant seat we can still use it. I've never really understood those snap and go ones that you can only use with the infant seat (although I'm sure they have their purposes, like I think they are a lot lighter). I bought it on clearance, it was a return from online in a pattern not carried in store so I got lucky and got it about half off. And fortunately I get to use it again for baby #2 because it is still good.

One major thing to consider is your car. This fit horribly is my small Kia suv. I don't remember what it was, but it was too long to fit in the back seat with anybody sitting in the front seat. So if we went out as a family my husband or I sat in the back with baby. So make sure to measure and know how much space you have before you buy!!

hoffse

HoneyBee973 said:

For already moms, what are your favorite good quality, safe and MM strollers and car seats?

DH and I are expecting our first in January.  And boy are there are a lot of options out there! 

Please read this before you buy a carseat - just a summary of American vs. European crash testing - it's a couple years old, but still good info:

http://mbeans.com/spillingthebeans/baby/car-seats/european-standards-vs-american-standards-car-seat-edition/

Also look at American vs. European belt paths if there's any chance you guys might be installing the seat without a base - such as in a cab or uber.

Not going to lie, I would not worry so much about being MM with the car seat.  It's far too important that you pick a seat that fits your car well and that you can install without too much trouble.  I would (personally) also spend the money to get a seat with some of the Euro features (belt path, load leg, etc.) assuming there was one that fit our cars well.

You can save money on literally every other category of baby stuff if you are on a budget.  Don't compromise on the carseat if there is a clear winner for your vehicle/needs.

blondie42107

PP bring up lots of good points about cost of health insurance, utilities, etc.

Baby items I would not not skimp on are the carseat, crib and mattress.  I personally would never buy them used.  For carseats, places like Babies R Us will let you take their store models out to your vehicle so you can check the fit.  Very important when you add a second child in.  Also you have to read the carseat manual and your vehicle manual to see where it recommends the carseat should be installed.  

Childcare for our two children averages about $10,000 year for in-home daycare.  (I'd say we're in a medium COL area.)  This is going down as our oldest will be in preschool 3 days a week this fall which will then increase our school tuition expenses.  We opted for an in-home daycare after checking several in-home and centers.  Before having our first, I always assumed we'd use a center but then we changed our minds and we are extremely happy with our choice.  You need to do what's best for your family.

I exclusively pumped after returning to work.  My insurance did not cover a double electric pump (I pumped several times a day and needed something very reliable/efficient.)  I also had to buy breast milk storage bags, extra pumping bottles, accessories that vary in size like breast shields, and replacement parts that just need to be changed routinely.  If you formula feed you need to look at the cost of formula (also assume you may have a baby that requires specialty formula which can be more expensive) and depending on what kind of water you have, you may have to buy water for mixing with formula.

My children both had 8 routine pediatrician appts between birth and their one year well check.  After the one year mark it lessens, now that our youngest is 2, it's yearly unless illness, injury, etc.  All of our routine well visits are covered by our insurance 100% however you should take in to account the time off of work to make those appts and travel depending on where you live/work/daycare location/doctor location.

Diapers - those can vary.  We tried to stock up on some diapers and received some as gifts but to be very honest, do so with caution.  I know one child that was very sensitive to certain brands.  Also not all diapers fit every baby the same.  Personally my kids did the best in Pampers, the worst in Huggies.  It's just how their torso and legs were.  Once we found what worked best for us, I used Amazon Subscribe and Save with Amazon Mom and saved a ton!  Same with wipes.  

When it came to potty training, we bought a nice potty chair and step stool.  One thing that worked very well for us was not using pull-ups.  Every family is different but our children were potty trained pretty much within a week, just after they turned two.  Our daycare was fully on board and in their over 20 years of experience, they felt that children they helped to potty train, trained faster without pull-ups.  Yes we changed sheets some nights but we had waterproof mattress covers, etc so really no big deal for us.  And we saved a ton by not using pull-ups which can be crazy expensive.

Food - you can buy baby food purees or make your own.  We did both.  

Clothes - don't over buy.  They really don't need much at first and although those tiny outfits look adorable, my kids seemed to be most comfortable in simple clothing.  Lots of sleepers and one piece outfits.  It was just easier.  We did splurge on cute outfits for pictures, holidays, etc but not for every day.

Baby gear -  we didn't use a bouncer much but both children loved the swing.  We never had a jumperoo but had a 3 in 1 exersaucer that they loved.  Never had a walker.  Used the pack n play a ton.  You just have to see what you need/want, what you think might be helpful and what you have room for.

For me, it's really hard to figure a monthly cost because honestly babies and kids can be expensive but it's very doable.  Honestly I think couples just figure it out.  Once we had our first, we naturally went out less (dinners, events, etc that cost money) because we wanted to be with our baby.  Yes we still go out but not as much.  My friend and her H used to go out to dinner 3-4x a week and do monthly weekend getaways, etc.  Those have reduced a great deal, at their choice, now that they have a baby.  The desire lessens.  So their budget evens out.

natashafonville

I live in a moderately HCOL (Minneapolis) and have in home daycare that runs $600/month. Centers are about $1300. My almost 3YO will be starting preschool in the fall and that will be $950.

There are ways to save when they are younger- I BF and did cloth diapers, which both saved a ton. We also did baby led weaning, which means she just ate the healthy food that we ate, so no increase in spend for baby food jars/snacks. Gear costs a decent amount, which we splurged and got high quality for. I would budget maybe $1500 for the initial price if you buy new- crib, car seat, stroller, slings, etc. again, this would be a high estimate and for new, better gear. You can def cut this number in half or more if you buy used/bargain prices!

For healthcare, I added her to my insurance and increased costs about $100/month with a higher OOP. Because of this, I put a higher amount into flex spending, with another $100/month.

All in all, I believe that babies can be as cheap or as expensive as you want them to be. It's a good idea to know what the MOST expensive is, though, just in case. For example, next baby, I will assume a center daycare rate because we are moving and may not find a less expensive option that I like. I

smerka

To answer the car seat/stroller question, I offer this. All car seats sold meet the US standards so they areconsidered safe. The increase in costs comes from bells and whistles like padding, ease of installation, etc. Consumer Reports rates car seats and there are some really inexpensive ones rated very high. There is no such thing as a perfect stroller. You will compromise somewhere, either price, comfort, size, or ease of use. I liked my Graco travel system but a lot of people complain the stroller is heavy and bulky. That's why people use a Snap n Go and then move to an umbrella stroller for when they are bigger. I had a surprise Irish twin so we went to a double stroller very quickly. I bought an older Graco at a garage sale for $35. We literally ran that thing into the ground. As in one of the wheels fell off. But it was old when we got it. It was heavy and got hard to push when there were 80 pounds of kid in it, but it was $35 and it lasted until my kids were four and five. We use a wagon now when we need it. Just figure out what you are willing to compromise on (I think price is a good place to look) and go from there.

smerka

Also I should add if you are buying furniture now and planning for kids later, keep the phrase child friendly in your mind. Kids will destroy things. You think your kid won't but you are wrong. We bought our sectional in the color of dirt. It has held up well, but it is probably filthy and you just can't tell. My pre-marriage off white couch is stained beyone recognition. Things my kids have destroyed? Flat screen tv, chairs, artwork, window shades, a ceiling light, closet doors, ceiling tiles, lamps, etc. there are whole websites dedicated to this.

vlagrl29

our DD is 4 and I SAH with her so we don't have to worry about the cost of childcare.  In the fall she will do pre-k 3 1/2 days a week which is $150 per month.  She will also get back into dance in Sept which is $49 per month.  Right now it's the summer so we are going to the pool at $12 per week for the 2 of us.  I also rented her a small violin this summer to see if she gets into it at $20 per month. I also signed her up for kids yoga for $51 total. Those are her activities right now basically.

Clothes we buy twice a year - winter/summer and I try to stick to $150 per season.  Consignment clothes at her age are just gross cause kids wear them out faster.  Totally buy consignment for babies!  So we stick to Old Navy, Target, Kohls, JCPenny.  I wait until I either hear of a sale or have a coupon and I also shop sales rack.  One thing I don't go cheap on are shoes because I feel that is really important.  Also don't go cheap on furniture and carseats.  I will buy all new carseats again with #2 because there will be a 5 year age gap at least between 2 kids.

Then there are little things such as eating out costs us a bit more now because of the extra meal, going to the movies, zoo, traveling with kid, groceries (not much honestly), dance photos, school photos, dental cleaning, doctor appts.  I also try not to shop with DD because she will find all these things she wants at a store and I usually let her have 1 small thing.

While we don't have to worry about diapers, formula, baby food, butt wipes, etc there are different costs now so I believe it just evens it all out. LOL.

ETA - I forgot about health insurance and we don't buy dental insurance for DD yet because it's actually cheaper to pay for her dental cleaning out of pocket until she requires X-rays.  We also got our Wills done in case something happened to DH and I. We don't think it's too important to buy life insurance on her at this point.

bcarb

I am a FTM due in august. Daycare costs will vary from place to place, but in our area, which is probably a MCOL, most centers were about 920 a month. We opted to do an in home day care which is about 135 a week, which is about half the cost of a center.

In terms of baby items, we have spread out the big purchases throughout the 9 months. We have a TON of diapers gifted by family/friends from our baby shower(there was a diaper raffle) and we will be having a diaper party amongst our friends(it usually is for the guys, at least in our group of friends). But we also get them when Target or Amazon has a great deal, which is pretty often. I would suggest getting different sizes if you plan to stockpile.

We bought our own stroller, car seat and nursery furniture. We are very active and I am a runner, so our one big splurge was a BOB stroller, which isn't very MM, but like I said, it was our splurge. We went cheaper on the nursery furniture and got the crib and dresser from IKEA. Crib was 100 dollars and the dresser was like 280? but will be used for years to come. We got our glider from amazon. Our carseat is a GRACO carseat that was bought on Amazon as well.

I suggest watching the clearence rack at Target this month. Jan and July is when they discount all things baby to make room for newer models, it would be a good time to get some bigger items you dont plan on registering for.

formerlyGDaisy09

We're not yet paying out expenses, but we've done a lot of work to get ready, we're expecting our first in December. Like many others have said a lot of it is going to depend on where you live, and what your work schedules are. 

We're going to need/want child care tuesday-friday from 8am-11am or 12pm, so we're looking at 12-16 hours of care a week. Many daycare centers will only take an infant part time if they can find another infant to match up on the opposite schedule (again because of limits on numbers and still needing to pay staff). so it's unlikely we'll be able to find a child care center with an infant that would need care monday and then tuesday-friday afternoons. We live in a HCOL area, and according to care.com there are plenty of qualified and experienced people looking for a part-time nanny gig asking $10-15 an hour. if we're hiring a nanny we're probably looking for a true nanny (rather than a babysitter) who would be willing to do light cleaning whlie the baby is sleeping...so we'd probably pay at the high end of that range, so max we'd be looking at $240 a week, but I'm also looking at working from home one day and pushing my start time to after 9am, tuesday-friday, so we're probably looking at more like $140-180 a week. I'm also getting us on some daycare lists, just incase they can swing a part-time schedule, most daycares in the area run $1200+ a month for infants full-time. 

WE're spreading out big purchases, Definitely plan to buy the crib new. most other things can be picked-up used. We're also planning on cloth diapering, expensive up-front to get started, but it should save us quite a bit in the long run. We do have people planning showers for us so we're also saving every month to be able to purchase anything we need that we don't receive as shower gifts. 

Don't forget about pregnancy expenses like maternity clothes (you can usually find these gently used but you will need a few things), extra food costs (seriously this hungry all the time thing is crazy), potentially things like a chiropractor (I've ended up with terrible sciatic nerve pain, the midwives sent me to a chiropractor, who wants to see me twice a week for the next few weeks then once a week 'til the end of the pregnancy ($20 co-pay the first 20 visits then $45 a visit once I've used up the visits insurance covers)). 

Make sure you have the individual Max-out of pocket costs for your health insruance and the baby's in savings so you'll be covered in the event either one or both of you needs a lot of care. Make sure you and your H are both set-up with enough life insurance (we figured enough insurance to cover all debts (car loans, student loans, mortgage, etc. plus about one year salary)), and make sure you're both contributing 15% to retirement or have a very solid plan to escalate retirement contributions to 15% in the next 2 years. And make sure you know how much your insurance costs will increase once you add a LO to your plan. 

brij2006

We live in a LCOL area.  Our DD is almost 5 months old

Daycare: $500/month (stay at home mom who also cares for our DD - unlicensed)

Health Insurance: $235

Diapers: $0, we cloth diaper.  Spent $350 for everything we needed.

Formula/Milk:  I breastfeed, so our cost is minimal.  We spend about $30/month on breastmilk storage bags since I pump at work, then freeze for the sitter.  Got my pump for free through insurance, and spent about $100 on extra bottles, a hands free bra, and right sized breast shields to fit properly. 

Food:  She is now eating cereal and pureed foods.  I make my own baby food from fresh fruits and veggies.  So really, it probably costs us a total of $5/month to feed her.  However, I do a lot of fresh avocados, bananas, sweet potatoes, etc.  Or just mash up our steamed veggies we're eating for that night and feed it to her.  I have also frozen homemade purees, and just thaw those as needed.  It may cost me $5 for what I made so for, and that will last us 2 months.

As you can see, I'm a cheap mama.  There's nothing fancy for baby in our house, and just about everything we've bought for her has been 2nd hand.  With the exception of her car seat and Tula (comfortable baby wearing Godsend).  

Personally, if you wait until you're financially "set" to have kids, you'll never have them.  We were in the midst of paying off our $75k in debt when we got pregnant.  We've made it work, and she's worth every sacrifice we make to continue paying things off.  

Kids don't need much.  It's society that makes you look like a bad parent if you "deprive" them of fancy things.  But guess what, our child is never going to remember or know that her changing table was free from her cousin, or that her clothes were from garage sales.  

formerlyGDaisy09

Since this is on-topic do any of you moms who BF use the kiinde system? with or without the warmer? My H will be doing a lot of our child care on his own after I go back to work (9 hours on mondays, 5-6 hours the rest of the week). Knowing my H he needs easy...I've already convinced him he can handle cloth diapering, but I'd like a simple feeding system for him, the warmer would be a convenience thing...but that whole system looks user friendly.

so if you use it I'd like to know, do you like it?

do you find the replacement bags expensive?

@brij2006, @blondie42107

vlagrl29

@formerlyGDaisy09 I hated being hungry all the time.  I actually had it worse than most people I think.  I had to eat 6 full meals every day and a 4am snack.  I'm actually dreading this part again. I also had the nausea so if I got sick I would have to immediately eat afterwards cause the belly was empty.  It did create more expense in our grocery budget - lots more.

I had the chiro expense about 4 months after delivery that lasted 6 months and our insurance didn't accept chiro coverage so we had to pay cash and get a discount.  I had severe pubic bone pain starting about 6 months pregnant until I got it taken care of after I realized it wasn't going way after delivery.  Felt like a knife stabbing me in the pubic bone if I opened my legs or stood on 1 one leg.

blondie42107

@formerlyGDaisy09
I just had to Google that! Lol My youngest is almost 3. Honestly I used a fancy system of putting 5oz (my kids never ate more than that at one time) of breastmilk in each storage bag and freezing flat. I dated them and stacked them in small gift bags with a small cut out at the bottom. They were stored in our deep freeze. I'm sure you can Google or look on Pinterest for photos of this or other suggestions. When it was time to feed them, I grabbed the "oldest" milk and put it in a warm bowl of water. Because I froze the bags flat (for easy storage) they thaw very fast. I just poured in a bottle and fed.

For daycare, I thawed however many frozen bags I needed in cool water and put them in bottles when I got up in the morning. That way it was super easy for daycare. If needed, I used painters tape to mark which bottle needed to be used first (24 hr rule for thawed milk), for example if I also sent fresh pumped milk, etc.

Once I got on a system/routine that worked, it wad super easy.

I'm not a huge fan of bottle warmers because they seem so inconsistent. For us, thawing milk in warm water was enough to take the chill off. As my kids got older they were completely fine with cold milk. It may have been different if I were nursing and pumping but after returning to work I exclusively pumped.

brij2006

@formerlyGDaisy09 Again, I'm a cheap mama and keep things as minimal as possible.  But I could see where that system would be convenient.  But really, I just pump into the bottles, then transfer to the storage bags and freeze.  We use the oldest milk first (right now we're using milk I pumped in May), and just thaw it under warm running water, then pour it into a bottle.  If you freeze the bags flat, they thaw and warm up within 2 minutes.  I was reading where that system takes just as long, and you aren't always going to have that system handy.  Another thing, not all babies take to the nipple that works with that system.  So then you can't even use the option to screw the bags into the bottle part.  Along with the fact that the freezer bags for it are expensive.  I go through 100 bags every 2-3 weeks.  It costs us $15 for the Target brand ones.  With their system, it's $15 for 40 bags. 

Also, Medela makes freezer bags you can connect and pump directly into.  I got a few packs of those as a shower gift, and they're super easy as well (but more expensive than the Target ones).  We also found that you can pump directly into the Dr Browns bottles with the Medela pump.  So I picked up a few of those at a garage sale, sanitized them, and pump directly into those ones for cheaper than the Medela ones.  But that's also what our DD uses.  So we can just screw a nipple straight onto that bottle if we need to use it right away.

Truthfully, once he gets the hang of doing it, it's not so bad.  My H thought it would be a pain in the butt, but he says it just takes a couple minutes to do a bottle.  Which is how long it would take to heat up the milk for a formula bottle anyways. 

formerlyGDaisy09

vlagrl29 said:

@formerlyGDaisy09 I hated being hungry all the time.  I actually had it worse than most people I think.  I had to eat 6 full meals every day and a 4am snack.  I'm actually dreading this part again. I also had the nausea so if I got sick I would have to immediately eat afterwards cause the belly was empty.  It did create more expense in our grocery budget - lots more.

I had the chiro expense about 4 months after delivery that lasted 6 months and our insurance didn't accept chiro coverage so we had to pay cash and get a discount.  I had severe pubic bone pain starting about 6 months pregnant until I got it taken care of after I realized it wasn't going way after delivery.  Felt like a knife stabbing me in the pubic bone if I opened my legs or stood on 1 one leg.

OMG the hungry is terrible...right now I'm following the breakfast, snack, snack, lunch, snack, snack, dinner, snack plan... plus I'm having aversions to a lot of protein sources so many of my snacks are dairy based (cheese, yogurt, ice cream...). keeping snacks I'll actually want to eat around has been tricky and expensive. 

I'm expecting I'll probably need to continue chriopractic care after delivery, the office i see also recommends bi-weekly adjustments for infants and touts research that it makes BFing and sleeping easier. The chiropractor thinks the current issues I'm having are chronic issues that have just been exastrubated by pregnancy. 

hoffse

formerlyGDaisy09 said:

vlagrl29 said:

@formerlyGDaisy09 I hated being hungry all the time.  I actually had it worse than most people I think.  I had to eat 6 full meals every day and a 4am snack.  I'm actually dreading this part again. I also had the nausea so if I got sick I would have to immediately eat afterwards cause the belly was empty.  It did create more expense in our grocery budget - lots more.

I had the chiro expense about 4 months after delivery that lasted 6 months and our insurance didn't accept chiro coverage so we had to pay cash and get a discount.  I had severe pubic bone pain starting about 6 months pregnant until I got it taken care of after I realized it wasn't going way after delivery.  Felt like a knife stabbing me in the pubic bone if I opened my legs or stood on 1 one leg.

OMG the hungry is terrible...right now I'm following the breakfast, snack, snack, lunch, snack, snack, dinner, snack plan... plus I'm having aversions to a lot of protein sources so many of my snacks are dairy based (cheese, yogurt, ice cream...). keeping snacks I'll actually want to eat around has been tricky and expensive. 

I'm expecting I'll probably need to continue chriopractic care after delivery, the office i see also recommends bi-weekly adjustments for infants and touts research that it makes BFing and sleeping easier. The chiropractor thinks the current issues I'm having are chronic issues that have just been exastrubated by pregnancy. 

I've never been to a chiropractor so I have no idea what I'm talking about.... but I've never heard of this before.  Isn't it dangerous to adjust an infant?  Their spines and joints are so fragile...

short+sassy

Something else to look into is if either your or your H's employer offers a "cafeteria plan" for childcare services.  Similar to out-of-pocket medical costs cafeteria plans, it allows you to pay for childcare expenses with untaxed monies.

For example, if your childcare expenses are $500/month, you can have your employer take $500 out of your paycheck(s) before it is taxed.  That money is then in a special account that you can draw from to pay for your childcare expenses.  However, unless the federal gov't. has changed it since the last time I looked, the money is "use it or lose it" for the calendar year.

In a nutshell, the program allows you to not have to pay taxes on money that is used for childcare.

cbee817

 

short+sassy said:

Something else to look into is if either your or your H's employer offers a "cafeteria plan" for childcare services.  Similar to out-of-pocket medical costs cafeteria plans, it allows you to pay for childcare expenses with untaxed monies.

For example, if your childcare expenses are $500/month, you can have your employer take $500 out of your paycheck(s) before it is taxed.  That money is then in a special account that you can draw from to pay for your childcare expenses.  However, unless the federal gov't. has changed it since the last time I looked, the money is "use it or lose it" for the calendar year.

In a nutshell, the program allows you to not have to pay taxes on money that is used for childcare.

This is true, but it's only $5,000 per family. For us, day care is $20,000/year for 2 children/full time. I get $192.30 per paycheck removed and I'm reimbursed once I submit the day care bill for the month. We have to include the tax ID for the day care, but I believe if it's an unlicensed person, you have to provide their SSN to be eligible.

short+sassy

cbee817 said:

 

short+sassy said:

Something else to look into is if either your or your H's employer offers a "cafeteria plan" for childcare services.  Similar to out-of-pocket medical costs cafeteria plans, it allows you to pay for childcare expenses with untaxed monies.

For example, if your childcare expenses are $500/month, you can have your employer take $500 out of your paycheck(s) before it is taxed.  That money is then in a special account that you can draw from to pay for your childcare expenses.  However, unless the federal gov't. has changed it since the last time I looked, the money is "use it or lose it" for the calendar year.

In a nutshell, the program allows you to not have to pay taxes on money that is used for childcare.

This is true, but it's only $5,000 per family. For us, day care is $20,000/year for 2 children/full time. I get $192.30 per paycheck removed and I'm reimbursed once I submit the day care bill for the month. We have to include the tax ID for the day care, but I believe if it's an unlicensed person, you have to provide their SSN to be eligible.

Thanks for the clarification!  I don't have children myself, so its not something I use.  Although I am not surprised there is a cap, I'm surprised it is so low!  But at least its something.

cbee817

short+sassy said:

cbee817 said:

 

short+sassy said:

Something else to look into is if either your or your H's employer offers a "cafeteria plan" for childcare services.  Similar to out-of-pocket medical costs cafeteria plans, it allows you to pay for childcare expenses with untaxed monies.

For example, if your childcare expenses are $500/month, you can have your employer take $500 out of your paycheck(s) before it is taxed.  That money is then in a special account that you can draw from to pay for your childcare expenses.  However, unless the federal gov't. has changed it since the last time I looked, the money is "use it or lose it" for the calendar year.

In a nutshell, the program allows you to not have to pay taxes on money that is used for childcare.

This is true, but it's only $5,000 per family. For us, day care is $20,000/year for 2 children/full time. I get $192.30 per paycheck removed and I'm reimbursed once I submit the day care bill for the month. We have to include the tax ID for the day care, but I believe if it's an unlicensed person, you have to provide their SSN to be eligible.

Thanks for the clarification!  I don't have children myself, so its not something I use.  Although I am not surprised there is a cap, I'm surprised it is so low!  But at least its something.

Yeah- I would love it was $5,000 per child, but I take what I can get!