Big

Can you imagine if you have 2 or 3 kids? It can be as much as $30K per year.

WASHINGTON (Reuters Life!) - Middle-income families can expect to spend $204,060 on feeding, housing and schooling a child born in 2007 until his or her 18th birthday, the U.S. government reported on Monday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080324/...sa_children_dc

RYou

$204,060 over 17 years

You can probably double that over the next 4 years 18-22. The feds wouldn't dare predict that cost of a college tuition in 2025. Parents would go celibate for fear of production.

When my kids were born, they predicted $40K for top tier schools. I didn't belive it but they were right on the money. If current pricing continues, it's a another 4X increase by 2025 - $160,000 per year, but only $60-80K annually at a state university

BonnieJ2

That's $33/day, 231/week. I don't think I spend anywhere near that, but then I'm not paying childcare right now and they go to a public school. I'd have to look at the difference in my health care that's deducted from my paycheck and consider the other healthcare costs too. I certainly wouldn't live in the house I live in if it was just me, so there's that cost. I recently paid $500 for driving school, my car insurance is higher because of them, and summer Wrestling Camps are coming up too. I think I'll bring this up at dinner. Maybe I can get my car washed for free.

__________________
"You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in." -- Arlo Guthrie

Flop The Nuts

We're paying about $2,700 per month in daycare expenses. After the kids go into public school (the schools are good here), we'll start saving for college.

M Richardson

When I graduated from high school (the diploma was on parchment, a step up from stone) I moved into a GREAT job, making 3.00 per hour. My goal in life was to get a job that would pay 1,000 per month. I knew I would be set. When I got out of the army I got a job paying 100 per week. My girlfriend, later my wife, was making the same. We were on easy street. Somehow, as time passed, we raised three kids, bought a home, drive relatively new cars, etc. Right now I have two 21 year olds in college (1 full time, one working full time and going part time) and my older daughter working as a retail manager. The kids did well in school (academically and athletically ), earned scholarships and grants, work part-time, etc. We help out.
You can't look at it as 250,00 to raise a kid. Somehow, year by year, you get by. The next thing you know, they are on there own, doing fine, and you wonder where the years went.
By the way, yeah, I have a mortgage (only one) for the house. Other than that, no debts other than the monthly bills. Cars are paid for, no credit cards, no outstanding loans. Pretty good retirement nest egg. It's not easy, but it can be done.

Big

M. Richardson,

The point of the article is that things are getting more expensive much faster than before. Is it at all possible that you maybe had it much easier than it is today?

Think about it you were getting paid $3 an hour probably for the same job that pays $15 an hour now or less. That is a 5 time increase. What about college for example? Kids today graduate with $60K in loans whereas in your time it was probably $3K in loans. That is a 20 times increase whereas your pay increassed only 5 times. Hence, it is 4 times harder to pay for college today.

That is how it is with everything. A house that used to cost $30K is now $600K and so on.