Babies on the Brain
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How much to budget for a baby???
Do you all have breakdowns on how expensive a baby is? How much do you or are you allotting for formula, clothes, medical expenses, day care? Trying to get a handle on how much that will actually be... thanks!
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Re: How much to budget for a baby???
Check out this. It's pretty helpful. You'll have to research daycare cost in your area though, it can vary greatly.
www.babycenter.com/babyCostCalculator.htm
That's funny right there!
Can't wait to meet baby Liam Paul!
My photo blog Baby Makes Three
there is no set budget. Different areas have different costs of living. Depends on if you buy stuff new (and how pricey?) or if you pick up used stuff from craigs list or something. It all depends on you.
we bought all new, but got a few things from the Ellen show (like our stroller and carseat), so that helped. Daycare is by far our biggest expense at around $1300 per month. It drops a little when she turns 2, but that will be the same time baby #2 will be starting so we'll then be paying $2k per month.
Copays for all those unexpected doctor visits (especially last spring during cold/flu season when she caught everything) add up quickly too. Not to mention the time off work. I went through a ton of PTO time last spring with her.
TTC#1 Chart
TTC#2 Chart
IUI #1 - #4 (repronex trigger) = BFN
IUI#5 on 10/28/2008 ** BFP 11/10/08 ** EDD 07/21/09 *** It's a GIRL (07/14/09)
med/treatment free BFP 06/28/10. EDD 03/05/11 *** GIRL #2 (02/23/11)
beta#1 @ 17dpo = 1296 .... beta#2 @ 19dpo = 3034
it's the Bug and Baby Belle!
I love that the first site that comes up is for teen moms.
Lets see: We met out out of pocket maximum for medical this year for 5K for medical but we don't have to pay any more this year.
Clothes are what you make of it.
Daycare is about 750/mo. I think we live in a cheaper area for that though.
Formula is running us nearly 800/month. We are blessed in that department.
Diapers and wipes 50/60 a month.
We easily spend another 50-100 a month or more on other random crap
This obviously doesn't include any of the stuff we bought at the beginning.
Like others said, it depends on a lot of factors. Childcare will likely be your biggest expense. A large daycare center is more expensive than an in home daycare, or a family member. Are you going to formula feed, or breastfeed (keeping in mind you may not be able to breastfeed)? You may be lucky and be able to use a cheaper formula, or not so lucky like Lambie and spend $800 a month. Cloth diaper or disposable? Buy clothes new from expensive stores, or get gently used from consignment, yard sales, and Craigslist? What kind of health insurance do you have? Currently we just pay a copay, but starting in January, we will have to meet a $2500 deductible before anything except well baby visits are covered.
Obviously people have babies and survive on different budgets. You have to figure out how much you can afford monthly, and then choose the appropriate options.
Broken Lady Parts Blog
We have $1500/ year out of pocket for health insurance, plus the additional cost per month of having the boys on my insurance
I bf, but do need to suppliment with formula so we pay about $40/month for that
Clothing really depends. Luke wears mostly hand me downs from Brady. I would say $50-100 every month or two for the boys...not sure though
Daycare sucks we pay about $500/week for both boys. Not sure exactly how much Luke is right now.
Having a baby has added on about $1200 a month to our expenses (daycare, diapers/wipes, co pays, insurance premiums, random crap). I breastfeed so if I used formula it would be more.
That doesn't include all the stuff we had to buy in the beginning (crib, carseat, swing, breastpump, clothes, blah blah), the actual cost to have the baby (Dr./hospital) or missed income while on maternity leave.
You can always send me your baby. I will take really good care of it. Just make sure you put "fragile" on the box and poke at least four or five holes in it before you ship.
You can always send me your baby. I will take really good care of it. Just make sure you put "fragile" on the box and poke at least four or five holes in it before you ship.
Well that and a Snickers bar in case he gets hungry.
As all the pps said, this is going to vary a lot based on where you live and your personal situation. For us, it's broken down roughly like this:
Nursery/Gear for baby: about $1500 I'd estimate, mostly due to many generous gifts from family. We didn't buy our crib, mattress, stroller, glider, car seat, linens, pack n' play or anything as we received them all as gifts.
Childcare: we'll be spending about $500/month on childcare, again due to family help. My MIL will be watching Sadie 3 days per week so we only need to take care of the additional two days. Luckily there are numerous options around us that are reasonable ($50-75/day)
Maternity Leave: 0.00, but I know I'm in the minority on that one since I get 100% paid maternity leave for 3 months.
Healthcare: she'll add about $112 to our montly premiums and our yearly OOP Max is $1500.
As for the rest I'm not sure yet b/c she's still an inside baby.
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