To ask how much your kids cost you per month?

[Troublesometooth]

I just thought about it and added up on another thread and I was so surprised! I’ve never really considered it before.

A 2 year old and 5 year old monthly bill comes to:

£500 for 2 days per week at nursery
£150 for 2 days per week at out of school club
£100 clothing budget, more if shoes are needed
£100 swim lessons
£35 ballet
£15 football
£22.50 tennis
£100 family days out budget

Total monthly cost; £1022.50! That’s without birthday and Christmas presents and special events etc.

My 2 year old gets her 30 free hours from April so that will significantly lower the nursery bill which I’m very pleased about!

My 4 year old is the same, it's very annoying! I had to donate a lovely pair of pyjamas my MIL bought because she kept waking up screaming at night.

@Ragwort

A 5 year old is fussy about clothes & will only wear organic brands ?

I know right?

Nursery 3 days £800
After school and before school 3 days £200
Swimming lessons for both £40
Violin lessons for one £120
Dance for one £35
Baby activity for one £30
Sports activity for one £35
Other activities around £40
Average £50 per month on clothes and shoes to cover both

@Kr1spyKr3m3

“Yes. He has sensory issues and I’ve found one style of jogging bottom he will tolerate, at £23 a pair.”

And you buy four pairs per month?

Obviously not. I buy a variety of items for 2 children.

I appreciate l could spend less and still have them suitably clothed.

I’m a sahm so my salary.

Our biggest hidden expense is ‘alternative’ free from foods do to multiple allergies.

@luxxlisbon

£100 per month is insane. Surely they don’t need that level of new clothes every month?

I like buying baby clothes but even then it might be £100 every 3 months at a push.
Probably about £20/30 a month in classes.
£50 on baby specific activities like swimming etc although in a way this is a saving as our activities on the weekends before would have been much more.
Food it’s hard to say, we buy some things just for her and the rest is what we would have bought anyway.
£15ish on nappies and wipes
Probably £40 a month on toys only because she’s at an age where things need to be rotated according to development and there are no older siblings with existing toys.
£100 a month on coffee as an excuse to get out 😂
£1200 on nursery but that isn’t until the summer

£100 a month on coffee is insane.

£400 childcare
£600 in clothes per year so £50 per month
£80 for swimming
£60 for rugby
Probably about £200 for food

Plus all the other stuff, holidays, birthdays etc. No one said kids were cheap.

We added it up recently and were horrified at what our child costs us per week.

Guitar lesson £40
Stage coach £30
Dance class £10
Gymnastics £10
Tennis £16

2 DSs, 5 and 2.

DS1 - £100 a month after school care.
DS2 - £520 a month, 2 days a week nursery.
Swimming - £40 a month (not lessons, I take DS1 myself most weekends on the bus).
Clothes/Shoes - maybe £20/£30 every 3 months? DS2 mainly wears DS1s old stuff.
Days out - Maybe £30 a month?
Birthdays - about £15 a month (everyone seems to be doing whole class parties this year)
Fancy Fruit - £40 a month? Both DC like berries and DS2 is a fussy eater so I'm glad he's getting vitamins that way.

Plus food, nappies, and delicate bath products/moisturizer (allergies/dry skin)

So much I can’t bear to add it up

Clothes probably £50 every six months so £9ish

Football £35
Swimming: £60
Shoes £40
Nursery £1000
Toys, books: £10

Food more - tricky to know exactly but would guess £100ish

Two children aged 11 and 9 (disabled child)

Childcare £500
Internet for phone £10
Spotify family £18
Pocket money £15
Weekend / day out £30
Clothes and shoes £50
Activities / football training £30

School fees - £2400
Activities for all 3 children - £368
Clothes & shoes - no idea
Speech therapy for DS1 - £300

In term time £740 on rent, when he's at home about £400 on food

3.5 year old.
£20 gymnastics club
£25 into his savings account
£15 hair cut (but this is more like every 6 weeks rather than monthly)
Approx. £20 'other' e.g calpol if sick, the other little things that crop up.
I'm guessing around £30-£50 on entertainment/ family days out.
Shoes and clothes as needed. Definitely nowhere near monthly. Mostly second hand but some stuff from sainsburys too and shoes Clark's.
Monthly total £130.

A fortune;
Childcare 100 a month
Swimming 50 a month
Dancing 36 per term
Another class at 6 pound a week
Outfits for above. The dancing one is 70 for all the bits which needs replacing around once a year so far.
Just paid 40 to do spring/ summer activity
7 reading eggs which i need to cancel actual as doesnt get used
God knows how much on kinder eggs
School is always askings for money here and there.
Luckily school meals are free for the next year.
I used to spend a fortune on clothes its easily done so I dont get where the shock is coming from of £100 a month its really not that much and doesnt go that far even on high street brands but I stopped buying many clothes once lock down hit and luckily have not fallen back into it.

My toddler is cheap as chips since since we don't yet have childcare and I like buying second hand. But the real cost is very high as it's the opportunity cost of me not working i.e. my monthly salary.

This is the motherhood penalty that basically leads to the gender pay gap. I watched a netflix doc about it last night!

2 primary DC

Football £30ish plus £50ish on boots as and when needed couple times a year
Gymnastics £40
Swimming lessons £50
Haircuts £10
Clothes maybe £150 when average of year divided monthly including school uniform
Food easily £200 including lunchboxes and the insane amount of berries and snacks

Christmas and birthdays are when they get big budgets which would probably come to £250 a month if averaged out.

Then of course it’s the cost of holiday clubs, family holiday, the extra washing/electric/hot water.

Time they got a job I think!

21 & 16

£200 allowance for uni dd and I pay £240 for her private therapy a month
Ds has £50 allowance per month but I buy shoes etc and help him with extras when needed.
I pay for both of their phones, roughly £50

What about food, family holidays, the bigger house you need with 2 children, equipment (car seats etc.), savings? I am sure there is other stuff that I haven't thought of yet.

Two children : 4yrs / 9months (currently on Mat leave)

Football: £24
Swimming: £28
Baby groups/activities:£45
Days out:£100 ish (farms, soft play, passes for zoo etc)
Clothes/shoes: £30
Haircut: £12

Hard to work out food, I guess our budget is £60 ish higher per month than pre-kids but then everything has gone up anyway!

@QueenLagertha

A 5 year old who will only wear a few organic brands....I've heard it all now

I heard of a 3 year old (related to a colleague) who very sniffily told a granny who wanted to buy her a top, ‘I only wear designer.’ 😱

wow glad 2 out of 3 are adults

i can understand high child care but honestly imo kids upto 5-6ish are pretty cheap lots of free things minimal outlay,its when they get older clubs etc rackup

i wont show my kids this they will feel cheated lol

2 kids 3&6

Childcare - 200
Swimming - 37
Karate - 50
Rainbows - 20
Gymnastics - 20
Food - minimal, they eat with us so extra portion of whatever we're already having.
Clothes/ shoes - buy shoes new but 2nd hand for most clothes so £30

£35 each for swimming
£28.50 each for ballet
Nothing else unless in dire need of new clothes, weekends are taken up with swimming and ballet, we might go to a local park or something, eldest son is at school second born is at nursery and we only use the free hours as I’m a SAHM