How much do you spend on your DC?

[Canweaffordkids]

I hope I’m posting in the right place…I’m a bit scared of MN after seeing a few threads! DH and I are mid-30s and thinking about TTC in the not too distant future. However, we want to make sure we can actually afford it first.

I know childcare is a huge cost (I read around 15k a year under 3 at the moment?), but how much do all the other costs add to your monthly or yearly outgoings? I know this will vary hugely by family circumstances and lifestyles and I imagine by age of children too, but wondered if there is a generally accepted minimum cost for a becoming a family that we should budget and save for on top of nursery fees.

Please can you share how much approximately your spending went up by when you had children? Thank you so much 😀

Do look into your DP's shared parental leave offering, you can do lots of clever things. For instance, it's often referenced in terms of enhancing statutory leave pay, which is only 9 months of a year, but that doesn't have to be the first 9 months.

The major costs are loss of earnings and childcare.

Me & DH work opposite times, so our childcare costs have been minimal. Complete free now youngest gets funded hours, and was £4.50/hour for 18h/week before that (£81/week for 2 years between 1-3).

About 75% of the kids cloths are passed on for free from friends with older kids. A lot of the stuff I do buy is either vinted or supermarket. £10-20/months per kid.

Clubs - ds7 - cello, trampolining, swimming (apx £10/week, but he gets a bursary for cello, without it would be another £30)
Dd4 - rainbows &swimming £8/week

Outings- averages out £50/month, plus £300 in annual passes.

Holidays- easily double the cost, for similar to you currently do. not just the extra cost of the kids tickets, but the balance of convenience vs cost shifts.

Extra food - maybe an extra £30/week

Toys/birthday/ Christmas- 300/year per kid.

Overall I'd say about £1500/year per child currently, but £5500 when under 3. I expect they'll get more expensive when they're older, but hopefully by then they'll need less care so we can focus more on work to cover it.