£18k to have a baby?!

[EstherOnions]

gurgle.com say that the average cost of having a baby is £18k for one year and £27k for three! only if you're Madonna, maybe - or do you reckon it's a fair price? You can work out what it'll cost you to have kids too with this budget calculator they've got: www.gurgle.co.uk/tools/baby_budget_calculator/default.aspx

I am intrigued at the expense of a social life for a 10yo. At that age, the costs of dd's social life were limited to the occasional offer of a bourbon biscuit to any of her friends who might happen to pop by.

cat64 - that is roughly what she caost me last year. school trips, clothes and spending money for said trips came to nearly £4000, then by the time you have added everyday clothes, uniform for school, food, pocket money and money for general socialising (cinema, swimming and youth club with friends). It all adds up you know

is this the link?

according to that calculator - for me, assuming I was trying to get pregnant now...

fertility - £1295 (for WHAT??)
pregnancy - £3726 - how?? [boggle]
year one - £7986 - having had 2 children already, let me be the first to say No. Fucking. Way.
year 2 - £4221 - see above
year 3 - 5031.
grand total £22259

What a load of BOLLOCKS. It's a good job it costs nothing like that, really.

£18k? That's what a lot of people with families earn in an entire year.

Tis bollocks! if the cost 18k each we wouldnt have had 8!

£12,000 for a 10 yr old? I assume that includes school fees. If not I am gobsmacked. School trips sound amazingly expensive at £4000. I suppose it is irrelevant if you have that sort of disposable income you can spend it how you like.

i don't pay school fees but she has had 3 residential trips totalling £1300 the we had to buy clothes ( roughly £200) for each trip and spending money(roughly £50 each trip). Then she had 4 day trips costing an average of £50 each plus spending money (£10).

Then you have £50 a year swimming and £25 a year gymnastics (even though these are the curriculum and kids have to do it we have to pay).

£10 per term "donation" towards art/pshe equipment.

then you have all the odd £'s here and there for non uniform days, charity days ect and 50p per week for cake sale

The trips were mainly PGL (water sports ect) and out doorsy things. so she needed alot of out door clothes and trainers, i did this as cheaply as possible but at she is in a womens size 10 clothes so it isn't cheap and her feet are a size 6 which is even more expensive.

I would be mortified if my ds's school asked me to stump up nearly £4000 for school trips (and I do pay school fees). How on earth do they justify it? I assume that most parents can't afford that sort of money. Ds gets one trip in Year 6 and from what I can work out (they include it in school fees for that year) it works out at about £900.

£18K for a baby's first year is a ridiculous figure!

My 10 year old is proving quite expensive though.....

I did a quick total in my head, and including food, clothes, after school care, music and swimming lessons, etc, but no school fees or holiday care I easily reached £8K, and that didn't include birthday parties or Chirstmas pressents.

" full time wage - average £20k and many of us earn 5x tthat; "

WEll I reckon Xenia earns slightly more than 5 x £20K

it wasn't until i read this thread that dh and i totaled it up and realised how much it all costs, the school never said "we want £4000 please".

dd is going on a trip for a week after doing her sats which is costing £300 plus clothes, spends and a wet suit

When the girls had a horse each it was expensive but we sold the last one in the summer. Apart ftom that though the only big cost has really ever been childcare and school fees. I suppose we need to live in a big house because we've 5 children so that is an indirect cost and to take 5 chidlren skiing at Christmas cost me quite a bit mroe than just taking myself but it's really your loss of earnings and for women who never get back on a proper career track again it's not just los of the £30k for that year but the fact they then won't be on track to earn £500k a year so over a 40 year career it's a huge loss.

Oh yeah, I forgot to calculate the cost of the horses. And, of course, earning £500k is in my equation too.

Xenia, I do wonder what planet island you live on sometimes. For the most part I agree with much of what you say, but really you don't do yourself any favours when you talk about horses as a child-related expense.

Damn, I forgot about the horses!

And here I thought we got off cheap with a guinea pig.

I don't really ride. The girls shared a very cheap pony at first and then it became a major enthusiasm for them as teenagers to show jump. In fact the oldest who starts her first job in the City in September I suspect in part got that job because on the interview day she was chatting to someone there whose wife keeps horses (obviously her good exam results helped too and possibly her accent and the long blonde hair never did anyone any harm in the job stakes either ....) but if those horses secured her career for the next 40 years then they were cheap at the price.

Oh god - I'm pregnant with my first and no-one mentioned the need for horses! Why did no-one tell me? We've done our budget with a spreadsheet and everything, we'll have to go back and look at it again...