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NY Mommas: How do you do it?!

20Ellie1320Ellie13 member
in New York Babies
Hi everyone! I'm new here and was hoping for a bit of feedback about having a kid in the big apple. My hubby and I have lived here for about two years and are at that point where we both have babies on the brain. However, financially speaking, it seems impossible. we have money saved and both work but the cost of childcare alone (especially for a newborn) is sooo expensive. I mean, don't get me wrong, living here we are more than familiar with just just how expensive it is compared to other major cities but it seems theres no way to afford having a baby while living here and still be able to save. Maybe we have to move or maybe we have to save for years first? Sorry if I'm rambling just overwhelmed by the cost of it all in this place we love and call home!

how do you do it? Are most wealthy? Do you save for years to be able to afford it?
Sorry, any thought on this would be great!
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Re: NY Mommas: How do you do it?!

  • lukas&rebeccalukas&rebecca member
    Hi! My husband and I definitely aren't rich, got a bit lucky with a fairly low rent on a two bedroom in williamsburg brooklyn though which helps.....but we have been saving what we can each month and hope that will help when baby comes. Im nearly 2 months along, total surprise. keeping my fingers crossed everything continues to go well, if so my mom is coming for the first month while I'm not working then his mom is coming for the second month with his sister who is one of my best friends. All from Seattle!

    After that we plan to have two days off each week together (in a row if we can) and then the other 5 days stagger our schedules so we don't have to have daycare. We are lucky that our schedules are so flexible. I will mostly work days with a couple night shifts and he will mostly work nights with a couple day shifts.

    We are hoping through baby shower gifts that things won't be too bad. Recently read an interesting article that while babies do need quite a bit, they don't need nearly as much as we think! Cloth diapers alone can astronomically decrease costs. Provided you can deal of course :) not sure we can yet but we'll see when we get there.

    My mom raised me and my brother in the city before finding out she was pregnant with my sister and deciding with 3 to move to Seattle. She said it didn't affect them too much financially. They didn't go out as much and a lot of that money rolled over to being used for us.

    I'm sure I didn't help too much, but hoped at least some of this info was at least useful! Goodluck whatever you guys decide.
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  • 20Ellie1320Ellie13 member
    It did. Thank you so much! It helps to see how it can be done or what the plan is to survive! lol  I also really appreciate you taking the time to respond!
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  • michellemikeliumichellemikeliu member
    My husband and I are from the south, and we moved here to New York City several years ago, and we currently have a baby.  I can offer you some numbers as a comparison of the rates that we experienced living on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.  We both worked full time, and we had a nanny that worked 55 hours a week for us at a rate of $875 on the books; our nanny was also eating all of her meals at our apartment, so the cost was getting out of control.  After I was laid off of my job, we let our nanny go and got on the waiting lists for daycare. Around here, the cost per month was around $2,000 (which included the food), which might still be high but was half the cost of the nanny.  You probably can get better deals on nannies and daycares, but that might be location and neighborhood specific.
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  • tmccord21tmccord21 member
    I live in Williamsburg and pay a lot ($3000 for a 3bed) but it's really a steal for the space. we're broke. I'm now a SAHM cause day care is just so much. My son is just 2.5 months but when he's older and not EBF I may be able to go part time. We were just discussing if moving to the west coast would be worth it for better schools, more space, etc but I don't know if I could leave.

    @lukas&rebecca where in Williamsburg are you? I'm on the montrose L.
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  • TelebellTelebell member
    We live in the south Bronx in a great residential area. In-home daycare here (a neighbor I know and like) was quoted to me as $200 a week. We ended up paying her a lot more since she's so good and our daughter is one of only 2 there. But it still doesn't come close to manhattan/Brooklyn costs. 2 bedrooms here rent for about $1600/mo. What else- free activities! There are so many of them. Our indoor pool is $75/yr, library has a nice play area, parks with playgrounds very close by. Kids don't have to be expensive at all. Our splurge, because there's not a whole lot of restaurants/theaters/museums in our hood (ie the reason you move to NYC!) is that we don't hesitate to take cabs whenever we feel like it. It's totally doable. Just don't get sucked into the crazy upper class parenting culture here. You don't need to do a zillion mommy and me classes, or to have the fanciest daycare, or a baby nurse or the most expensive nanny, or the hottest new lactation consultant. NYC parenting will make you nuts if you let it, so try to tune it out.
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