Does parenting get less expensive or more expensive?

[SwizzlesTwizzles]

I'm wondering about our future trajectory! Life got a lot cheaper when my 8 year old left nursery and since then the only things that have gotten more expensive are the amount of food she eats, the fact that we have to pay for school dinners now she's in year 3, and she's signed up to a couple of expensive hobbies. But generally she's much cheaper now than she was as a toddler.
I have a 2 year old as well and I'm looking forward to the end of nursery fees as something that will give us more financial wiggle room, but I'm feeling a sense of foreboding that I'm wrong about that.
Is there stuff that gets more expensive later on besides general uptick of groceries consumed?

Twins at uni could cost you that

Wow!

The middle bit is cheaper.

Babies are £££ because you have to get all kinds of equipment for them, a bigger house/car and then nursery costs. (OK I suppose they need the room their whole life, but you tend to notice it less once it's already in the budget).

Teenagers are £££ because they are adult shaped but do not have adult abilities or sense.

If they both go to uni they could be costing you that.

replied to wrong post - edited.

That’s extremely unlikely.

They already have £30k each in high interest savings account for that (or whatever else they’d alternatively wish to spend it on).

Did you give them that?

No.

Just echo what someone said about braces. I naively thought that the dc’s rabbit teeth would be corrected on the NHS. Sadly not.

No one has mentioned tutoring. I never thought I would be paying for a tutor but it’s the done thing where we live.

And I’ve never been as happy to have a 4 year gap between my dc as when they went to Uni! Read up on it - most people don’t realise that parents are expected to contribute

And if she buys them a rocket each it could cost more.
None of these later expenses are essential costs of raising a child like the direct childcare cost or the reduction in income in the early years.
Spending £3.5k on topping up your child’s lifestyle at uni is not remotely in the realm of necessary or typical spending, even with twins.

My teens have bus passes at £80 a month each, clothing is a lot more expensive, activities are more expensive- they're not happy with a play at the park anymore and can't eat from the children's menu, they have their own pocket money to go out with friends, I'm paying for one to do driving lessons and I'm saving more now for them going to uni. It feels a lot more expensive to me, however it was about £30 a day for nursery when they went.

This used to be true under the old system. The new loans are more penal so it's better not to take them out.

Most parents will have to hep finance their DC if they go to uni, part-time jobs that students can get are non-existent in some areas. Jobs for young people, if they don't go to uni, are scare too. Jobs after graduating are like hens' teeth. So you might end up funding them at home for quite a few years, whether you were planning to or not.

And for many parents it's not topping up their student's lifestyle it is funding them so they can have somewhere to live and food to eat!

Yes because I don’t think someone should start their adult life already in debt. I didn’t and I don’t think it’s fair my children should. Now I hope that pays off in the long run and I beat the market but I have no idea what job they will end up doing. I just like the idea of sending them off into the world without the burden of the loan coming out. I am lucky to be in that position to do that.

This thread is a case of how to say you have DC that have been to university without actually saying it isn’t it?

I think a lot of posters are definitely not getting how it works now.

Yes, the Uni cost is high. Eldest went 14 years ago to a London uni. She got loans, a job and we topped her up comfortably.
Youngest due to start next year. She will only get minimum loan. Even max loan doesn't cover rent and food. So she will keep the maintenance loan and we will pay accommodation.
Apart from that, they cost as much as you choose really.

It depends on OPs family income, and on where DC go to Uni. Both mine went to uni in London and their rent and living expenses were huge.

They both had PT jobs, (then covid struck and they were made redundant) but even when they were able to work, that only covered their additional expenses like socialising, books and travel costs. Rent, bills and food were covered by me.

Driving lessons (essential life skill that improves job prospects if rural or out of a big city )
First car (I would expect a good contribution from the child from part time work saved from age 15/16)
Insirance /tax (as above but higher initial contribution from parents as astronomical in early years)

if going to Uni mine HAD to work minimum of 16 hrs a week plus parental contribution top up . Except final year when I did overtime so they could study .. they knew this …

First flat out of Uni.. work after graduation and living at home . £100 pw as no excuse not to work full time if driving. So 1,2 or even three jobs.. but 50% banked towards deposit and topped up by us (new step dad) when found Grad position..

(Single parent on £45k and renting at £1260 pm .. 3 x kids) until 3rd had nearly graduated.

All now in London /Bristol self sufficient and earning £38-£78k per year with strong work ethic and good understanding that if you want something, mum will help, but not give if you don’t put in the effort ..

No, a yacht is a luxury! Everyone needs somewhere to live; and a mortgage is a better use of DC’s money, than paying rent on a property they will never own. Plus, if a DGC arrives, you might want as we did, for DGC to have the stability of their own home; and not have to move schools, every time DC have to find a new rental property to live in, all over the city and they can’t find anywhere in their price range!

You have to weigh that against giving them a lump sum now though which if you're avoiding all loans is tens of thousands of pounds! Think how much difference that could make to anybody in their 20s! Vs avoiding a monthly cost in a variable amount which they don't pay if they don't earn enough and doesn't affect their credit score and nobody will ever chase them for the full balance.

The big difference between university, house deposits, driving lessons etc is if you cant afford them... there ate other options for yoyr child to finance them themselves. Part tine job. Working gap year. Living at home.

You cant suggest your toddler gets a job at Tesco to help cover nursery fees.

if you absolutely think you child will never pay it off then absolutely but my hope is that they will. It’s more psychological than anything. My view is that I send them off into the world in the same position I was in (pre tuition fees) and then they are on their own!

Mine are 17 + 18. Atm I'm paying for 2 lots of driving lessons which is around £500 a month.

The 18yr old is at university, she has the loans but the maintenance loan is £100 a month less than her rent so we pay that. She has a weekend job so she pays for her day to day living costs.
17 yr old is a musician. That expense is a whole other story - lessons, instruments, travel, practice rooms. It's eye watering.

My kids took the tuition loans and maintenance loans. We paid their rent as the loan of your parents income is over 25K per year is about £5000 per year. Their (university-owned or private) accomodation was about £7000 per year so we spent about £600 per month each. Cheaper than full time nursery or going PT but as both did 4 year courses, they overlapped and we have paid family holidays (fun but expensive for four adults) and driving lessons at the same time. I really wish we could have afforded tuition fees aswell as the loan conditions now are brutal - mine borrowed about 60K each - and they are on different terms. One of my children will have to pay back for 30 years and the other for 40. The interest starts the day you take out the loan and has exceeded 7% in some years. I doubt they will pay them all back but they are likely to pay back much more than they borrowed.